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 »

news

Mounting Evidence Says Red Light Cameras Increase Accidents

Absentee policing is always a contentious issue. Those for it argue that red light cameras increase intersection safety and act as a deterrent to law breakers. Folks against them get the itchy, big-brother-is-watching feeling and then talk about due process. Well, that or they just blow the things to kingdom come. It seems evidence against red light cameras is mounting. The National Motorists Association, an organization dedicated to protecting the interests of motorists, has collected an international group of studies that point to an increase in accidents and accident severity as a result of the cameras. More »

traffic

Traffic Jam Mystery Solved -- Blame the Wave!

No, not the friendly hand wave, but the sporting event stadium wave. Mathematicians from the University of Exeter have solved the mystery of unaccountable traffic jams. You know, those traffic jams that involve no wrecked cars or other traffic-disrupting accidents, but are still capable of bringing traffic to a stand-still. More »

man-machine interface

Men More Likely to Relate to Their Cars, Study Says

A UK study entitled " The Secret Life Of Cars And What They Reveal About Us" claims that men are far more likely to view their vehicle as an extension of their own being than women do, and thus are generally more irked or threatened by damage to their autos. Men also tend to adopt a more relaxed posture behind the wheel, often driving one-handed. It also notes that people are four times more likely to sing on the way to work than they are on the way home. We prefer to sing along to the original Broadway cast recording of Oklahoma!, okay? [The Electric New Paper]

news

Wert's Good At Faking It: Jalopnik Editor Judges Michelin-Sponsored Design Rumble At Detroit's College For Creative Studies

I was all set last night at the MGM Grand Casino in beautifully wet n' cold downtown Detroit — all of us auto writers were finished with our gun-slingin' and were getting hammered on Martinis and learning to play the confounding and confusing game of Bacarat, a game which I think may be akin to nuclear physics in areas of which I hold expertise. Luckily, an area of which I do hold some level of expertise is in the arena of determination of how aesthetically pleasing something is (my ownership of a Jeep Liberty notwithstanding) which is why when I fielded a phone call, half in the bag, from a friend of a friend seeking my assistance to step in as a judge for the 18th Annual Michelin Design Competition for Detroit's College for Creative Studies (CCS) last night — how could I refuse? For design folks in the auto industry, the CCS is known as one of the world's most recognized programs in transportation design and regularly places more graduates in automotive design than any other school in the world. Big-time auto designers like Ralph Gilles and Carmilo Pardo got their start at CCS. So umm yeah, my choice was to keep drinking alongside FoMoCo's Lincoln-brand PR staff — or go and see what the next generation of automotive designers were putting on paper. Yeah, like that was a difficult choice for me to make. We've included a gallery of pics of the entries below for you to judge yourselves — and the list of the winners, all of whom will see their entries on display at January's Detroit Auto Show, is below the jump. – Ray Wert More »