Parallel parking

In the old days where you could see and judge the front and back of cars like my full sized 1968 Ford Galaxy 500, I could parallel park with full confidendence given a space clearance as little as 2 inches. (Takes forever to get in and out but I could park that sucker) With the newer cars, like my son's compact Honda, where I couldn't see where the front or the back of the car ends, I'm hasitant to parallel park even with clear space of 2 feet. Wondering if its just me and getting too old?

Reply to
Frank
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you and me, brother.

but the Honda Accords, at least, have always had terrible turning radius, that doesn't help either.

Don't worry, it'll all be automated in a few years, like in the new Lexus. Few years after that, car will drive itself home automagically while you sleep.

J.

Reply to
JXStern

Yeah, right... And we'll all have those air-cars and the jet packs they've been promising for forty years. ;-)

Reply to
Larry in AZ

Just glue some big tail fins to that puppy and you'll be all right. (wink)

Reply to
Just Me

Place a big empty box and find the 'point of no return'.

Reply to
MAT

Hate to say this but my 20-something daughter parks her '99 Accord as easily as I used to park my '66 Chevy.

Reply to
ACAR

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Always park in front of stores that have large windows. Watch your reflection and the car in front / behind.

:-)

Works for me.

Reply to
motsco_

When you "park-by-touch", as many do, it matters little...

Reply to
News

And in 1968 you could park by touch with little fear of leaving a dent. Even a casual brush these days can cause thousands in damage.

BTW, 30 years ago I could parallel park my 36' motor home a lot easier than I can parallel park any of the 4 cars I drive today. Part of it is age, part of it is lack of practice. Most places I go these days have parking slots or valets.

Reply to
Zeppo

Back in the 60s, American car bumpers are heave duty steel, perhaps about

3/16" thick. 5 mph bumper crash, no problem. 5mph bumper crash on new cars, maybe over $10,000 in damages.
Reply to
Frank

I had a '71 New Yorker that had a bumper that was the entire back of the car. I was rear-ended by a '78 Buick doing about 25 mph. It left a 2" dent in the center of my bumper that was not even worth fixing.

If that same car had rear-ended my '06 Accord, it would be totaled and I'd have been hurting.

Jon

Reply to
Zeppo

i wouldn't bet on that.

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what's important is that the passenger cell doesn't collapse. 70's detroit may take the small knocks, but for the big stuff, it only good at making hamburgers.

Reply to
jim beam

Not quite. The car would likely be seriously damaged at the least, but you'd likely walk away without a scratch.

And in a serious crash, the old detroit steel wouldn't hold a candle to the new cars. You're much safer in a modern car.

Reply to
Joe

That may be so but in so doing, modern engineering may have defeated the Darwin principle. The result, a dumber society.

Yes, Walt Kelly was right... "We have met the enemy and he is us."

JT

Reply to
Grumpy AuContraire

This only indicate crashes into immovable objects like a tree or a 1,000 ton boulder. A train wouldn't do too well either crashing into a 1,000 ton boulder as compared to a Mini Cooper but a head on crash between a Cooper and a train, I'll take a train, or even a F-150, any time.

Reply to
Frank

Jim Beam knows the Ford F150 has been improved since that test. But you are correct. In a crash between a heavy vehicle like that F150 and a much lighter weight vehicle like that Mini the mass of the F150 would cause it to use the Mini almost like a cushion. The Mini would decelerate rapidly. It might even fail (frame break) if the speed was high enough. That is exactly what happened to a Corolla that had a head-on with a Ford Expedition (same frame as the F150) near where I live. The driver of the Corolla was killed instantly when it broke in two and crushed while the idiot kids in the Expedition walked away.

Older cars were death traps in high speed crashes but in low speed crashes there was often little damage. Today's cars crush WAY too easily, bumpers are nothing more than plastic covered foam. On the other hand, in a high speed crash the engine is now designed to drop into the roadway to absorb energy and not end up in your lap. Overall, not a bad trade-off, eh? And don't even get me started about what passed for brakes in those old cars.

Reply to
ACAR

I was sitting in my '79 Accord hatchback at a red light with a car in front of me one drizzling evening, when I looked up in my mirror and saw that the car barreling down on me wasn't going to stop (or even slow down). I laid back in the seat and put my head against the headrest and just kind of relaxed, and next thing I know, I'm in the back seat, but the back seat is where the front seat should be (or at least close to it) and the car in front of me is in the middle of the intersection.

The car that nailed me was a '70 Chrysler Newport doing about 60 MPH (drunk driver, suspended license, no insurance). The impact wrapped the entire back of the car down under the tires (it was no longer a "hatchback"!). I don't know how I was so fortunate as to not get hurt (or why the tank didn't rupture and/or blow).

Hardly a dent in the Newport.........

I don't think I'll ever forget the sound and feel of that impact....

Reply to
L Alpert

Why on earth would you want to do something foolish like decelerate or stop?

;-)

Reply to
L Alpert

That may be the case, but I'll take the added safety when some dumbass crosses the line and crashes into me.

Reply to
Joe

Hi, Learn to use mirrors.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

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