QUESTION = Why every car I've driven only has the defrost option set to "defrost the windshield" or "defrost the windshield and blow on feet." GENERATION = It's primarily about reliability. While snow and ice are great insulators, snow on a windshield is incredibly bad for your car. So the AC is more complicated to implement to prevent damage. Driving with snow on the windshield is normally considered a good idea, because it prevents the car from catching on fire. If you have snow on the windshield, there's a good chance that it will also be on the ground, which would mean your car's tires will be sinking in the snow. But that's not necessarily good, and if you're driving it too fast, that might actually harm the car. So your car has a "thawing" option - if the snow doesn't melt, but is still there to cause harm to the car, the "defrost" option is to keep it out of the sun, which reduces the likelihood of it melting. Snow also acts as a shield, so if the window is covered with snow, the temperature differential is good enough to prevent ice from forming. If the window isn't covered with snow, the temperature differential is too low to prevent ice from forming on the window, and that risk is increased. RETRIEVAL #0 = Power window---be accidentally triggered by a child climbing to place his or her head out of the window. To prevent this, many vehicles feature a driver-controlled lockout switch, preventing rear-seat passengers (usually smaller children) from accidentally triggering the switches. This also prevents children from playing with them and pets riding with their heads out windows from activating the power window switch. Starting with the 2008 model year, U.S. government regulations required automakers to install safety mechanisms to improve child safety. However, the rules do not prevent all potential injuries to a hand, finger, or even a child's head, if someone deliberately holds the switch when the window is closing. In 2009, the U.S. auto safety administration tentatively decided against requiring all cars to have automatic reversing power windows if they sense an obstruction while closing. Proposed requirements concern automatic ("one-touch up") window systems, but most vehicles with this feature already have automatic-reversing. The federal government made a written contract that all automakers should make the lever switches (as opposed to the rocker and toggle switches) standard on all new vehicles by 1 October 2010. Section::::External links. BULLET::::- Power Windows Are Perilous (CBS News) BULLET::::- Fixing Power Windows BULLET::::- Nice, Karim. " RETRIEVAL #1 = Power window---allows operation of the windows and some other accessories for ten minutes or so after the engine is stopped. Another feature is the "express-down" window, which allows the window to be fully lowered with one tap on the switch, as opposed to holding the switch down until the window retracts. Many luxury vehicles during the 1990s expanded on this feature, to include "express-up" on the driver's window, and recently, some manufacturers have added the feature on all window switches for all passengers' convenience. This is done by activating the switch until a "click" response is felt. Power windows have become so common that by 2008, some automakers eliminated hand crank windows from all their models. So many vehicles now have power windows that some people no longer understand the (formerly) common sign from another driver of using their hand to simulate moving a window crank to indicate that they wish to speak with someone when stopped at a light or in a parking lot. The 2008 Audi RS4 sold in Europe, however, still has roll-up windows for the rear doors although its counterpart sold in the U.S. has power windows for all doors. Section::::Safety. Power windows have come under some scrutiny after several fatal accidents in which children's necks have become trapped, leading to suffocation. Some designs place the switch in a location on a hand rest where it RETRIEVAL #2 = Nissan Leaf---includes digital warning sounds, one for forward motion and another for reverse, to alert pedestrians, the blind, and others of its otherwise silent presence. For the 2011 model, the driver could turn off sounds temporarily through a switch inside the vehicle, but the system automatically reset to "On" at the next ignition cycle, but Nissan removed the ability to disable the pedestrian alert between model year 2011 and 2012 in anticipation of the U.S. ruling to be issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. After the new sounds were publicized, the U.S. National Federation of the Blind commented that "while it was pleased that the alert existed, it was unhappy that the driver could turn it off." The Leaf's electric warning sound had to be removed for cars delivered in the UK, as the country's law mandates that any hazard warning sound must be capable of being disabled between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and the Leaf's audible warning system does not allow for such temporary deactivation. Section::::First generation (2010–2017).:Production. In March 2013 Nissan had an installed capacity to produce 250,000 Leafs per year: 150,000 at Smyrna, Tennessee, 50,000 at Oppama, Japan, and 50,000 at Sunderland, England. The first vehicles sold RETRIEVAL #3 = 1960 Ford---trend, it seems. Windshield wipers were extended to cover more of the windshield. Ford also introduced the center rear fuel door lid. Section::::1961. The scalloped hood was gone for 1961, as the sheetmetal was revised for a cleaner look. This time, the tailfins were almost gone; replacing them, two giant circular taillights at each rear corner, glowing like an afterburner. Ford was definitely going with the space and science-fiction theme, and with successful results; this style of Galaxie is widely regarded as a classic. A new 390 CID (6.4 L) "FE" V8 was added with a claimed 401 hp (298 kW) gross output in triple-two-barrel carburetor form. A trunk release button was optional. Section::::1962. With the Fairlane and Fairlane 500 names shifted to a new intermediate-sized model range for 1962, the full-size Ford lineup consisted of the Galaxie, new Galaxie 500 and Galaxie 500XL models and the Station Wagon Series. Also new was a 406 CID (6.7 L) version of Ford's "FE" mid-sized V8 rated at 405 hp (302 kW). Bucket seats were everywhere in 1962 – sold as "The Lively Ones", the XL series added RETRIEVAL #4 = Windscreen wiper---the wipers remove snow or ice. For these types of winter conditions, some vehicles have additional heaters aimed at the windows, or embedded heating wire(s) in the glass; these defroster systems help to keep snow and ice from building up on the windscreen. Less frequently, miniature wipers are installed on headlights to ensure that they function optimally. Section::::History. Section::::History.:Early versions. One of the earliest recorded patents for the windscreen wiper is by George J. Capewell of Hartford Connecticut, which was filed on August 6, 1896 . His invention was for an automated , motorised, wiper for "cars, locomotives, and such land-vehicles". Other early designs for the windscreen wiper are credited to Polish concert pianist Józef Hofmann, and Mills Munitions, Birmingham who also claimed to have been the first to patent windscreen wipers in England. At least three inventors patented windscreen cleaning devices at around the same time in 1903; Mary Anderson, Robert Douglass, and John Apjohn. In April 1911, a patent for windscreen wipers was registered by Sloan & Lloyd Barnes, patent agents of Liverpool, England, for Gladstone Adams of Whitley Bay. American inventor Mary Anderson is popularly credited with devising the first operational windscreen wiper in 1903. In Anderson's patent, RETRIEVAL #5 = Block heater---monoxide; also heat is available more instantly for the passenger compartment and glass defogging. Block heaters or coolant heaters are also found on permanently installed systems using diesel engines to allow standby generator sets to take up load quickly in an emergency. Section::::Usage. Block heaters are frequently used in regions with cold winters such as the northern United States, Canada, Russia and Scandinavia. In colder climates, block heaters are often standard equipment in new vehicles. In extremely cold climates, electrical outlets are sometimes found in public or private parking lots, especially in multi-storey car parks. Some parking lots cycle the power on for 20 minutes and off for 20 minutes, to reduce electricity costs. Research by the Agricultural Engineering Department of the University of Saskatchewan has shown that operating a block heater for longer than four hours prior to starting a vehicle is a waste of energy. It was found that coolant temperature increased by almost degrees in that period, regardless of the initial temperature. Four tests were run at ambient temperatures ranging from ; continued use of the heater for a further one or two, or more, hours achieved a mere 2 or 3 more degrees Celsius as conditions stabilized. Engine oil temperature was found to increase over these periods by just . There are alternatives to a block heater that offer some of the same benefits. These include RETRIEVAL #6 = Chevrolet Caprice---California, optional on other models in 49 states). All other engines were carried over from 1973 although the 454 Turbo Jet lost , now rated at Also new for 1974 were integrated lap and shoulder seat belts and an "interlock" system required the driver and front seat passengers to fasten seat belts to be able to start the engine. The interlock feature proved so unpopular that Congress rescinded it shortly after the introduction of the 1975 models. A new option this year was a remote control for the passenger-side outside rear-view mirror. Instrument panels and steering wheels offered Section::::Second generation (1971–1976).:1975–1976. The 1975 models received an all new front end with swept back head lights, revised grille and turn signals return to the bumper which also angles backward at both ends. New tail lights now wrap around rear fenders. Caprice Classic Sport sedans now feature opera windows in the D-pillars. The dashboard, radio and climate control graphics were revised; the speedometer read up to , and had smaller numbers for kilometers per hour. The Caprice convertible would be discontinued after the 1975 model year along with its full-size B-body counterparts including the Oldsmobile Delta 88, Buick LeSabre, and Pontiac Grand Ville. Just about 8,350 Caprice Classic convertible