Forward-opening car doors; rearward opening -- curious

I am battling bronchitis, so not doing much other than watching old movies.

Just saw a German film with old cars where the doors opened to the rear -- opposite of what seems to be the modern design with forward opening doors -- ie -- Prius.



Since I am bored, anyone have any experience with this type of door? Advantages, disadvantages?

Any thoughts on why they fell out of favor?

Maybe because they block the view of hazards approaching you from the rear?

 

The things I learn here....seriously very interesting. THANK YOU!

I found this thanks to the term "suicide doors."

Suicide door - Wikipedia
Not quite there, but the way my lungs feel this evening....maybe I need one of those cars@@@!!!

 

I think my bronchitis is directly related to the person I sat next to on United Airlines flight 5051 from Ontario, Calif. to San Francisco a week or so ago. It was a cozy little Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200 (twin-jet) and we were very up close and personal as he sneezed, coughed and blew his nose the whole flight.

I don't like getting flu shots, but I usually do -- not scared of them, just not that much of a believer. When I do get them, I get them in December. The disease here never seems to start until January.

Today, I am better, except for yakking up lots of gunk all morning long. I am thinking about going up on the roof this afternoon to make sure everything is set for winter's onset -- if my head is not swimming like it was yesterday. Going to be about 75 degrees F with a light east wind.

If I really feel up to it, need to trim a bunch of overhanging branches on the driveway, but since that entails using the hated pole saw and I think we are still in fire season, technically, I may have to postpone that work -- or wait until the weekend and hopes my husband does it. (If we are still in fire season, I have to have a six-hour fire watch after I complete the work, which means I have to sit along the driveway with a shovel, a pulaski and a couple of fire extinguishers and a cell phone for SIX HOURS after I am done and watch for any ignitions. One of the joys of living in the Oregon backcountry.

As for fires we have had three good rainstorms in the past couple of weeks. Most of the smaller fires surrendered, but the big ones -- the one in the Columbia Gorge, along the historic Columbia River still is affecting traffic on Interstate 84 and is only about half-contained at about 50-thousand acres (78 square miles). It jumped the Columbia River several times and if any of you have ever seen the Columbia -- that's a feat.

The Chetco fire, which burned about 192,000 acres (300 square miles) is at 97 percent containment. It's near the Oregon Coast, so the recent damp and jump in humidity really helped put it down.

Lucky I am not working for the US Geological Survey anymore, considering how horrific the season was, they probably would have sent my crew and I off on wildfire duty.

I live in the Coast Range, about midway up the state, while the area has certainly had horrible fires -- just the fact of being in the coastal fog belt usually means fires don't rage -- the Tillamook Burn being the exception -- 350,000 acres (545 square miles).

 

Yep, any kid who grew up in any "country" area of the western United States probably knows the pulaski.

The axe side is obviously used to cut wood, brush, but that seldom gets any use during fires. The "hoe" or grubbing side is the workhorse. It is used to manually build fire line (fire breaks). Quite fun with 10 or 15 people in a line, each swinging and grubbing.

To build a line, you have to grub out and scrape out all combustible plants, detritus, etc. down to bare mineral soil for a width of 12-30 feet depending on the terrain and fuel type. You are expected to construct about 800-1,000 feet per hour, if my memory is working today.

Hard work, but the secret is to use mostly your stomach and leg muscles. Newbies use their arms and shoulders and wearout quickly.

Of course, a John Deere is quicker, but lots of areas where the Deere "won't run" in the wilderness.

kris