The Weirdest Car Facts That Are Actually Good to Know

Bear with us. Some of these are going to appear utterly trivial but we'll explain why you need to know them. Plus, it'll be fun!

Fact #1: Upside-Down Driving

According to Redex, a modern Formula 1 car can travel along the ceiling of a tunnel (yea, upside down) at 120 mph or higher. F1 cars are designed to produce loads of downforce by taking advantage of the air rushing by them during a race. Every car produces downforce, though. Some much more than others, of course. Jaguar's F-Type R produces 264 pounds of downforce at 150 mph. That's not nearly enough to pin it to the roof but it's significant.

The point we need to make is that you don't get any downforce at low speeds. Every young buck who has ever burned rubber in Bike Week traffic seems to be oblivious to this because tearing off across the median, into the sea of waiting vehicles on the other side, is far too common. (alcohol may play a part in this, as well) Guys, just wait until you have some space to show off.

Fact #2: Stuck for the Week

According to Auto Insurance Center, the average American spent 42 hours stuck in traffic jams in 2016. That's a full-time work week, which could have been spent earning money! And that's just the average. L.A. and New York drivers were stuck almost twice as long. No joke! It's time to think about carpooling and public transportation in some areas, folks.

Fact #3: Lane Splitting

If you've ever been to a city in Southeast Asia, you'll remember how motorcyclists there always get in between the cars and trucks at stop lights, sometimes even in the midst of fast-moving traffic. This is called lane splitting. While most Americans wouldn't think of doing such a thing, it is legal in one state: California. As of a few years ago, most Californians weren't aware of this. As long as the cars are stopped and the motorcyclist travels at a low rate of speed, lane splitting is allowed. Don't lose your cool when a biker eases up between you and the driver in the next lane.

Fact #4: Parts for Days

According to factslides.com, the average car has 30,000 parts. From an engineering standpoint, even the worst cars are impressively reliable. Be grateful.

Fact #5: Morbidness

Curiosity.com says your odds of being killed in a car accident are 1 in 5,000. Generally speaking, those are good odds. Well, compared to being killed by a heart attack they're good. As far a travelling goes, they're bad. The odds you'll die in an airplane accident are much lower, at 1 in 11 million. Contrary to popular belief, almost all plane crash victims survive; 95.7%. The odds of being killed by an animal range from about 1 in 2 million to 1 in 674 thousand in the United States, depending on where you live.

Why is this important? It's important because safety ratings matter and if consumers do not buy vehicles with poor safety ratings, manufacturers will stop producing vehicles with poor safety ratings. Simple as that. Oh, by the way, riding a motorcycle is still much more dangerous than driving a car.