Questions tagged [road-vehicles]
Use this tag for question about cars, trucks and other road transport.
190
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Did 9/11 lead to many deaths due to car accidents "dwarfing" the attacks themselves?
Well-renowned security expert Bruce Schneier claims that
In the months after 9/11, so many people chose to drive instead of fly that the resulting deaths dwarfed the deaths from the terrorist ...
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1
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Does HONDA have a model called CBR 660RR?
http://www.sagmart.com/news/Automobiles/honda-is-going-to-reveal-its-new-bike-cbr-600rr-this-december
The design of this new CBR is awesome; you surely skip a beat when it
passes through the way. ...
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23
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2
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Does marijuana impair driving?
Is the use of cannabis/marijuana/THC associated with risks when driving a motor vehicle, similar to impairment from the use of alcohol?
The conclusions of public studies seem inconsistent. For example,...
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Is using cruise-control dangerous in the rain?
A meme from Facebook with 62,000+ shares:
Excellent Driving Tip:
A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago. It was raining, though not excessively when her car suddenly began to ...
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Can boiling water break car windows?
A friend of mine in Australia has heard from several of her friends that it's unsafe to pour boiling water on car windows in order to defrost them.
Online examples of people claiming it's unsafe ...
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1
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Are manual transmission cars stolen less?
There is a decent amount of anecdotal evidence about manual transmissions being a good anti-theft device - but are there any statistics?
Here's a statistic-less article from MSN.com
It's folk wisdom: ...
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7
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2
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Is a repaired car tire as good as a new one?
I recently had one of my car tires punctured by a screw. It lost pressure only very slowly, it probably took a couple of days before I noticed the tire was below pressure. The guys from the tire ...
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1
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Radiation dangers with GPS/navigation cellphone apps [closed]
From Wikipedia:
Some national radiation advisory authorities... have recommended measures to minimize exposure to their citizens... Do not use telephone in a car without an external antenna
I'd ...
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1
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Do modern turbo-diesel car engines fail significantly more often than gasoline ones?
I've seen quite a few articles written on subject, mainly based on anecdotal evidence and with generally alarmistic tone. Allegedly modern turbo-diesel engines used in popular cars are much less ...
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Shouldn't an electric car be thermodynamically at a disadvantage towards one with a combustion engine?
I have the greatest respect for the work of the Rocky Mountain Institute, but this recent blog post triggered my general scepticism towards electric cars, or more specifically, their fuel efficiency. ...
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Were there only two cars in Ohio in 1895, and they managed to crash into each other?
Currently on Today I Learned, Reddit.
TIL [Today I Learned] In the entire state of Ohio in 1895, there were only two cars on the road, and the drivers of these two cars crashed into each other.
...
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Does putting a reflective screen inside your car against the windshield have a meaningful impact on internal temperature?
In southern climes one can see many such reflective screens on cars in parking lots. Not all drivers use them, but many do.
Is there a meaningful impact on the internal temperature of your car? Does ...
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6
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1
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Does cryogenic treatment of automobile rotors increase performance?
In the performance brakes world, there is a small amount of debate about the benefits of cryogenically treating rotors, with most people believing that cryo treating rotors greatly improves their ...
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1
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Is it illegal in any U.S. jurisdiction to be in neutral at a red light?
In this related question, I asserted that it was illegal to be in neutral gear while stopped at a red light. The first comment to that question challenged me to quote chapter and verse.
Astonishingly,...
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Are Auto Manufacturers required under US Federal Law to provide parts for a set period of time?
Via snopes.com Message Board and here, and a similar question on mechanics.stackexchange.com:
Auto manufacturers are required by US Federal Law to have parts available for any models they sold for ...
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1
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Are "black-box" data recorders to be installed in all new US cars?
Occupy Corporatism reports:
With complete disregard for driver privacy, the Obama administration gave their consent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to mandate black box ...
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10
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2
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Does a turbo-charged engine require a "cooling down" period?
Some people are saying that after having driven a car with a turbo-charged engine, you need to let the engine run for several seconds (or even minutes) before switching off the engine. But nobody is ...
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Can a Renault Megane drive 1700 km with 1 tank?
source
See the above advert which claims that Renault Megane can cover 1700km with one tank.
According to this link the Megane model has a fuel tank capacity of 60 Liters.
Can the Megane cover 28.3 ...
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48
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2
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Are speedometers designed to read high?
Via word-of-mouth, I have twice heard claims that speedometers are deliberately designed to read high, so manufacturers would not be subject to litigation for speeding.
When I first heard this claim, ...
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Does the Lexus LFA need digital gauges because analogue ones are too slow?
I first heard this claim a few years ago on the Top Gear program from the BBC. Since then I keep hearing it whenever I hear the Lexus LFA discussed.
From this February 2012 article:
This ...
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1
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Does locking your car doors reduce theft?
Almost everyone I know locks their car doors when they leave their vehicle for an extended time. However, I come from a country town and most people in that country town don't lock their car doors and ...
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Do you need to break in new engine on a car/bike for first 1,000 km by driving slowly and otherwise following manual's advice?
Normally car manuals say to let the car break in gently, not accelerating or breaking fast for first 1,000 km or driving below 80km/h. Is that really necessary in today's world? Is there any proof ...
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Should we heat up engines before driving a car? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is running the engine for five minutes before driving beneficial for the car?
My wife, her dad, and my dad says so.
They said that before you drive a car, you need to turn on ...
user4951
4
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0
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Are rear-end collisions more dangerous in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) than Petrol cars?
Is it more dangerous to be in a passenger car with compressed natural gas than with a petrol fuel tank when it comes to rear-end collisions?
Lawrence Godwin, on eZine claims there is a explosion risk ...
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4
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1
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Does Honda Civic CNG fare well in crash safety tests as claimed by its manufacturer?
Honda touts great safety for their Civic CNG, but I have second thoughts concerning their fuel tank's safety in rear-end collisions.
I looked for some tests and data, but could not find anything ...
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13
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1
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8k
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Can you puncture a tire with a Swiss Army knife?
On films and TV you always see characters puncture a regular car tire with something like a folding knife or a swiss army knife. How hard would it be in real life to do this?
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0
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Do gas pods improve fuel efficiency?
I ran into this claim today about detachable car fins, and was wondering if there is any validity to it:
about a five percent reduction in drag and corresponding five percent boost in fuel ...
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2
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Does the time of day affect fuel economy?
One tip that I heard as a young driver was something along the following:
Try to refuel in the early morning or in the evening as the denser gas
will get you better fuel economy.
Since then I ...
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4
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Are there benefits to filling car tyres with Nitrogen?
A friend was informed by his mechanic that his tyres were filled with Nitrogren rather than compressed air. He was skeptical of the claims he heard:
There are major benefits with nitrogen inflation ...
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1
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Is it illegal to stop a car for a pedestrian crossing in China?
Today while preparing for one of my classes, this time on law, I found the snippet on a great many websites saying that in China:
Drivers of power-driven vehicles are forbidden to stop at ...
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22
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1
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Does the US ban high-gas-mileage cars?
A recent YouTube video features a claim that the VW Passat TDI 1.6 and similar cars have been banned by the US government, specifically because their gas mileage is too high. The purported reasoning ...
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2
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Does a prototype car that runs on water exist?
In a conversation with a friend recently, she was telling me about a new car that "some Japanese company" had developed, apparently a working prototype that's about to be put into production. It has ...
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Can an on-the-fly water electrolyzer linked to the air intake improve fuel efficiency of a gasoline engine?
This article initially seems to investigate so-called water powered cars. The final few paragraphs of the article however branches off into discussion about a system where (as I understand it):
A car'...
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0
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Does a car tire require 26 Liters / 7 US Gallons of crude oil to manufacture?
I've recently seen the movie Collapse. They make many claims about oil and an hypothetical global collapse when it runs low.
In this movie, Michael Ruppert says that a simple car tire needs 7 US ...
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1
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Is reducing carbon emission from cars futile?
One of the claims in "SuperFreakonomics" is, that reducing CO2 emissions produced by cars have very little practical impact on global warming.
Their arguments are:
human activity is responsible for ...
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21
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2
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Are more people accidentally killed by doctors than accidentally killed by guns and traffic combined?
The actual claim is something like this
The top five causes of death in the United States, in order, are
tobacco, alcohol, medical malpractice, traffic and firearms. According
to JAMA, doctors ...
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4
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Are BMW Owners the worst drivers?
BMW drivers are widely thought to be poor drivers. For example, in a poll for Auto Trader:
Around 21,000 motorists were quizzed, and 45 per cent said BMW drivers were the worst on the road.
Is ...
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35
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2
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Does the 'two-second rule' provide a valid minimum gap for safe driving?
Most of us will have been taught the two-second rule when learning to drive.
The two-second rule is a rule of thumb by which a driver may maintain a safe following distance at any speed. The rule ...
- 1,363
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1
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Is running the engine for five minutes before driving beneficial for the car?
There is a belief among a lot of people that you should start your car and leave it on for 5 minutes before moving it in the morning. Is this practice good for the car in any significant way, or it is ...
- 2,762
9
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0
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Did a Blackberry service outage reduce traffic accident rates in Dubai and Abu Dhabi?
A report from The National has been widely cited on the Internet recently:
A dramatic fall in traffic accidents this week has been directly linked to the three-day disruption in BlackBerry services.
...
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Are big cars and SUVs safer than small cars or do they just *feel* safer?
I've long observed that many drivers in the UK choose SUVs (which are often disparagingly called Chelsea Tractors) do so at least partially because they believe such cars to be safer. I doubt this ...
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Can remote starters make a car move unattended?
On an episode of a popular television show, a man is showing off his new truck. While bragging about the interior, he accidentally hits the stick with his arm, and puts it in gear. Then, when he ...
user4882
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1
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Do black cars consume more fuel?
Some time in 2009, California passed new regulations, banning black cars (here's one source) on the grounds that black cars have higher emissions than other colors of cars. The theory is that black ...
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1
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Are old car models more reliable than new ones?
I heard that components from older cars (like the ones before '92-93) are more resistant than the ones from new cars. New ones are made from cheap elements, so if you push them to the limit they will ...
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2
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Do speed bumps cause more deaths than they save?
After a few speeding incidents in a residential neighborhood, some residents will clamor for speed bumps.
In case your municipality does not have one, here is a picture of a speed bump (also AE ...
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20
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1
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Does driving a car in a lorry's slipstream increase fuel economy?
On UK roads, I frequently see cars driving very closely behind larger vehicles, attempting to stay in their slipstream, reduce drag and thus increase fuel efficiency.
Given the dangers of driving so ...
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Seat belts in cars save the lives of occupants in cars, but do they lead to lower deaths for all road users?
Reading and contributing to the skeptics debate about the effects of cycle helmets reminded me of the much more significant debate on seat belts in cars.
Most countries seem to have accepted that ...
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Can you improve a car's engine by driving the car fast?
Many car enthusiasts claim the following:
take 2 identical cars (equal horse power, torque etc).
give one car to an old person who only drives it slowly
give the other car to the car enthusiast ...
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21
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2
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Does waxing your car have a long-term beneficial effect on the paint-work?
Everyone, especially people who love washing and waxing their cars, has been telling me about the long-term benefits of regular waxing. They tell me that the layer of wax acts as a protective shell ...
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1
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Does a windshield provide most of a car's integrity?
I've heard radio car commercials and other sources state that a vehicle's windshield provides most of a car's structural integrity.
I believe that the company that owns the commercial is Mark's ...
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