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gadgets
Seatbelt Light Doesn't Help Road Safety Concerns
This week must unofficially be the seatbelt gadgetry week. First we saw a newfangled seatbelt for the pregnant ladies and now we have a seatbelt light. There's not much explaining needed for this gadget — it's a light, that attaches to the seatbelt. We wonder how the manufacturer of this device can sleep at night knowing its product is risking the lives of hundreds of drivers daily. Using a seatbelt light obviously means the eyes are somewhere else than the road, therefore causing a great safety risk. More »
safety
Study: California Hands-Free Law Could Save Hundreds Of Lives
It's inching closer to July 1, the day that California, one of the highest vehicular-populated states will enact a law requiring the use of a hands-free type of cell phone device while driving and completely banning mobile usage for those under the age of 18. A recent study has shown that this law could prevent upwards of 300 fatalities per year, all in the highly lucrative profession of event planning. More »
gadgets
Pregnant Lady Seatbelt Goes Over Thighs, Not Stomach
Because our extensive readership research has determined that I have a better chance of playing Segway Polo with Bob Lutz than finding a pregnant lady reading Jalopnik, we present the Tummy Shield, a seatbelt for the pregnant ladies. Just because pregnant women may not frequent this Web site that is exceptionally courteous to women doesn't mean that the others reading won't ever have someone in their life that is knocked up. The Tummy Shield keeps a woman and her baby safe while in the car. Instead of having the seatbelt directly cross over the womb, the Tummy Shield goes over the thighs, still keeping baby and mama secure while also providing peace of mind that a cloth strap isn't potentially harming the future hoon. It's available directly from the manufacturer for $188. [Tummy Shield via Gizmag]
safety
Researchers Looking To Make KITT More Than A Hasselhoff Fantasy
Scientists and researchers at Stanford must have quite the fascination with David Hasselhoff and his KITT because they are working on making the talking-car technology a reality. The lead on this team, Clifford Nass, says that a more intelligent car that knows about the driver and communicates with the driver can help provide a safer and more engaging driving experience. More »
gadgets
Blow Up Traffic Cone Ensures Roadside Safety
Your beater of a vehicle may have broken down again, but that doesn't mean you have to risk life and limb trying to repair that flat tire or radiator hose. Carrying around full size traffic cones is just a pain in the ass, so the blow up variety is a bit more convenient. Not only do these cones not take up a lot of space, you can get out all of your frustrations and angers about owning a junker while blowing up the cone rather than kicking the tires like most folks. Believe it or not, these traffic cones are even more effective than traditional cones. More »
safety
Driving While Petting Soon To Be Illegal
California Assemblyman Bill Maze is proposing a new law that would make driving with an animal in your lap illegal and punishable by a $35 fine. The law passed through the California Assembly this week and will be making its way to the Senate. It's a pretty obvious that those crazy old cougars that drive around with their miniature toy dogs in their laps pose a giant risk to other motorists so there's no reason not to go ahead with this law. More »
novelties
Mooning Speed Cameras Are Quickest Way To Get Your Ass In Trouble
Those fancy tea-drinkers from across the pond are all up in arms over a man who was photographed mooning a speed camera. The man drops his trousers and bares his ass for a speed camera on the A1171 Dudley Lane in Cramlington. The police aren't too happy about the matter (honestly, who would be? ass lovers?) because the stunt is dangerous and offensive. The police will be contacting the owner of the vehicle and may take action against the man for public order offenses and failure to wear a seatbelt. We're still pretty amazed that the guy could stand up, pull down his pants and turn around while riding shotgun in a moving BMW X5. [BBC via Neatorama]
novelties
Illinois Mayor Party-Poops On Hilarious Stop Signs
Planners in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn had a little fun when putting up stop signs and now that fun is done thanks to a party-pooping mayor. The signs are the standard issue octagons, but included are funny catchphrases and song lyrics that commonly accompany the word "stop." The hijinks include "Stop In The Naaaame of Love" and "Stop Right Pilgrim." The mayor isn't necessarily the bad guy because he is abiding by the Illinois Department of Transportation that says the signs violate the Federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and failure to remove the signs could cost the city federal funding. Of course, the intention of the signs were to get motorists to actually stop by hoping they would read the signs and let out a chuckle. It's okay, Oak Lawn, just don't... STOP ...believin'... [AP]
safety
Captain Obvious Of The Day: Teens Think They're Good Drivers, Like Loud Music
A recent study by Erie Insurance points out a lot of factors that anyone under the age of 60 probably already knows. The insurance company conducted a study surveying 2,127 licensed teenage drivers and came to the shocking conclusion that teens like to talk on the phone, text message and listen to loud music while driving. More »
safety
Virtual Crosswalk Walls Are Too Futuristic For Our Own Good
Yes, we know, being a pedestrian or cyclist can be dangerous, but that won't stop us from driving however the hell we want, as long as this futuristic design never sees the light of day. This new conceptual idea for crosswalks is a bit too i, Robot for us. Rather than just having pretty painted lines—this crossing would also include a plasma laser barrier that makes cyclists and anyone doing an Abbey Road impression more visible and helps avoid those nasty vehicular manslaughter charges. We wonder what happens if a vehicle were to cross the barrier? More »
safety
Cyclists Want Hood-Mounted External Airbags
The Dutch Cycling Federation in the Netherlands is boldly approaching car manufacturers and requesting hood-mounted external airbags on all vehicles. It's either that or they're going to have to stop running into cyclists (which will never happen). We're not going to get into the "roads are for cars" debate because we're sure the commenters will touch on that, but it's not a terribly horrible demand by the cyclists (Actually, it IS a terribly horrible demand by the cyclists and Travis regrets even remotely suggesting as such. Furthermore, we call on the Dutch government to immediately brand as terrorists any organization that would ever approach an automaker to request such a silly thing. Or maybe revoke funding for their favorite bike path. Something punitive, we don't really care what. -Ed.). The group says that 60 lives could be saved and 1,500 serious injuries could be prevented annually in the Netherlands alone with hood-mounted air bags. Luckily for those peddlers, the technology is already available. More »
safety
Fuel Filler Leak? Fix It With A Rubber Glove!
If you potential Volvo 240 racers want to see a good reason for relocating the fuel filler on your cars, just take a look at the photo above. Yes, that's a Volvo 245 that got bashed in the right rear during a 2006 24 Hours of LeMons race, and that scary gasoline-filled balloon hanging from the fuel filler area is a latex glove ziptied over the end of the busted-off filler tube. We can thank Ecurie Ecrappe for being so helpful to a competing team by performing this totally safe Field Expedient Repair; thanks also to EE member TheEastBayKid for sending in the photo. [Hardtuned]
24 hours of lemons
Fixing A Volvo Weakness: Fuel Filler Relocation
While the Black Metal V8olvo crew was working on the rear of the car, we took care of the Number One Priority immediately by installing a Fiero wing. Now, you'd think that such a wing would radiate such an impenetrable aura of cool that no other driver would dare hit our car, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to get some cheap insurance by dealing with one of the most vulnerable points on the Volvo 240 race car: the fuel filler. By all accounts, LeMons Volvos tend to get hit in the right rear, which knocks the fuel filler pipe loose and causes a fuel leak, which makes the guys with the black flags get all upset (and they've got a two-strikes-yer-out policy on fuel leaks). It's an easy fix, though!More »
world's best dad
Hit It, Boy! Helmetless, Hopped-Up Power Wheels Hoonage
The ATV-assisted Power Wheels hoonage we saw yesterday showed some medium-grade disregard for safety, all right. But how about when you get a younger kid, lose the helmet, and juice up his Power Wheels truck with about ten times the factory power? This boy showcases some serious drifting skills as he lays hard plastic all over his cul-de-sac, ultimately flipping his top-heavy ride. Fortunately, there's a happy ending, without the kid's dome busted on the hard concrete... this time.
news
Crash Avoidance Technology Only "Kind of" Works, Says IIHS
The Institute for Highway Safety has concluded a study that shows the crash avoidance technology like blind-spot sensors, forward collision automatic braking, lane-departure warnings, emergency brake assistance and adaptive headlights won't significantly help prevent fatal car crashes and it is mostly due to the drivers. So much for PReVENT. The study shows that the crash-avoidance technology won't be cared about and ignored by the drivers. They technology also causes the drivers to be more reckless and careless while driving. More »
news
European PReVENT Looks To Make Uncrashable Car
A European company by the strange name of PReVENT is looking to do what we figure has to be an impossible task: create the uncrashable car. The company with a funny name is using their budget of nearly $80 million develop a wide variety of oddly-named technologies to assist drivers in potentially dangerous situations. A few of those strange tech names below the jump. More »
gadgets
