If you enjoy driving, you probably have a dream vehicle you aspire to own one day. For some it’s the fully electric car like a Tesla. For others it’s the height of Italian engineering in a Ferrari or Lamborghini. And then for one man in Ireland, it’s a seven-ton tank. That’s right, a seven-ton military tank. The guns have been deactivated allowing him to drive it around and that is just what he plans to do. He’ll be seen taking it to the grocery store, just driving around, and reports say that one of his friends even wants to be driven to his wedding in it. Stories like this prove that dreams can come true if you’re patient and persistent, but some dreams have a much higher fuel cost than others.
You may already think “green” when you think of Ireland, but the country continues to further go green. Recently, Irish Parliament voted to stop the public funding of fossil fuels. If the bill passes the country would pull all investments from things like gas, coal and oil over five years from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. The vote is a bold move that stresses the importance of alternative energy. If the bill passes it would make Ireland the first country to make a move like this and stop investing in fossil fuels.
We all know it, speeding is wrong. Not only is it unsafe, it’s also against the law and can land you in trouble. One Massachusetts man found himself in court to defend against a speeding charge. The man’s defense was that the radar gun may have picked up a nearby running deer rather than his car. Needless to say the charge and fine remained. His defense may not have won his court case, but it could’ve won him an award for creativity.
We talk a lot about commuting here. You also hear a lot about commuting as technology improves. Things like electric cars, autonomous vehicles, alternate forms of transportation, but one thing that rarely gets mentioned is the end step. Parking. It’s often overlooked, but it is a crucial step in the commute. What’s the good of driving somewhere if you can’t park and leave your car once you’ve arrived? Google is taking steps to help you with this part of the commute. In a beta version of Google Maps, you can now be presented with information regarding your destination’s parking situation. You will be alerted to how difficult the parking is, and you can click to get more details on the parking in the area. Anyone who has arrived somewhere and had to circle the block over and over looking for a spot can appreciate now being able to have a heads up before setting out for your destination.
The year is 2017. Saying it aloud sounds like we’re living in the future, and at the rate of technological advancements, it feels like we are too. A dash cam video surfaced of Tesla’s collision avoidance system predicting and successfully avoiding a collision. What makes the video so amazing is that the avoidance system is able to see under and around the vehicle in front of the car. Making it able to detect a collision, or identify a hazard, before you as the driver could ever see it. And, if that’s not future-y enough for you, this technology was updated via an over-the-air update to the vehicles’ systems. Now, autopilot and these safety systems are not a replacement for your own attentiveness, but I’d be happy to have it supplement my current driving awareness.
