Brown Gets Big

Question: Feels like I’m seeing lots more brown vehicles. True or my imagination? Answer: True. Beginning in about 2013, predictions began that brown would heat up. And that’s proven true. It hasn’t overtaken white, silver or black, and it won’t, but there’s more of it. I especially like “autumn shimmer” on the Lexus NX (a delectable root beer color) and “black oak brown metallic” on the Volkswagen Touareg. A reader comments: “I read your articles every week … and one (about move-over laws requiring drivers to give room to police and other safety personnel on the side of the highway) aggravated me enough to write. As you mention, 71 percent of the population have never heard of the laws to move over; even more than that probably don’t know of the ‘3 feet to pass’ law recently enacted in California for passing a bicyclist. I can guarantee (or hope) that drivers aren’t deliberately trying to kill police officers, workers or cyclists but simply aren’t paying attention to driving. I’m an endurance cyclist (150 miles a week on the road) and can’t tell you how many times people have almost (or actually) hit me. If everyone was forced to drive a manual transmission car I can guarantee these incidents would be vastly reduced. Not happening. Most people are morons behind the wheel for many reasons, not least of which is thinking that driving is just a way to get from point A to point B while talking or texting on the phone.” I agree with much of what this reader writes. To advance his points a few steps: I think all the new technology to make cars safer (like blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alerts) simply lets drivers turn over increasing amounts of their responsibility to the car. It doesn’t take long before drivers develop the opinion (and driving habits) that they don’t have to invest much attention or energy into the process of driving. Another problem is that kids aren’t being guided enough or properly enough by their parents during the critical learn-to-drive phase. Licensing requirements are really lax in many states, driver education classes aren’t de rigueur, and parents increasingly accept that the bare minimum the state requires is sufficient to set their offspring loose with two tons of steel. What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, driving and repairing your vehicle. Email Sharon@ctwfeatures.com.