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If you lose the odometer and the gasoline tank level meter you no longer have a way to plan refueling on longer trips. Run out of gas in a bad place and you can

If you lose the odometer and the gasoline tank level meter you no longer have a way to plan refueling on longer trips. Run out of gas in a bad place and you can end up freezing to death (happens every year to people during blizzards) or dying from heat stroke (happens every year to people around Death Valley/Mojave, usually from getting their vehicle stuck). "Door is open" warning indicator is also part of the dash. Driving with a door that flies open unexpectedly could easily lead to a crash. Seatbelt warning lights not operating is a safety issue. Losing the battery warning indicator can leave you stranded, losing the ABS warning indicator can lead to a crash, losing the engine warning indicator can lead to very expensive repairs.

netsharc 9y ago
In response to your first sentence, if it were me, surely I would not plan a big trip if I just lost my instrument console. If it were my car and I was in the middle of the big trip, I would hopefully have packed my laptop so I can try to fix the problem. Door ajar? Seatbelt loose? Now we're just getting into paranoia scenarios. What if a nuclear bomb landed and there won't be enough gas to drive me away from the blast zone!
- sedachv 9y ago
  Do you do a lot of road trips? The only scenario from the above list I have not personally been involved in, as a driver or passenger, is ABS problems leading to an unexpected change in handling, mostly because I have older vehicles. Yes, I have been in a car where a door opened while underway. The one vehicle I have right now with ABS has intermittent ABS issues but a soft failure mode. Newer cars rely a lot more on ABS (especially in off-road modes), same goes double for motorcycles. Losing ABS/TC on a motorcycle drastically changes the envelope of safe brake application. If your muscle memory for safe brake application is (mis)trained to rely on ABS/TC at the limits of available traction, losing ABS/TC will very easily lead to a front wheel lockup or unexpectedly losing the front/rear in a lean.

netsharc 9y ago

In response to your first sentence, if it were me, surely I would not plan a big trip if I just lost my instrument console. If it were my car and I was in the middle of the big trip, I would hopefully have packed my laptop so I can try to fix the problem. Door ajar? Seatbelt loose? Now we're just getting into paranoia scenarios. What if a nuclear bomb landed and there won't be enough gas to drive me away from the blast zone!

sedachv 9y ago
Do you do a lot of road trips? The only scenario from the above list I have not personally been involved in, as a driver or passenger, is ABS problems leading to an unexpected change in handling, mostly because I have older vehicles. Yes, I have been in a car where a door opened while underway. The one vehicle I have right now with ABS has intermittent ABS issues but a soft failure mode. Newer cars rely a lot more on ABS (especially in off-road modes), same goes double for motorcycles. Losing ABS/TC on a motorcycle drastically changes the envelope of safe brake application. If your muscle memory for safe brake application is (mis)trained to rely on ABS/TC at the limits of available traction, losing ABS/TC will very easily lead to a front wheel lockup or unexpectedly losing the front/rear in a lean.