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safety
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Ford Succeeds In Giving Us Nightmares With New Ka Spot
We understand the Ford Ka is a roomy vehicle. Hell, it's even big enough for James Bond and many Bond girls, but the means this Spanish commercial goes to in order to express that notion is going to cause us to have some serious trouble sleeping tonight. The first one to identify what the hell those creatures are gets a cookie. [Neatorama]
gadgets
Poorly Named Hotdog Monitors In-Car Temperature For The Pooch
We all know the SPCA, PETA and other groups get their knickers in a bunch over leaving animals in cars, and rightly so. Much to the delight of these organizations, Hotdog is a new gadget that will to take a step forward toward keeping pets in overheating cars. This device connects into your cars electrical system and will actively monitor the temperature inside of the car. More »
gadgets
Puphut Does Nothing To Increase Ferociousness Of Your Pooch
All the credibility you gained driving that F-350 will be thrown out the window once the guys catch you rocking a Puphut in your big, beastly truck. Puphut is what it says it is: a hut, for your truck, so your dog can stay nice and protected when you are hauling him around town. Back off for a second, PETA, and listen. Dogs can take the weather and unless you drive around all day with your dog in the bed, I'm more than sure Old Yeller will be fine for the 10 minute trip to the hardware store. More »
crime
Bear Steels Car, Bear Driving Car, How Can That Be?
New Jersey police are claiming that a black bear is the prime suspect in a car theft in Vernon Township. Apparently, the bear was attracted to the sweets inside the car and accidentally released the emergency brake. The vehicle was found down the road, full of bear hair and broken glass. This thing should be expected if we continue to destroy crime-fighting alligators. I'll take the alligator over the bear any day. [LOL.CO.ZA]
animals
400 Chickens Killed in Road Accident
1,400 hundred chickens escaped captivity and 400 were killed in a tragic road accident in Scotland early this morning. The tractor-trailer carrying them jack-knifed on the A40 near Haggs, releasing the birds and causing chaos on area roads. It took Specialist Chicken Handlers 9-hours to clear the road of the fowl, which had been destined for an area abattoir. [Via BBC News]Photo credit: E. E. Piphanie
report
Making Cars Look Like Animals Could Reduce Accidents
A study conducted by Yale and the University of California has found that the human brain is more attuned to detecting animal than mechanical motion. The results could point the way for safer cars being made in the image of wildlife. In tests, subjects were over three times as likely to recognize motion in animals than in cars. Quoted in The Telegraph, Professor Leda Cosmides of the University of California said, "It may seem fanciful, but it is possible that painting cars to look more like animals might increase attentional monitoring of them." The Telegraph Photo credit: Sister72
caught in the headlights
Deer Deterrent Tested
A roadside device capable of scaring deer away from the road when vehicles approach is being tested in New Jersey. Capable of detecting headlights long before the animals become dazzled, it emits a loud noise and flashes a blue strobe light when cars come within 150 yards. 38 have been installed on a stretch of road near Fort Dix notorious for accidents involving deer. Its inventors, JAFA Technologies, say the devices will cost about $150 each. [Via NJ.com]Photo credit: Eric Chan
no rules, just 'roo
Bathurst Kangaroo!
In Australia, there are many wonderous things — utes, sheilas, The Great Barrier Reef, Paul Hogan and road trains — not to mention a rather abundant diversity of marsupials. Some of these marsupials are kangaroos. Sometimes, kangaroos end up where they're not supposed to be, such as on the track at Bathurst during a motor racing competition. More »
mine! mine! mine! mine!
Bird and Car Enter, Car Leaves
Somewhere along that great ribbon of asphalt and concrete that links The City to the Big Apple, there is a pond. More specifically, that pond is in Utah. And in that Utahn pond, gulls congregate. Their flight path to said pond takes them across Interstate Eighty. And when the dumb bird misjudges the speed of oncoming traffic, well, they tend to wind up even more kaput than a Chevy Vega attempting Le Mans. Also of note: when the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources comes across large, hazardous roadkill, they drag it out into the desert for scavenger snacktime. More »
where's eric draven when you need him?
Randy Crow Attacks UK Cars
We had a pal in college who liked to wear a black trenchcoat, a Gecko T-shirt and a ring on a lanyard around his neck with a silver ring hanging from it. After a year or so of knowing him, we actually looked at said ring and noticed it had "The Crow" engraved in it. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly beating the ladies off with a stick, except for that one exceedingly odd girl who spoke Klingon. Regardless, he is a smart, sharp dude who now occasionally appears on television. And he dresses better these days. In the UK, however, one particular crow hasn't smartened up. He's horny and territorrial, and when he sees his reflection in the roof of an automobile, he has a tendency to attack it as if it were a romantic rival. Either that, or he's just a really, really big fan of Black Flag's Damaged album and doesn't have a mirror handy. More »
news
You Can See Her Stripes But You Know She's Clean: Tiger Attacks Cars
A belligerent she-tiger, apparently angry that a motorist took the life of one of her cubs, has gone about attacking motor vehicles in eastern Russia. The big cat is one of about 450 tigers remaining in the Maritime and the Khabarovsk regions, and has been seen on the side of the road with a dead cub in her jaws, lashing out at cars. Russian officials figure that although their attempts to scare the tiger away have failed, the animal will go away in a few days. In the meantime, if you're in the area, beware of the eyes of the cat in the black and blue. Something is coming for you. Look out! More »
news: weird
Give the Puppy Some: Canine Drives, Crashes
This dog-obsessiveness has to stop. Look, we've been a dog owner, and some dogs are really, really amazing creatures. However, that does not mean that they are mentally or physically equipped to operate a motor vehicle on public roads. This, however, did not stop a Mongolian woman known only as Ms. Li from attempting to teach her canine to drive, resulting in some measure of a fender-bender. This anthromorphization of pets has gotta stop before somebody gets killed. After all, dog is a dog. A duck is a duck. But a cat is a person. [Thanks to prplhaze for the tip.] More »
news: weird
Redneck Yellowjackets Practice Urban Renewal In '55 Chevy
Much like dogs love trucks, yellowjackets apparently love cars. We discovered this the hard way a few years back when a mean-spirited stinging insect jabbed us in the back while we were leaving a stoplight, causing us nearly to put our old Legend into a hedge. Nevertheless, we're once again quite stoked that we don't live in Alabama, as superhives have developed throughout the southern part of the state, including one that entirely consumed the interior of a 1955 Chevrolet (could this be some sort of UAW metaphor?). Scientists say it has to do with the unseasonably mild winter the state had last year, but whatever the cause, we've just totally got the jibblies right now. Eep. [Thanks to Michael for the tip.] More »
news
Hot Animal Machine: Pets-In-Cars Law to Go Before Schwarzenneger
Senate Bill 1806, written by Democratic State Senator Liz Figueroa, is headed to Ahnulds desk. The bill, if the Governator signs it into law, would impose a fines of up to $500 and as much as six months in jail for leaving an animal in a hot car. Studies have show that in-car temperatures can hit 132 degrees Farenheit in as little as five minutes on a day with an 86-degree ambient temperature. It also allows animal control officials to break into a vehicle to free the pet, something that could previously only be done by police. Good idea? Or more state nannying? More »
news
Note to 'American Idol' Prospects: Cowell Doesn't Appreciate Car-Broiled Dog
As an odd, cred-killing side-note, one Jalopnik was actually in both the El Camino High Madrigal choir, as well as the Central Valley Regional Honor Choir with American Idol contestant Mandisa Hundley, who is a very nice woman and only accused us of being a racist once, when we, as a part of a pre-Homecoming stunt, were the ringleader in a game of Musical Pies and ended up dumping a pan full of cream onto a black girl's head, not realizing that due to the texture of African-bred hair that dairy products are hard to get out. More »
news
More on da Matta's Deer Incident at Road America
Faithful tipster Scott sent over this bit from ESPN regarding Champ Car-driver Cristiano da Matta's collision with a deer during a practice session at Elkhart Lake. Cristiano is currently hospitalized in critical condition, in a medically-induced coma, due to a subdural hematoma. In layman's terms, it means that the accident resulted in a burst blood vessel on the surface of his brain. Stefan Johannson — who courteously dropped off the Bullrun so's we could snake his room at the W Hotel in San Diego — also had a run-in with a deer back in '87 while racing F1 for McLaren in Austria. He comments, "I got a hell of a fright, I can tell you. And the thing is that the deer was apparently running around in the woods and the field for some time but no one thought to have practice stopped." More »
news
