Jay Leno on the Growing Stupidity of Today's Drivers
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Jay Leno on the Growing Stupidity of Today's Drivers
From vwvortex.com.....
I'm going down a straight highway here in Los Angeles and I see an SUV in front of me in the middle lane. Then I see it slowly cross over into the far right lane. Than after about a quarter of a mile it just drifts off and literally goes off the road and down an embankment.
So I stop and I run down, and there's a girl and she's crying but she's OK. The radio is on so loud, I'm having to shout "ARE YOU OK? ARE YOU OK?! CAN YOU TURN THAT OFF!" So she turns it off and I use my cell phone to call the cops. They come and everyone's fine. They were just so distracted they drove off the road...
I started to realize that modern cars are safer but are also more distracting, especially with these new display screens. Do I really need to know that I'm one minute and 13 seconds into the tune playing on the stereo? Do I have to know that? Every time there's a flash or a change on one of those screens I find myself looking over. That's more time I'm taking my eyes off the road.
I drove the new Jaguar XK the other day. This has a clever thing where you press a button and the screen turns into an analogue clock. You don't have that constant light change where you eye is always moving over to the center of the screen.
The fun about driving old cars is that the entertainment is driving the car. When you're driving a steam car down the road and it's on fire, that's enough of a distraction to keep you occupied.
There are two new cars that give you enough entertainment without reverting to CD's and the like. One is extremely expensive: the Porsche Carrera GT. It has a proper gearbox and it makes all the right noises. I've owned the car for 18 months and I've yet to play a CD in it. It's the same with the Corvette Z06.
If all cars were SUV's I wouldn't be a car person. If I pick up a car magazine and there's some story about some new SUV, I couldn't be less interested. To me, it's the same as looking at refrigerators or washing machines; they just take on and appliance-like quality.
I saw an ad for an American SUV where the family is on vacation, and in the ad the sign says 'Grand Canyon 3 Miles' and the kids are in the back seat watching a movie on the DVD screen. Why drive to the Grand Canyon if the kids are going to watch a DVD?
It is not just the cars. All these gizmo's make us worse drivers. What happens is, as things get safer you tend to loose you innate abilities. I was driving with a friend of mine and it was raining and I noticed he was pumping the brakes. I asked him what he was doing and he said 'Well, it's wet, so you pump the brakes.' I said 'This car has anti-lock brakes. See that little ABS thing on your dashboard?' He said "What does that do? My Dad always taught me to pump the brakes.' I said 'Don't. You're making it worse.' He says 'I don't think so.' So I said 'YES! Read the book! Will you look in the book?!' The number of people that have said to me 'Hey Jay, you know about cars. I noticed in my car when I step on the brake I feel like a pulsing. Is that something wrong with it?' They just don't know how anti-lock brakes work.
We don't teach driver's ed in school anymore because there's no money for it. People just get in and they drive. No one knows what hand signals are. When I drive and old car I'll use hand signals and people will wave, but they had no idea I was going to turn.
People don't bother with the basics. After a year or so if driving, tires loose pressure, you go into a turn, the car rolls over and you sue everybody. a friend of mine had a Toyota and every day he'd complain about this car. He'd say 'I get on the road, I hid the brakes and it pulls left, it pulls right.' So I told him to take it to a brake shop and he says 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' Finally he was *****ing about it one day saying it shakes going down the road, it's a piece of ****, so I said 'Let me take a look at it.' He's got a flat tire! It wasn't flat-flat, but it only had 12 pounds in it. He put air in it and it was fine! He had a brand new car!
Never mind how much technology there is, driving is still about real people who have to think. A few car companies are working on systems that keep you between the lines on the highway. If that is the way we are going, it will pretty much be a nightmare. You'll be reduced to protoplasm: it will just be this blob that gets in the car and drives.
So I stop and I run down, and there's a girl and she's crying but she's OK. The radio is on so loud, I'm having to shout "ARE YOU OK? ARE YOU OK?! CAN YOU TURN THAT OFF!" So she turns it off and I use my cell phone to call the cops. They come and everyone's fine. They were just so distracted they drove off the road...
I started to realize that modern cars are safer but are also more distracting, especially with these new display screens. Do I really need to know that I'm one minute and 13 seconds into the tune playing on the stereo? Do I have to know that? Every time there's a flash or a change on one of those screens I find myself looking over. That's more time I'm taking my eyes off the road.
I drove the new Jaguar XK the other day. This has a clever thing where you press a button and the screen turns into an analogue clock. You don't have that constant light change where you eye is always moving over to the center of the screen.
The fun about driving old cars is that the entertainment is driving the car. When you're driving a steam car down the road and it's on fire, that's enough of a distraction to keep you occupied.
There are two new cars that give you enough entertainment without reverting to CD's and the like. One is extremely expensive: the Porsche Carrera GT. It has a proper gearbox and it makes all the right noises. I've owned the car for 18 months and I've yet to play a CD in it. It's the same with the Corvette Z06.
If all cars were SUV's I wouldn't be a car person. If I pick up a car magazine and there's some story about some new SUV, I couldn't be less interested. To me, it's the same as looking at refrigerators or washing machines; they just take on and appliance-like quality.
I saw an ad for an American SUV where the family is on vacation, and in the ad the sign says 'Grand Canyon 3 Miles' and the kids are in the back seat watching a movie on the DVD screen. Why drive to the Grand Canyon if the kids are going to watch a DVD?
It is not just the cars. All these gizmo's make us worse drivers. What happens is, as things get safer you tend to loose you innate abilities. I was driving with a friend of mine and it was raining and I noticed he was pumping the brakes. I asked him what he was doing and he said 'Well, it's wet, so you pump the brakes.' I said 'This car has anti-lock brakes. See that little ABS thing on your dashboard?' He said "What does that do? My Dad always taught me to pump the brakes.' I said 'Don't. You're making it worse.' He says 'I don't think so.' So I said 'YES! Read the book! Will you look in the book?!' The number of people that have said to me 'Hey Jay, you know about cars. I noticed in my car when I step on the brake I feel like a pulsing. Is that something wrong with it?' They just don't know how anti-lock brakes work.
We don't teach driver's ed in school anymore because there's no money for it. People just get in and they drive. No one knows what hand signals are. When I drive and old car I'll use hand signals and people will wave, but they had no idea I was going to turn.
People don't bother with the basics. After a year or so if driving, tires loose pressure, you go into a turn, the car rolls over and you sue everybody. a friend of mine had a Toyota and every day he'd complain about this car. He'd say 'I get on the road, I hid the brakes and it pulls left, it pulls right.' So I told him to take it to a brake shop and he says 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' Finally he was *****ing about it one day saying it shakes going down the road, it's a piece of ****, so I said 'Let me take a look at it.' He's got a flat tire! It wasn't flat-flat, but it only had 12 pounds in it. He put air in it and it was fine! He had a brand new car!
Never mind how much technology there is, driving is still about real people who have to think. A few car companies are working on systems that keep you between the lines on the highway. If that is the way we are going, it will pretty much be a nightmare. You'll be reduced to protoplasm: it will just be this blob that gets in the car and drives.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,068
Likes: 1
From: California
I like Jay Leno and his views on cars and driving.
Too many car companies are turning to technology to make cars do what people should normally be doing. I think it is a somewhat dangerous path they are going, considering the average Joe
can't drive very well IMHO. Letting a computer and some sensors decide on what split second
decisions to make is pretty scary. My TIVO can't even figure out what I like to watch, what makes
you think my car will know how to drive?
Of course Jay Leno is a car and driving enthusiast who is on one side of the spectrum. On the other side are Mary Jane and Joe Sixpack who could care less about how great an engine and exhaust sounds. They want to get from point A to point B in comfort. Distractions are welcomed to make the journey more enjoyable.
I see women putting on makeup in the car while driving on the freeway!!!! I see men reading newspapers. People drive with their dogs in the laps. Mothers are yelling at their kids in the
backseat. People just don't take driving very seriously. When I rode my motorcycle to work
everyday, these things are much more apparent since these distracted drivers can kill you
with one wrong careless maneuver.
Car companies are working on sensors to keep the cars in between lanes??? I can hear the
lawsuits already. "My new Mercedes is not supposed to veer out of my lane. It's not my fault I
killed that guy. Sure I wasn't paying attention and was talking on my cell phone, but I paid
for that extra option to have my car drive for me. Blame it on Mercedes for designing a faulty
system."
Forget all the new technology. Give me a manual transmission and a tire pressure gauge and I'm good to go!
Too many car companies are turning to technology to make cars do what people should normally be doing. I think it is a somewhat dangerous path they are going, considering the average Joe
can't drive very well IMHO. Letting a computer and some sensors decide on what split second
decisions to make is pretty scary. My TIVO can't even figure out what I like to watch, what makes
you think my car will know how to drive?
Of course Jay Leno is a car and driving enthusiast who is on one side of the spectrum. On the other side are Mary Jane and Joe Sixpack who could care less about how great an engine and exhaust sounds. They want to get from point A to point B in comfort. Distractions are welcomed to make the journey more enjoyable.
I see women putting on makeup in the car while driving on the freeway!!!! I see men reading newspapers. People drive with their dogs in the laps. Mothers are yelling at their kids in the
backseat. People just don't take driving very seriously. When I rode my motorcycle to work
everyday, these things are much more apparent since these distracted drivers can kill you
with one wrong careless maneuver.
Car companies are working on sensors to keep the cars in between lanes??? I can hear the
lawsuits already. "My new Mercedes is not supposed to veer out of my lane. It's not my fault I
killed that guy. Sure I wasn't paying attention and was talking on my cell phone, but I paid
for that extra option to have my car drive for me. Blame it on Mercedes for designing a faulty
system."
Forget all the new technology. Give me a manual transmission and a tire pressure gauge and I'm good to go!
CL Community Team
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 17,337
Likes: 213
From: Miami, Florida
There a few things I like such as GPS (can get aftermarket) for a long trip where I have never been, a fuel range display like I had in my BMW and just the standard gauges.
Still, being in Mexico City, I have gotten quite used to the driving here. Some things I see on frequent occasion:
1) When I am going high speed in the left lane on one of the highspeed toll roads ringing the city, some slob will (after staying in the center or right lane for the last 3 miles, move over into my lane causing me to brake). One of my cousins is a federal highway patrolman here, and he even stops people who do this in front of his police car. He even asks them what they were thinking and the usual reply is, I thought you wanted the two right lanes all to yourself.
2) Driving outside the lines is so common here, whether you drive a VW Beetle or a Hummer.
3) Talking on a cell phone and doing some insane maneuver in front of another driver, then having the audacity to open your window and tell that driver, "Can't you see I am talking on the phone, get out of my way (or they say give me space)". Better that these people just continue taking on their phone
4) Hit and run is common, whether in the parking lot or on the road.
5) Turn signals are never used
6) Chances are...nobody knows where they are going, so be patient
7) My personal favorites: 1. Going through a red light and expecting the traffic on the green will magically stop for you (they won't and people have gotten killed), 2) Right of way, the bigger the vehicle the more right of way you have 3) Since we are talking about Jay Leno, Jaywalking by far is a huge problem here
8) Almost forgot one that I see part of the time. Inching out into traffic to force people to stop so that you can make a turn. The local newspapers sometimes get some nasty pictures of fronts of cars (and people) chopped off for doing this. If you encounter this down here and beep, they just look the other way and go on their way. My cousin actually got into a fight with someone over this after some dink doing this went a little to far out and hit his front left tire.
Still, being in Mexico City, I have gotten quite used to the driving here. Some things I see on frequent occasion:
1) When I am going high speed in the left lane on one of the highspeed toll roads ringing the city, some slob will (after staying in the center or right lane for the last 3 miles, move over into my lane causing me to brake). One of my cousins is a federal highway patrolman here, and he even stops people who do this in front of his police car. He even asks them what they were thinking and the usual reply is, I thought you wanted the two right lanes all to yourself.
2) Driving outside the lines is so common here, whether you drive a VW Beetle or a Hummer.
3) Talking on a cell phone and doing some insane maneuver in front of another driver, then having the audacity to open your window and tell that driver, "Can't you see I am talking on the phone, get out of my way (or they say give me space)". Better that these people just continue taking on their phone
4) Hit and run is common, whether in the parking lot or on the road.
5) Turn signals are never used
6) Chances are...nobody knows where they are going, so be patient
7) My personal favorites: 1. Going through a red light and expecting the traffic on the green will magically stop for you (they won't and people have gotten killed), 2) Right of way, the bigger the vehicle the more right of way you have 3) Since we are talking about Jay Leno, Jaywalking by far is a huge problem here
8) Almost forgot one that I see part of the time. Inching out into traffic to force people to stop so that you can make a turn. The local newspapers sometimes get some nasty pictures of fronts of cars (and people) chopped off for doing this. If you encounter this down here and beep, they just look the other way and go on their way. My cousin actually got into a fight with someone over this after some dink doing this went a little to far out and hit his front left tire.
Last edited by Lexmex; Apr 14, 2006 at 03:28 PM.
Out of Warranty
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 14,925
Likes: 13
From: Houston, Republic of Texas
Some universal pet peeves here - among mine are the fools who cross eight and twelve-lane freeways - on foot. Maybe it’s an immigrant thing, maybe they're drunk or drugged, but it wouldn't seem the logical thing to do, no matter what your culture or condition. We manage to kill one or two of these freeway jaywalkers at least every month here. . . and it’s just so unnecessary.
The second class of moron is the freeway driver so hypnotized by flashing lights that he steers INTO them. Yes folks, whether a construction truck, fire truck, or police unit displaying enough flashing lights to qualify as a mobile disco, some fools, seeing the lights are drawn in like a moth to a flame. One of the first thing they teach in any track school is “look where your want to go” – the point being that you will unconsciously steer where you are looking. Go ahead, stare at those flashing lights like some rube who’s never seen red lights before . . . you’re about to get a good close-up look . . .
Say what you want about commuters who eat, read, talk on the phone, apply makeup, shave, etc. on the freeway – while they cause more than their fair share of accidents, there’s nothing so brain-dead as a driver who, having no other distraction, drives straight into a dump truck or a police cruiser four feet off the shoulder of the road - unless it’s the freeway matador attempting to execute a perfect veronica pass on a Buick.
The second class of moron is the freeway driver so hypnotized by flashing lights that he steers INTO them. Yes folks, whether a construction truck, fire truck, or police unit displaying enough flashing lights to qualify as a mobile disco, some fools, seeing the lights are drawn in like a moth to a flame. One of the first thing they teach in any track school is “look where your want to go” – the point being that you will unconsciously steer where you are looking. Go ahead, stare at those flashing lights like some rube who’s never seen red lights before . . . you’re about to get a good close-up look . . .
Say what you want about commuters who eat, read, talk on the phone, apply makeup, shave, etc. on the freeway – while they cause more than their fair share of accidents, there’s nothing so brain-dead as a driver who, having no other distraction, drives straight into a dump truck or a police cruiser four feet off the shoulder of the road - unless it’s the freeway matador attempting to execute a perfect veronica pass on a Buick.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,921
Likes: 0
From: Washington
I was behind a good one today, this lady is trying to pull out of a parking lot making a left onto the busiest 5 lane road in the city. She has a cell phone in one hand up to her ear and a cigarette in the other hand that is on the wheel. Opportunity after opportunity go by but she's so damn distracted she can't make it out, finally I start honking at her to get out my damn way and wave at her to make a right and circle back. Finally she realizes she doesn't have the driving skills to get out onto the road going left and goes right. oh yeah, she was driving a Suburban 
The worst I've ever experienced was when my friend was driving the steering wheel with her left knee, right leg on the pedals, right hand opening a packet of taco sauce for her breakfast burrito, and left hand brushing her hair into a ponytail; all while driving me on the way to school on the Jersey Turnpike.
That was the last time I carpooled with her.
That was the last time I carpooled with her.
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Rookie
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 83
Likes: 0
From: Europe/US
If all cars were SUV's I wouldn't be a car person. If I pick up a car magazine and there's some story about some new SUV, I couldn't be less interested. To me, it's the same as looking at refrigerators or washing machines; they just take on and appliance-like quality.
One of my favorites: people who briefly activate turn signals AFTER entering a turning lane, or beginning their turn.
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Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,243
Likes: 0
From: Maryland
Originally Posted by akhbhaat
Spot on.
One of my favorites: people who briefly activate turn signals AFTER entering a turning lane, or beginning their turn.
One of my favorites: people who briefly activate turn signals AFTER entering a turning lane, or beginning their turn.
CL Community Team
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 17,337
Likes: 213
From: Miami, Florida
Originally Posted by akhbhaat
Spot on.
One of my favorites: people who briefly activate turn signals AFTER entering a turning lane, or beginning their turn.
One of my favorites: people who briefly activate turn signals AFTER entering a turning lane, or beginning their turn.
I think if I recall the Florida rules of the road book (I am a Floridian, too), 100 feet before initiating the turn is when the turn signal should go on.
People here don't grasp the seriousness of what it takes to drive a car. The whole mutlitasking thing while driving... 
The guy I saw yesterday; cell phone tucked between shoulder and ear while leaning over to punch up something on the Nav screen.
The guy I saw yesterday; cell phone tucked between shoulder and ear while leaning over to punch up something on the Nav screen.
Pole Position
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 317
Likes: 0
From: CA
Try shanghai... there are no rules. First one to the intersection has right of way. Ive been on a bus that pulled a three point turn in the middle of a busy highway. Ended up blocking traffic both ways... The point being that crazy people are always going to do crazy things. Its up to the few good drivers out there to be aware of the nut jobs and try to anticipate the dumb things that they will inevitably do.
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,069
Likes: 1
From: Atlanta GA
My fear is the upcoming generation of drivers, those who will be behind the wheel of a car for the first time in the next 5-10 yrs.... Im in my mid 20's, yet when i first learned how to drive, it was in a 4-speed manual car, power nothing, and I mean NOTHING, back in the good ol days when your muscle was the one stopping a car and making the wheels turn!! I can say that im glad i did b/c I think it makes me understand how things work bette once you drive a new/newer vehicle.. I understand all the tech put into safety and Im very glad about it, but it's getting to a point in wich new cars are taking too much of the driving experience away from the driver 
While the features/comforts enhance the driving of the car, it also can be a distraction.
Like today...most drivers in So Cal got rain. But regardless, I still see them on the phone, fiddling with a Nav screen and tail gating....at almost the same time it began raineg with some intensity, there was a colission on 91E. On my way back, on the 91W, same thing. Drivers don't pay attention because they undertake other tasks while driving...no other way to look at it, it's stoopid.
Like today...most drivers in So Cal got rain. But regardless, I still see them on the phone, fiddling with a Nav screen and tail gating....at almost the same time it began raineg with some intensity, there was a colission on 91E. On my way back, on the 91W, same thing. Drivers don't pay attention because they undertake other tasks while driving...no other way to look at it, it's stoopid.