What car/driving related urban myths have you heard of?
Discussion
DrTre said:
The "pipeline" card scheme.
I remember this 
Did anyone else get the emails, and find it ironic that the guy orchestrating it all was called Ben Scammel (or was it Scammal?)
Surely you can't make that up?Also - flashing your lights at traffic lights does not set them off. What a load of b
ks. Motion sensors and pressure pads, go do some googling 
Morningside said:
snowdude2910 said:
The Wookie said:
That one about the $50 Porsche sold by the jilted wife... correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't exactly that happen to a radio DJ who was flirting with some celeb on the air?
Tim Shaw's wife sold his lotus for a pound after he told jodie marsh (I think could have been another similar type) he'd leave his wife for her. He did work on 5th gear for a bit (ginger bloke) but doesn't seem to anymorepwd95 said:
dp gumby said:
if you're driving another car and have the driving other cars clause enabled on your policy, then the car must have its own policy.
It does doesn't it....
Read the small print of your policy! All the DOC (drive other cars) policies I have ever had, have clearly stated it only covers other cars if you have said owner's permission AND said car has it's own insurance policy (as you technically piggy back off their policy, not your own).This is probably a similar misconception as to years ago when people used to spout "If you have fully comp insurance it means you are able to drive any car third party"
No, it doesn't...Read the policy for f
ks sake.dp pumby potrayed this statement as a myth
I think you miss understood my post.
dp gumby said:
if you're driving another car and have the driving other cars clause enabled on your policy, then the car must have its own policy.
I was saying that it's true. The other car does have to have a policy of it's own. I think you miss understood my post.
I have always read the insurance small print. It once saved me from having my insurance cancelled on the Scooby when my tracker wasn't working.
Two years ago my policy covered me TP on un-insured vehicles with the owners permission, last year it covered me TP on cars with their own policy and the owners permission, i'm waiting to see if this year has changed as i've just renewed.
When i was 18 i had fully comp on all vehicles with the owner present, TP with owners permission and them not present. As i had been very ill, was not drinking and had no back seats in my car i drove a lot of my friends cars that year.
ETA i mean that two years ago my policy did not specify the vehicle had to be insured, last year it did. 2 years ago I called, checked and they admitted that they would have to cover me, i discovered this as i was collecting a car for the ex.
Two years ago my policy covered me TP on un-insured vehicles with the owners permission, last year it covered me TP on cars with their own policy and the owners permission, i'm waiting to see if this year has changed as i've just renewed.
When i was 18 i had fully comp on all vehicles with the owner present, TP with owners permission and them not present. As i had been very ill, was not drinking and had no back seats in my car i drove a lot of my friends cars that year.
ETA i mean that two years ago my policy did not specify the vehicle had to be insured, last year it did. 2 years ago I called, checked and they admitted that they would have to cover me, i discovered this as i was collecting a car for the ex.
Edited by omgus on Friday 4th November 17:48
tvrgit said:
OK let's start from here:
How many sets of traffic signals have you personally designed and specified? I'll go first - about 200.
How long is it since you designed your first set? I'll go first again - 31 years.
Where does it say in the T2500 specification, or on the forms for setting up the controller, that there is a headlamp sensor? I've never seen it.
Your turn.
Seriously mate, it's a popular myth, but there is NO headlamp sensor in UK traffic signals.
I've no doubt you know more about the technical side of traffic lights, I'm just saying what I experienced. For those saying the lights could have just changed anyway, both times they skipped the red/amber phase so this is not normal behaviour. Especially the second time when I saw them change from green, amber, red, then directly to green as I flashed my lights!How many sets of traffic signals have you personally designed and specified? I'll go first - about 200.
How long is it since you designed your first set? I'll go first again - 31 years.
Where does it say in the T2500 specification, or on the forms for setting up the controller, that there is a headlamp sensor? I've never seen it.
Your turn.
Seriously mate, it's a popular myth, but there is NO headlamp sensor in UK traffic signals.
Is it not true that traffic light pre-emption systems exist that operate using infra-red light (genuine question, I've read various sources that say this is so, but don't know if that is just a US thing)? Could it not be feasible that the flashing of headlights in the correct sequence could activate such a system?
DodgeRam Van Man said:
Could it not be feasible that the flashing of headlights in the correct sequence could activate such a system?
More likely that a moving object breaking the beam would cause the lights to change, the fact that's when you choose to flash your lights is incidental, but logically around there is the point an IR bean would be aimed at, so as to mean the driver does not have to slow or stop for lights unecessarily - you also realise that distance so it's when you flash...DodgeRam Van Man said:
I've no doubt you know more about the technical side of traffic lights, I'm just saying what I experienced. For those saying the lights could have just changed anyway, both times they skipped the red/amber phase so this is not normal behaviour.
Your signals have a fault which should be reported to the council. Signals cannot go straight from red to green without a red/amber phase. Perhaps the amber bulb was broke?In any case, that makes no difference - they cannot change on headlamp flashing, they have no light sensor. They are completely blind.
The wee boxes you sometimes see are radar detectors (microwave detection). They work on a doppler effect - a moving vehicle changes the frequency of the return signal and triggers a demand for that stage (or an extension of the green if they are already on green). They are not IR, they are not sensitive to light.
swerni said:
come on, isn't it time to admit defeat on this one.
As the man who designed these things says " they don't have light sensors".
How can flashing your lights in any sequence make any different at all?
No no, see, flashing your lights definitely works, as does scratching one's balls. I was parked at some lights last week and I scratched my balls and they changed. There's no possibility of this being chance. Other things I've found make the lights change are remaining stationary, sniffing, altering the volume on the CD, twisting your head 23 degrees to the right and saying the word, "Beeswax."As the man who designed these things says " they don't have light sensors".
How can flashing your lights in any sequence make any different at all?
tvrgit said:
The wee boxes you sometimes see are radar detectors (microwave detection). They work on a doppler effect - a moving vehicle changes the frequency of the return signal and triggers a demand for that stage (or an extension of the green if they are already on green). They are not IR, they are not sensitive to light.
I'm actually talking about the system called Opticom (and others) as described here: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2005...DodgeRam Van Man said:
I'm actually talking about the system called Opticom (and others) as described here: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2005...
That's the USA. Not type approved in the UK, therefore not used in the UK. UK signals have mo light sensors.otherman said:
There was a bloke who drove a reliant robin over his inspection pit. Friend of my mates brother, in fact.
My brother did this! To be fair he didn't drive it over the pit he reversed it partly over. It was a small pit and so having done this you would leave the car out of gear with the handbrake off, climb down into the pit and then pull the car over the top of you. You can guess what happened - he would have got away with it but for the loud thump I heard from the garden. I arrived in the garage to investigate just in time to see him heaving the front back up and out from underneath!carmonk said:
swerni said:
come on, isn't it time to admit defeat on this one.
As the man who designed these things says " they don't have light sensors".
How can flashing your lights in any sequence make any different at all?
No no, see, flashing your lights definitely works, as does scratching one's balls. I was parked at some lights last week and I scratched my balls and they changed. There's no possibility of this being chance. Other things I've found make the lights change are remaining stationary, sniffing, altering the volume on the CD, twisting your head 23 degrees to the right and saying the word, "Beeswax."As the man who designed these things says " they don't have light sensors".
How can flashing your lights in any sequence make any different at all?
pwd95 said:
I was saying that it's true. The other car does have to have a policy of it's own.
I think you miss understood my post.
Legally, this is not the case, though many (most) insurers will stipulate that the car is covered by a separate policy. As others have said, read the policy. I think you miss understood my post.
98elise said:
Corpulent Tosser said:
98elise said:
martin84 said:
robsco said:
That if you run your fuel level too low, you start to suck up all the dregs at the bottom of the tank which is bad for your engine. Who made that st up?
People always buy this one but nobody ever asks where the dregs came from or how they got there. Baffling.t up?The more fuel you have in the tank the lower the percentage of contaminants, low fuel level,more crap being sucked into the fuel line.
Why do you think your vehicle has a filter in the fuel line ?
The simple fact is that it does, and anything large enough gets picked up by the filter. The crud does not settle in the bottom of the tank, and only get sucked in when the fuel is low.
I certainly don't make a point of keeping my tank full, but I do think there is something in the idea of not letting your tank run right down.
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