Putting the brakes on change...

I have an old car. It was made in the mid 1950s. A few weeks back, the brakes failed. Don't worry, no one got hurt, but I've been trying to fix it ever since. My first thought was, let's upgrade the old drums to discs. To my surprise, the local authorities have recently gone bonkers over these sorts of upgrades. So where a simple brake test and a certificate kept them happy before, now they want closed road testing costing thousands of dollars. One certifying engineer I spoke with told me, "just fix your drums and drive slow." So, this is one of those funny situations where what is safer for everyone, is less important than the things the authorities need ticked off. Made me think. Often it's the idea of change that scares people more than it's demonstrated outcomes. *Shrugs*

Now if you don't mind, pass me the penetrating oil...