In the article, “YOU DECIDE: Cars That Stop Drunk Driving?” I learned that President Biden’s infrastructure package included a demand for U.S. automakers. He wants them to make the cars to be able to stop drunk people from driving cars. For them to be able to do this they will have to install developing monitoring systems in cars. This could be done by the year of 2026. This is a good idea because it can help save many peoples lives. Your car would disable if your blood alcohol level is too high.

I think that this is a good idea. Many people’s lives are lost due to drunk drivers. Either because they’re drunk or because the are hit by a drunk driver. With the cars having this ability it would reduce roadway deaths by about 9,400 people per year. Even though these cars would help reduce deaths it would also help protect first responders, reduce traffic delays, and help with insurance costs.

Do you think these cars would be helpful?

The article, “Are Driverless Cars a Good Idea?” explains how the evolving technology in the future might allow for humanless cars to provide transportation. It shows some of the benefits of allowing driverless cars like reducing the risk of car accidents, due to either drunk driving, distracted driving, or speeding. It also provides a more positive effect for our earth.  These cars would be electric and reduce the number of cars in the streets.  With less emission of greenhouse gases, we would be able to combat the increasing rates of global warming.   However, some argue that these driverless cars could also be a great danger.  They claim that these cars have previously cost the lives of those who have tried them before. 

After reading the article and seeing both sides, I find it interesting how our technology is constantly evolving.  Different companies are partnering up to make this new tech. of a driverless car happen.  There would need to be many tests taken in order to ever be able to put a self-driving car out.  I think that with proper tests a version of an autopilot car with a human inside to ensure safety is what would be possible for now.  Kind of like how the tesla runs on that feature.  

Do you think driverless cars would be dangerous?

As scientists have discovered over the last few decades, one of the main contributors to the CO2 released into the atmosphere is the emissions from gasoline cars (17% in 2010). This is especially damaging to earth’s climate and will likely continue to worsen as cars and road development cover the globe. However, in the midst of this issue, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, put forth a solution: electric cars. Adopting electric cars as opposed to gasoline cars is an important step that we must take in order to fight back against climate change.

Recently I read an article declaring that StoreDot, an innovative Israeli company, had developed new and improved lithium-ion car batteries ‘with five-minute charge times’. This is a massive leap from current statistics on Tesla charging times, which state that the average Tesla car charges in around 10 hours. The inconvenience of this long charging duration plus the expense of the car is one of the main reasons why people are scared to make the investment, but this new battery may solve all of those problems

However, there are some setbacks to this alternative form of transport. Some believe that the transition from gasoline cars to electric ones is too radical for the world to handle because it would involve repurposing gas stations into charging stations and will affect global economy as the need for fuel becomes increasingly irrelevant. Others think that electric cars are just as detrimental to the environment as gasoline cars, which, in theory, is partly true because the electricity required.

The truth is no one knows how electric cars would affect the current situation on global warming if we substituted them for gasoline cars, but they certainly encourage a life with less CO2 emissions.

In the article, “Are Driverless Cars a Good Idea?” I learned that there are many positive and negative features to the driverless cars. This new technology can help the people that aren’t able to get a ride, because either a disability or just because they aren’t old enough, get from place to place at ease. With driverless car, it can make driving much more safer. In 2018, more than 36,500 people died because of car crashes. When in the car crash, the factors to the disaster was either because the driver was intoxicated, reckless or just distracted. With driverless cars, this all can be avoid with the new technology implanted in the car. Despite this new technology, their can be software malfunctions. A few examples of the malfunctions were the deaths of a 40 year old man that died because the system didn’t pick up algorithms because it was too bright and also in 2018, a 49 year old was struck and killed by a vehicle also using technology.

I think that driverless cars are the future of this world. It does have it’s pros and cons but this can be very revolutionary because it can allow those without access the access for the rides. With those rides provided, people can get to place to place safer but yet the software needs to be 100% completed and relied on in order for this to work.

You think driverless cars would be good for the environment?

In the article “Are we ready for driverless cars?” I received a lot of interesting information from both points of view on this topic.

The article laid out reasons it will be productive like for the economy and can make transportation more efficient. They brought up good points on the topic of whether or not it should happen. It can help in so many ways like providing the disabled or the elderly a method of transportation. Voltwagin ford and industries in china all are in a plan to team up and make this wonderful idea a reality.

However, although there are many good reasons they should continue to invest money in car companies there are also an opposing side of people who do not want to make this the world they live in. They believe it is very dangerous. For example one of the first tests in 2016  a 40-year-old man was killed by one of the driverless cars. It is harmful to the citizens that use the product as well as the people that use these cars. they are unreliable because they are not trustworthy just as any tech is.

I believe this is a very cool idea that I would love to see happen. It sounds like it will make the driving world a safer place by making the roads less clustered and safer, as well as the laws being followed more. Now instead of giving your children, friends, or elderly family a ride, they will have access to their own transportation. This overall image sounds perfect, right

However, that’s the only way it will happen if it was PERFECT! The program should have no flaws and be one hundred percent before we trust these to be on road. We have seen what happens if we let this happen without a guarantee of the tragic accident in Arizona when a 40-year-old man was killed by one of these cars. so ultimately if the teams on this program can’t ensure the citizens a 100% guarantee then they should not be trusted.

 In closing, I will leave with this, technology  has been coming more and more into our lives making our lives easier but now it’s becoming more serious than ever. After all, we are now trusting them with our lives, so the future is coming but is it a good thing or a bad thing? it may seem minor but it’s a deadly decision.

In the article “Car Accidents,” I learned that more people need to be educated on why people should take driving more seriously and carefully, too many people are killed every day by fender benders.

An Oakland community created a survey and collected data on why most accidents happen and said underage driving, drunk driving, speeding driving and there are different groups of people are most and least likely to get in an accident.

This is why everyone needs to be educated about not only the risk and wounds from accidents but also ways to prevent an accident. There are several other resources for transportation like the transit, Lyft, or even an uber. There are assets anyone could contact for help and support.

I think this is happening because not many people are well educated or responsible enough. It’s sad to think thousands of people die too soon every day because of people who are uneducated or irresponsible and are thoughtless of other people’s lives. 

Do you take driving seriously enough for your life and others?

Are you well educated about the dangers, risks, wounds, of driving unsafely?

Sideshows aren’t just illegal but are also fun. It is true there are cars going really fast in a circle that can crash, but it is also true that hundreds of people are together. A sideshow is like a car show with usually American Muscle cars. They happen in intersections throughout Oakland and they have been happening for a long time. According to articles and Oakland residence sideshows are a big thing in the Oakland community because it can bring everyone together. 

Sideshows build a community by congregating everyone together from different places. Also it can show how Oakland culture passes from its predecessors to future generations. Again, it’s showing Oakland that it can go out and have fun.   Sean Kennedy is a hip hop artist and historian explains how it began and he said, “The sideshow was a social event, a party in a parking lot, and showing off your car” (Dirks). Even today it is a social event and it about showing off one’s car. Usually there are  a lot of people there, close to one hundred. In an interview with Jaime Mendoza, an Oakland resident, he explains that when he goes to the sideshows he goes to have fun. He also said that the sideshows is like another family that everyone knows him (Mendoza).

However, sideshows are also illegal and dangerous. It’s illegal because it causes a distraction and also sometimes people have too much fun and they start shooting. Also because there are cars going fast in a circle and maybe they can lose control of the car and they might crash. In the article The Birth of the Oakland Hyphy Culture they said, “sideshows have a bad reputation as illegal, dangerous and occasionally violent street car shows, where gunshots may ring out and people could die (Dirks).”   Sometimes they can lead violence. Often they are fine, but it only takes one violent side show for the reputation to change and people to think they are dangerous. Dirks also shared in the article, “The sideshows began to change and evolve with time; they went from low and slow to fast and loose, with drivers performing tricks with increasing levels of difficulty and danger. The Oakland Police Department began to take notice” (Dirks). When the police get involved it starts to escalate to other drama like chases and police brutality. This is the story that gets on the news.

In conclusion Sideshows are important because they build community. On the contrary, Oakland PD thinks it’s an awful hobby  so they always try to stop it. But Oaklanders should be able to rent out a parking lot so they could have sideshows. This a compromise because Oaklanders will be able to have permission and also be safe by keeping their culture. Would you ever go to an Oakland sideshow ?

Annotated Bibliography

Dirks, Sandhya. “Sideshows: The Birth of Oakland’s Hyphy Culture.” KQED. N.p., 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 17 Dec. 2019.

Mendoza, Jaime. “Sideshow Interview.” Personal interview. 18 Dec. 2019.

I am passionate about them

I love the  way they

Look

Sound

It started with cars

Then to trucks

Finally to supercars

I memorize them quickly

Quicker than anything else

From the Jesko to the La Voiture Noire

Determined to have them all In the future

My Shadow Box

Chris Pablo

This shadow box represents how I see myself and how society sees me. This has been a very strong project to start the year with. One reason why is because we have to show who we are what we like how we see ourselves and how society sees me. When people see me they see a Latino guy that may look lazy sometimes or mad. Many people assume that Latino guys are not hard workers and that they are lazy. But, I am not. I see myself as a hard worker that does what he can and as a person that doesn’t give up. I have chosen to add a 1967 Ford Mustang because that shows that im a car enthusiast and that I like Mustang’s of course. Many people may believe that i’m just an ignorant guy sometimes too but that doesn’t always show who I really am. All of my objects show that i’m not just a car enthusiast but that i’m a school guy sometimes because sometimes I find school boring but i’m working on trying to make school more interesting for me so that I don’t feel school boring.

If you look at the global car market, and the American car market some very distinct differences arise. America one of the largest consumer markets in the world. We buy more things than any other country on the planet per household. The car industry reflects this. America bought more cars than every country except China. Over six million cars were sold just in 2016 in the United States, and sales have been rising in the past few years. With this new buying trend, another trend is appearing, people aren’t buying manual cars anymore, Especially in America.

For more than half a century there was nothing but stick shift, the automatic transmission hadn’t been invented yet. Still through the seventies and eighties the majority of people drove stick shift and virtually everyone knew how to. Nowadays only around three percent of new cars sold in the US even have a manual transmission option. Driving schools do not provide lessons on driving a manual and many people do not know how to drive a car equipped with a manual transmission. However in other countries especially in Europe the stick shift is still alive and well. Less than twenty percent of all cars sold in Europe and Asia have automatic transmissions. This difference can be explained through many things.

These choices in cars are an extension of the cultures that are buying them. In America the first priority is comfort and convenience. Americans want to buy the biggest car, that can carry the most stuff and feels the most like their living room more than a mode of transportation. The automatic transmission is just an extension of this, everything in the normal Chevy Tahoe or any car like it is automatic, the seats, the climate control, the lights. Americans are a particularly lazy species. Ever since the automatic transmission has come into existence and become more and more affordable the more and more people want to buy it because it is easier to drive, takes less focus, and leaves more room to fit your giant cup of coffee in the middle console. The same cannot be said for other markets. The first priority to buyers in the global market is fuel economy, fuel has always been very expensive in Europe and Asia. When buying a car in Europe it has always been the goal to buy the smallest car you can live with, to save on fuel and the choice of transmission is no different. Historically manual transmissions get much better gas mileage because they are lighter and typically have more gears. This is why you see more stick shifts in other parts of the world, this is also why you say way less SUV’s and more sedans and station wagons in other parts of the world.

Just within the last decade there have been many advances to the automatic transmission and in many ways it is better than the manual now, including gas mileage. However Europe has not realized this yet or they just don’t care and the market is still dominated by stick shifts. Americans have forgotten the value of actually driving and most people only see cars as strictly mean of transportation. With this in mind it makes sense that Americans don’t want a manual it is just more effort.