4 ms·

I'm amazed there's a jurisdiction in a developed nation where driving a car with dead dashboard is legal.

by varjag 8y ago

stevehawk 8y ago
It's not, but it would only show up in annual or bi annual safety inspections, if their area even had them. In the US it's on a per state basis, with emissions testing on a county level in some states.
roryisok 8y ago
That was my first reaction. If I was pulled over in Ireland with no dash the car would be impounded. And the speedometer is great but what about the other info? Fuel gauge? Mileage? Battery Charge? Engine faults?? Geolocation won't help with any of those. That said I do love the PWA approach to things and I think more people should embrace it. Just... not for this.
- varjag 8y ago
  Really doubt you are legally allowed to use GPS based speedometer in place of actual one either.
  - cronix 8y ago
    Ok, but it's more accurate than the spedometer in my higher end car, which seems to be off by about 4.6mph lol. I was always wondering why those speed radar things on the side of the road that tell how fast you are going (usually in residential neighborhoods) were consistently showing me going about 5mpg slower than my car was indicating until I checked with my phone gps. So, I was consistently going about 5 mph under the posted speed limit because apparently BMW can't make a decent speedometer gauge! The fuel gauge in my dads pickup is also really whacked. Once it hits about 50% fuel left, it rapidly goes down to 0. Cars don't burn though higher rates of fuel just because of how much is in the tank.
    - detaro 8y ago
      At least in some places, e.g. here in Germany, the speedometer is never allowed to show a slower speed than the car is actually going, so they err on showing too fast (up to 10% allowed I think) so that never happens, even if you put the fattest tires allowed for the model on etc.
    - dep_b 8y ago
      I never had a car that actually had the same speed as I was driving. Always 5Km/H below it. You’re expected to drive 120Km/H where the limit says 120. If driving 121 would give you a fine that would be problematic.
    - varjag 8y ago
      All speedometers are regulated into slight plus from the wheel speed. This ensures you are not speeding unaware of it. Aside from the calibration issue, GPS has poor or no coverage in tunnels, underpasses, mountainous areas and between dense urban high rises. Prone to EM interference too. Not a good thing for safety critical device.
  - maxerickson 8y ago
    Are there jurisdictions that require a speedometer, vs requiring people to obey speed limits?
    - varjag 8y ago
      Most places I know about require that all driving-related equipment your car is fitted with should work. E.g. it's fine if your car has no ESP or ABS, but if it does it has to work. If your car had no turn lights or seatbelts originally it passes the inspection, but of course not if they simply don't work. So perhaps if you drive early model Ford T no speedometer is fine, but otherwise seriously doubt it.
- avhon1 8y ago
  I'm comfortable with driving without any of those things -- my motorcycle, for example, only has a speedometer and a non-resettable odometer. (It's like that from the factory. Many street-legal motorcycles are similarly equipped.) You know how much fuel you have by knowing the capacity of you vehicle's tank, how many hours or miles you have driven, and your pre-existing (or found on the internet) knowledge of you vehicle's fuel consumption. My car's battery gauge has never worked, not in the 20+ years that my father and I have owned it. (I don't know if it worked for the one person that owned it before him, or if it never ever worked.) The only time it would have been helpful is the one time the alternator died. OP has an electric hybrid, so it's a bit more useful to them, but still not critical. The "check engine light" is helpful to people who know little about their vehicle, telling them "please take me to a mechanic!" Otherwise, they seem to be more annoying than helpful -- the family minivan that said "I need an oil change!" because changing the oil yourself didn't reset the counter, or the endless O2 sensor replacements the SUV wanted. You could learn much more, and with less annoyance, by sticking an inexpensive ODB2 reader into your car once in a while.
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    That made me smirk. My motorcycle has a fuel gauge, but it's about as useful as a chocolate teapot. It manages a reasonable guess if on motorways. Normal riding and leaning and it may as well not be there. :) I just do what I've done with every bike, reset the trip when I fill.
  - kingosticks 8y ago
    I think the tyre pressure warning light is rather useful. Sometimes there's just nothing noticeable until that light comes on and you examine your tyre to find its deformed (heavy load and very hot) to the point of nearly bursting on a motorway at 70mph.
jccalhoun 8y ago
I'm pretty sure it isn't legal
avhon1 8y ago
Where I live (Indiana, USA) the authorities would only find out I had a dead dashboard if I got into an accident and they discovered it while investigating. There are no vehicle inspections, ever. As long as I continue to drive without causing incidents, my vehicle's condition is of little significance to anyone except me.
- lazulicurio 8y ago
  This is the case in most (AFAIK) of the US. Wikipedia has a map[1] summarizing required inspections state-by-state. Only ~1/3 have safety-related inspections. Emissions inspections are a bit more common, but nowhere near universal. I know where I live, it's common to see vehicles that would be unsafe driving at highway speeds, but no one cares as long as they work well enough for local driving. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_Unit...
- cronix 8y ago
  Or if they pull you over for something, but then the first thing they ask is to turn your car off so they'd never see it anyway. Usually you pull over, turn your car off and put your hands on the steering wheel so when the police approach they know you don't have a weapon in your hands, or at least that was the etiquette I was taught. > There are no vehicle inspections, ever. As long as I continue to drive without causing incidents, my vehicle's condition is of little significance to anyone except me. You don't have DEQ? While it doesn't cover the dashboard, it certainly covers other equipment on the car to know if you're polluting more than the set threshold. Edit: just saw the reply below mine as it wasn't there when I was typing. I didn't realize that DEQ (Dept. of Environmental Quality) wasn't a national thing. Every 2 years I have to take it in and they hook into the cars OBD2 port to read the cars computer to get the sensor readings. Before computers were in cars, they stuck a sensor up your tailpipe and you had to rev the car up to 6,000 RPM for a few minutes (something like that, it's been a long time). You'll probably remember the big volkswagon scandal over this for falsifying the data.
  - int_19h 8y ago

I'm amazed there's a jurisdiction in a developed nation where driving a car with dead dashboard is legal.

by varjag 8y ago

I'm amazed there's a jurisdiction in a developed nation where driving a car with dead dashboard is legal.

It's not, but it would only show up in annual or bi annual safety inspections, if their area even had them. In the US it's on a per state basis, with emissions testing on a county level in some states.

roryisok 8y ago

That was my first reaction. If I was pulled over in Ireland with no dash the car would be impounded. And the speedometer is great but what about the other info? Fuel gauge? Mileage? Battery Charge? Engine faults?? Geolocation won't help with any of those. That said I do love the PWA approach to things and I think more people should embrace it. Just... not for this.

varjag 8y ago
Really doubt you are legally allowed to use GPS based speedometer in place of actual one either.
- cronix 8y ago
  Ok, but it's more accurate than the spedometer in my higher end car, which seems to be off by about 4.6mph lol. I was always wondering why those speed radar things on the side of the road that tell how fast you are going (usually in residential neighborhoods) were consistently showing me going about 5mpg slower than my car was indicating until I checked with my phone gps. So, I was consistently going about 5 mph under the posted speed limit because apparently BMW can't make a decent speedometer gauge! The fuel gauge in my dads pickup is also really whacked. Once it hits about 50% fuel left, it rapidly goes down to 0. Cars don't burn though higher rates of fuel just because of how much is in the tank.
  - detaro 8y ago
    At least in some places, e.g. here in Germany, the speedometer is never allowed to show a slower speed than the car is actually going, so they err on showing too fast (up to 10% allowed I think) so that never happens, even if you put the fattest tires allowed for the model on etc.
  - dep_b 8y ago
    I never had a car that actually had the same speed as I was driving. Always 5Km/H below it. You’re expected to drive 120Km/H where the limit says 120. If driving 121 would give you a fine that would be problematic.
  - varjag 8y ago
    All speedometers are regulated into slight plus from the wheel speed. This ensures you are not speeding unaware of it. Aside from the calibration issue, GPS has poor or no coverage in tunnels, underpasses, mountainous areas and between dense urban high rises. Prone to EM interference too. Not a good thing for safety critical device.
- maxerickson 8y ago
  Are there jurisdictions that require a speedometer, vs requiring people to obey speed limits?
  - varjag 8y ago
    Most places I know about require that all driving-related equipment your car is fitted with should work. E.g. it's fine if your car has no ESP or ABS, but if it does it has to work. If your car had no turn lights or seatbelts originally it passes the inspection, but of course not if they simply don't work. So perhaps if you drive early model Ford T no speedometer is fine, but otherwise seriously doubt it.
avhon1 8y ago
I'm comfortable with driving without any of those things -- my motorcycle, for example, only has a speedometer and a non-resettable odometer. (It's like that from the factory. Many street-legal motorcycles are similarly equipped.) You know how much fuel you have by knowing the capacity of you vehicle's tank, how many hours or miles you have driven, and your pre-existing (or found on the internet) knowledge of you vehicle's fuel consumption. My car's battery gauge has never worked, not in the 20+ years that my father and I have owned it. (I don't know if it worked for the one person that owned it before him, or if it never ever worked.) The only time it would have been helpful is the one time the alternator died. OP has an electric hybrid, so it's a bit more useful to them, but still not critical. The "check engine light" is helpful to people who know little about their vehicle, telling them "please take me to a mechanic!" Otherwise, they seem to be more annoying than helpful -- the family minivan that said "I need an oil change!" because changing the oil yourself didn't reset the counter, or the endless O2 sensor replacements the SUV wanted. You could learn much more, and with less annoyance, by sticking an inexpensive ODB2 reader into your car once in a while.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  That made me smirk. My motorcycle has a fuel gauge, but it's about as useful as a chocolate teapot. It manages a reasonable guess if on motorways. Normal riding and leaning and it may as well not be there. :) I just do what I've done with every bike, reset the trip when I fill.
- kingosticks 8y ago
  I think the tyre pressure warning light is rather useful. Sometimes there's just nothing noticeable until that light comes on and you examine your tyre to find its deformed (heavy load and very hot) to the point of nearly bursting on a motorway at 70mph.

jccalhoun 8y ago

I'm pretty sure it isn't legal

avhon1 8y ago

Where I live (Indiana, USA) the authorities would only find out I had a dead dashboard if I got into an accident and they discovered it while investigating. There are no vehicle inspections, ever. As long as I continue to drive without causing incidents, my vehicle's condition is of little significance to anyone except me.

lazulicurio 8y ago
This is the case in most (AFAIK) of the US. Wikipedia has a map[1] summarizing required inspections state-by-state. Only ~1/3 have safety-related inspections. Emissions inspections are a bit more common, but nowhere near universal. I know where I live, it's common to see vehicles that would be unsafe driving at highway speeds, but no one cares as long as they work well enough for local driving. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_Unit...
cronix 8y ago
Or if they pull you over for something, but then the first thing they ask is to turn your car off so they'd never see it anyway. Usually you pull over, turn your car off and put your hands on the steering wheel so when the police approach they know you don't have a weapon in your hands, or at least that was the etiquette I was taught. > There are no vehicle inspections, ever. As long as I continue to drive without causing incidents, my vehicle's condition is of little significance to anyone except me. You don't have DEQ? While it doesn't cover the dashboard, it certainly covers other equipment on the car to know if you're polluting more than the set threshold. Edit: just saw the reply below mine as it wasn't there when I was typing. I didn't realize that DEQ (Dept. of Environmental Quality) wasn't a national thing. Every 2 years I have to take it in and they hook into the cars OBD2 port to read the cars computer to get the sensor readings. Before computers were in cars, they stuck a sensor up your tailpipe and you had to rev the car up to 6,000 RPM for a few minutes (something like that, it's been a long time). You'll probably remember the big volkswagon scandal over this for falsifying the data.
- int_19h 8y ago