Guns aren't the only thing that separates the USA from the rest of the World

[John Hubertz]

Thought you might enjoy the following compilation of USA roadworthiness, I can attest to having seen an example of each and every one of these on local roads except the hose-tire:

http://imgur.com/a/2KmiP

[ZCarFan]

excepting those "lands-o'-chaos" Finland, Switzerland, New Zealand, etc...   

I recently read in a UK motorcycle magazine that in the E.U. only 1.1 percent of fatal accidents were due to mechanical failure.  At least one study indicated no statistical difference in this rate between countries that had inspection/maintenance programs and those that did not.  Seems to be my observations of the situation in the U.S. too.  Makes one wonder where the support for these programs comes from?

While these examples may be a bit frightening, it seems that there is little evidence that it represents a real risk to road safety in the aggregate.

Certainly were amusing. If I keep the camera with me I might be able to find some similarly-repaired vehicles around here.

[adamb]

That's fantastic. For subtlety I like the replacement Subaru rear bumper.

[JasonP]

I'd put the green side down on that sponge-wiper.

[WrightSounds]

adamB and JasonP already beat me to the punch... the "log bumper" on that Subaru and the "sponge wiper blade" are my two favorites for sure!

A lot of the angles and lines remind me of a Honda Element.

[ZCarFan]

A few years ago one of the locals had made himself a psuedo mini-ute out of a Toyota Tercel.  It was rough but even still was better than the examples in the link.

I do like the Pulsar though.  It's almost like the back end was in reality and the front had entered some sort of cubist dimensional warp.

[ziper1221]

The sponge is actually pretty smart, because it would keep the arm from rubbing on the glass.

[Kjhall65]

Silly me.  Here I was keeping my eye out for genuine W116 front seats when all I had to do was go down to the local store a pick up a couple of folding chairs ....and maybe a nice bucket to turn upside down, put in between them and use as an armrest 

Definitely the green side of the sponge wiper when there are lots of bugs own the windscreen

[Tony66_au]

Thought you might enjoy the following compilation of USA roadworthiness, I can attest to having seen an example of each and every one of these on local roads except the hose-tire:

http://imgur.com/a/2KmiP

LMAO!

I love it John, By the way its not just guns mate. (We love our Guns here too BTW)

I reckon WalMartians play a huge part.

[oversize]

Accurate statistics on RWC vs trauma are almost non-existent.  After all, who's gunna admit their car was unroadworthy and that's what caused the collision?  Or contributed to it?  The implications would lead to a denied insurance claim and render the owner of the defective vehicle bankrupt after paying huge repair and medical bills.  Even worse if you kill someone.....

[djenka018]

With RWC (road worthiness) being so lax in VIC (once at the beginning of the ownership), one would think that lack of RWC maintenance is major contributor to accidents and subsequent death.
But is it?

Poor driving skills and lack of fundamental knowledge of traffic rules combined with DUI of drugs (that means alcohol 90%) is probably the most common killer, IMO.

I've seen worse than those, have a look at this real life "Mad Max" recycling paper collectors "vehicle" (red writing is actually translation of  "Mad Max").

[Tony66_au]

Tyres, Brakes and suspension in that order.

I tend to swap out shocks and struts every 80 thou or so, Brakes and disks get lots of attention and tyres get flicked when they get to 50% worn.

I play a little game when im driving in the wet, I look for cars that are throwing a line of water off the center of the rubber which usually means the tyres are bald or close enough.

I taught my kids to watch this and its replaced punchbuggy on car trips as well as lights out and tracking/crabbing.

Extra points if they spot the same car that has lights not working more than once and as there are plenty around here that have just one headlight or no numberplate lamps it gets heated at times lol

We also get a huge cheer when they spot a car on the side of the road with no number/license plates as it means the car has been "GOT" by the cops for being out of registration more than 3 months and often you will see a line of 3 or more like this.

It got to the stage where my 2nd eldest son while getting his Mondeo ready for roadworthy went through and replaced EVERY bulb in the car with brand new units and replaced the brake/tail and indicators with LED units (And the flasher and hazard cans) as he wants to be 100% on external lights.

Another trick I have is to replace all the same globes if one fails, so if a brake light goes out they all get replaced so there isnt another globe failure a week or so later.

It takes 10 mins and costs under $5 so why not?

[Hemersam]

Well, I'll be a . . .
Those examples are a riot. My son might have to try to wood-trunk thing.
Hemersam

[oversize]

Poor driving skills and lack of fundamental knowledge of traffic rules combined with DUI of drugs (that means alcohol 90%) is probably the most common killer, IMO.

I agree that this is far worse than vehicle condition and I wish there was an easy way to solve the problem....  Maybe move to Europe??   

[djenka018]

...
I agree that this is far worse than vehicle condition and I wish there was an easy way to solve the problem....  Maybe move to Europe??   

Every place on earth has it own flaws... it's the combination of lesser importance flaws that makes a place most desirable for living and Europe is far from that. Not even Germany that probably has statistically most skilled drivers who statistically know the best and obey the traffic rules most of the time.

I dream of becoming pedestrian-to-work again.
Weekend and after hours drive become twice as fun.