kingoomieiii:

No, that's stupid. The turn arrow needs four states.

Preaching to the choir my friend, preaching to the choir. :)

Shostie: F*ck. That's not the picture I wanted:

Great, now I got that song stuck in my head

Put me cleanly in the "no-duh" category.

Also, even if you'd gever seen one before in your life, it's pretty intuitive. The efforts to think of OTHER alternate meanings was pretty weak. It's pretty obvious what it means.

Also, how did it take you more than five seconds to figure out what it's for?

Subby is Amish. And might or might not be ghey.

Now if anyone could answer what the little placard that sits behind my shifter means. It looks like

R..1...3
|__|___|
....|.....|
....2...4

Some help here?

And also why would my spaces not work?

Whenever I see an arrow, I know to take caution; there are Indians nearby.

Has anyone mentioned yet this article is farking retarded and that arrow has been around for over 20 years?

I have a 2011 M3 and the arrow points left, yet the filler is on the right. However, the 2011 135i I have points to the right (where it should).

micah1701: [imgs.xkcd.com image 462x316]

"Saying 'what kind of an idiot doesn't know about the Yellowstone supervolcano' is so much more boring than telling someone about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time."

And that's just good advice right there. It's what they call "a teachable moment".

/too bad there isn't a way to do xkcd's alt text when posting a strip on here.

The article must be the epitome of "slow news day."

This shiat gets green? And my most excellent submissions always get the insta-red?

kingoomieiii: ArcadianRefugee: Hack Patooey: There are people that 1) haven't seen this, and 2) don't know what it means?

I didn't know what it meant. Then again, I actually look at vehicles I drive, so I don't need an arrow to tell me which side the gas cap is on.

Well look at you, blatantly flaunting your observation privilege. Bigot.

Don't get me wrong. I understand what it's like to need those little arrows put in cars: some of my friends own car manufacturing plants.

StrangeQ:
This has to be satire. I refuse to believe there is anyone stupid enough to NOT know that the arrow points to the side of the car with the filler cap.
/have known since I was 16 and drove my first car

I've, uh, never seen an arrow on the gas thingy in a car until I looked at the article.

I did correctly guess what it meant, though.

SuperChuck: drew46n2: holy shiat I can't farking believe this crap made print. Next month: What does the "D" on that stick thingy between the seats actually stand for?

Holy crap! My car doesn't even have one of those!

My vehicle also lacks such a feature. The stick features settings for "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", and "R" but "D" is not present. I suspect that this is an attempt to disenfranchise Democratic drivers.

Wow. I take pride in my knowledge of trivial facts, and somehow this one has escaped me for the past 20 years or so. Go figure.

Shostie: Shostie: [3.bp.blogspot.com image 281x211]

[3.bp.blogspot.com image 281x211]

[3.bp.blogspot.com image 281x211]

[3.bp.blogspot.com image 281x211]

[3.bp.blogspot.com image 281x211]

[3.bp.blogspot.com image 281x211]

[3.bp.blogspot.com image 281x211]

Ah...

F*ck. That's not the picture I wanted:

[content.ytmnd.com image 300x250]

No worries. Every day should include a little bit of Christopher Barron.
Got any John Popper you can toss in for some flavor?

Dimensio: My vehicle also lacks such a feature. The stick features settings for "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", and "R" but "D" is not present. I suspect that this is an attempt to disenfranchise Democratic drivers.

Kind of :D

Has anyone pointed out that a gas pump's hose is kind of like a penis, and that a car's filler neck is kind of like a vagina?

No?

/You're welcome.

Splish: I don't think I've ever seen an intersection like that in my life. Are they common some places, enough to warrant a sign?

I've seen them most often at entrances to shopping centers. Usually the incoming cars don't have to stop, but everyone else does.

Cybernetic: Has anyone pointed out that a gas pump's hose is kind of like a penis, and that a car's filler neck is kind of like a vagina?

I do, occasionally. In certain areas like DFW, the gas nozzles also have some kind of rubber foreskin you have to pull back, and of course before putting the nozzle away, you've got to shake it a little bit...

Screw it! I'll put it where I want

SirTanon: Screw it! I'll put it where I want

[www.streetsblog.org image 500x333]

I'm guessing it was the truck behind the Toyota that wanted that car there.

I was unaware that there are people that didn't know this. Well, I learned something today.

dryknife: [www.joe-ks.com image 424x325]

At least in that case the quick decoupler worked. In college I worked at a gas station and someone did that only the decoupler did not release. Ripped the hose in two and sprayed gas everywhere. Fun times.

ZAZ: The choice between (b) and (c) makes this a bad design.

In the 2000s the federal government wanted to standardize a supplemental sign for three way stop signs showing drivers that traffic from the fourth direction did not stop. The sign had an arrow. Engineers thought the arrow obviously meant "look in that direction for non-stopping traffic." Normal people thought the arrow meant "traffic moving in that direction does not stop." The rule was withdrawn.

Sometimes you gotta take human factors into account. Some city street idiot decided it would be a wonderful thing to put a sign in the middle of the street just adjacent to a crosswalk, I guess to say "cross walk" or something. People hanging a left from a connecting street would cut their turn a bit short and, not expecting a damned sign in the middle of the street, wouldn't notice it in time and run it down. So the city street idiot decided to put one of those orange rubbery vertical tube things there instead. I would drive by that spot every day and watch it get raggedier and more chewed up until within a week it was lying on its side, then the next day it was gone. I think they finally figured out that people turning onto a street WON'T SEE AN UNEXPECTED SKINNY OBJECT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT, since nothing's been put up since.

And yet many drivers don't seem to be aware of this innovation. In my informal survey, about one in ten drivers said, "Well, duh," or some variation thereof. But those knowing drivers seem to be in the minority: Colleen McCormick, PR manager for Zipcar, calls the dashboard arrow "one of the best-kept secrets" in the automotive world.

I never figured it out because I never knew it was a problem that needed a solution. Who really needs perpetual help remembering which side to fill from?

fark my life, is this a real article? Or did one of the editor's kids get on their computer today?

Hack Patooey: There are people that 1) haven't seen this, and 2) don't know what it means?

Sorry, I don't spend a lot of time contemplating the icons on my dashboard.

Especially since my car was built in the '90s and doesn't have this thing on it.

I would have liked the article to explain why not all cars have the gas cap on the same side to begin with, but that would have been pretty optimistic of me.

poot_rootbeer: I would have liked the article to explain why not all cars have the gas cap on the same side to begin with, but that would have been pretty optimistic of me.

I've once held the theory that it depended on the country of origin of the base of the car. Opposite the drivers' side, depending where /that/ is, because it's much more convenient to drive close to the pump, while still being able to exit the car. But there seemed to be too many exceptions to that real, even if you account for things like "Ford Escort was originally a Mazda".

Skyfrog: I've never seen one with the arrow before but my first guess was that it showed which side the filler was on. Seems kind of obvious.

Speaking of which, why has that never been standardized? I think most cars do have it on the driver's side now. Remember back in the 80s when a lot of cars would hide it behind the licence plate?

And you turned your high beams on with your foot.

jayhawk88: I gotta be honest, I had no idea what it meant until my wife finally pointed it out to me during our recent car shopping. I can distinctly remember wondering about it on at least the past 3 cars I owned, but never really put 2 and 2 together.

I never really noticed it, but then again, I'm not sure my car actually has it.

People seriously don't know this???

/and they drive!?
// explains a lot actually ...

factoryconnection: Skyfrog: Speaking of which, why has that never been standardized? I think most cars do have it on the driver's side now. Remember back in the 80s when a lot of cars would hide it behind the licence plate?

Packaging flexibility; designers have to fit everything in and sometimes for very different markets. The gas tank is now usually located beneath the rear seats, as opposed to the far-more-dangerous tail end of the car (rear filler + rear-end accident = bad). So anyhow, that location makes a left- or right-side placement plausible, depending on what other stuff is being routed around by the designers.


And probably about 99% of the time the fuel filler and the tailpipe are on opposite sides.

IamSoSmart_S_M_R_T: A nearby town just adopted a flashing left turn signal. Apparently, they thought people were too stupid to realize that they could turn left on a green light (no arrow) after yielding, so they added a flashing yellow arrow to let people know they could turn, but only after yielding. It's caused quite a bit of confusion, I'm curious to see how many accidents occur as a result.

They are doing this all over the DFW area on claims that it reduces accidents. I can see how it would, it's less ambiguous than the green which in all other instances means "Go". Flashing yellow has always meant yield.

goatleggedfellow: And yet many drivers don't seem to be aware of this innovation. In my informal survey, about one in ten drivers said, "Well, duh," or some variation thereof. But those knowing drivers seem to be in the minority: Colleen McCormick, PR manager for Zipcar, calls the dashboard arrow "one of the best-kept secrets" in the automotive world.

I never figured it out because I never knew it was a problem that needed a solution. Who really needs perpetual help remembering which side to fill from?

At work we have 3 different service vehicles, and we don't always get the same one when we go on calls. Two have the gas cap on the driver's side and 1 has it on the passenger side, so it helps when you have to fill them up. Someone above mentioned rental cars as well.

Optimal_Illusion: micah1701: [imgs.xkcd.com image 462x316]

"Saying 'what kind of an idiot doesn't know about the Yellowstone supervolcano' is so much more boring than telling someone about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time."

And that's just good advice right there. It's what they call "a teachable moment".

/too bad there isn't a way to do xkcd's alt text when posting a strip on here.

I always like to tell people who are trying to remember which floor to get out on the elevator that the number with a star next to it indicates which floor has the exit nearest the elevator shaft. A lot of them never knew it, and it feels nice to give a stranger an "hey, waddaya know!" moment. It would seem rather douchey to say "what kind of motion doesn't know that? Go kill yourself!"

/yeah, yeah, welcome to fark.

goatleggedfellow: And yet many drivers don't seem to be aware of this innovation. In my informal survey, about one in ten drivers said, "Well, duh," or some variation thereof. But those knowing drivers seem to be in the minority: Colleen McCormick, PR manager for Zipcar, calls the dashboard arrow "one of the best-kept secrets" in the automotive world.

I never figured it out because I never knew it was a problem that needed a solution. Who really needs perpetual help remembering which side to fill from?

Well, for one thing, people who drive a lot of different cars. Like, say, Zipcar users.

I honestly didn't know what that thing was for. Now I do.

/I am one of the 10,000 today

goatleggedfellow: Who really needs perpetual help remembering which side to fill from?

You don't do a lot of car renting, do ya'?

As mentioned, it's wildly helpful when frequently in a new-to-you car for short periods of time. And not entirely useless if you own cars with fillers on opposite sides.

FROGSTOMPER: And you turned your high beams on with your foot.

You know what? I prefer foot switches. One of these days I might just install one in my too-new-to-have-one truck. Four pedals *and* a foot switch, here I come!

Not yet mentioned:

2H
|
4h
|
4L

I'm afraid to try it. I really don't really need a group of future farmers to materialize in my truck.

Okay. I get what to look for in cars. But, but, what about a motorcycle? Huh, where's the arrow on that bad boy's gas gauge? How the hell do they know what side of the pumps to pull next to?

/Not serious.
//amidoinitrite?

SFSailor: You know what? I prefer foot switches

Why? The movement necessary to operate a stalk switch requires so much less effort than operating a foot switch.

Maybe someone can tell me what those extra gears on my automatic are for. All I know is when I put it in D3 or D2 it makes my engine rev way more than it needs to.