OT: Dates and vehicles was Re: Eliot Spitzer, antismoking leader, self-destructs

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:26:33 -0500, "Judson McClendon"
<judmc@sunvaley0.com> wrote:
 
>
>Anyone who uses an automobile and never has to enter a date
>into it should realize they a correct date isn't necessary for an
>automobile to function. Was there ever a story (before Y2K)
>circulated where someone's car stopped and the fdate had to
>be entered for it to run? I seriously doubt it. Many people do
>not know how to set the date on their VCRs (this is a common
>cliche, the blinking 00:00), and they never exploded. You don't
>have to be a techie to figure such things out.
>

While I can't speak for cars, my local volunteer fire department had a
truck (La France I think) that would have locked up for passing a
maintenance period after 2000 (reported by the town administrator).
Since half the volunteer department worked for the local car
dealership, this would have been a slowdown at the worst possible
moment, not a complete disaster.  Obviously we received the fix before
the year 2000.
 
Clark Morris