[ds968]

too funny, saw this story and have to share



http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/fir....html?vp=1

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[94SilverCab]

http://behindthewheel.com.au/news/bmw-dr...ated-poll/



Jay

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[Chris Vais]

We all know that BMW drivers have certain superior arrogance about them. No Porsche driver would ever park this close to a hydrant, not because we are any less superior or arrogant, but we cause we are terrified some dog will come to pee on the hydrant, miss and hit the car instead.

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[ds968]

Spoke to a volunteer fire fighter that plays soccer with us - he said those guys were very kind because busting the windows was the option which would cause the least amount of damage to the car ; the alternatives : 1) run it over the roof or hood or trunk - the weight of the hose and with water running trough it would make a huge dent in any of those surfaces 2) run the hose around the car - not an option, they have to be as straight as possible to be efficient at all, any bend in it won't do...3) use the fire truck to push that POS out of there and total the damn thing so the driver learns a lesson , but he admits that in Boston the car may have been parked between two others so as tempting as option 3 sounds, it probably wasn't feasible without collateral damage.

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[Bulti]

They forgot to mention white van drivers...

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[ds968]

I think the majority of people in these parts would be happier if that was a Prius. And surprised it wasn't, considering that it was parked with such blatant disregard and consideration to anyone or anything else, lol.

On a related subject, in San Francisco where finding a parking spot is also pretty much an exercise in futility, a group of pranksters have started a "Smart car tipping" game by driving around the city at night and flipping Smart cars on their sides leaving them in that position for tne owners to discover in the morning. There are a lot of those cars in San Fran ( ideal vehicle really, for parking in the numerous short curb spaces there where nothing else fits but a motorcycle ) and I think they already did that to more than a half dozen cars in the first couple of days this week with the prank continuing still.. Now it seems a few possible copy cat gangs started to compete with the original punks and are bent on setting a record. At first , when the news was showing all these little cars resting on their sides all over the city's streets it looked funny and almost like modern art in a bizarre way, but once you realize how much damage that causes to someone else's property it's anything but funny tand nothing more than obnoxious vandalism. I also think it's a felony. Or if it's not, it should be.

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[Rap]

I'd shoot somebody I caught tipping my car

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[Chris Vais]

Tipping and flipping Smart Cars. I saw that on the news the other day as well. It causes a significant amount of damage to the cars, it most certainly isn't a harmless prank it just vandalism pure and simple.

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[Carl968]

The Boston FD, BMW thing could really be attributed to the BMW arrogance combined with the Boston arrogance. And this is just appropriate for the owners obvious ignorance and arrogance.

BTW, I own a 3 series and I'm not arrogant.

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[wildcat]

[quote name='Chris Vais' timestamp='1397239110' post='156755']

it most certainly isn't a harmless prank it just vandalism pure and simple.

[/quote]



You're right of course but on the other hand it points to the fact that those cars are suicide boxes, and it brings that fact to the attention of those driving them... on the other hand if they're not smart enough to figure it out for themselves, maybe its just a case of "natural selection".

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[Langley968]

[quote name='wildcat' timestamp='1397247323' post='156759']

those cars are suicide boxes, and it brings that fact to the attention of those driving them...

[/quote]



I think you may want to reconsider that statement. The Smart car is built and works much like a football helmet.

Take a look at the following clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz-s1sIoLhU

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[Cloud9...68]

It's a shame it does so much damage to the cars. Otherwise, it would be pretty funny. Hey, maybe there's a market for hooligans with a conscience - a thick foam pad strategically shaped to prevent damage. Although, having all the fluid containers tipped on their sides probably isn't a good thing, either... Oh, well, another entrepreneurial venture dashed before it gets off the ground...

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[flash]

lol - reminds me of my high school days. we used to regularly do things like that to the vice principal's bugeye. we would move it around the parking lot, flip it sideways in the parking space, stand it up against a wall, and once we put it on the roof of the school

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[ds968]

[quote name='Chris Vais' timestamp='1397239110' post='156755']Tipping and flipping Smart Cars. I saw that on the news the other day as well. It causes a significant amount of damage to the cars, it most certainly isn't a harmless prank it just vandalism pure and simple.[/quote]



The media is speculating this might be part of a recent protest movement against the huge growth in "Googelites" and "Facebookers" among numerous other Silicon Valley types buying multi million dollar condos and creating continuous demand for what is perceived to be overbuilding in the already crowded city, as well as pushing out non-millionaires who simply can't afford to rent new apartments any more. The new residents are supposedly known for buying up Smart cars they can park in tiny spaces so now they're targets of those who resent the new reality. Allegedly the FaceGooglers are also buying multi unit buildings ( the city has rent control ) and finding creative but legal ways to evict residents and flip the apartments. Allegedly...because that does not sound to be an easy task given how protective the laws of San Fran are in that respect. But anyway, that's the new theory behind this vandalism . One of the largest fires in recent memory was just a few months ago when a huge condo development still in construction burned to the ground and arson was suspected to have been committed by the protesters. So beware if you're planning to drive your Smart car to your shiny new condo in San Fran, lol.

Hmm, I wonder why we don't see tipped Teslas around where I live or work, in these parts they're taking over at a faster rate than SUVs did in their heyday . No need to set fire to those Teslas however, they manage that on their own...just like GT3s :-) :-).

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[ds968]

[quote name='JTP' timestamp='1397283389' post='156784']

The Smart car has a surprisingly high safety rating.[/quote]



It does. I think the Mini Copper, the Fiat 500 and the new VW bug also scored pretty high in the safety rankings, but still not sure I'd feel all that safe and want to be in one of those cars in a major accident. Then again, I'm not all that comfortable being in a convertible either,so what do I know, LOL .

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[Cloud9...68]

Yes, the iihs crash tests are of course conducted by running the cars into solid objects. But even a well-constructed small car would be in a world of hurt in a collision with an SUV. Still, the way cars like the ones Dan lists are constructed is impressive.



Tipping a tiny car like the Smart Fortwo is one thing - It would take a small army to tip a porker like the Tesla! By the way, I still almost never see those here in relatively affluent, tech-savvy, progressive Austin. And when I visited my Mom in Marin last summer, I only saw a couple. Must be a Silicon Valley/South Bay Area thing.

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[ds968]

Yeah I think Teslas are definitely a Bay Area thing, maybe because the company's HQ are here and Elon Musk is a local celebrity so there is a lot of visibility, constant media coverage , etc..or maybe an entirely different reason, but their are so many of them on the road it's starting to get annoying. And mind you , I really like the look of the car ( the sedan, not that miniature Lotus-like roadster ), just can't stand the fact that they're silent and the all-electronic dash thing. But that's all subjective so to each his own. True, trying to tip one of those cars would require a small army...of forklifts :-).

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[MCL968]

[quote name='ds968' timestamp='1397316336' post='156798']

Yeah I think Teslas are definitely a Bay Area thing, maybe because the company's HQ are here and Elon Musk is a local celebrity so there is a lot of visibility, constant media coverage , etc..or maybe an entirely different reason, but their are so many of them on the road it's starting to get annoying. And mind you , I really like the look of the car ( the sedan, not that miniature Lotus-like roadster ), just can't stand the fact that they're silent and the all-electronic dash thing. But that's all subjective so to each his own. True, trying to tip one of those cars would require a small army...of forklifts :-).

[/quote]



I am a fan of the Tesla S. Our neighbor was an S and the Lotus-based Roadster. I think the S is a great looking car, but as a cyclist, I HATE the silent operation. They come sliding by and you can't hear them until they are right next to you. The Roadster is the worst, partly because it is quite fast, and partly because it produces less road noise than the Model S does. It will scare you out of your spandex, especially at the end of a long ride when you are pretty beat and not as alert as when you started.

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[Cloud9...68]

The other thing that makes electric cars like the Tesla well suited to the Bay Area is the mild climate. I recently read a study in Design News magazine, a big proponent of electric cars, about the impact of temperature on electric car range, and it's really horrible - even worse than I had thought. The range is cut to point of being scary, and this test only went down to +20F. I'm sure the impact of a very hot climate is also pretty significant, with the current-sapping AC running constantly. But I do agree with DS that Tesla being headquartered in Silicon Valley, and the extreme affluence of that area, are even bigger factors in their popularity.

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[JTP]

[quote name='MCL968' timestamp='1397317256' post='156800']



It will scare you out of your spandex.[/quote]



<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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