New Yorker's Unimaginable 20-Minute Walk, Astronaut Sees UFO And The Horrors Of Honda's ATC In This Week's Beyond Cars Roundup

New York’s congestion pricing has finally gone into effect, following years of legal and political wrangling. Basically, if you insist on driving into the most densely populated part of the city, you now have to pay to do so. You can still walk or take public transportation freely, and you can still drive if you want, but driving costs extra. Not everyone is happy about this new charge, including real estate mogul Andrew Heiberger, who told something called Freedom News dot TV that he can’t believe he has to pay to drive a few blocks to see his kids. - Collin Woodard Read More

Elon Musk’s Boring Company cut a 1.7-mile tunnel beneath the streets of Las Vegas that’s meant to offer a clean way of clearing up traffic in Sin City. Since it opened, the tunnel has drawn criticism for its high construction costs and relatively low passenger numbers compared with traditional mass transit systems like trains and subways. Now, the company behind it has been accused of skirting “building, environmental and labor regulations,” amid a lack of oversight on the project. - Owen Bellwood Read More

When you think of an all-terrain vehicle, what image forms in your mind? If you’re younger you might picture a quad or a four-wheeler as your default ATV, but folks who knew the market before 1988 may know something different: This odd three-wheeler with no suspension, sold by Honda, and banned from the U.S. for the sheer number of children hurt and killed by riding it. - Amber DaSilva Read More

You might think that the most likely place for a NASA astronaut to see an unidentified flying object would be while orbiting Earth or docking with the International Space Station, however one NASA astronaut says they came close to a UFO while flying their private plane over Texas instead. - Owen Bellwood Read More

Ducati’s Panigale V4 is one of the most advanced superbikes on the market with a 210 horsepower MotoGP-developed four-cylinder engine. It is built almost exclusively for the race track, meant more for turning quick lap times than being comfortable on your daily commute, and definitely not built for any kind of rough terrain. So naturally the best thing to do is buy a wrecked bike, put dirt bike forks and knobby tires on it and give it the full-send treatment. That’s exactly what YouTube maniac Matt Spears did. - Bradley Brownell Read More

The Transportation Security Administration is so important to the safety of American travelers and 2024 was finally the year they were recognized for their hard work, with the straight-to-Netflix Christmas thriller “Carry-On.” The dead-eyed men and women in blue patrolling your local airports are ever vigilant when it comes to anyone trying to, god forbid, bring more than three ounces of liquid onto an airplane. Occasionally they manage to stumble into some pretty impressive finds, because travelers continue to bring their weapons and drugs to the airport. - Bradley Brownell Read More

Typically, when automakers take on ambitious construction projects, it’s something like a huge new battery facility. Five years ago, however, Toyota announced plans to build something more ambitious than a factory or even a new corporate campus — a whole-ass city. Recently, Toyota completed phase one of the place Toyota is calling the Woven City, and the first 100 residents will move in soon. - Collin Woodard Read More

Idiot civilian drone operators flying flying over the Palisades wildfire crashed their attention-machine into a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft meant to fight said deadly fire. The Canadair CL-415 was struck on the nose and wing by a consumer drone Thursday, which left the plane grounded and in need of urgent repairs. - Owen Bellwood Read More

Firefighting aircraft are currently descending on Los Angeles to tackle some of the worst forest fires the city has ever seen. The aerial firefighters are scooping water out the ocean to tackle the blazes and dumping thousands of gallons of red firefighting liquid over the city to try and get the blazes under control. But have you ever wondered what that red firefighting liquid actually is? - Owen Bellwood Read More

In the early hours of January 1, while partiers were busy celebrating the new year, Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a rented Ford F-150 Lightning down New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring at least 35 before dying in a shootout with police. It was a horrifying attack that stunned the nation, but as it turns out, New Orleans officials had already been made aware of the risk of vehicular attacks in the French Quarter but failed to address them due to “politics and bickering,” CNN reports. - Collin Woodard Read More