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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    Mill Creek
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    Old Car Safety

    I am pretty sure most of you saw this when it come out in 2009, but it is good information on how far the automotive industry as advanced in regard to auto safety. Larry
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPF4fBGNK0U
    Larry Smith
    1964 Futura
    347 stroker



  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    133
    I've seen this before, and it's scary to think I'm driving a Falcon with a solid steering shaft, no side impact protection, etc.

    You know what though? I used to drive a motorcycle, now I have four wheels and some metal in front and behind me. :-)

    You know what else? Cars are smarter and people are "stupider" these days, so we've likely made no progress, one step forwards, two steps backwards. Or zeroed out.

    I don't know how old you are, but I grew up in the 60's and 70's (but I'm only 21 years old), and NEVER EVER did we see anyone driving while typing out a letter on a typewriter.

    I imagine if I cop back then saw the absurdity of somebody typewriting while driving they would have just executed the culprit on the spot.

    Today, it seems everybody is "typewriting" while driving and the keyboard is a fraction of the size of the a typewriter's keyboard, and this driving while typing kills nearly 4000 Americans every year according to the Center for Disease Control.

    A few months ago in the parking lot of a Value Village, I saw a black car speeding through the parking lot, the driver did not have her hands on the steering wheel at all when I looked inside the car, both hands on a tech device, her head was facing DOWN looking at the screen. Unbelievable, but true story.

    Cars are smarter, drivers are "stupider".

    I knew an old long haul trucker, he told me that he knew other truckers who traveled over one million miles with zero accidents during their careers.

    I drive my Falcon like it was a motorcycle, meaning I'm extremely vulnerable in the Falcon and I drive appropriately. I keep my safe zones, following distances, I drive within the limits of the car, I pay attention to what's a thousand feet ahead of me, I pay attention to everything, as if my life depends on it, because it does.

    I will upgrade the Falcon one day, a roll cage with side impact protection, a non explosive gas tank, a jointed steering shaft, shoulder harness, and then maybe I'll be safer.

    The bottom line regarding safety, though, boils down to the driver of the vehicle. They will never be able to pack enough "smart" into a car to counter the incredible "stupid" I see on our roads. As the old saying goes, if you manufacture something to be fool proof, they'll just build a better fool! (Insert laughing emoticon here :-) )

    Despite all these safer cars, we are killing over 40,000 Americans on our roadways every year, nearly 4000 die from texting while driving, or tech use and driving.

    10,000 die yearly in America from drinking and driving, nearly 1100 of those killed are children, every year, yes, 1100 children slaughtered on our roadways every year because somebody(s) decided to drive while sloshed.

    Be safe out there, and as we said in the army, "stay alert, stay alive." Amen.

    Oh, one more anecdote, story. Remember the bad winter storm five or so years ago? I recall seeing this late model vehicle, computers, airbags, crush zones, seat belts, four wheel drive, anti-lock brakes, the works, it sat at the bottom of a very steep ice covered hill, crashed. The driver tried to go down an extremely steep ICE COVERED road on that hill. It is the hill that goes up from Lake City Way, up 115th Street for those who know it.

    There were many OTHER cars that attempted to drive down that ice covered road on that hill. There ain't enough tech and engineering in the world for people like that.

    The good news... cars are safer. Now we need to work on safer people. :-)
    Last edited by Wilbur; December 17th, 2015 at 01:25 AM.

  3. #3
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    Mill Creek
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    Old Car Safety

    All excellent points Wilbur. We all see the drivers that do everything but drive in their cars. Just last night my wife and I followed a lady who was putting her makeup on while attempting to drive. She was all over the road, both hands off the wheel. You see them every day on every road. And, you are correct about the drunk drivers. Thanks for the input. Larry
    Larry Smith
    1964 Futura
    347 stroker



  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Federal Way
    Posts
    906
    Pretty much agree Wilbur. I think traffic is much worse now too.
    I drive (have driven and will again drive) (the falcon) with the same attitude, plus assume my brakes may not work! Hopefully that gets a step better. I only plan to add lap belts + I am completely redoing the brake system and switching to a double master. Add to that...I won't put a lot of miles on it. All that said, somehow nobody ever died in my falcon after all these years and it was driven pretty hard a few of those years. On the other hand...it doesn't go that fast either.
    I do understand why insurance rates go down when you pass 25yrs of age however...so:
    The one area I cringe a bit on....when I see that a 16yr old (especially male) has a falcon as a "daily driver"...especially if it has some hp. Looking back at my HS days...I was a pretty aggressive and oblivious driver back then and pretty much thought I was invincible and a great driver (regardless of the 1+ ticket per year and year after year trips to "comedy club defensive driving class" to get the tickets removed.) I can remember time after time that I would see how fast I could get the car to go before my wife would look up and ask "uh...how fast are you going?" (about 125 before she would ask. West Texas and Southern New Mexico have some wide open roads.) (That was in the later 70's and early 80's.) Now today for a teenager, add probably driving more miles, the wet roads up here, cell phones, more traffic, etc...it's a lot. Then there's "the other guy" you have to worry about talking on their cell phone while smoking pot, on drugs, drinking, on smapchat, etc.... For their daily driver at least...I'd rather have my own teenager in a modern car. My 2c!
    Last edited by dhbfaster; December 18th, 2015 at 04:04 PM.
    Don Bartlett
    Federal Way, WA
    61 Four Door Sedan
    144-6, 3 on the tree



  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Mill Creek
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    Old Car Safety

    As beautiful and fun to drive as our Falcons are, they have some glaring problems that get illuminated when we drive them in todays traffic issues.

    When I bought the Falcon that I am driving for my son more than 20 years ago, the traffic and driving issues were no near what they are today.

    He didn't drive fast, he drove it everyday, and is a safe driver.

    The concerns I see have nothing to do with how well I drive my car. It has to do with how badly the rest of society is driving their cars.

    Go online and look up crashes and you will see 90 percent have to do with a driver that either isn't paying attention, is going to fast for the conditions, or driving impaired.

    I have drag raced, circle raced, street raced, you name it. But nothing prepares you for what is happening on the streets of today.

    The points being made are all good. If you drive from the aspect that everyone else is trying to kill you then you will probably make it out and back. But their are accidents that none of us can prevent.

    I would rather my wife was driving a newer car with air bags all over the place, collapsing steering wheel, side impact protection, shoulder harnesses, collapsing frame and body components, anti-skid brakes, and any other safety improvement I can get in her car.
    She was hit broadside by a guy going way to fast, ran a stop sign after other cars had already gone out from my wife's lane. There was nothing she could have done. If that would have been in my 64 Falcon she would have suffered massive injuries. In her Honda she got a bump on her knee.

    Don't get me wrong. The Falcons were and are great cars. But, they can't compare in safety aspects of today. Larry
    Larry Smith
    1964 Futura
    347 stroker



  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Federal Way
    Posts
    906
    Yep...it's the other guy I worry about most. My wife and one son and I were on a hockey trip in Vancouver, BC. We had to do a lot of driving in poor conditions and challenging traffic in those days. Someone ran a light and turned right in front of us and boom...nothing I could do. We were in a late model Volvo XC90. The air bags exploded, the pyrotechnic seat belts exploded, and all the crunch zone stuff did its thing. $35,000 in damage to our car. Not a scratch on any of us. It was amazing. The others were in an old minivan and didn't fare so well. I don't think they were wearing any seat belts...so as you can imagine after I got the ambulance there they spent some time in the hospital but fortunately were all eventually ok. There is something to be said for the safety of today's cars. The next generation of cars might see that car coming and put on the brakes for me, and have no damage.
    Don Bartlett
    Federal Way, WA
    61 Four Door Sedan
    144-6, 3 on the tree



  7. #7

    One less 1966 Fairlane

    Classic car slams into pole; driver hospitalized

    1966 Fairlane.JPG

    By: FOX 13 News staff
    POSTED:JUL 20 2016 12:25PM EDT

    INDIAN SHORES (FOX 13) - A crash involving a 50-year-old classic car is under investigation in Pinellas County.
    Deputies say it was around 4 a.m. when Ronald Bartlett drove a 1966 Ford Fairlane into a utility pole on Gulf Boulevard in Indian Shores.
    Bartlett, 54, suffered life-threatening injuries and was flown to Bayfront Medical Center.
    Deputies aren’t sure why he ran into the pole.

    See: http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-...77060252-story
    Last edited by ew1usnr; July 21st, 2016 at 03:55 PM.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

  8. #8
    Non-collapsing steering column. You can see the steering wheel was impacted good.

    He's way off the road - over a parking strip and sidewalk to get to that pole. Probably exhibition of speed, or fell asleep. Hope and pray he recovers.

    Wonder if he's related to Don Bartlett? Don?
    Roger Moore

    63 "Flarechero"
    powered by: 347ci stroker | Tremec T5 | 8" 3:45 TracLoc rear



  9. #9

    For educational purposes.

    I saw these on e-bay under "vintage photos Ford Falcon":

    1962 Falcon - The driver was rescued by an heroic San Francisco police officer. He is approaching the driver's door in the right side of the photo. I am not sure, but the shape of the roof makes it look like it might be a Ranchero (see photo below). The back wheels look like they are shoved forward up to the back of the cab and it looks like the transmission (!!?) is sticking out sideways from under the hood. Yikes! A Ranchero is evidently safer in the event of a gas tank fire because the gas tank is under the bed and there is a steel bulkhead (and glass window) behind the front seat that separates the cab from the flaming gasoline from a ruptured gas tank. That might be why the driver in this case survived. In a Falcon sedan or coupe there is just a piece of cardboard and the back seat between the interior of the car and the gas tank, and the gas tank serves as the floor of the trunk.
    Flaming Falcon2.JPG

    1962 Ranchero. Note shape of roof and position of rear window and rear wheels.

    1962 Ranchero.jpg

    The caption describes a rear end collision:
    Flaming Falcon description.jpg

    A 1962 front-ender. The passenger compartment is intact. The lady inside looks OK.
    1962 Falcon.JPG

    A 1962 Futura roll-over. The 1962 Falcons were not having much luck. This 1962 would be a two door sedan and have a center post that would have made the roof relatively stronger than that of a hardtop. The hardtops were introduced in mid-1963 and were available until 1965, I believe.
    1962 roll over.JPG

    A happier photo of a little girl on the hood of a 1960 Falcon:
    1960 Falcon.JPG
    Last edited by ew1usnr; July 31st, 2016 at 04:32 AM.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

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