Hi there
I posted some weeks ago that in certain cars (especially older cars) the dials are unlit so speed and tachometer needles cannot be seen in in-car cockpit view. Someone replied that this is because they are older cars which is of course ridiculous. Imagine how dangerous it would be driving a car at night without knowing what speed your travelling at. It’s clearly a bug.
Thank you for your help.
Another problem with the dials, most races and/or car builders position the tach so the redline is pointing straight up. Makes it easier to see your shift points with just a quick glance.
Base on how this looks on my screen, I feel like this is a shader/materials issue.
When the direct sun hits some materials, they show their color and brightness fully. But in areas which are shadowed (and in the gauge cluster, this can be near fully, depending on the time of day), they appear near black on my screen.
I’ve never driven a car in which the gauge needles would turn from orange in direct sun, to black in shade. They always retain both some color and relative contrast against the (often actually black) gauge faces.
This is not only limited to gauge needles. Sometimes the “PUSH TO START” button in a car will do this just even more obviously. Going from shining saturated red to near black as the sun and shadow cross it’s surface.
I mean… some of those cars don’t have seatbelts. Fun fact, in my country, up until the 1970s, being drunk was considered an extenuating circumstance. These days that’d get your licence removed. Automobile used to be crazy.
Yeah, I was surprised several times to discover that Porsche I drive has red dials because it was dark grey or black before the sunrays hit it directly. And yes, needles sometimes turn to black and cannot be read, e.g. in Porsche 935 
Which vehicles? US? UK? Germany? By 1968, seatbelts were mandated for all cars sold in the US (this doesn’t coincide with mandating using seatbelts, which came later). For example, my IRL '66 Mustang had lap belts, my '65 Mercury Comet did as well. I’ve ridden in early '60s Fords, Chevys and Chryslers (both Dodge and Plymouth as well) that all had seatbelts. Even the bone stock '57 Bel Air a friend of mine has, has it’s original lap belts.
Were they effective? Debatable…but they were there.
It’s all relative. If you have a top line 5 or 6 point safety harness in a smart4two and a semi smacks you at 70mph it just makes it easier for the emt’s to get the bits in the bag.
I think people have missed misunderstood what I’ve stated. The needles on the dials cannot be seen during day or night time driving. I know for a fact that clocks were definitely illuminated at night and should be visible. I’ll say again, if the driver cannot see the needles on the dial (night or day) how on earth do they know what speed they are travelling at. Apply some logic.
That’s kind of my point. I was in an accident in 2018, Full size Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling at 50+ mph rear ended me in my 1972 Dodge Monaco, I was sitting still behind traffic. He never hit the brakes (on his phone, I reckon). Even though the car was totaled (completely, unibody was bent beyond repair), I am still here today due to the structural integrity of the rest of the car.
The notion that older cars were less safe is laughable. Real world accidents happen but are rarely like the “tests” that “independent” agencies tend to show.
I’d take solid built over crumple zones any day.
I watched a chain crash during an ice storm. A new pickup (built with crumple zones cz) hit the back of the chain and the front crumpled. A Jeep Liberty, built solid, hit the back of the PU and crumpled the bed with minimal damage to the Jeep. Another newer PU with cz’s hit the back of the Jeep doing again, minimal damage but crumpled the front of the PU. When things started clearing out, the Jeep was the only one that drove away on it’s own.
I’ll take solid over crumple zones any day!
I would much rather have crumple zones… Toss the car, save the driver. Ain’t no use in driving a mildly-dented car if your internal organs are scrambled 
To each their own, though
As for the unreadable dial issue, I’ve encountered it in some cars too. In older games I don’t think it was as much an issue but I don’t know for sure
That is just not true. Modern cars are designed to absorb the impact in their structure rather than deliver it straight to your spine. Plus ABS, airbags, various stability and control systems, or the good old three-point seatbelt with pretensioner.
Although I suppose you could make the argument that in older times there were no bloody SUVs making everything worse for everybody.
There are more automotive accident related injuries from the “safety” goodies these days than from the accidents. My wife was in a small small small bump once. A kid slid through a stoplight during an ice storm. Head on’ed her car. Did hardly any damage to the cars. But the seat belt retract system caused her to have a separated shoulder. If she hadn’t had a seat belt on she wouldn’t have been hurt at all. So much for the safety systems. And how many people get severe facial injuries from the air bags? You have to remember, that’s equal to a 12 gauge going off about 18 inches from your face.
The general philosophy of seatbelts and airbags is that you might be little hurt, but that’s better than being a little dead. You don’t know what injuries might have arised from not wearing a seatbelt. Maybe none. Maybe a smashed skull or a body flying through the window. These systems aren’t perfect, but they still save way more lives than they cause harm. And in fact, it is a lot harder to die in a modern car in general.
You know, I stated my case and my wife’s story clearly. I see no need to perpetuate the argument for the sake of the argument.
And it is just the US. This isn’t observed in Europe for instance.
It’s not entirely clear why. Possible explanations include Americans being more addicted to their smartphones, which is made easier with the majority of cars being automatic; a rise in drug use (notably opioids and weed) whereas other countries don’t necessarily have that problem; woefully crash-incompatible SUVs and pickups being best sellers (with regulations allowing these vehicles to be built up to different standards while using the same roads); some very bad habits picked up during the pandemic (when there was less traffic, and less traffic enforcement); and still a lack of half-decent public transportation or pedestrian infrastructure.
But that still doesn’t change that if you crash your car into a wall, you’re less likely to die now than 50 years ago, even in the US.
They just don’t make walls like they used to do they? 
So how about we compare to the year my Monaco was made…1972.
54,589 for 1972, a year that seatbelts weren’t mandatory (anywhere) and there were no crumple zones, air bags and cars were much larger, yet about the same weight. Oh, and drunk driving laws were far less restrictive.
So with all the new safety features and tech and design, all we could muster is 10k better…
Does it matter if you are on your cell phone if you hit a wall?
And on the subject of cellphones. Here’s a clip where a driver using a cellphone pulled out in front of a motorcycle. The whole point of the story places blame on the driver of the car for using the cellphone. A big point that is overlooked is the motorcycle was traveling at over 85mph. If the motorcycle had been traveling a typical roadway posted speed. I don’t know any roads that have an 85mph speed limit (except the autobahn and this wasn’t there). The motorcycle and rider would have been away from the intersection and safe. It wasn’t the cellphone but the speed that caused the wreck.
