I am posting this to inspire a debate because this is what I see on a daily basis as both as auto mechanic and bike commuter.
The first photo is a months worth of recycling and represents approximately 60% of customers who do not decline recommendations of service.
The second is a set of brake rotors I replaced out of my pocket for a car that had multiple child car seats in it.
My question is, If both the individual and the state do not take adequate action to protect the safety of families while driving. Where is the priority to protect the safety of others while doing so?
Very nice of you to replace those rotors. It's nice to hear of someone that gives without expectation of reward. Especially when you're trying to protect helpless children stuck with irresponsible adults. ++1
The scary part is that PA does have annual safety inspections. Not all states do. Imagine how much worse it is in a state that does nothing to even attempt to ensure functioning brakes and other safety related parts.
Thank you for replacing those rotors.
I don't know what the clientele at your shop is like, but I do have family members who live in rural, mountainous areas with no public transportation. The cost of keeping an old car functional through the winter with winter tires & gas means they can't even break even on part time jobs that pay ~minimum wage.
That's no excuse, it's just the reality that many folks are faced with.
More Bikes! More Buses!
Snow tires should be mandatory like they are in Quebec and many parts of Europe.
No snow tires when it snows and you cause an accident/get stuck, hefty fines for you. Should as be simple as that.
$7.25/hr x 40 = $290.
... Which is how much relative to the cost of a set of snow tires?
[edit] not much! I probably have to buy a set this year. It looks like the cheapest ones at Sears are ~75 each. So, that is probably the middle/low end.
My job recently moved to Moon Township, so instead of a ~7 mile bike ride downtown, I'd have to take 2 buses plus a 2-mile walk or bike ride from the closest bus stop (~2 hours each way, vs 45 min if I drive). I can work from home half the week and am currently spending about $35/week on gas.
I don't know how people afford kids, much less cars.
Filing this among the things I don't want to think about while I'm riding. Or driving. Coupling anecdotal evidence such as this with findings that one in seven drivers in the US have no insurance should give one pause before venturing out in/on your vehicle of choice. Preaching to the converted, I know.
@Pseudacris, does your employer participate in the Ride ACTA van shuttle program? I used it daily while I was at FedEx.
Thanks, Stu! I never heard of that before. My employer is well outside the 1.5 mile radius they currently offer, but I am going to see if there is any possibility for expansion. THanks!
Kudos VeloE for doing those brake rotors. I'm sure as a business person this is constantly on your mind, but if if makes your bank account feel any better, there is definitely an economic value to not letting a condition back out the door in terms of potential liability.
In regard to vehicle maintenance though, I would think accidents from mechanical failure are vastly outweighed by straight up driver fk-ups. Society needs to take much more drastic measures to fix the loose nuts behind the steering wheels.
Pseuda, would you consider a commute something like this:
Mon. am., leave a bike at a 28x stop near home, drive car to Moon.
Mon. pm., drive to Ikea, leave car for the night, take 28x back to bike, and home.
Tues. am. Reverse Mon. pm, repeat all week until Fri. pm., Fri pm. drive car home.
Might save you a bunch of wear on the car and gas. Just a thought.
Getting OT: I took the 28X for the first time in a while at rush hour. I was baffled by the number of people who got off at IKEA dressed in suits and went to their cars.
Did they come to some sort of agreement or are they just doing it because no one has gotten towed yet?
Saw recently on the PAT twitter feed that IKEA is not an approved park&ride location.
Pseudacris, where are you coming from? Can you ride to a 28X, bus to IKEA, and ride from there?
ETA: Oh, wait, that's probably exactly the trip you're describing. Never mind...
To do the "hide and ride" thing right, particularly at Ikea, park your car in a variety of places. There are at least three other bus stops in RTC: Steak & Shake, the corner by the Mall, and top of the hill by the bank (across from Applebees). Try a different parking lot each night, and don't take a particularly good spot, and neither a particularly distant one. Just a couple rows over and a dozen spaces out from the most desirable spots, so it just looks like you left the car there overnight once. Also try not *ever* to use the Ikea lot itself, unless you're waaay back the other side of the building so you look like an employee. Thus, if the "big hook" does come, they'll just yank the cars near the shelter and ignore the cars parked where all the employees park.
As to the ACTA van, ask the driver, say where you work, maybe you're already in the clear.
Thanks for the suggestions, all & sorry for the threadjack. VeloEvangelist's OP points to a HUGE problem.
It only gets worse:
Economic trouble is always the reason for declined repairs.
I would like to think if no one was broke then the issues of unmaintained cars would be non existent, but you never know.
Some people do have the "run it into the ground then buy another one" mentality.
Also when communicating with customers I find that when it put very clear that they can not afford to keep there car safe there is no consideration beyond brief sarcasm of using alternative transportation.
It is almost as-if there is too much pride to lose by taking the bus. Cycling is unthinkable, so their car continues to be driven in a unsafe condition typically up to the point that the yearly inspection is due or needs towed in.
Both responsibility and culturally viewing driving as a birth right are factors I believe.
Having crappily maintained cars certainly speaks to the general irresponsibility of a lot of drivers - but I don't think mechanical problems are a significant cause of crashes compared to driver incompetence, inattention, etc.
acording to a report i read a few years ago the accident rate in states that have no saftey inspection program is no higher than pennsylvanias. Salty is right on target with his comment.
