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
21
votes
2 answers
Are more people accidentally killed by doctors than accidentally killed by guns and traffic combined?
The actual claim is something like this
The top five causes of death in the United States, in order, are
tobacco, alcohol, medical malpractice, traffic and firearms. According
to JAMA, doctors kill more people than auto accidents and…
TheTechGuy
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21
votes
2 answers
Does waxing your car have a long-term beneficial effect on the paint-work?
Everyone, especially people who love washing and waxing their cars, has been telling me about the long-term benefits of regular waxing. They tell me that the layer of wax acts as a protective shell and will prevent contamination (such as UV…
BaGi
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21
votes
2 answers
Do carpool lanes help reduce traffic congestion more than adding an extra lane would?
Many cities have added carpool lanes to their roads, in hopes of encouraging people to carpool and reduce traffic. The idea is that, not only does the road now have an extra lane, there will also be less cars on it as well.
I've had friends claim,…
TheEnigmaMachine
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21
votes
1 answer
Is it illegal in any U.S. jurisdiction to be in neutral at a red light?
In this related question, I asserted that it was illegal to be in neutral gear while stopped at a red light. The first comment to that question challenged me to quote chapter and verse.
Astonishingly, I may have been taken in by popular rumor. There…
KeithS
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20
votes
1 answer
Does driving a car in a lorry's slipstream increase fuel economy?
On UK roads, I frequently see cars driving very closely behind larger vehicles, attempting to stay in their slipstream, reduce drag and thus increase fuel efficiency.
Given the dangers of driving so close, are there any studies which demonstrate…
Mark Booth
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20
votes
1 answer
Did a man complain that his Pontiac wouldn't start whenever the ice cream he picked up was vanilla?
This story about a car that wouldn't start after its owner purchased vanilla ice cream has been used as an example of how customer service matters. (TL;DR The vanilla ice cream was faster to buy, so a vapour lock didn't clear).
Is this anecdote…
Paul Johnson
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20
votes
2 answers
Do elderly drivers cause the most accidents?
Has it been statistically or empirically proven that elderly drivers (65 and over) are responsible for more accidents than any other age group?
Some offer figures such as:
In 2001 drivers over 70 were involved in fewer crashes per 100,000…
Monkey Tuesday
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20
votes
1 answer
Did Lyndon Johnson have an amphibious car?
I came across an info graphic that says that former U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson had an amphibious car and would drive guests into the lake while screaming about the brakes. Is this true?
user11643
19
votes
4 answers
Does flooring the gas pedal reduce mileage?
Many websites that give tips on increasing mileage mention (typically in passing) that you should not accelerate hard.
Examples include (from the first two google hits on "increase gas mileage")
Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration…
Bahbar
- 301
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19
votes
1 answer
Does Ferrari cheat at track tests?
The article How Ferrari spins by Chris "Monkey" Harris contains claims that Ferrari has dishonest practices with the press.
How bad has it been? I honestly don't know where to start. Perhaps the 360 Modena press car that was two seconds faster to…
StackExchange saddens dancek
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19
votes
3 answers
Do electric cars create more fine dust pollution than comparable petrol cars?
According to this Flanders Today (a local Belgian newspaper) article (dead link, archive on archive.org).
a new small car on petrol in the city creates less fine dust than an electric car of average size.
The researcher, Bruno Van Zeebroeck,…
THelper
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19
votes
1 answer
Does a start-stop system for a combustion engine pay off?
A start-stop system stops the engine when the car comes to a halt, for example, in front of a traffic light or during a traffic jam. The engine automatically restarts when pressing the clutch or the accelerator. Obviously, this saves fuel and…
Heinzi
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18
votes
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Do gas pods improve fuel efficiency?
I ran into this claim today about detachable car fins, and was wondering if there is any validity to it:
about a five percent reduction in drag and corresponding five percent boost in fuel efficiency. One of the researchers was so excited by the…
JasonR
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18
votes
1 answer
Are Hummers more environmentally friendly than Prius?
I've heard this rumor a few times (example). The argument is that it takes energy to make the car, and when you take into account how long each car will last on the road, driving Prius's over a large number of miles will end up requiring more…
BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
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18
votes
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Is formaldehyde the source of the "new car smell"?
We bought a new car and the smell reminded me of something I was curious about: I remember reading somewhere that the smell of new car is actually the "smell of death" - that is, the smell of formaldehyde.
Here's an example of the claim:
Ahh, the…
chrisjlee
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