No mention of motorcycles, but anyone who's old-enough to remember Walter Cronkite on the evening news, and who enjoyed his delivery, will appreciate the program.
It's a report on developments in traffic safety and civil engineering. The number of predictions, and the developments discussed, seem commonplace today, but in 1969, these were on the engineers' drawing boards. Airbags are prominently mentioned, though you might think you're listening to Mike Lindell, "My Pillow" guy, because Cronkite repeatedly mentions the safety of the 'Pillow' systems being experimented with, in crash testing.
Side penetration barriers in the bodies is also mentioned and demonstrated. Another experimentation is how to allow drivers to maintain control of their vehicles during panic braking. Without, a Lincoln driver on snowy, icy roadways quickly loses control, 'looping' the car in a 360 degree pirouette. With the 'brake pumping' system active, the driver is able to stop in a much-shorter distance, straight ahead, without spinning the car. Watch the braking wheel rapidly start and stop as the ABS is activated.
Safety in driving is demonstrated where what I presume to be infrared beams track the distance to the car in-front of you, and taking into account your speed, sets a safe following distance. If the driver slows-down, so does your car; if he speeds-up, so will your car, to your pre-determined maximum speed you set.
Another development measures a number of physical parameters in the driver, including pulse rate, number of steering corrections one performs, and get this, your sweating through the palms of your hands, due to a gold conductive film on the steering wheel! It's listed as GSR on the car's control panel, which as every fan of the CSI shows knows, means gun shot residue. In some urban areas, that may be the case, but in the Cronkite documentary, it's galvanic skin response. Tailgating driver behind you making you nervous? the GSR sensor will document it. Wouldn't your insurance company love to have this data?
An early version of GPS destination routing is demonstrated, where a lightbeam alpha-numeric is projected on the windshield to cue you which way you are to turn, and when. There is also a dashboard display. Another design boosts 'smart highways,' where side of the road electronics collects data, feeding info to the driver in his car, and to traffic control devices telling when to merge onto the expressway and when it's safe to pass slower traffic in front of you.
There are a number of exotic cars shown including one of my all-time favorite designs, the Alfa Romeo Carabo (1968), among the first of the wedge-shaped cars as either concept 'dream cars,' or something brought to market. A C3 Corvette is briefly shown in its second year, what appears to be a Ferrari 365 GTB4 "Daytona" and a Lamborghini Espada appear for a moment.
The Alfa Romeo Carabo:
While motorcycles aren't mentioned (I was paying attention, but perhaps I missed it) the content presaging features mandated on cars today, and civil engineering reflecting the advancements in safer roads now commonly integrated into our roadways which are only engineering studies in this video is stunning in how good ideas got adopted, and are commonplace today.
Roadway barriers of collapsible squat plastic drums, developed by noted racecar driver/Le Mans winner John Fitch (Fitch Barriers) are demonstrated, and have been responsible for many lives saved. 'Breakaway' signposts are also demonstrated, and that's another engineering development easily used today, again reducing injuries and deaths.
Many Baby Boomers and older people will remember Walter Cronkite as a trusted news source on TV, perhaps never more seriously performing his duty, to inform the country and the world of the death of President Kennedy in Dallas November 22,1963. I saw that broadcast, after arriving home from school and my last-period math teacher telling us, "the President has been shot in Dallas, it's very serious, you're being released early. Turn on the news when you get home." And there was Walter Cronkite, visibly emotionally affected, telling us John Kennedy was dead.
Watch the 21st Century documentary and see how many commonplace today things you can count being developed 53 years ago. I'm sure that Walter Cronkite would be surprised at how many things he reported upon then are accepted as common parts of our lives, today.
Clockwise from 1:00:
Walter Cronkite in a Ford research vehicle which senses heartrate, galvanic skin response, how many steering adjustments the driver makes, and other data; a Lincoln sacrificed to study safety; a Ford electric car studying upper speed capabilities.
If you consider the same time gap from the documentary to now, and subtract that from when the Cronkite documentary was filmed, you get the year 1916. The Stanley Steamer was an alternative to a Ford Model T which was itself only eight years old. The Baker Electric was an automobile a woman could operate, because it didn't require a hand-crank to start the car, a task beyond most women's abilities. In the Cronkite documentary, both modern steam operated cars and electric cars are shown and discussed. In 1916 hydraulic brakes were not yet invented, the Duesenberg was the first production car with them (1923), and it wasn't until World War II had begun in Europe that Henry Ford agreed to allow his cars' mechanical brakes to be replaced by hydraulics (1939). People in 1916 would be stunned by the developments in automobiles, and the U.S. Interstate Highway system, which began under President Dwight Eisenhower (National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956). Will we even be allowed to pilot our own vehicles in the year 2075? I can pretty-much assure you it won't be happening in ICE's!
A Stanley Steamer in CO at the Stanley Hotel (The Shining). Season's greetings! "Here's Johnny!"
Some motorcycle collector with his Baker Electric:
It's a report on developments in traffic safety and civil engineering. The number of predictions, and the developments discussed, seem commonplace today, but in 1969, these were on the engineers' drawing boards. Airbags are prominently mentioned, though you might think you're listening to Mike Lindell, "My Pillow" guy, because Cronkite repeatedly mentions the safety of the 'Pillow' systems being experimented with, in crash testing.
Side penetration barriers in the bodies is also mentioned and demonstrated. Another experimentation is how to allow drivers to maintain control of their vehicles during panic braking. Without, a Lincoln driver on snowy, icy roadways quickly loses control, 'looping' the car in a 360 degree pirouette. With the 'brake pumping' system active, the driver is able to stop in a much-shorter distance, straight ahead, without spinning the car. Watch the braking wheel rapidly start and stop as the ABS is activated.
Safety in driving is demonstrated where what I presume to be infrared beams track the distance to the car in-front of you, and taking into account your speed, sets a safe following distance. If the driver slows-down, so does your car; if he speeds-up, so will your car, to your pre-determined maximum speed you set.
Another development measures a number of physical parameters in the driver, including pulse rate, number of steering corrections one performs, and get this, your sweating through the palms of your hands, due to a gold conductive film on the steering wheel! It's listed as GSR on the car's control panel, which as every fan of the CSI shows knows, means gun shot residue. In some urban areas, that may be the case, but in the Cronkite documentary, it's galvanic skin response. Tailgating driver behind you making you nervous? the GSR sensor will document it. Wouldn't your insurance company love to have this data?
An early version of GPS destination routing is demonstrated, where a lightbeam alpha-numeric is projected on the windshield to cue you which way you are to turn, and when. There is also a dashboard display. Another design boosts 'smart highways,' where side of the road electronics collects data, feeding info to the driver in his car, and to traffic control devices telling when to merge onto the expressway and when it's safe to pass slower traffic in front of you.
There are a number of exotic cars shown including one of my all-time favorite designs, the Alfa Romeo Carabo (1968), among the first of the wedge-shaped cars as either concept 'dream cars,' or something brought to market. A C3 Corvette is briefly shown in its second year, what appears to be a Ferrari 365 GTB4 "Daytona" and a Lamborghini Espada appear for a moment.
The Alfa Romeo Carabo:
While motorcycles aren't mentioned (I was paying attention, but perhaps I missed it) the content presaging features mandated on cars today, and civil engineering reflecting the advancements in safer roads now commonly integrated into our roadways which are only engineering studies in this video is stunning in how good ideas got adopted, and are commonplace today.
Roadway barriers of collapsible squat plastic drums, developed by noted racecar driver/Le Mans winner John Fitch (Fitch Barriers) are demonstrated, and have been responsible for many lives saved. 'Breakaway' signposts are also demonstrated, and that's another engineering development easily used today, again reducing injuries and deaths.
Many Baby Boomers and older people will remember Walter Cronkite as a trusted news source on TV, perhaps never more seriously performing his duty, to inform the country and the world of the death of President Kennedy in Dallas November 22,1963. I saw that broadcast, after arriving home from school and my last-period math teacher telling us, "the President has been shot in Dallas, it's very serious, you're being released early. Turn on the news when you get home." And there was Walter Cronkite, visibly emotionally affected, telling us John Kennedy was dead.
Watch the 21st Century documentary and see how many commonplace today things you can count being developed 53 years ago. I'm sure that Walter Cronkite would be surprised at how many things he reported upon then are accepted as common parts of our lives, today.
Clockwise from 1:00:
Walter Cronkite in a Ford research vehicle which senses heartrate, galvanic skin response, how many steering adjustments the driver makes, and other data; a Lincoln sacrificed to study safety; a Ford electric car studying upper speed capabilities.
If you consider the same time gap from the documentary to now, and subtract that from when the Cronkite documentary was filmed, you get the year 1916. The Stanley Steamer was an alternative to a Ford Model T which was itself only eight years old. The Baker Electric was an automobile a woman could operate, because it didn't require a hand-crank to start the car, a task beyond most women's abilities. In the Cronkite documentary, both modern steam operated cars and electric cars are shown and discussed. In 1916 hydraulic brakes were not yet invented, the Duesenberg was the first production car with them (1923), and it wasn't until World War II had begun in Europe that Henry Ford agreed to allow his cars' mechanical brakes to be replaced by hydraulics (1939). People in 1916 would be stunned by the developments in automobiles, and the U.S. Interstate Highway system, which began under President Dwight Eisenhower (National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956). Will we even be allowed to pilot our own vehicles in the year 2075? I can pretty-much assure you it won't be happening in ICE's!
A Stanley Steamer in CO at the Stanley Hotel (The Shining). Season's greetings! "Here's Johnny!"
Some motorcycle collector with his Baker Electric:
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