The picture is a mid-’80s Pontiac J6000 that was brought in for brake work. Obviously that driver’s state doesn’t require safety inspections, but he must have noticed something funny with the brakes long before they reached this point. In fact, he admitted hearing a strange noise, but said the car stopped “just fine” if he pumped the pedal a bit. ‘Just fine’ was also how my sister-in-law described the way her minivan ran for three days with ‘that little red light’ flashing, right up until the moment the engine seized.What is it that makes people so oblivious to the condition of their car? I can understand being ignorant of maintenance needs, especially with car manufacturers advertising extended maintenance intervals and 100,000-mile warranties. But how can anyone ignore strange noises or that most universal sign of bad things happening, a flashing red light on the instrument panel? In the days when most instrument panels had only two ‘idiot lights,’ (‘Oil’ and ‘Generator’), strange sounds, odd shudderings and smoke or steam were often the first indication of a problem, and they provided plenty of motivation for taking an appropriate action.
But last month I saw a large Buick moving along in 70 mph highway traffic with its right front tire flat. Not just low, but absolutely flat. Did the car insulate the driver from the contact patch so completely that he didn’t know he had a flat, or did he simply not care because the car still drove ‘just fine?’For most of automotive
history, owning and operating a car required at least some knowledge of how it worked. In a few years, new cars will have some kind of warning light on the instrument panel that will indicate a tire pressure problem. But some of today’s instrument panels already have a dozen indicator lights, and many drivers still would not be able to identify all of them. My sister-in-law understands the ‘low fuel’ light though, because it tells her how many days she can drive before the tank is empty (yes, the van needed a fuel pump, too).Maybe it’s time for audible warnings. Some cars already have a chime that sounds once when the warning light turns on, but many people don’t know what the letters or icons mean, and as we’ve seen, some wouldn’t care as long as the chime stops. But a recorded voice saying “The BRAKES need service,” or “Low oil pressure, stop the engine NOW,” would certainly get more attention than a warning light in a panel full of warning lights. I’m a firm believer in low-tech solutions wherever possible, but if the brake squeakers didn’t annoy the Pontiac driver enough to make him do something about his brakes, it’s time to give a driver more information about the problem.For most of automotive history, owning and operating a car required at least some knowledge of how it worked. Today few people bother to read the owner’s manual, and some will keep driving no matter what noises or warning lights are displayed.If the car is going to be that automatic, it should also be able to tell the driver what it needs to remain safe to operate and what to do if it isn’t. The owner of that Pontiac learned the hard way not to ignore the brake squeakers, but luckily for him (and probably for someone else, too), that lesson only cost him a lot of money.
But last month I saw a large Buick moving along in 70 mph highway traffic with its right front tire flat. Not just low, but absolutely flat. Did the car insulate the driver from the contact patch so completely that he didn’t know he had a flat, or did he simply not care because the car still drove ‘just fine?’For most of automotive
history, owning and operating a car required at least some knowledge of how it worked. In a few years, new cars will have some kind of warning light on the instrument panel that will indicate a tire pressure problem. But some of today’s instrument panels already have a dozen indicator lights, and many drivers still would not be able to identify all of them. My sister-in-law understands the ‘low fuel’ light though, because it tells her how many days she can drive before the tank is empty (yes, the van needed a fuel pump, too).Maybe it’s time for audible warnings. Some cars already have a chime that sounds once when the warning light turns on, but many people don’t know what the letters or icons mean, and as we’ve seen, some wouldn’t care as long as the chime stops. But a recorded voice saying “The BRAKES need service,” or “Low oil pressure, stop the engine NOW,” would certainly get more attention than a warning light in a panel full of warning lights. I’m a firm believer in low-tech solutions wherever possible, but if the brake squeakers didn’t annoy the Pontiac driver enough to make him do something about his brakes, it’s time to give a driver more information about the problem.For most of automotive history, owning and operating a car required at least some knowledge of how it worked. Today few people bother to read the owner’s manual, and some will keep driving no matter what noises or warning lights are displayed.If the car is going to be that automatic, it should also be able to tell the driver what it needs to remain safe to operate and what to do if it isn’t. The owner of that Pontiac learned the hard way not to ignore the brake squeakers, but luckily for him (and probably for someone else, too), that lesson only cost him a lot of money.
