As a bureaucrat who started his career editing ASCS manuals, I'm a bit more friendly to the idea of reading manuals than the average bear. The things we use in our lives often come with manuals, manuals I don't routinely read. Yes, when the clothes dryer goes out or doing something new with the microwave I may consult the manual, but I don't sit down to read them cover to cover.
The same rule applies for cars. The manual's in the glove compartment, and I'll check it for problems. But today I'm changing my rules.
The background: as I age my driving ability is declining. I'm more easily distracted, more easily confused when driving in unfamiliar territory, and less quick to react. I miss pedestrians and approaching cars at intersections. And the future looks worse, not better. Like most people I'd hate to give up my control and freedom by abandoning the car and switching to public transportation, even the options in Reston are very good.
With safety options multiplying rapidly as we get closer to the self-driving car, what seems to make sense to me is switching to a short-term leased car. That way I can get the advantage of the new features and still have the flexibility to upgrade to a newer car in a couple years, assuming I'm still competent as a driver when that day arrives.
So, I'm looking at a Prius with all the safety options. But it's a big leap from 2006 to 2017, so I'm looking at the manual. Indeed, for the first time I'm reading the Prius manual from the beginning.
But, the damn thing is 700 pages. (As a measure of the changes, I think the manual for my current car is about 200 pages.) 700 pages.
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