h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yesterday I discovered that I have a Big Red Button. Or, at least, my car does.

I was driving 'the other car'. I know, I know...some readers will already be askance at the idea of a multi-car family. What can I say? while I'd love to be on a smallholding...er...holding my smalls, my commute is the result of the structural problems of capitalism. Anyhow, I was driving the other car - not from choice - and as per bloody usual, *someone* had let the tank run down right to the last drips. So I pulled off the motorway to go to a filling station - and that's when someone crashed into me. Or I into him, depending on whose version of events one believes. (OK - it was mainly my fault - but he was going too fast).

No injuries and no obvious damage apart from a couple of scrapes and a broken light (his) - but my car wouldn't start. So I called the RAC - and got the same guy who came out when I broke down the other week (£1700 )

And that's how i discovered my Big Red Button. A lot of cars have them, apparently. It's an inertial trip that shuts the engine down after any significant knock. All you have to do is click it back in and the engine will start again. Useful to know. If you have one, it will be somewhere fairly obvious towards the back of the engine.

Is it red?

Yes.

How much did he charge for revealing your BRB to you?

Nothing over and above the regular RAC subscription. He was a very nice man. Or was it the fourth emergency service?

Are things like the AA and RAC purely British phenomena?

The USA has the AAA.

Do you know what was the original function of the AA?

Ireland has the AA and the RAC.

The RAC was (still is) a gentleman's club, I know. I have a vague memory that the AA was a lobby group...against the imposition of licences, speed limits etc?

I'll bet the 'Royal' name goes down well.

I read somewhere (Wiki just mentions it in three words) that the AA was founded to set up a network of kids on bicycles, warning motorists of police speed traps. When it was declared illegal to put up signs warning motorists, or to give a hand signal, they devised the following method:

An AA employee would be stationed near a stretch of road frequently used for speed traps. If the coast was clear, he would salute all passing cars with AA badges on. Absence of the customary salute was a warning.

I don't have a car these days, but I have heard of the Big Red Buttons before. Of course, the last time I was in a front-end collision, the car wouldn't have moved again, anyway... not without a flat bed.

So, does this mean another round of car repairs?

That's what I now remember having known all along. And they're still a lobby group against socially responsible driving.

No more repairs. I'll have to see if the other guy makes a claim against me.

Phew! Fingers crossed he doesn't. K backed into one of our neighbors while parking his car a month or so ago, and broke one of their running lights. We gave them our phone number and offered to replace the light, and they've never taken us up on it as of yet. Hopefully you'll have the same luck.

More importantly, I'm glad to hear that no one was injured.

Has my Mini got a big red button ... I want one too!!

Exactly how big is it, though?
Surely not bigger than a mini!

I haven't located my spare tire yet...

My car (here in Canada) has a reset toggle type thingie. You have to have read the owners manual to know where it is. I found the thingie while looking up something else I didn't know about. It's a safety feature that shuts off the fuel in a bender so your car doesn't become a pyre.

The switches are so sensitive that they sometimes trip even in small knocks that leave no damage as when you leave your car in a lot and someone taps it while you're in the shop.

Any time your car won't start you can try resetting the thingie before you call for assistance.

>>I haven't located my spare tire yet...

Mine's located me.

Ouch!! That sounds painful!!