Posts Filed under: Car Tech

British Lord to Be Prosecuted for Causing Fatal Accident by Texting

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 19th 2008 at 2:15PM

Lord Ahmed, a Labour party member in the British House of Lords, will be prosecuted for causing a fatal accident last year, allegedly while texting, Textually.org notes.

On Christmas of last year, Ahmed called paramedics on his cell phone shortly after the wreck in which the other driver died immediately. Authorities later discovered that a text message had been sent from that same cell phone, just prior to accident.

As 'texting while driving' becomes increasingly common, the news of this trial comes at a time rife with stories of text-message-induced traffic accidents, including a texting teen who was struck by a train last year, and the implementation of anti-texting laws by federal and state governments. [From: Textually.org]

Video Games Blamed for Bad Driving

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 19th 2008 at 8:40AM

Anyone who has ever played an extended 'Grand Theft Auto' session, only to have to later get behind the wheel of a car, doesn't need to be told that video games are a bad influence on drivers. We constantly drive down the street mentally tallying how many points we would score for nailing the old lady with the walker and how much air we could get if we floored it over this upcoming hill. But leave it to German researchers and Australian law enforcement to confirm the glaringly obvious.

In a new study, German researchers claim that video games that let players drive recklessly, crash, and otherwise have fun, are causing people to be less responsible behind the wheel. Interestingly, they say driving games only negatively affect the real driving skills of men. One researcher, Supt Evans, pointed to the obvious disconnect from reality, "In games you race, you crash and it is a matter of pressing the buttons and off you go again. In real life it doesn't work that way, you can be killed." Thanks for that brilliant analysis.

We smell another crusade in the making, in which video games become the scape goat.

We're not denying that playing some of these games might actually have an impact on how a person drives, but let's be honest, people drive recklessly because they're jerks with no concern for the safety of others, not because they just played 'Gran Turismo 5.' What do you think? [From: News.com.au]

Neil Young Argues for Electric Car Revolution in Detroit

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 1:54PM

The award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young is bound and determined to tear down and rebuild the motor in Motor City, according to Autoblog and a piece that the singer wrote for Huffington Post.

Sharing popular concerns about fuel prices and efficiency, Young has been hard at work in recent months, trying to develop practical electric car conversions. His masthead vehicle -- a revamped '59 Lincoln dubbed Linc Volt -- has gotten some media attention of late.

Riding that wave of publicity, Young has penned a piece for the Huffington Post, challenging Detroit auto manufacturers to "make a good deal for the future of America" and to "stop building autos that contribute to global warming now." Referencing his Linc Volt model and other competitors for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, Young vehemently argues that the requisite technology is realistic, if not already available.

Continue reading Neil Young Argues for Electric Car Revolution in Detroit

Canceled XM and Sirius Channels Rankling Merged Sat Radio Subscribers

by Will Safer, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 1:11PM

The Sirius Satellite Radio and XM merger is rankling more than a few of the service's subscribers now that many of their favorite stations have been eliminated in new channel line ups.

As with most mergers, the two companies are, at best, trying to remove redundancy, putting a positive spin on their new combined effort. In actual practice, that means switching some channels from one service to the other or eliminating programming. This has left some passionate satellite radio subscribers miffed.

Some, like long-time Sirius subscriber Stan Petrov, lament the loss of his NBA channels, which were moved over to XM. But why, you ask, do any channels have to be moved? Aren't the combined channel selections available to all XM and Sirius subscribers? The answer is no. Until now, XM subscribers had to use an XM receiver. Sirius subscribers had to use a Sirius receiver. The two receivers cannot make use of the satellite signal previously assigned to its former competitor. It won't be until next May that combined Sirius/XM receiver will likely be on the market.

Will the new XM/Sirius survive until then?

Continue reading Canceled XM and Sirius Channels Rankling Merged Sat Radio Subscribers

Forklift Driver's YouTube Stunt Video Gets Him Convicted

by Dan Reilly, posted Nov 14th 2008 at 3:29PM

Seriously. When will people learn? This week's winner of the "getting in trouble for doing something stupid and putting it online" contest is Australian Matthew Garry Ward. The 20-year-old was convicted of violating a safety law after he filmed himself performing stunts on a forklift at work then posted it on YouTube.

The above clip showing Ward on his five-ton ride was filmed using his cell phone and posted online as "How 2 pass you forklift License (sic)". He was reported to authorities after a coworker showed the clip to his boss. A prosecutor said he placed himself and others in harm's way after he "failed to wear a seatbelt, sped forward while looking sideways at the camera, and had no control over the forklift." He pled guilty to "failing to take reasonable care for his own health and placing himself at serious risk."

Ward said he wasn't proud of his actions, realized it was an immature thing to do, and "was devastated to lose a job he loved and was skilled at." He was given 50 hours of community service, a mandatory safety course, and $1200 fine by a judge and then escorted out the back of the courthouse to avoid the embarrassment of facing the media. Way to go, Matthew. You're an idiot.

Although, we have to admit, that does look like fun. [From: NEWS.com.au]

Piaggio MP3 Hybrid Scooter Saves Gas and Plays Music

by Donald Melanson, posted Nov 12th 2008 at 2:23PM

The NYPD may have ditched a few of their Piaggio scooters in favor of some all-electric Vectrix models a little while back, but it looks like the Italian company may be about to get back in their favor, as it has just unveilved its new MP3 Hybrid plug-in scooter that promises to get an impressive 141MPG. Apparently, the three-wheeled scooter can operate in either a full-electric mode, or one of three hybrid modes, which brings the 125 cc gasoline engine into the picture to let you do zero to sixty about five seconds. As with some other PHEVs, the scooter also makes use of regenerative breaking to help recharge the batteries, which can apparently be fully topped off in as little as three hours when plugged in at home. No word on a price just yet, but Piaggo says it "could" be on the market as soon as next year.

New Police Cruiser Is Built for Cops, by Cops

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 12th 2008 at 9:01AM

Challenging the traditional law enforcement models of Ford's Crown Victoria and Dodge's Charger, the startup automotive company Carbon Motors Corp. presented the E7, its masthead police car, at San Diego's International Association of Chiefs of Police this week, Officer.com tells us.

Carbon Motors, publicized as being "Designed by law enforcement, for law enforcement," has its roots in one retired police officer's dissatisfaction with conventional policing models. That officer, Stacy Dean Stephens of Coppell, Texas, contacted businessman William Santana Li with his pitch and preliminary designs for a car designed specifically for police work.

Having sought thorough input from police officers, Stephens and Li came up with a turbo diesel, aluminum framed cruiser, featuring unique appointments like suicide doors and on-board radiation detectors. All in all, Carbon Motors offers more than 70 custom options.

While Stephens and Li have not slated production to begin until 2012, they are optimistic about demand for the vehicle.

While the economy is hurting and gas prices are still tentative, putting off the car's production might be for the best, anyway. For now, it may be that cops have an easier -- and cheaper -- time catching criminals in cars, not with them. [From: Officer.com]

Creepy BabyMaker3000 Actually Being Used to Make Virtual Babies

by Evan Shamoon, posted Nov 9th 2008 at 12:16PM

As we inch ever closer to a future in which our babies are exactly what we want them to be, German car manufacturer Volkswagen has put together a nifty little preview in the form of a promotional Web app. Just upload pictures of yourself and your loved one (or celebrities who you've never met), set the key points (eyes, mouth, nose, etc..), and watch the magic unfold.

According to VW's PR team, the BabyMaker3000 has brought 314,384 digital babies into the world since going live a month ago -- surpassing the number of real babies born in the U.S. during a comparable timeframe (295,075). An estimated half million visitors have checked out the site, a pretty mind-boggling number that probably says something about our desire for this type of technology in the real world.

In case you were wondering, the above virtual baby belongs to one Barack Obama and one newly divorced baby mama, Madonna. We're naming him Barack Hussein Madonna-Obama-Rama, and no, you can't take his photograph, filthy paparazzi. [From: VW.com]

Caterpillar and CMU Team Up to Create World's Largest Robotic Truck

by Engadget Staff, posted Nov 8th 2008 at 5:24PM

We're always hearing about some fantastical, nigh-mythical creation that Carnegie Mellon University is in the midst of cobbling together from spare parts, crazy ideas, and pure, simple genius, so maybe we shouldn't be frothing over the new robotic truck they've partnered up with Caterpillar to create, but this one promises to be the "world's largest." Adapting software CMU used in the DARPA Urban Challenge, the team hopes to end up with fully automated, 700-ton trucks capable of moving up to 42 miles per hour which will be used for mining. The trucks would theoretically reduce costs, increase productivity, and save lives.

The Frankenstein-ed vehicles will boast GPS, laser range finders to identify large obstacles, video equipment, and a "robotic driver." The scientists somewhat predictably foresee some (as of now) rather far-fetched consumer applications in cars and trucks over the "next five to ten years," but we're taking that with a few salt grains for now. The trucks aren't ready quite yet but we hear their arrival is imminent, and and we can only imagine that somewhere in the world, Grave Digger is crying to himself.

Update: We've changed the title to reflect the accurate arrangement, which is a teaming up of CMU and Caterpillar, not DARPA. Thanks to the commenter who pointed that out.

Fujitsu's In-Car Safety Tech Senses Drowsiness, Wakes You Up

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 8th 2008 at 11:16AM

Not that we haven't seen similar technology from other outfits before, but we'll take as many in-car safety advancements as we can get. It's bruited that Fujitsu is conjuring up a sophisticated sensor system that can actually detect when a driver gets drowsy or begins to sink into a deep, dark wonder-world of sleep. Put simply, the system would detect specific changes in the motorist's heart rate via the steering wheel, and once it determined that you weren't exactly "with it" any longer, the car could then roll its own windows down, blast the stereo or jolt the wheel in order to get your attention. In our minds, the biggest issue here is to not cause an accident by spooking a sleepy driver out of their slumber, and we presume that's exactly what the company is working on in its R&D labs.

[Image courtesy of MetroHealth]

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