NASA proves once again that, for it, the impossible is not even difficult.

Actually you can kill someone with a bicycle. Hell, I damn near killed myself. Anything that causes your head to strike a hard surface at any significant velocity, like falling down from a standing position, will do it. Wearing a helmet is a small amount of protection. I got a nasty concussion and was wearing a quality bike helmet when I hit a patch of sand.

Reply to
Del Cecchi
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She left it running?

I had a friend that had it happen in his driveway. Took the open door off by catching it on his other car. Ended up in a snowbank across the street (car, not door)

Reply to
Del Cecchi

No. The car was parked and the engine was off. It had a defective transmission lock which somehow allowed to slip out of park and into reverse. Since we had a police report proving there was no driver negligence, Ford fixed all the damage (and the transmission).

This happened to hundreds of Fords in the late 60's and early 70's. There was a general recall of a number of Ford models for various transmission problems in (IIRC) 1973-4.

$%^& happens.

2 weeks ago there was a blizzard here. My family has more cars than fit in the garage, so mine was parked on the street. I moved it into the driveway while the street was being plowed, and while I was trying to clean off the snow, the car slid down the icy driveway and into the street.

I should mention that the driveway slope is approximately 30 degrees and it was very slippery ... so much so that I was having trouble just walking on it. The car was running (to heat up), but it was in park with the front wheels turned and the emergency brake set ... the car was not rolling, it was sliding.

Fortunately, the driveway is short so there wasn't time to build much momentum - the car stopped sliding once it got to the (flat) street and it managed not to hit anything. I put it back into the driveway, but this time I was careful to chock the wheels with traction cleats I carry for emergencies.

George

Reply to
George Neuner

That one triggered my bogometer: The steepest part of the Holmenkollen big ski jump hill used to be 38 degrees. I believe the new hill, to be used for the world championship in a couple of weeks, is less steep.

I'm pretty sure that with a real 30 degree driveway, there is absolutely no way you could ever make a normal car get up, not to mention park, there. (At least not in an area with a real winter.)

So how steep is it really? 10-15 degrees?

Terje

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Reply to
Terje Mathisen

Too cold to go outside right now and make estimates. Lots of steep driveways. Plenty of winter, at least in a normal winter, and this winter has been worse than normal. Sand is essential, but I don't think thirty degrees is out of the question.

As to the parking, at least without a curb, I agree. Most drives have a level place to park.

Sand, a running start, and front or four-wheel drive will do amazing things.

Robert.

Reply to
Robert Myers

Maybe meant 30%, which would be about 17 degrees.

Reply to
Dombo

Yeah, that value is at least possible.

A house with a 30-degree driveway would be un-sellable. :-)

Terje

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Reply to
Terje Mathisen

On 2011-02-11, MitchAlsup sent: |----------------------------------------------------------------| |"[..] | | | |> I have personally driven over 170 MPH without killing anyone."| |----------------------------------------------------------------|

No you have not. You have provided an economic incentive for innocent people in Iraq to be murdered so as to steal their oil.

You have also helped to make cars affordable enough for people who bought cars and died in them.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------| |" And I | |enjoy air conditioning, something that is a requirement down here in | |Texas summers. Try riding you pedal bike uphill to work in 103dF heat"| |----------------------------------------------------------------------|

Well, I admit I have never habitually cycled somewhere that warm. I do cycle a pedal bike into a town (almost five days a week almost 52 weeks a year) in which I work which sometimes has a temperature of circa 84 degrees Fahrenheit (circa 29 degrees Celsius for engineers and scientists), and I cycle uphill to work.

I used to habitually (almost five days a week during lecturing periods) cycle a pedal bike within the Arctic Circle to university at circa minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 25 degrees Celsius).

So, as it is possible to cycle in conditions ranging from circa minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit to circa plus 84 degrees Fahrenheit, I imagine that it would be possible to ride a "pedal bike uphill to work in

103dF heat".

|---------------------------------------------------------------| |"and arrive with a crisp shirt looking good and smelling good."| |---------------------------------------------------------------|

I use deodorant.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------| |"> Do you prefer to allow dangerous drivers to kill people | |> with dangerous cars, so long as they do not kill you? | | | |I prefer to live with the system we currently have and asses the risks| |I face myself, rather than have someone else make those choices for | |me. It is called freedom. Not having someone looking over my shoulder | |is called liberty." | |----------------------------------------------------------------------|

You deprived the people who you killed of freedom and liberty.

Yours sincerely, Paul Colin Gloster

Reply to
Paul Colin Gloster

On 2011-02-11, George Neuner sent: |---------------------------------------| |"I don't like to see innocents harmed,"| |---------------------------------------|

Hi,

Good.

|--------------------------------| |" but I'm a big fan of stupid | |people getting hurt themselves."| |--------------------------------|

Hmm, I can somewhat understand but I do not feel that way. Being stupid is not a crime and we should try to help people less intelligent than ourselves, or at least pity unfortunate people. If stupidity were worthy of the death sentence, then no one would be alive because we are all descended from morons.

|--------------------------------------------------------------| |"I have a real problem with the ever | |growing number of "nanny" laws intended to protect fools from | |themselves. | | | |FYI: the government has absolutely no concern for your safety"| |--------------------------------------------------------------|

I am aware of that. I am suing a public body for depriving me of means to live which it owes me. (A lawyer serving me did point out though that though the public body is entirely funded by the Government, it is not the Government. To the Government's credit though, it is paying a lawyer serving me.) As a result of this I do not currently have an income.

|---------------------------------------------------| |" ... it's | |one and only concern is to protect it's tax rolls."| |---------------------------------------------------|

That is not true but it is certainly a significant factor.

|------------------------------------------------------------------| |"If politicians | |could figure out how to tax the dead, they'd happily kill us all."| |------------------------------------------------------------------|

Many would, but not all politicians are evil.

Reply to
Paul Colin Gloster

On 2011-02-12, Del Cecchi wrote: |-----------------------------------------------| |"Actually you can kill someone with a bicycle."| |-----------------------------------------------|

Maybe we should restrict normal modes of transportation to walking and pogo sticks.

|-----------------------------------------------------------------------| |" Hell, I damn near killed | |myself. Anything that causes your head to strike a hard surface at any| |significant velocity, like falling down from a standing position, will | |do it. Wearing a helmet is a small amount of protection. I got a nasty| |concussion and was wearing a quality bike helmet when I hit a patch of | |sand." | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------|

Wow. Thanks for the heads up (ho ho).

I use a Limar helmet. What brand of helmet were you using, so that I can avoid it when I shall need a new one?

I am not actually aware of any fatalities from pedal bikes (not counting being hit by a vehicle which was not a bike). Are you?

Reply to
Paul Colin Gloster

Yes, I am. When I lived in Los Angeles County, a pedestrian (an elderly woman) on the beach bicycle path was killed by a bicyclist.

Robert.

Reply to
Robert Myers

How steep are the hills in San Francisco? I've never managed to have a protractor with me when I visit, but some of the streets there _look_ to have a slope of at least 30 degrees--with bidirectional traffic and cars parked on both sides. All the traffic lights and stop signs make it "fun" to drive there if you have a manual transmission.

Of course, they don't get snow there...

S
--
Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
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Reply to
Stephen Sprunk

And, of course, bicyclists are killed in accidents that don't involve automobiles. A former co-worker of mine was killed when he lost control of his bike going down a fairly steep hill.

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Reply to
Joe Pfeiffer

ly

I live in a town where lots are either on a fluvial plane or carved out of the rubble of the once-mighty Appalachian Mountains.

If you are fortunate enough to live here and have children, they will go to school with classmates from highly desirable socioeconomic brackets and receive a very good education without your paying private school tuition. Violence and crime are nearly non-existent, and there is good road and commuter rail access to Boston. People build and sell houses here in some pretty implausible locations. I have previously noted implausibly or frighteningly steep drives, but never attempted to estimate the grade. When the weather is warmer, I'll be on the lookout now.

Robert.

Reply to
Robert Myers

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 |

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0|

Incorrecto-mundo. These speeds were done on a race track with an ambulance within 30 seconds.

But back to your point.I drive my vehicles on public throughoufares in such a maner that I generally achieve 20% better than EPA fuel milage standards--and this was before they lowered the milage estimates (a couple years ago). No, if everyone drove like I drove, we as a country would need 20%-ish LESS oil. Yet, your statement implies that somewhow my saving of fuel has caused a demented president to attack the wrong country for the wrong reasons and under false premisis.

Mitch

Reply to
MitchAlsup

ng

l

I was sure that was true. I just didn't know of any specific instances.

I should correct my own post to indicate that the woman who was killed was on the pedestrian walkway, and so was the bicyclist, who had the option of using the nearby bike path but didn't--presumably because he didn't think his breaking the law posed a danger to anyone.

Robert.

Reply to
Robert Myers

I didn't mean to disagree with you, just to point out an additional instance to Paul.

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Reply to
Joe Pfeiffer

Sorry, I did mean 30 percent grade. Actually, not quite. Measuring ... it is 28 and a hair ... where's arctan? ... approximately 15.8 degrees.

Anyway, it too darn steep when it's icy.

George

Reply to
George Neuner

Robert Myers skrev 2011-02-09 17:53:

A long time ago, I read a story about a frustrated wife complaining to her husband, that quite often, when she stopped at a red light, the engine would die. After a bit of nagging, the husband tried the car, but could not reproduce the problem.

The wife then drove away, promptly to return, claiming that the engine stopped at the first red light. The husband took the car to the local repair shop for a more extensive test.

They could not find anything, which he told the wife.

Again she took the car, and again she returned, red in the face screaming that the engine stopped!

The husband decided to accompany the wife, and true enough. At the first red light, the wife braked, and the car key, which was in a keyring with 15-20 other keys, swinged and turned off the ignition ...

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Reply to
Ulf Samuelsson

30 degrees would be a 6/12 pitch in roof terms. Or a rise of 8 feet in the length of a car, more or less. That is pretty steep. It is hard to stand on a slope like that on bare shingles or concrete.
Reply to
Del Cecchi

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