Page 29 - MotorTrend (March 2020)
P. 29
3.20 I TREND
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Cops and Jobbers died per year because of higher speed
On pages 36 and 37 of your December limits. Ludicrous! Executive editor Mark
issue, there’s a picture of all the exotics Rechtin forgot to report that the 100
you used in this road test. My eyes insurance companies that fund IIHS
went right to the California Highway Reader on location usurp over $10 billion annually from
Patrol Dodge Charger, parked on the speed enforcement.
shoulder. At a fraction of the cost of those This month’s reader on location is As usual, their methodology is
Gary Hayvice of Sydney, Australia.
hothouse exotics—and a good-looking dishonest. They use a record safe year,
He writes, “I have been a reader of
car, to boot—I found the Charger more 1992, as a starting point. The “expected
MotorTrend since the ’50s and still
appealing than the gallery of big-dollar deaths” are based on temporarily low
have a number of copies edited by
supercars. Not too shabby on the road, Walt Woron in glorious black and fatality numbers. IIHS predicted 2,500
either. It tops out at 163 mph, according white, with blue covers. I learnt to more deaths after the National Motor-
to the Michigan State Police track tests. drive in New Zealand in my dad’s ists Association (and I) rid the U.S. of the
Sometimes less is more. 1955 Hudson Rambler. With its flash national 55/65 speed limit. Result: After
Henry Smith palomino paint and continental tire 36 states raised freeway limits by 1997,
Sorrento, Maine kit, it was an unbelievable exotic for there were 400 fewer deaths.
the time! Please find enclosed photos
Honest analyses of traffic fatalities
of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and
Reading the specs of the BDC contenders, show celebration-worthy results. From
a sculpture from the 2004 Sydney
I noticed that the Bentley Continental 1977 to 1986, when the limit was 55, there
Biennale called “Still Life with Stone
was listed at 67.8 inches tall—taller than was an average of 47,000 fatalities per
& Car.” This art installation of a 1999
the Lambo Urus (64.5)! But no worries—I Ford Festiva and a two-ton quartz year. From 1995 to 2015, 42,317 per year,
checked back to the last issue (they were boulder was parked on the Sydney and 2015 to present, 37,000 annually.
both in it), and it said the same thing. Opera House forecourt while the artist The joy continues. The mileage-based
There’s a pic of Jonny and Jethro next to painted a face on the rock, before fatality rate (per 100 million miles
the Conti, and unless they’re both 7-plus dropping it on the car, from a crane, driven) in 1995 was 1.73. Now it’s 1.09.
feet tall, something’s wrong. What’s up? crushing it in front of onlookers! Greg Mauz
Shlomo Shmulewitz Christoval, Texas
via email
Jonny and Jethro are indeed not 7-footers.
The Conti stands at 55.3 inches.—Ed.
Trust ..V1 earns it one ambush at a time.
.
Keep Your Meat Hooks Off
Kudos to Angus MacKenzie (“The Big
Picture,” December) for stating the
obvious regarding the distraction of using
a touchscreen interface for many auto- Glenna R.,
motive control functions. We become
incensed at people who use a phone while Dallas, TX
driving, which is discretionary, but have
accepted the mandatory interface of a
touchscreen. Many automotive jour-
nalists have been on the bandwagon of “ Love the arrows! Where’s
bigger, shinier screens as a feature while
ignoring the drawbacks. the radar? They tell me Ahead
I understand the marketing aspects of
a glittery increase in perceived content, every time. A detector
but other costs may be hidden. It’s
difficult to list the cause of an accident as without the arrows is like Beside
distracted driving when the distraction a car without headlights.
was part of a necessary vehicle operation. ”
Charlie McLaren
Behind
Whitehorse, Yukon
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