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Honestly, with all the new features cars come with standard these days and how well suspensions and steering components work, driving is kind of boring. If I'm in my big ol' 83 bronco (sold, sadly), that was one fun truck to drive. No power steering, dodged and weaved in a straight line due to Ford's AWESOME TTB setup (sarcasm abound)......I loved that truck. Never a dull moment.
I drove a uHaul truck just this morning to drop it off and even that was more fun than a "creature comfort" car.
Honestly, with all the new features cars come with standard these days and how well suspensions and steering components work, driving is kind of boring. If I'm in my big ol' 83 bronco (sold, sadly), that was one fun truck to drive. No power steering, dodged and weaved in a straight line due to Ford's AWESOME TTB setup (sarcasm abound)......I loved that truck. Never a dull moment.
I drove a uHaul truck just this morning to drop it off and even that was more fun than a "creature comfort" car.
Not defending anything, just an observation.
It's always the rickety p.o.s. death trap that you always miss driving
What i've noticed is that today's parents tend to coddle their teens & support them financially in ways that would be considered extravagant & spoiling 20 yrs ago. Kids today don't have to work part-time jobs to get their Iphone, Ipad or Xbox.
Quote:
Why should they bother to drive when mommy and daddy provide everything for them. If parents deem a cell phone a necessity for their kids, get them highly restrictive phones as children. When they become teenagers, get them a prepaid phone and leave the buying of new minutes or features up to them when, not if, they start working. If they can afford a better phone/plan then they can buy it themselves on their own plan.
Yesterday a friend and coworker explained to me that his son just got a new I-Phone for christmas. He received the phone because he had lost his previous smartphone a few months earlier on a school trip, and had been complaining about only being able to call and text people. The child is 16 years old, and doesn't work because his father would like for him to concentrate on his school work. I too had parents who wanted me to concentrate on school work, athletics, and musical ambitions all while working to earn spending cash and pay for my vehicle. I didn't get a cell phone until I was a sophmore in College...It was purchased by my parents, but more as a leesh to keep a hold of me, vs something I WANTED to have. It had very limited minutes, and essentially no features, cameras, and one game. I actually didn't enjoy having it, because suddenly everyone could get a hold of me anytime.
I don't think that a lot of teenagers even consider practical things like that. They're cell phone/blackberry/iPhone has literally become an extension of their person-hood. It is an appendage that they cannot live without. It's an addiction.
Honestly, I think we're just now starting to see the tip of the iceberg, regarding this problem.
Totally agree. My 18 year old son is nothing like I was at that age. My car was everything. It represented my freedom and individuality. It was also my activity as I was usually fixing it or trying to improve it. And when I was bored I just washed and waxed it.
I handed down a mint condition 2004 VW Passat to him and guess who ends up washing and waxing it? He just doesn't care. As long as he has his Xbox, iphone and laptop he's happy.
Exactly. Why should they bother to drive when mommy and daddy provide everything for them. If parents deem a cell phone a necessity for their kids, get them highly restrictive phones as children. When they become teenagers, get them a prepaid phone and leave the buying of new minutes or features up to them when, not if, they start working. If they can afford a better phone/plan then they can buy it themselves on their own plan. I couldn't wait to get my first car! Thankfully this trend hasn't hit my nephew who is helping his dad rebuild a Chevelle Malibu which will be his when it's done.
And we wonder why we have young people protesting Wall Street for more entitlements and because someone else has more than them...
I'm only 25, but I couldn't wait to get a car when I was 16. Here in Pittsburgh, public transportation is pretty bad, so it would be hard to NOT drive on my own anywhere. Which brings me to the point about texting while driving... I see teens doing it everywhere. When you have tunnels on 3 major artieries into/out of the city, it's not great to see someone texting and swerving through the tunnel.
Totally agree. My 18 year old son is nothing like I was at that age. My car was everything. It represented my freedom and individuality. It was also my activity as I was usually fixing it or trying to improve it. And when I was bored I just washed and waxed it.
I handed down a mint condition 2004 VW Passat to him and guess who ends up washing and waxing it? He just doesn't care. As long as he has his Xbox, iphone and laptop he's happy.
Ummm, dad, I'd like to have that 04 Passat if I may... I'll PM you my address.
An interesting twist on a growing concern.........
THis quote is telling:
"By all means, we should ban texting while driving, or at least try. But we need to work urgently on making driving less necessary in the first place. Let's get our hands off the wheel and onto the keypad -- where they belong."
the point of the article is not texting while diring, but the fact that tens dont' want to drive in the first place. It's about the ability to be instantly connected to all their friends no matter where they are. Not that they'd rather be texting while driving, but that they'd rather be texting THAN driving, and prefer not to be in cars at all. We talked about this in a previous thread a couple months ago:
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