Acaris an extension of the person driving it . And if you ’re like most Americans , you see yourself as individual and alone – not simply a cookie - cutter floor model , but packed with personality and experience that make you , you . The same can be true of your car – that is , if you ’re uncoerced to take that flooring model and run with it .
With a motorcar , if you’re able to stargaze it , you’re able to do it , from lifting , resculpting and refitting to an almost infinite identification number and variety of add - ons .
But beware : While manufacturer build with safety in mind , monetary standard are less strict for aftermarket accessories and sometimes nonexistent for DIY labor . When add together personality to your vehicle , be sure you are n’t also add peril . Let ’s take a look at some risky caraccessories .
10: Lift Kit
Even more important than the laws of land and state are the laws of the universe . And it does n’t take Isaac Newton to tell you that top - heavy things like to flip . When you use a raising kit to hike up your railway car ’s center ofgravity , it ’s like resting a coin on its bound rather than on its face . The higher the boost , the more prone the car is to switch .
In fact , one brake test survey line up that raise thesuspensionof a 1992 Ford F-150 by 4 inches ( 10 centimeters ) , lifting the soundbox by 3 inch ( 7.6 cm ) and adding 38 - inch ( 96.5 - centimeter ) tire increased the likeliness of thumb by more than 30 percentage and reduce braking performance by 25 percent [ source : Knight ] .
And it ’s not simply your own lifespan that a elevator kit endangers . automobile protect you best when they come to bumper to bumper . But in a collision , your lift truck is likely to put its olfactory organ through the other driver ’s window , making the crash much more dangerous .
Sure , jacking your drive could be totally boss ( as your kid might say ) , but you may want to think twice before have your motortruck a ogre .
9: Colored Fog Lights
The thought on colored fog lights runs something like this : whitened light , made up of all the color in the light spectrum , refract through fog in weird and wild room , dismount up the blurry sky in front of you like a bright , clean screen . But yellowed brightness level ( with a longer wavelength and high sensitivity by the human eye ) refract in only one way , so while fog go on to make thing a small blurry , using yellow light cuts through the fog much better than your manufacturer - issuedheadlights .
Unfortunately , that ’s not true . The Ask a Scientist program at the U.S. Department of Energy excuse that for a variety of reasons ( including the relatively expectant size of murkiness droplets when compared with wavelength of luminosity ) , the only advantage of yellow fog light is that they may face good to some people [ seed : Barrans ] .
And they have a distinct disadvantage : distracting oncoming driver . Perhaps you think it ’s reasonable to draw the attention of drivers behind and around you , but do you really require to distract a number one wood who ’s heading straight at you ?
8: Dash-mounted TV Screens
A 2009 Nielsen report launch that the average American watches 151 hours oftelevisionper month [ informant : Gandossy ] . you could do the math : That ’s about 5 minute of TV every day . And today more than ever , Americans are even unwilling to disconnect in thecar .
It takes only a quick online search to ascertain a plethora of DIY , how - to articles teaching driver to install TV screen either in holes in the dashboard commonly occupied by receiving set or as stand - alone monitors that ride atop the fascia .
alas , these screens are not only for backseat child viewing and for passenger entertainment any longer .
States like Virginia and Illinois expressly nix the installation of telly viewing systems in the front arena of cars , and more states are following causa . But do you really need a law to tell you this is a bad melodic theme ? Unplug from the tube-shaped structure for the time it takes you to get from spot A to point B , and you and your fellow number one wood will be much safer .
7: GPS Systems
Sure , aGPSis a beguilement , but you have to know where you ’re going , and it ’s honorable than taste to translate a mapping while speed down the road , right ? Wrong . A field by PrivilegeInsurancefound that 19 percent of GPS users were distract when driving as oppose to only 17 percent of traditional map exploiter [ source : Oswald ] .
While much of this beguilement can be remedied by practicing with your Global Positioning System and programming a goal prior to take off , an aftermarket GPS usher in two more danger : the special view line and the projectile . If you did n’t see that stepladder in the middle of the road , it could be because in that decisive split secondly , your view was stymie by your dash - get on GPS . And that suction cup is unlikely to keep your Global Positioning System screen impound to the dash in a crash , render it a potentially grievous missile .
Think again before installing a GPS . And if you need food for thought for thought , find out out this instalment ofMythbusters , which search the power of in - machine projectile .
6: Cup Holders
imbibition and drive is serious , and that apply not only toalcoholicdrinks but to all manner of beverages . Heading Insurance.com ’s list of the top-10 most dangerousfoodsto consume while driving is coffee , which ( as you may have noticed ) is not only dampish , but can be exceedingly raging . There ’s nothing that induces excited swerving ( and uncontrolled profanity ) like boiling blistering chocolate in your lap . Also stimulate the inclination of killer solid food are soft drinks , due to both spillage and something that Insurance.com calls an impossible risk of " fizz up your nose " [ source : Borroz ] .
What this means is that it ’s probably not a good estimate to exhaust or drink while driving . And nothing says " I drink in and force back " like the increase of an aftermarket cupful holder . As if there was n’t already enough chance of you dropping your drink in your circuit , add to it the chance that your panel - rig holder will come away from the blowhole where it hangs by the smallest of meat hooks and become something else to roll around under your feet .
5: Limo Tints
Not only do tinted windows stymy 65 pct of thesun’sheat and 99.9 pct of its damagingultraviolet rays , but many mean they ’re ( like a duad other entry on this list ) totally boss . Though most states ban windshield and front - windowpane tinting , you could still have your back windows tinted .
But even if the law gives you the green light , be certain to weigh the perceived awesomeness of tint windows against the peril before pack your elevator car to the local item shop . The risk of reducing visibility out your back windows is obvious – say hello to sideswipes during lane changes . Less obvious , but no less dangerous , is the cut back optic contact lens with pedestrian and other drivers that tinting creates . How often do you wave another driver through a four - room stop , meet eyes with a walker waiting at a crosswalk or utilize other types of foretoken language to signal your purpose and emotion to driver around you ? With tinted windows , you may kiss this communicating goodbye .
4: Blackout Kits
on the face of it , somecarenthusiasts have decided that offend the flow and uniform color of a railcar ’s consistency with hole for things like light is indecent . Especially in the forums of Corvette and Mustang fans , you may find instructions and outfit for smooth over distracters like reverse lights , get lights and even head- and tail lamp . Many of these blackouts are illegal on street - driven gondola and are intended only for video display or showroom habit .
But again , should we really involve laws that discontinue us from blacking outheadlights ? For those still scratching their heads : Light Within were put on automobile for a reason , namely so that you may see where you ’re go , other drivers can see you and you may signal your intentions to change your way of life to other drivers . go into stealth modal value on the road may seem like merriment , but so does becoming a ninja impinge on man , and if you ’ve ever meet honest-to-god kung fu movies , you know that ninja hit men never endure very long .
3: Utility Trailers
Is an add - oncaror trucktrailerreally an add-on ? For the aim of this clause , yes , in the main because it ’s one of the most deadly post - market add - ons any vehicle can take on . USA Today reports that more than one person per day is killed in the United States due to clang in or with rider vehicle tow trailers [ seed : Copeland ] . The highest reason of trailer human death is when badly secured trailers break loose and careen or vagabond into dealings . This signify that when you tow a trailer , it ’s normally not your own life you ’re taking into your hands . It ’s the lives of random passing motorists who may be unprepared for your trailer to come skidding through a red light source .
Also , driver who only tow trailers once in a blue Sun Myung Moon are probable to forget the preview is there , meaning that they blank out to take the extra distance of the fomite into account when turning or modify lanes .
2: In-car Microwave
While not specially prevalent , the microwave powered by yourcar’scigarette scant wad - in is both so awesome and so manifestly a speculative idea that this inclination would but be incomplete without it . With so many commuter train stuck in dealings and test to multitask on the way to act , a surprising number of manufacturers have stick out into mini - microwave creation [ source : Houston ] .
In fact , the mini microwave oven of death is but one in a category of dangerous in - car appliances that allow you to do thing in your fomite that you really should have done at abode , include refrigerator , popcorn poppers , Wi - Fi routers , a cooking stove of personal grooming equipment and , of course of study , coffee manufacturing business . Your car should be for getting you from place to place , not for train meals and going through your daily getting - ready - for - oeuvre routine .
Though not technically an in - machine appurtenance , some have even try the addition of an under - cable car deep pullet , which also seems like a formula for disaster .
1: Musical Car Horn
There are a numeral of room to make nearly any song you want come out of your chic telephone set . Now the same is true of car horns . For example , the entanglement web site zercustoms.com allows you to set up and then download a car horn system that plays selections from a salmagundi of themes , including Christmas , reggae or tailgate . Some musical car motor horn are even set up to play MP3s [ informant : GizMike ] .
Note that these systems are different from machine PA systems , in which you play or mouth whatever you wish through a handheldmicrophonesystem . No , these musical machine horns augment or replace your car ’s existing trump .
Imagine a driver drifting into your lane on the pike , at which pointedness you go to warn him with your motor horn – only it plays Lady Gaga . Do you think this number one wood is more likely to get out of the room immediately or to be deflect and make a vital error ? There are enough distractions on the route without adding musical horns to the mix .
For more info on auto accessories , check out the inter-group communication on the next page .
What makes certain car accessories unsafe (or even illegal)?
From cuts and bruises to more serious injuries , many bad things can happen to the human body , and unluckily , many of these can take place in a cable car . It ’s the job of manufacturers , governments and consumer ' common sense to control that they do n’t .
Along these lines , the following three factors can make seemingly benignant car accessory into deadly weapon . First , projectiles : While Mythbusters debunk themyth of the killer Kleenex boxprojectile , there are pot of other accessories that can , will and do vanish around the car , wreaking mayhem during clash . take yourself – will your style attachment or mini microwave really rest put when your car flips at 60 mile ( 96.5 kilometers ) per hour , and if not , would you heed being hit in the head with it ?
Second , misdirection can also be virulent . Your hands - free saucy headphone interface , GPS piloting organisation , baseball - instrumentalist bobble - head or even loving cup holder can disorder you from the 12 - prong buck suffer on the double - yellow line . About those prongs : They ’re pointy , and you ’d really rather not have them through your windshield . Even a newfangled overbold twist can create more misdirection than ease if you ’re not comfortable with how to use it . Do your homework . And debar things that are mean to distract you , like the hyphen - climb up DVD participant . For truly terrifying ( but also altogether riveting ) statistic about distrait driving , visit the World Wide Web site of the University of Utah’sApplied Cognition Lab .
A third factor that do many cable car accessories dangerous is line of sight . like to distrait driving , in which you are n’t looking at things and thus hit them ( or are hit by them ) , block your line of sight with feathered rearview talismans or tinted back windowpane can avail ensure that you do n’t see things , with the same results . Car manufacturers go to great lengths to see that you may see your blind speckle with a flying over - the - shoulder glance and have an unobstructed sight of the 180 degrees in front of you . Do n’t spoil all their toilsome work by hanging foggy dice in your line of sight .
Next , let ’s calculate at how the regime is trying to help protect you from unsafe accessories .
