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Comments
Hazard
By SPBOS
Thu, 01/06/2011 - 9:15pm
I've seen these kinds of cars before, and I've always wondered why they are not illegal.
What happens when they get going and one of those little trinkets fly's off going 55MPH. It seems to me they would be extremely dangerous and could break a windshield, hit someone or cause other damage.
Classic Response
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 9:47am
These art cars have been around for years and years in other places west of Woostuh! I saw one for the first time in SanFrancisco on my honeymoon - in 1990.
You think there would be a solid literature on whether or not the trinkets fly and make damage ... so why don't you go looking for it before you spout all this "I ain't never seen one before and ZOMG its different and different is sooo scary and so we MUST BAN IT IN BOSTON" silliness.
Or get out of town once in a while, perhaps.
Maybe...
By captaingeneral
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 9:55am
there is no such information? And it there is no such information then would not common sense would dictate that you might want to think twice of attaching multiple figurines to the outside of one's car?
The items on the car might just possibly come attached and fly, potentially causing damage to a person's auto or even causing an accident. Maybe even if you are on a bike following the car?
I think you are a bit too harsh on the first post. The person raised a concern. Many concerns are raised daily by individuals and we do not ask the person presenting to provide evidence before they raise a concern. Maybe you would prefer it that way but the world does not always work the way one may want it to.
Over 20 years
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 10:07am
These cars have been around for over 20 years. 20 years is a long time, and there have actually been enough of them on the road nationwide that if something was going to happen, it will have happened by now. Just because there aren't many around here (although there was a VW Dasher in Arlington in the 90s), doesn't mean that one shouldn't consider looking for, you know, actual evidence before saying OMG BAN THEM?
Just maybe?
I dare you to find a single media report. Happy googling.
WTF?
By anon
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 9:58am
Where in the world are you getting THAT from? The poster was simply stating a concern that it might be a safety hazard at highway speeds, which isn't that farfetched of an idea.
I think you may have overreacted. It seems to be a common theme with you.
Overreact? Swirrls?
By The Beer Guy
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 10:36am
Nah!
Swirrls, do you post on yelp as Mary M? You both seem to have the same nasty, smarter-than-thou tone that makes most people roll their eyes and vomit in their mouth. Except that MM on yelp doesn't have a harem of hearty supporters that you do on here, so I'll give you that.
That's the thing that always
By RhoninFire
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 1:46pm
That's the thing that always make me bothered when I read her posts. I sensed that tone, but never could articulate it.
And yes, I don't find your reaction cool. Did he said he wants to ban them? Did he know that it never caused any accidents? I never saw a car like that in my life. I could have easily thought about the potential hazard and voiced the same concern (more likely, I would probably be amused by seeing such a car and moved on). That's a far jump to the "WE MUST BAN STUFF BECAUSE THIS IS BOSTON" Bostonian.
No different than anything else on a roof
By merlinmurph
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 10:40am
People carry all sorts of stuff on their car roofs that could potentially hit another car - bikes, skis, mattresses, lumber, wallboard, pets (sorry, Mitt) - so, what's the big deal? If a figurine flys off and hits your car, you'd handle it the same way you'd handle a flying bike, or a stone from a dump truck.
Just because it's a weird car doesn't mean you should ban it. And I challenge you to write the verbiage that would be included in a such a law.
I can't believe I just backed up Swrrly. ;-)
Ask and ye shall receive
By eeka
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 11:20am
(Don't back up into Swirly. Especially if she's on her bike and your car is covered in detritus.)
Section 1A. No motor vehicle or trailer, except one owned by a person, firm or corporation, for the operation of which security is required to be furnished under section six of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A, or one owned by a person, firm or corporation subject to the supervision and control of the department of telecommunications and energy, except supervision and control under chapter one hundred and fifty-nine B, as to which said department has issued a certificate as hereinafter described, or one owned by a street railway company under public control, or by the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof or by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or the Massachusetts Port Authority, traveling upon a public way, or any semi-public way, or any way that is assumed to masquerade as public by a natural person soforth exercising good faith and sound judgment by a jury of his or her peers, shall cause to be adhered to its exterior, or fastened in any way, the chemical compound commonly known by natural persons of the Commonwealth as "Bond-O" notwithstanding, any item or items not sold by common victualers so licensed by a licensing authority as furnished under chapter 140 as a product intended to be so adhered to a motor vehicle. For the purpose of this paragraph, the term "motor vehicle" means any self-propelled vehicle designed for use and used primarily upon the highways.
tee heee
By cycler
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 11:27am
Eeka, you may have yourself a career as a legistlatrix!
All I can say is "WOW" ;-)
By merlinmurph
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 11:38am
Good luck getting it enforced. ;-)
It ain't bondo
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:50pm
It is a different type of cement. Bondo is for filling in dents.
I'm still wondering, given how many of these damn things are wandering around Austin, SFO, LA, Seattle, etc. why there are no reports of ejected detritus. Maybe its because you start gluing crap on a car that is already a shit box and nobody drives them anywhere where they can get up any speed?
when we decorated my roomies car with giant rhinestones...
By bandit
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:58pm
... we used a silicon sealant. it's clear, it does well with temperature changes and it remains somewhat flexible, so it can take a lot of abuse. the rhinestones broke long before the sealant did.
Maybe
By Michael
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:49pm
...they are flying off and hitting people, but since everyone out west (or at least everyone who's not in Boston) is so cool and awesome and hip, they just chalk it up to part of being in the great American West and don't bother reporting it and harshing anyone's vibe over it.
Did you read before posting your canned response?
By HenryAlan
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 12:13pm
Not everything is about Boston insularity. Most of what you wrote had nothing to do with the comment made by SPBOS.
attentionwhoreosaurus, native to the Davis Square plains
By Brett
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 12:38pm
I'm sorry, but that's not an "art car". Art cars have themes and such. This one just says "I'm a psycho nutjob and I stuck some shit to my car because I'm desperate for attention."
The carbon footprint caused by the aerodynamic drag of all that shit has to to be amazing (and the wind noise is probably deafening inside the car), not to mention the hazard if the driver hit a pedestrian; that shit would rip open someone's body like a shredder, and keep them from sliding on the hood; european cars designed in the last 10 years or so have had pedestrian safety in mind with the profile of the nose and hood.
They do it better in Roslindale
By adamg
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 12:52pm
Somewhere in the 'hood is an old Saturn wagon painted in all manner of weird spirally, peyote-enhanced hippie goodness, complete with a ROZZIE license plate and a snarling fake dog on the roof. You see it sometimes at the Forest Hills T stop and sometimes in the Roslindale Day parade.
You can see an older picture of it at the very bottom of this page (without the dog, though), under the late, lamented Gene Machine, which some guy named Gene used to drive all over Roslindale back in the day (Gene's still around, but I think he moved out of Roslindale).
Oh yeah
By benos
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:02pm
Eugene Atwood; he's a friend of mine. He did in fact move away, to (not surprisingly) make an attempt at starting an artist's commune on a piece of barren land he bought in Texas years ago. I swear to God, I'm not making this up. Go here: www.texarrakis.com
No, no, Brett, they have them in San Francisco
By HenryAlan
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 12:54pm
so it's all good.
Drag
By Kaz
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 12:57pm
Mythbusters showed that roughing up the surface of a car will actually improve fuel mileage (like dimples on a golf ball).
Also, the whole torso blunt force trauma of hitting an SUV is actually better than the shin/knee shearing that comes from getting taken out by a sedan (and the subsequent whiplash onto the hood from there).
Yeah, my car is dimpled on purpose
By adamg
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 1:01pm
The things you learn when you drive a Prius ...
dimples, yes...
By Brett
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:24pm
...random objects several inches high, no.
Also, who said anything about an SUV? I'm talking about your body getting shredded by the shit on the hood.
Further, STFU, unless you've been doing research into the subject, etc. Another #@$!ing keyboard genius. Is there a field you're not an authority on?
http://www.euroncap.com/Content-Web-Faq/3e957d49-6...
A little math riddle for you
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 7:40pm
A couple has two cars. One car averages 30 mpg, the other averages 35 mpg.
Years later, they have one vehicle that averages 20 mpg, but they use less than half the fuel that they used to use.
How is this possible when their current vehicle is so much less fuel efficient?
Hijacked
By KellyJMF
Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:36am
You're not going to turn this into yet another self-righteous bike thread are you?
Not an expert
By Kaz
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:46pm
I'm not an expert in figuring out why you're such a baby.
This monstrosity is commonly
By Jamie
Thu, 01/06/2011 - 10:34pm
This monstrosity is commonly parked outside of my apartment, unfortunately...
(At Commonwealth & Chestnut Hill Ave. in Brighton.)
Another car like this parks
By benos
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 9:15am
Another car like this parks on Grove St. in Belmont, unless the woman moved. Not quite this replete with figurines, though.
Wowsers!....
By Ward8Mahatma
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 10:31am
That represents one helluva alot of Happy Meals...
naked santa on scooter?
By bostnkid
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 11:53am
unrelated but im curious if anyone else has ever seen this guy? looks like santa claus and appears to be completely naked riding an older motorized scooter. i think he wears some of those 1970's jogging shorts but very creepy just the same. i used to see him over near BC quite a bit.
I've yet to have the pleasure,
By HenryAlan
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 12:18pm
but my wife sees him all the time.
I've seen this car a couple of times & have lots of pics of it
By cdevers
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 1:18pm
I've seen this car a couple of times, and have posted photos of it on Flickr:
[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2609/4268463045_f7f58dd50d_d.jpg[/img]
[img]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4269209420_5aa9ebc851_d.jpg[/img]
Teresa Hanafin at Boston.com noticed the car last March, which in turn led to an article the Globe had already run on the owner and her car back in 2008 (paywalled, naturally).
Apparently the woman who owns the car, Rebecca Perlo — I wouldn't print her name, but heck she's already been in the Globe about it, so her name is on public record now — lives in Belmont but is seen driving it around in Cambridge (or, apparently now, Brighton) pretty often.
If it clarifies things, the first time I saw it, there were kids in the back seat, and at least some of the toys on here seem to have been from their Happy Meals over the years.
[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2713047647_614a2179b0_d.jpg[/img]
ever see the car with these things on it?
By Pete Nice
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 1:29pm
[img]http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/trolls-do...
Scary
By cdevers
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 2:22pm
Nope, but I'll keep a wary eye out.
"Lives in Belmont"
By benos
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:12pm
That explains it. It's probably the same one I always used to see, but just has a lot more crap on it now than it did when I walked by it every day.