Kyle Busch Hits His Own Wall
Posted on Aug 23, 2016 in Safety | 1 comment
If we needed more proof of the travesty NASCAR racing has become, we got it last Friday when Kyle Busch (above, center) drove a competitor into the wall—while the caution light was on. The scene was one of NASCAR’s ridiculous truck races at the Texas Motor Speedway. Here’s the nutshell of the story, as Autoweek had it: Busch was suspended for intentionally...
Read MoreSafe Used Cars Under $5,000 (And One Under $2)
Posted on Jul 20, 2016 in Safety | 1 comment
The safest car ever? Remember the Top Gear episode where Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May had to find a cheap used car, put it through a series of tests and see which vehicle performed the best? One stunt in particular stands out above the rest, which went something like this: The presenters had to crash their cars at 30mph into a wall. 10 points...
Read MoreMore on Driverless Car Craziness
Posted on Jun 19, 2016 in Safety | 1 comment
Back in August, we gave you our take on the pros and cons of driverless cars. Among other smart things we said: “The big issue for a lot of people is losing control. It’s a bit like the drunk who won’t give up the keys to his car.” The U.S. seems to be in the grip of a widespread fear of losing control—over everything from bladders to jobs. The individual has...
Read MoreGoogle Wants 1 Million Driverless Miles
Posted on May 19, 2016 in Safety | 1 comment
Remember when Google was just a search engine? I still remember the first time I saw the Google homepage. It was in 2001, and I worked at an ad agency. One of the hip designers had the sparse, mystifying, cryptic page constantly displayed on one of his Power Mac monitors. I looked at that page and wondered what it was. I wondered what would happen if I were to...
Read MoreNew Winter Driving Tech: Worth It?
Posted on Apr 13, 2016 in Safety | 1 comment
For the first 10 or so years of my winter driving career, my cars were equipped with nothing more than a slow-working heater and, maybe, a rear defroster. That made for some cold driving experiences and often required some extra time outside scraping the windows clear before hunkering down in the driver’s seat wearing a down coat and puffy gloves. (It’s amazing...
Read MoreToyota Yaris: It’s a Car. That Texts!?
Posted on Mar 18, 2016 in Safety | 3 comments
2012 Toyota Yaris Even the most basic automobile is about to succumb to the stigma of added technology. The Toyota Yaris has thrived as one of the few remaining examples of basic transportation, free from touchscreens, integrated GPS and complicated user interfaces. Some of us just want to drive and not be distracted by unnecessary technology inside our cars,...
Read MoreWarning Others of Speed Traps: Illegal?
Posted on Feb 7, 2016 in Safety | 2 comments
A simple flash of the headlights would’ve sufficed… As a driver concerned with the well-being of my fellow citizens on the road, I make an effort to warn oncoming traffic when I notice a cop stalking for speeders. That is, once I’m sure that Johnny Law hasn’t locked his sights on me. When I know I’ve made it through the speed trap unscathed, I...
Read MoreBad Driving and What, If Anything, to Do About It
Posted on Jan 4, 2016 in Safety | 1 comment
Oh boy, another lecture on distracted driving and texting. Well, this one’s a little bit different. I want to talk about how bad driving is part of the culture in most every country—and suggest that there’s only one way to fix it. Texting and cell phone use in cars seem to be slightly on the decline in the U.S., and maybe that’s due to all the publicity, maybe...
Read MoreBurnt Benzes in Berlin; Unrepaired Cars Here
Posted on Dec 8, 2015 in Safety | 1 comment
We haven’t had real protests in this country since the Vietnam War days. Other countries are much quicker to take their political discontents to the streets. In Berlin, symbols of Fat Cat wealth—mostly Mercedes, BMWs and Audis—have been going up in flames. This year alone, some 138 have been burnt, double last year’s number. In the 2009 recession, 221 cars were...
Read MoreDriverless Cars: Encouraging Drinking and Driving?
Posted on Nov 3, 2015 in Safety | 1 comment
Today we learn that a driverless car in China drove 175 miles on a packed expressway without GPS, depending instead on video cameras and radar sensors. Nevada recently passed legislation to legalize self-driving cars—after standards for performance, licensing, etc. are set. Some car blogs have had a lot of fun reporting that Google’s driverless Prius (above)...
Read MoreMore Troubles for Honda: 2.5 Million Recalls
Posted on Oct 25, 2015 in Safety | 2 comments
Even before the terrible earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan, Honda seemed to be losing its way. I wrote a story in May of last year about that. More recently our estimable tgriffith told you about Consumer Reports’ slam of the new Civic(above)—for bad brakes and handling, a choppy ride and, yes, an inferior interior. CR rated the Civic 11th out of 12 small...
Read MoreStealing Cars Through Text Message
Posted on Sep 27, 2015 in Safety | 3 comments
I miss the good ol’ days. Like back in 1998, when the economy was booming, we had a care-free president, the Dow Jones was about to cross the 10,000 mark for the first time and crooks broke into cars with crowbars and screwdrivers. Things were good. It was in 1998 that I had a Toyota Pickup stolen from a Seattle park ‘n’ ride. The thieves broke into the truck...
Read MoreAD
.gif)
Social Media
Recent Comments