Getting back to the original question, “Is it possible stricter environmental regulations may bring back “old” and “outmoded” technology”, the answer is yes. Make emission standards draconian enough and we’ll all be walking, bicycling, or riding in horse buggies again. Sorry, electric cars are not emissions free. The power to recharge those batteries comes from somewhere and often involves burning fossil fuels and putting CO2 in the air.
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I can’t recall where I read this study, but when you account for the energy required to grow your food, transporting it to your local supermarket, preparing it at your home, and your body’s efficiency in transforming calories to mechanical work, commuting on a bike may be less efficient than your car’s well to wheel efficiency
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B.L.E., I have a book titled “The Good Old Days - They Were Terrible” (Otto Bettmann, Random House, ISBN 978-0-394-70941-3). In the book there’s a discussion about the filth, parasites, and disease in the cities caused by horse dung. It ain’t pretty. Horseless carriages were considered a great blessing, an end to the horrible conditions that accompanied countless horses in densely populated areas. Based on the description in the book, if we went back to horses we’d be pleading to have cars back. Contrary to popular belief, horses were not nonpolluters.
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Yup!
In NYC, in the late 1890s-early 20th Century, there were an estimated 150,000 horses in NYC.
If you consider that each horse produced anywhere from 15-30 lbs of manure per day, that gives you a total daily horse manure load to dispose of that amounted to 2 million to 4 million pounds.
Of course, it wasn’t all disposed of promptly, which led to an incredible stench during the summer months, and it also led to a very high death rate for city residents, chiefly because of all of the flies that bred in the manure piles. To that load of horse manure, you can add an estimated 40,000 gallons of horse urine, which helped to make things especially…fragrant.
Even with their noise and their smelly exhaust, cars were actually greeted as being a solution to the filth and disease problems caused by all of those horses.
I honestly don’t think that there was very much that was good about the so-called Good Old Days.
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Ahh, but we remember only the good stuff, right? That’s how they get the Good ol’ Days name!
It will be darn hard to get the weight out of small cars given all the stuff we’ve now taken for granted. Like actual vehicle structure, airbags, power windows, mirrors, locks, and automatic transmissions. Most smaller cars these days are FWD, putting the heavy end over the front tires rather than the Corvair’s rears so manual steering is likely out. Manual disk brakes are quite possible but that adds a bit of weight back in for stiffer calipers.
Yep. I have great faith in the general populace who eventually seems to get it right after some false starts. Beware of lobbyists, special interest groups, and career bureaucrats attempting to over-rule the general populace.
Interesting that now Washington is talking about attempting to impose a national reduced truck speed limit. So that mess that is on Indiana interstates can be spread to the rest of the country.
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The thing is many larger companies have their trucks governed at 57 or 62mph already. A semi fully loaded tipping the scales at 80k lbs does not need to be going 75mph anyhow. One of the trucks at work tops out at about 65mph and has a hard time maintaining that speed.
You could make the speed limit 85mph for everyone and you will still have hurried impatient drivers going 100. you will always have a speed differential on the highway so long as humans are driving the vehicles.
Hmmm… I seem to remember some kind of braking system that is self energizing and requires no booster, I forget what they are called.
You have a great idea, theoretically . . .
But enforcing it is another matter
I’m in CA, and have a CDL, as do you. We’re only allowed to drive 55mph on the freeways, but I observe most trucks going 70mph or so. Some are going even faster than that, while pulling multiple semi-trailers . . . !
Like my motorcycle has? You can even have non-hydraulic disk brakes, already in use on mountain bikes.
Like I’ve griped about before, the problem in Indiana is that trucks are going 65 and cars are going 70-75. The result is that you are continuously moving from the right lane to the left lane to go around them, then back to the right lane again. Or everyone stays int he left lane, blocking that lane. Its really a mess for cross country travel. Compared to South Dakota with an 80 limit now, the number of times you have to change lanes is minimal and traffic moves smoothly. Even the insurance industry has been trying to get Indiana changed due to safety and now they want to go nation-wide with it?
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I keep thinking about tire speed rating. Many LT tires have a 70mph rating
When we were kids pesticides were a major food group. Obviously we are still alive. As adults we have had to endure the revenue producing fads. “All Natural”, “Gluten free”, and now “Organic” 99% hogwash!
The toll highways are somewhat expensive but well worth it when you are on vacation with a limited amount of time. 4 lanes 120kph (about 75mph) and nearly deserted. I have also driven the regular roads with excessive speed bumps (mountains). Very much patience is required.
We have the highway memorials here. It comes with a large Latino population. Overall I have absolutely no problems with these honest, hard working people.
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I’ve seen that analysis; it doesn’t take into account that people should be getting that exercise anyway if they’re healthy enough.
Better to get the advantage of transportation rather than wasting the energy on a stationary bike at the gym (and paying a membership fee as well).
I don’t really pay much attention to the roadside memorials and would be the last one to prohibit the family or friends from placing it there. Quite a few are for dead Caucasians. Some are at well marked in advance including flashing yellow lights very tight curves around a bridge abutment and could possibly save a life or two.
You also have to consider the standby fuel consumption of a human, the amount of energy consumed just by being alive. When you start doing a lot of exercise that builds lots of muscles, you increase that standby energy consumption. Big muscles burn energy even when just standing by. That’s why unneeded muscles are the first thing to go away when you stop exercising. It’s a survival advantage during famines.
When flying isn’t needed for survival, like on an island without predators, birds de-evolve the ability to fly because not having the muscle mass needed for flying is a survival advantage during famines.
As a former hardcore cyclist no longer able to ride due to age-related medical issues, who is also father to a man who’s a hardcore cyclist who raced with a team out of southern CA, I feel compelled to point out that only very rarely is using a bicycle to get to and from work possible. Especially in NH, where commuting by bicycle would mean riding to and from work on bad roads in the dark and behind snowbanks where motorists can’t see you… through their windshields… often filthy dirty from the weather. There’s simply no way around it; commuting on a bicycle in NH is impossible. Sounds wonderful on paper, but after almost getting killed in the winter countless times I gave up trying to ride during the week from fall through spring, even for pleasure. My son gave up bike commuting after numerous close calls in southern CA.
Those who promote commuting by bicycle would seem to have extremely limited exposure to the real world.
Besides, who wants to don a business suit and meet with clients all sweaty after a bike ride?
Strictly from a mechanical efficiency standpoint, nothing beats a bike. Name me one other means of transport that can carry ten times its own weight with only limited expense of energy and no fuel other than the rider’s calories. In less developed countries, and in some densely-populated countries where the weather permits (I’m thinking off Asian countries), bicycles and tricycles are a main form of transportation, even used to deliver goods to market. I’ve seen tricycles with huge loads of perishable goods (hay, fruits, etc.) being pedaled on unpaved roads. And Pedicabs are so common in some Asian cities as to be a part of the landscape.
I remember the power drum brakes which were like an on and off switch. Paired with the lack of seat belts they could result in a nice print of your passenger’s face on the inside of your windshield. The early power steering was not only touchy but very vague with no feedback. Strangely the non-power drum brakes on my 1960 Rambler Custom became very sensitive (grabby) after going through a puddle. Lightly touching them for a couple blocks returned them to normal. To this day I have no idea why.