Use this tag for question about cars, trucks and other road transport.
Road vehicle with four wheels and an engine intended to be a means of transport.
Questions tagged [road-vehicles]
190 questions
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Are passengers inside cars protected from lightning because of the tires?
It's a common statement that passengers of a car are protected from lightening while inside because the car has rubber tires (which are insulators). An alternative theory often put forward is that the vehicle is made of a metal conductor.
The…
Brian M. Hunt
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Are recent claims from India of a car fueled by water and calcium carbide legitimate?
Recently, I came across a video and a news report where it has been reported that a man from India has invented a car which uses water as a key fuel component. The car runs on acetylene gas produced by the reaction of water and calcium carbide in…
Janus Boffin
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Have more people been killed by automobiles than by all wars combined?
I read this claim somewhere recently, and a google search shows that it's occasionally made around the web, but was perhaps more common in the 1970's (many of the stories I find online are people reminiscing over old protests).
At first glance it…
John Doucette
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Is using cruise-control dangerous in the rain?
A meme from Facebook with 62,000+ shares:
Excellent Driving Tip:
A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago. It was raining, though not excessively when her car suddenly began to hydro-planeand literally flew through the air. She was…
Oddthinking
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Can boiling water break car windows?
A friend of mine in Australia has heard from several of her friends that it's unsafe to pour boiling water on car windows in order to defrost them.
Online examples of people claiming it's unsafe include Lifehacker:
Remember to never pour boiling…
Andrew Grimm
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Why do we not have vehicles that meet or exceed the MPG ratings of vehicles that were available in the 1990s
I'm seeing some conspiracy theories making the rounds which claim that car-manufacturers are intentionally making cars that aren't as fuel efficient as they used to be. They often point to the Geo Metro and claim it got 50 mpg, which is better than…
jshen
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24
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Are big cars and SUVs safer than small cars or do they just *feel* safer?
I've long observed that many drivers in the UK choose SUVs (which are often disparagingly called Chelsea Tractors) do so at least partially because they believe such cars to be safer. I doubt this claim.
More importantly, the debate about safety has…
matt_black
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Does decreasing an urban speed limit from 50 km/h to 30 km/h increase air pollution?
Starting on 2021-08-30, the driving speed limit within the Paris municipality was reduced from 50 km/h to 30 km/h. There is a debate on the impact that this will have on air pollution.
The Paris municipality justifies lists the benefits as better…
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
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Is premium fuel "better"?
Is there any evidence that premium and/or high-octane fuel (petrol/gas for cars):
improves performance; and/or
improves engine longevity; and/or
improves mileage so that money is saved on fuel, even when taking into account the extra cost of…
Thomas O
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Do cars primarily built on a Monday or Friday have lower quality?
In his 1971 book Wheels, Arthur Hailey claims that cars that were primarily assembled on a Monday or Friday would suffer from quality problems due to worker performance/absenteeism issues associated with those days. Now, I realize that this was a…
Larian LeQuella
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Does marijuana impair driving?
Is the use of cannabis/marijuana/THC associated with risks when driving a motor vehicle, similar to impairment from the use of alcohol?
The conclusions of public studies seem inconsistent. For example, norml.org's Marijuana and Driving: A Review of…
Brian M. Hunt
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Does the US ban high-gas-mileage cars?
A recent YouTube video features a claim that the VW Passat TDI 1.6 and similar cars have been banned by the US government, specifically because their gas mileage is too high. The purported reasoning is that if many people bought these cars, the…
Mark Eichenlaub
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Do lower speed limits reduce gasoline usage?
There are three parts to this question:
Does speed have an effect on miles-per-gallon? Is there a more accurate causal effect than speed that would also cause a connection at varying speeds? (perhaps RPM; weather; tire pressure)
Are speed limits…
MrHen
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Did Jean-Claude Van Damme do a suspended split between two trucks?
This Volvo Trucks ad shows actor and martial artist, Jean-Claude Van Damme, performing a suspended split between two moving trucks, driving in reverse.
I tend to think that what we see in the video is quite real, however impressive. But perhaps I'm…
user16186
22
votes
3 answers
Do automobile manufacturers make parts wear out and break easily, just so they can make more money?
It is sometimes heard that automobile manufacturers design low-quality parts that wear out or break easily, so that they can make money on the repair or replacement of these parts.
I believe this to be true, and not just limited to automobile…
Keith Groben
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