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PSA: How to safely abandon your car in a snowstorm

Mother Nature has hit the deep freeze button again, and that means getting stuck in a snowstorm is not such a wild improbability for some of us. If you can't stay off the roads and happen to find yourself immobile once you get on them, PEMCO Insurance has a brief guide for what do if you absolutely must abandon your car. Perhaps the most important advice is to always carry some emergency winter clothes and supplies with you, like flares and blankets, which could come in handy even if you don't get permanently stuck. You'll especially want to make the car as visible as possible so that others can avoid hitting it.
posted : 12/24/2008 @9:19:59 PM

Key2SafeDriving technology enforces phone-free drivingIn the military it's called "mission creep," when the quick little job you intended to do turns into something big and ugly. In science, it's called "progress." What started out as a quick little way to keep folks from texting while driving has turned into a way to track how and where you drive so that that information can be reported to your insurance agency. Key2SafeDriving utilizes a wireless transponder attached to your car key, which then communicates with software installed on your cell phone. When you slide the key out of the housing to start the car, the transponder enters "drive" mode and jams the cell phone that it's paired with, ensuring that the driver is unable to send texts or make phone calls. The transponder is paired with one particular phone, so no one but the driver is affected. That's the part that is supposed to make a lot of teens safer and a lot of parents happier.

But while the researchers were twiddling with the phone software, somehow they enabled it to keep track of the "vehicle's location, speed, sudden breaking [sic] and the running of lights." We have no idea how they managed to get your phone to know when you've run a red light or when you've stabbed the brakes, but that's what they're advertising. The upshot is that your driving data stored in the phone will be matched with a traffic database, and that information will be used to establish a "safety score" that will be sent to your insurance company each week. See how they did that? Teen safety turns into 1984. We think we'll just turn our phones off when we drive...

posted : 12/23/2008 @8:32:45 PM
10-year-old crashes van while driving drunk parents homeReality shows and the Internet have not created a more ridiculous world, they have only promoted the outrageous things that are already going on. You're a dad in Tennessee who's had 15 brewskies and an unknown quantity of other liquor, your female company is under the influence of something and has a pocket full of pills, and you need to get home. Thankfully there are three kids in the group, and the 10-year-old is probably straight up enough to drive the van. But who knew the kid would think 90 mph was an appropriate cruising speed and then flip the van over? A few police later – after the woman has tried "to swallow as many pills as she could" – the adults got a much more relaxed ride to the pokey and the kids got passport into state care. It's a good thing the proud papa was wearing his lucky beer T-shirt, or things really could have gone wrong.
posted : 10/15/2008 @7:33:02 PM
Audi ships A4 Driving Challenge iPhone game v2.0

They say you get what you pay for. Unfortunately, even with the second release of the Audi A4 Driving Challenge for your iPhone or iPod Touch, the price tag is still fairly representative of the quality of the game. According to Audi, 370,000 people downloaded version 1.0, but we'd be curious to know how many of those copies were still on the devices 48 hours after the user first tried it out. Our guess would be not many. Version 2.0 is certainly much improved. Audi has added new vehicles that can be unlocked, including the A4 3.2 and the mighty R8. The graphics are also better, compared to the original. Unfortunately, like so many other games on other platforms, graphics and good features don't necessarily equate to great gameplay. Compared to Crash Kart, the vehicles in this Audi game are hard to control, and the game simply isn't much fun because the scale speeds are so slow. Since it's free, go ahead and download the Audi A4 Driving Challenge and try it yourself. Thankfully, not all of the free apps on the iPhone and iPod Touch are of the same quality of this one. Perhaps for v3.0, Audi should hire someone with more experience in driving game design.
posted : 10/13/2008 @4:44:58 PM
Governator vetos ban on lap-dogs while driving

California recently banned talking on cellphones, and then followed up by making texting illegal, while driving. For a moment there, it was looking like all you were going to be able to do behind the wheel in California was, you know, drive. But thanks to the dedication of Governor Schwarzenegger, individual freedoms have not been extinguished. Promising to only sign bills that are "the highest priority for California," Arnie vetoed a bill that would ban driving with dogs in your lap. While we understand the spirit of the veto -- California does have much bigger issues to deal with than lapdogs -- we do sometimes wonder why a 40-pound kid has to be in a child seat, but a 40-pound, unpredictable animal can take a nap between you and the steering wheel.
posted : 10/5/2008 @2:22:49 PM
tags : driver , drivers , driving , etc , humor , video , videos
VIDEO: Truck driver does 70 MPH, in reverse, kind of...

A very short clip that says so much, there's really only one thing to add: be very, very careful out there. You never know who you're driving next to... Follow the jump to see the vid.
more ...
posted : 10/3/2008 @7:45:44 PM
Same old shtick: IIHS wants to delay licenses for teensIt seems every year or two the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety publishes a study showing why 16-year-olds shouldn't be trusted with a driver's license. Yet every year, only New Jersey withholds the privilege of four-wheeled freedom until the age of 17. In this year's report, the IIHS contrasts the rate of fatalities per 100,000 teenage drivers in New Jersey and Connecticut, the latter of which allows 16-year-old drivers. The teen death rate for accidents in Jersey was 4.4 per 100,000, while Connecticut had 20.7 deaths per 100,000 teenage drivers. Those numbers aren't a statistical anomaly, either. Earlier studies of New Jersey and Connecticut revealed similar fatality statistics, and the IIHS concludes that Connecticut could reduce teen fatalities by 66% if the legal driving age was changed to 17. Even though data shows lower-aged drivers increase injury and death, most states still aren't interested in raising the age to 17. Florida, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Georgia all tried to increase the legal driving age to no avail, and other states aren't even trying. We're torn on this issue because we remember how exciting it was to receive our driver's license at 16, and our parents were happy to end their chauffeur service. Let us know how old you were when you got your license, and give us your thoughts on what you think the minimum driving age should be in your state.
posted : 9/22/2008 @11:35:53 PM
F1 driver turned male model: Lewis Hamilton poses for new McLaren shoe line

Lewis Hamilton is finding that there's more to life than being a really, really ridiculously good driver. Like male modeling. While we don't think Lewis will make a career of it, he actually did a pretty good job posing for the new McLaren shoe line recently launched as part of its lifestyle collection. The line includes four different shoes, from a laced shoe suitable for everyday use to full driving boots. Interestingly, none of the shots show him actually wearing the shoes on his feet, but we don't think that was the point. So now we have to ask... who would win in a walk-off? Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso?
posted : 9/16/2008 @6:35:30 AM
HUMMER Driving Academy launches in the Sahara

The Dakar rally may have packed up and left North Africa following threats from al-Qaeda, but bands of roving terrorists aren't about to scare off HUMMER. The go-anywhere GM division has set up a driving academy smack in the middle of the Sahara desert to give participants a hands-on training program for off-road driving through some of the harshest terrain Mother Earth has to offer. The inaugural session will kick off this coming November, taking 28 participants in 14 vehicles – each with alternating pilot and co-pilot – on an 800-mile, five-day journey through the Moroccan Sahara. The 14 HUMMER H3s used in the course are equipped with survival gear, sand tires and GPS equipment, but are otherwise stock. The program costs nearly $6,000 per two-man team and includes luxury accommodations at each stop along the way in addition to tutelage in driving and navigation techniques. The experience promises to bring participants closer to the elements, and the brand closer to potential buyers. Follow the link to the academy's dedicated website for more information in testing your limits behind the wheel of HUMMER.
posted : 9/14/2008 @6:07:00 AM
Mexico confiscates trucks crossing border for cheap dieselThinking with their wallets, and avoiding $4.59/gallon fuel prices, truck owners in the States have been sneaking across the Mexican border to fill up with low-cost diesel (in Mexico, the fuel averages just $2.20/gallon). While filling a primary fuel tank isn't illegal, Mexico prohibits additional fuel tanks (aka auxiliary tanks) to be filled and moved across the border, so many truck owners with long-range tanks are finding themselves breaking Mexican federal law. Truck owners are getting stopped on the Mexican side of the border and their trucks are confiscated while authorities run tests to determine the origin of the fuel. If found in violation, owners face stiff fines. The Mexican Consulate is offering a blanket warning for all truck owners equipped with secondary fuel tanks to not drive those vehicles into Mexico. Not only do those owners risk truck confiscation, but the Mexican fuel is not formulated to U.S. ultra-low-sulfur regulations meaning emissions components will likely be damaged.
posted : 8/11/2008 @7:18:53 PM
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