Walker's plan is to get rich selling really nice quality shirts for big bucks to fashion-conscious types, but he's still perfecting his technique by churning out these test runs on new factory-second blank shirts. That means you, the penny-pinching cheapskate wise and frugal Jalopnik readers, get them for cheap! The bulk of the shirts appear to be Hanes Heavyweight 50/50s and they look pretty good for the most part, but at $12.50 per ($15 for small and $17.50 for 2XL, because the cheap shirt warehouses charge more for those sizes) they might have weasel rips, bullet holes, Agent Orange contamination, etc., and these things are going out on a strictly one-way trip, defects and all!


As for colors, these shirts got 'em! Only thing is, you don't get to choose the color. Is that clear? Your shirt will come in some hideous random color! When you buy factory-second shirts in totally random colors, they're way cheap; let the rich folks pick their colors, we say. There are no pink shirts. There are no white shirts. There are no black shirts. There are some really vile blues, the whole excretory spectrum of yellows and browns, some reds that I'm pretty sure are just itching to dye all the other clothes in the wash a sickly pink, some dingy grays, mold greens, etc., plus some of those edge-case colors whose names are known only to Martha Stewart. You can go ahead and specify one color that you most don't want, and I'll sort of try not to get you that color… if you're lucky and I'm in a good mood.

Keep in mind that this is a special deal aimed at getting as many Jalopnik readers as possible hooked up with shirts, so please limit your purchases to one or two shirts- we want everyone here to get a shot at genuine DTTS Shirt ownership. If you have three kids or some other good reason to buy more than two shirts, include a heartfelt note with your order and I might relent on the quantity limit. There will be more of these at some point, so don't feel bad if you miss out.

This all started out when the Sarah Palin punishment at the 24 Hours Of LeMons Toledo race raised the bar for innovative ways to penalize lousy drivers on the race track. I'll be judging at the Houston race this weekend, so a special Texas-themed penalty would be needed. But what? Then I remembered: In 1982, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for pissing on the Alamo, drunk and wearing a dress, and his albums were burned by enraged mobs throughout the Lone Star State.


And what was Ozzy's day job in Birmingham, before Black Sabbath hit it big? He worked on a British Leyland assembly line, testing horns! Naturally, the Ozzy Osbourne Inertial Penalty Horn would require horns from a BL product. While you might find the occasional MG or Triumph in self-service junkyards, 70s Jaguars are always plentiful. Mount the pair of genuine Lucas Electric horns (high- and low-pitch units) on a crude bracket screwed together from scrap plywood, then add a Bosch-type relay pocketed at the junkyard (you can skip the relay, but the high draw of the horns will fry the switch contacts after a few applications, due to arc-welding-style sparking). Mount the bracket close to the driver, but not so close that he can reach it while strapped in!


The inertia switch- which is two-dimensional version of a pinball-machine tilt switch- can be made from junk just lying around; in this case, a piece of plywood (notched for easy zip-tie attachment to a roll cage bar), some coat hanger wire, plumber's tape, and a plastic windshield-washer tubing tee. Like all serious projects, the whole mess is held together with JB Weld.



The switch contacts are the plumber's tape on one side and a big Honda steering-wheel nut pocketed at the junkyard. Depending on how the switch is oriented, the contacts will close when the car accelerates, or turns, or decelerates… or when it hits a big bump, or gets a big gust of wind inside.


To get power, the alligator connector from a dead timing light clamps onto the car's battery. I added a 20-amp fuse inline and covered it with lots of electrical tape.


How to get the power from battery to relay? Cut a hole in the hood with this step drill and run the cord through the side window opening! Ram a sheetmetal screw into the car's floor near the horns and you've got your ground. Hey, they're $500 cars, right?

Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood told the Detroit News that Ford's research showed parents would be more likely to let teens use their vehicles with My Key. If it gets them the car more often, the number of teens objecting drops by nearly half. Of course, since a My Key crack will be available on the web about three minutes after the first one hits the showroom floor, we're pretty sure most teens aren't sweating the idea too much. In the meantime, the new feature seems like a smart way for Ford to score sales consideration points with the parents actually doing the car buying. Press release follows.

DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 6, 2008 – Ford Motor Company is introducing an innovative new technology – called MyKey – designed to help parents encourage their teen-agers to drive safer and more fuel efficiently, and increase safety-belt usage.

Ford's MyKey feature – which debuts next year as standard equipment on the 2010 Focus coupe and will quickly become standard on many other Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models – allows owners to program a key that can limit the vehicle's top speed and audio volume. MyKey also encourages safety-belt usage, provides earlier low-fuel warnings and can be programmed to sound chimes at 45, 55 and 65 miles per hour.

"Ford not only offers industry-leading crash protection and crash avoidance systems, we also are committed to developing new technologies such as MyKey that encourage safer driving behavior," said Susan Cischke, Ford group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. "MyKey can help promote safer driving, particularly among teens, by encouraging seat belt use, limiting speed and reducing distractions."

MyKey is appealing to parents of teen drivers, including 75 percent who like the speed-limiting feature, 72 percent who like the more insistent safety-belt reminder, and 63 percent who like the audio limit feature, according to a recent Harris Interactive Survey conducted for Ford.

About 50 percent of those who would consider purchasing MyKey also said they would allow their children to use the family vehicle more often if it were equipped with the new technology. The added seat time can help teens build their driving skills in a more controlled setting, complementing graduated licensing laws that give young drivers more driving freedom as they get older.

More than half of parents surveyed worry that their teen-age children are driving at unsafe speeds, talking on hand-held cell phones or texting while driving, or otherwise driving distracted. More than a third of parents also are concerned that their teens do not always buckle their safety belts when driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), teens are more likely to take risks such as speeding – a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes. Teens also are less likely to wear safety belts than older drivers.

Teens surveyed by Harris said they are largely open to MyKey if it means they will have more freedom to drive. Initially, 67 percent of teens polled said they wouldn't want MyKey features. However, if using MyKey would lead to greater driving privileges, only 36 percent would object to the technology.

"We've upgraded an existing, proven technology – the SecuriLock passive anti-theft system – with some simple software upgrades to develop a new unique feature that we believe will resonate with customers," said Jim Buczkowski, director, Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering – the same team that developed SYNC in partnership with Microsoft. "We also developed MyKey's functions in such a way to quickly spread it across multiple vehicle lines, giving us the ability to go mass market in the spirit of other Ford innovations such as safety belts, stability control and SYNC."

Holding the key

The MyKey system allows the parent to program any key through the vehicle message center, which updates the SecuriLock™ passive anti-theft system. When the MyKey is inserted into the ignition, the system reads the transponder chip in the key and immediately identifies the MyKey code, which enables certain default driving modes, including:

* Persistent Ford Beltminder™ with audio mute. Ford's Beltminder system typically provides a six-second reminder chime every minute for five minutes. With MyKey, the Beltminder chime continues at the regular interval and the audio system is muted until the safety belt is buckled. A message center display "Buckle Up to Unmute Radio" also appears on the instrument cluster.

* Earlier low-fuel warning. Rather than a warning at 50 miles to empty, MyKey provides a warning at 75 miles to empty.

* If MyKey is in the ignition, features such as Park Aid and BLISTM (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross Traffic Alert cannot be deactivated.

Additional MyKey features that can be programmed through the vehicle's message center setup menu:

* Limited top speed of 80 mph
* Traction control system, that limits tire spin, cannot be deactivated
* Limited audio volume to 44 percent of total volume
* A speed alert chime at 45, 55 or 65 mph

Using MyKey to teach teens to avoid speeding can provide an added benefit – improved fuel economy. Ford research shows that driving 55 mph instead of 65 mph consumes 15 percent less fuel, and mastering other eco-driving habits such as avoiding jackrabbit starts and excessive idling can help improve fuel economy by more than 50 percent.

Safety is the key

MyKey is just one way that Ford is helping teens drive more safely. Ford Motor Company Fund's Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) program helps young motorists master four critical driving skills – hazard recognition, vehicle handling, space management, and speed management – that help address the majority of dangerous driving conditions. More than 3,000 teens have participated in DSFL ride-and-drive events. And more than 500,000 people have used the training course since 2003 on www.drivingskillsforlife.com.

[Ford via Detroit News]

Tokyo — TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today that it has developed an SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) rear window curtain shield airbag—the world's first*—to protect rear passengers' heads in the event of a rear-end collision.

The innovative airbag deploys from the roof lining above the rear window in the form of a curtain-like barrier. Together with the headrests, the airbag minimizes impact to the head from a colliding vehicle or parts of the hit vehicle, thus helping to reduce the severity of injuries. Its use in the soon-to-be launched "iQ" ultra-compact four-seater is expected to approximately double the car's rear passenger head protection performance.

TMC has continued to actively develop and make available its collision safety technologies—resulting in such achievements as the swift market introduction of SRS curtain shield and knee airbags—to enable its vehicles to better respond to a greater range of accidents.

As a part of its efforts to realize sustainable mobility, Toyota intends to strengthen its traffic safety initiatives in the future through: 1) the development of even safer vehicles and technologies, 2) participation in the creation of a safe traffic environment and 3) activities designed to educate people on traffic safety, thereby contributing to the complete elimination of traffic casualties, which can be viewed as the ultimate hope of a society that values mobility.

[Toyota via Detroit News]

With a mere 13 weeks remaining until the Arse-Freeze-A-Palooza race at Thunderhill, it's time for teams to get serious about car preparation (and those of you who haven't even started, we have one word of advice for you: PANIC!). While the Bent Belvedere was getting its cage installed in Livermore and ArmandBengle was- we hope- installing twelve exhaust pipes on his team's Jaguar XJS, several members of Black Metal V8olvo headed up to the West Sacramento shop of Evil Genius Racing to participate in a long day of LeMons Wrenching Hell in the 97° heat.


There's enough interesting machinery on the premises of ERG to make most veteran Jalopnikers drool uncontrollably; in addition to swarms of Spec Miatas everywhere you swivel your fevered optics, there's a pair of cars getting prepped for the Carrera Panamericana (Corvair Corsa and Mitsubishi Evo), a vintage-racer Mazda RX-3, and a trio of Mazdas fixin' to race in the 25 Hours Of Thunderhill. Even the parts car/way-in-the-future-project storage area (see above photo) has some great stuff. And of course, there's 24 Hours Of LeMons machinery all over the place.


A couple of shop employees have been bitten hard by the LeMons bug- yeah, it's contagious- and so they went and found themselves this Ford Fiesta. If they can avoid the Size Matters Chrysler, they should do pretty well at Thunderhill. And because it's way easier to race when you get a parts car, they've found a real winner…


This crazy Fiesta airport shuttle! Apparently this handcrafted gem was used at some rural California airport to haul passengers across the dirt taxiways out to their Fokker Trimotors, and it's still got plenty of life left in it (we think it should be used as the race car, but the team had already put the cage in the other Fiesta by the time they picked up this one).


Remember the 242 Turbo parts car we got for free when we were building the V8olvo? After donating most of its electrical connectors to the V8olvo's wiring harness, plus numerous brake and suspension components, plus a bunch of parts to other teams at Altamont (including a front strut to the Bernal Dads), what was left of the 242T went to the Evil Genius, who figured he'd make some sort of race car out of it… someday.


Well, someday is here, and Evil Clint (of Yugo fame) is busily installing hacked-up precision camber-enhancing strut tower tops, while John "Evil Genius" Pagel has scrounged up a free Volvo 16-valve head to attach to the headless B23 block sitting in the car. Let's hope it works! And, speaking of scrounging…


Since quite a few bits and pieces off the 242T were missing, John went searching for a dead, unwanted Volvo and found this 70s 244 whose erstwhile owner was eager to have it hauled away, high scrap steel values or not. You may have noticed that it's sporting the doors from the V8olvo, and there's a reason for that…


During the course of the Altamont race, the V8olvo's sheetmetal took quite a pounding, emerging from the race in a state sure to bring tears to the eyes of any proud Göteborg resident. The car was in fine shape, mechanically speaking, but gutted doors + lots of contact = ugly Volvo. So, John swapped the nice doors off the new parts car with the nasty doors off the V8olvo.

After we de-window-fied the doors, we got to work with hammers, pry bars, and porta-power, straightening out the fenders and quarterpanels. I worked on installing some super-secret Black Metal electronic gear (let's just say the angry spirit of Odin will be audible at the track) and we got busy trying to meet the Chief Perpetrator's new safety regs. Yes, there must be a metal bulkhead between the vehicle cabin and the trunk, you can't have any holes in the firewall, and an electrical cutoff switch is now mandatory- it's like we're afraid of fire or some such silliness! What's next, outlawing roof-mounted 55-gallon drum fuel tanks? Banning M80-hurling hood-mounted mortars?


There were Volvo parts everywhere, several Miata engine transplants taking place, a lowrider '70 Cadillac getting a primer paint job, and at least one Ford 302-powered Swedish burnout in the parking lot. All in all, a good day.


As for the Quadra-Bumper, that's what you get when you remove the bumpers off a pair of Volvos in order to strip the unsightly black plastic covering and expose the gleaming aluminum beneath; it just makes sense to start stacking them on the one Volvo with bumpers still attached!

Many states utilize a graduated licensing program that puts limits on driving for teenagers based on age. For instance, teenage drivers under the age of 17 in Florida need an adult above the age of 21 in the car between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am. New drivers in Georgia must be licensed for six months before having more than one passenger in their car. Additionally, there are six states which have novice-driver cell-phone bans.

Jalopnik Snap Judgment: While the number of auto-related deaths in this country is far too high, outright changes to driving behavior (such as speed-limiting cars) is bound to cause more outrage than actual change. Gradual steps that address the underlying causes, such as bad driving and driver distractions, are more likely to find the support needed in the public arena to pass new traffic safety laws.

[Yahoo/AP via GMI Forums, Photo: Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which Mr. Sepkowitz cites as his source, says 31% of people involved in fatal crashes in 2007 were speeding at the time. From this, we can draw several conclusions. The first is that while speed was a factor in these crashes, it is not given as the cause. The other obvious conclusion is that two thirds of people involved in fatal crashes were not speeding at the time. So, by Mr. Sepkowitz’s logic, isn't it actually safer to speed than it is to drive at or below the speed limit? Maybe we should call for a ban on not speeding.

There’s a huge gap in the NHTSA’s numbers, meaning we don’t know what percentage of overall speeding traffic, nor what percentage of overall law-abiding traffic, was killed in road accidents. Therefore it’s impossible to determine the true statistical danger of speeding. Nor does the study state what the actual cause of all the accidents was. If, for instance, a person was killed by a truck running a red light, while that person was speeding, would speed or the running of the red light be considered the cause? The NHTSA doesn’t know, but would in that case list speed as a factor. We'd list "running of the red light."

Mr. Sepkowitz goes on to contradict his own argument by stating that in 2006, “76 percent of speeding drivers killed in motor vehicle accidents had been drinking.” Wouldn't that suggest drinking, not speed, was the contributing factor to their deaths?

But how should we limit the performance potential of vehicles to a speed which Mr. Sepkowitz feels is safe? “It’s called cruise control. In its common application, cruise control maintains a steady speed, but a minor adjustment would assure that vehicles, no matter the horsepower, never go past 75 miles per hour.” Hmm, perhaps Mr. Sepkowitz should stick to his important day job — you know, being vice-chairman of medicine at the Sloan-Kettering cancer center — rather than playing amateur car mechanic. [via NYTimes.com]

Lax safety and licensing standards and an insufficient infrastructure, combined with heavy and varied traffic (cars share the roads with trucks, rickshaws, motorcycles, mopeds, animals, pedestrians, vendors, carts and bicyclists) are largely to blame for India’s high rate of accidents. But the biggest killer is thought to be the huge numbers of new vehicles and new drivers flooding India’s roads. The already massively overcrowded thoroughfares are being pushed to the breaking point, literally. It’s a problem shared by other developing nations: The World Bank estimates that by 2020, the number of people killed by car accidents globally will increase from 1.2 to 2 million.

India plans to spend $500 billion over the next five years to repair and upgrade its transportation infrastructure, reports Business 24-7, but much of that will be spent on airports and seaports rather than on roads, and what money does reach them is largely expected to be lost to corruption and mismanagement. 90% of India’s passenger traffic and 65% of its freight travel by road.

Business 24-7 goes on to report that, “loopholes in the system put licenses in the hands of those ill equipped to drive, there is also a general apathy among consumers towards seat belts, air bags and even motorcycle helmets.”

Hormazd Sorabjee, the Editor of Autocar India says, “Safety is unfortunately not a big part of the purchase decision of Indian consumers. Our best-selling small cars are typically not the safest vehicles on the road because consumers are more worried about fuel efficiency and the cost of ownership, and would rather not pay for safety features such as air bags and anti-lock brakes."

The Tata Nano, for instance, doesn’t include airbags, antilock brakes or side-impact beams in its $2,500 price, but does claim to have passed the required frontal and side impact tests.

To counteract the increased accident and mortality rates, vehicle manufacturers are setting up their own driver training schools. "We do believe the need for training is becoming increasingly relevant due to the increase in vehicle volumes, high speed roads, enhanced performance of vehicles, and the requirement of specific skills for application on vehicles," says Debasis Ray, head of corporate communications at Tata. [Business 24-7 via Bikes In The Fast Lane]

The 2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT Spyder tops the list of cars that still cause serious concern, though we could have told you were concerned about Eclipse GT buyers before the study. Full details and list below.

Acura RDX and Smart Pure Rank As Least Toxic Cars; GM Most Improved American Manufacturer

(Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - Ann Arbor, MI) - Today the Ecology Center released the 2nd annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars and children's car seats at www.HealthyCar.org. Over 200 of the most popular 2008- and 2009-model vehicles and over 60 children's car seats were tested for chemicals that off-gas from parts such as the steering wheel, dashboard, armrests, seats, and carpet. These chemicals become part of the air we breathe, contributing to "new car smell" and a variety of acute and long-term health concerns. Since the average American spends more than 1.5 hours in a car every day, toxic chemical exposure inside vehicles is a major source of potential indoor air pollution. Children are the most vulnerable population since their systems are still developing.

"More and more consumers are concerned about the issue of toxic chemicals in commonly used products - especially products related to children," said Jeff Gearhart, the Ecology Center's Clean Car Campaign Director. "While the best car and child car seat manufacturers are starting to pay attention, far too many companies have not yet phased out these dangerous chemicals."

Overall, several auto manufacturers showed improvement over last year's findings, including Mazda, General Motors and Nissan. General Motors, whose average vehicle ranking improved by 27%, showed the most improvement of the domestic automakers. Average child car seat scores improved by 28% overall, proving that toxic chemicals are not required for the manufacturing of child car seats and interior automobile components. Best and worst picks for 2008 vehicles and car seats are listed above and below, respectively.

Given escalating fuel prices, this year's rankings are also cross-referenced with fuel economy figures, allowing consumers to find both healthy and fuel efficient vehicles. Anyone looking to buy a new car or child car seat can visit www.HealthyCar.org and search by model, or comparison shop between different models. For the first time, consumers are able to access product ratings using mobile devices with SMS texting and a mobile device optimized web site: Mobile.HealthyCar.org.

Last year the Ecology Center's HealthyCar.org research found the most toxic vehicles were the Nissan Versa, Chevy Aveo, Scion xB 5dr and the Kia Rio. The least toxic vehicles were the Chevy Cobalt, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Honda Odyssey and the Volvo V50.

The law regulating chemicals in commerce, the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), is 30 years old and needs an overhaul. Visitors to HealthyCar.org are encouraged to contact U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (CA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, and U.S. Representative John Dingell (MI), Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and ask for oversight hearings on re-writing TSCA. HealthyCar.org is asking for complete health and safety testing on chemicals used in products and industry before they are put on the market, and to promote innovation for safer alternatives.

To sample the vehicles and car seats, experts at the Ecology Center used a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device, which identifies the elemental composition of any material in less than 60 seconds. In each vehicle 11 different components were sampled including: steering wheel, shift knob, armrest/center console, dashboard, headliner, carpet, seat front, seat back, seat base, hard door trim and soft door trim. Components sampled were those most likely to be touched or otherwise contribute to human exposure. For car seats, seat bases, clips, EPS foam, shades, trim, and/or arm rests were tested.

While there are numerous substances in vehicles that can lead to health and environmental problems, HealthyCar.org selected those with known toxicity, persistence, and tendency to build up in people and the environment. These chemicals included:

Bromine: Associated with the use of brominated flame retardants, BFRs are added to plastics in order to impart fire resistance, but they are released into the environment over the life of the vehicle. Heat and UV-ray exposure in cars can accelerate the breakdown of these chemicals and possibly increase their toxicity. Some BFRs have been associated with thyroid problems, learning and memory impairment, decreased fertility, behavioral changes, and other health problems.

Chlorine: Associated with the use of polyvinyl chloride, PVC is a widely used type of plastic that is of concern to the environment and public health during all phases of its life cycle. PVC often contains chemicals called phthalates, some of which have been associated with decreased fertility, pre-term deliveries, and damage to the liver, testes, thyroid, ovaries, kidneys, and blood. There is also evidence that phthalates can pass from mothers to babies through the placenta and through breast milk.

Lead: Lead is sometimes used as an additive in automotive plastics. Exposure can lead to a number of potential health effects including brain damage, and problems with the kidneys, blood, nerves, and reproductive system. It can also cause learning and behavioral problems.

Other: Other chemicals tested as part of healthycar.org include antimony, arsenic, chromium, cobalt, copper, mercury, nickel and tin. The substances in this category are allergens, carcinogens, or cause other adverse health impacts depending on the concentrations and exposure levels.

The same chemicals that cause human health issues can also cause problems in the environment. When vehicles are discarded at the end of their life, the majority of plastic and other non-metallic parts are shredded and put in landfills or burned in incinerators. When discarded in landfills, harmful chemicals contained in vehicle plastics can leach out and contaminate soil and water. When incinerated, toxic chemicals are dispersed throughout the atmosphere.

[HealthyCar.org via The Car Connection]

Of course, the Halo Pet Safety System still relies on the owner giving enough of a damn to go back out to the car and turn on the air. That's a pretty big Achilles' Heel when you consider that most responsible pet owners shouldn't need to spend the $100 that this gadget costs in the first place. [Product Page via Gizmag]

Walker plans to print up a bunch of really high-quality DTTS shirts, using only the best blank shirts, the highest-quality inks, and the most rigorous quality-control techniques to produce a beautiful work of sartorial art that he can sell for 25 bucks. Fortunately for our cheap-ass frugal Jalopnik readership, he's done a test run using factory-second shirts and gear he had sitting around the silk-screen shop, and I'm authorized to sell them to Jalopnik readers for half that price. Yes, these shirts are $12.50!


See all those colors? You can get new blank T-shirts way cheaper when you buy them in random, unappealing colors. These coveted Driveshaft Through The Skull shirts come in shades such as Babyshit Yellow, Sorta Like British Racing Green, Lost The Will To Live Gray, Cheap Rental Car Beige, and so on... but that doesn't matter, because you don't get to pick your shirt's color! You can choose the size (as long as it's a medium, large, or extra-large), and I'll even let you specify the color you most don't want to get. I might ignore your request, but you can take a shot. Don't worry, insecure-about-your-masculinity guys, there are no pink shirts!

Most of the shirts are made by Haynes or Port & Company, and they're not the absolute crappiest T-shirts money can buy (more like a couple notches up from Utter Crap, since they don't seem to shrink much when washed). They might have blemishes, stains, holes, printing errors, Cesium-137 contamination, three arms, or other problems, and it's just plain tough shit if you can't deal with that! We're trying to get these things to Jalopnik readers as cheaply and easily as possible; odds are your shirt will be OK, but: $12.50!

I've set up a separate fixed-price auction for each shirt size on eBay Motors; PayPal is your only payment option. As for shipping costs, I'm charging the exact cost to stick a shirt into a USPS Flat Rate Priority Mail envelope and drop it in a mailbox. That means $4.80 for residents of the US of A, $9.95 for our NAFTA friends in Mexico and Canada, and $11.95 to the rest of you in your godforsaken furrin lands. There will be no shipping discounts for multiple shirts, because I have only 85 shirts total (60 of which are size L) and we want to maximize the number of readers who get shirts. Anything that makes for added complexity and/or hassles for me will result in a dead rat- or worse- being included in your package, so think twice before you start whining about anything!

Medium DTTS Shirt- SOLD OUT!


Large DTTS Shirt


Extra Large DTTS Shirt- SOLD OUT!

If you're just going to lay these all over town, we don't think drivers will be fooled more than once or twice. But if the police were to combine these virtual 3D speed bumps with, say, real ones, drivers might just slow down rather than trying to distinguish real from fake. What would be even better is a graphic that looks like one of Philly's numerous street vendors. "Wata A Dolla! Ahhhhh!" [Portable Gadgets]

Simply wait for the perp to stop somewhere or try to ditch the vehicle and swoop in and bust the guy. You may want to keep the helicopter on the perp, just in case he or she is rocking one of these. [StarChase via OhGizmo!]

Hands-free devices like Bluetooth headsets will still be permitted, as will emergency calls. The fine for violators will be $200, but with school zones generally just a few blocks long, what is the Chatty Cathy to do during a lengthy conversation? Put the phone down for the two blocks? Also, what are the chances a police officer will be in the school zone to actually do the enforcing? Perhaps what's needed are crossing guards with photo radar. And kevlar vests. [Dallasnews]

It will relay information about blood-glucose levels at any given time to keep the diabetic aware and to determine if it's time for a snack. This could be a potentially life-saving vehicle addition for long-distance drivers who deal with the disease. If combined with nav we could see this system then reminding the driver where to find a healthy snack in a nearby store, and purposefully denying the existence of sugary fast foods. [Ubergizmo]

Teenagers didn't change their mobile phone usage habits, period. In a related survey, parents offered overwhelming support for the law, but conceded that enforcement was lacking. Even the vice-president of IIHS opined that these kinds of bans are difficult to enforce because it's hard to determine the age of users, and because hands-free devices like Bluetooth headsets are often hard to see.

One possible solution is to take the "DUI approach." Cops often set up roadside checkpoints in the vicinity of drinking establishments, so why not set up checkpoints outside of high schools, movie theaters and the mall? [Gadget Remote]

The story is pretty simple: The traffic warden saw an illegally parked police car and slapped a ticket on it. Conveniently, a Daily Mail photographer was there to snap shots of the entire brief ordeal. Damn the man, fight the empire — unless, of course, the police officer was parked illegally to rescue children from a burning orphanage. [Daily Mail]

The two hood-mounted airbags would protect pedestrians' and cyclists' waists and heads (and maybe protect your windshield too); all of the internal airbags would protect damn near every square inch of your body. On top of all of this, the system also includes Toyota's pedestrian recognition system. At this point, you should probably just pull over and give your car to the pedestrian because Toyota seems to think that's the safer option. [Giz]

As a GPS navigation unit, the Drive Safety isn't too shabby. It includes a 4.8-inch touchscreen as well as text-to-speech, Bluetooth and more. It's an optional €449 accessory, which translates to about $700 United States dubya-fun-bucks. [GPS Business News]

Congress is currently evaluating a bill that would establish minimum sound levels for all vehicles and potentially make these two Stanford students very, very rich. Or at least the Chinese company that makes a knock-off version for a fifth the price. [NewScientist]

Everything from eyelid sensors, to vitals sensors, to cameras, to speed and trajectory sensors are integrated in the Volvo, and the resulting data is stored in a hard drive in the trunk, allowing easy transmittal to the friendly neighborhood DMV. The DMV can, in theory, recognize if an older person is unfit for the road, and subsequently pull their license. In reality, the DMV will do approximately squat. [Boston Globe via Autopia] (Image via Getty)

Just another added distraction while driving? Maybe, but Smart Mirrors could also be useful, especially in rental cars and trucks where a driver may not be familiar with the size of the vehicle. And it's not all vaporware: The technology behind Toshiba Smart Mirrors is the same silicon that powers the pedestrian recognition system. [Tech On!]

A spokesperson for Google summed it up as "Oops, our bad." We guess that means the drug dealings, boob flashings and car accidents of North Oaks will never be seen by curious bloggers (you know, like us). [The Register]

An experiment showed that while listening, experiment participants could complete a visual task easier when the task and the projected voice was in front, compared to a speaking voice come from the sides or back.

The latter experiment could lead to new vehicle speakerphone technology that could cut down on the level of distraction. Additionally, we're curious if the findings regarding the levels of brain distraction while speaking and listening could actually lead to a complete ban of cell phone use while driving, rather than the current limited restrictions. [Science Daily] (Image via Getty)

Well, if you're trying to fit an adult in the boot, no. Maybe if you chop the body up, but at that point you're probably not able to pull the rip cord. So clearly, the only people the emergency escape system is back there for, are small children. Yes, because we're sure child-snatchers drive Exiges. That bright orange is perfect if you're trying to be inconspicuous too.
[bewbews.com via TCL]

Design constraints, like the need to lower the door window, mean car frames cannot be built with the beam already in place. Like airbags, once activated, the brace would need a trip to the workshop to be reset, but the team are working on making the brace retractable.

Hooray, safety! [New Scientist via Giz]

The legislation is stating that the GPS navigation units can only occupy a 5-inch square on the lowest left-hand corner of the windshield or a 7-inch square on the lowest right side corner. For aesthetic purposes, those two areas are best suited for GPS navigation units, but for practicality, not so much. Maybe the California legislation should talk to this guy to find out the truth behind windshield obstruction. [GPStracklog]

• 80% of cell phone owners talk while driving
  
• 40% of cell phone owners between 16 and 30 text message while driving
  
• 60% of teens use cell phones while driving
  
• 65% of baby boomers between 45 and 61 use cell phones while driving
  
• 78% of users between 18 and 30 use cell phones while driving
  
• 80% of users between 31 and 44 use cell phones while driving.

People should be videotaped while talking on their phones while driving, both to show how it impacts their driving and how big of a douchebag they look like gabbing on their pink RAZR while their Tahoe hugs two lanes. [Breitbart via CG] {Image via Getty)

It's being sold by the tech and gadget company, Thinkgeek, as a solution for all-night gaming.

It's a pretty typical situation. You've been gaming for sixteen hours and downed plenty of Bawls and Foosh Energy Mints, but the inevitable has begun to happen - you're starting to get the dreaded drowsy head tilt. Maybe this means it's time to quit your session and get some rest. We think not. The better answer is to put on the Anti Sleep Driving Alarm and keep on going.

A Comcast manager gave the default "thoughts and prayers" comment to the media and the Comcast employee refused to comment on the situation. No criminal charges have been filed thus far with an investigation ongoing. [WAFF via CG]

The real purpose is probably for the passenger to use and not distract the driver with the bright and annoying dome lights, but we're negative nancies around these parts so we generally try to bring out the worst in every product. The Seatbelt light is sold in packs of two for $15. [Product Page via CG]

Many other states already have laws on the books regarding the use of mobile phones when driving, but the state-wide California law has to be one of the most significant since the state is known for having an abundance of drivers that can't keep their mouths shut when driving. The study shows that the use of mobile phones during adverse driving conditions is one of the larger causes of accidents and fatalities in California, which reports upwards of 4,000 driving-related fatalities per year. [Press Release via Autopia] (Image via Getty)

He continues to give examples of how his talking car concepts would help drivers:

• Depressed drivers drive better when their car reacts as if it too is depressed
  
• Cars that speak in complex sentences tend to make you pay attention, rather than zoning out
  
• Older drivers prefer younger voices
  
• Drivers feel closer to the computer if they believe it's embedded in the car, rather than a remote device.

The one downside is that this technology could provide more information to insurers than you would want. As long as you don't get a lot of tickets or get into wrecks the insurers don't need to know you drive like a bat out of hell, but this technology could make that happen. [Physorg via Giz]

They include two reflective strips and even have lights to warn oncoming drivers that some idiot did not properly maintain his vehicle. $20. [Product Page via boj]