Up until recently, the automotive industry has improved safety by creating airbags, seatbelts, crumple zones, and other such things to aid in keeping drivers and passengers safe during and accident. Now the US DOT is beginning to look at ways to prevent crashes with vehicle technology. The DOT is currently looking at establishing a short ranged radio system geared towards allowing “connected vehicles” to talk to each other. This technology would allow the transmission of vehicle speed, location, direction and other important data to other connected vehicles. Now, rather than keeping you safe when you get into an accident, your car will be able to “know” if another car is going to run their red light. Your car will alert you of the danger allowing you to avoid the accident altogether. There is even talk of integrating these features with the safety features of the car to allow the car itself to jump in and avoid the crash, either by braking automatically, or some other form of accident avoidance. The plan will take some time, and require a lot of cooperation to be implemented. The NHTSA plans on implementing rules for installing such systems before the end of the Obama administration. This way it will allow automakers to know about the communication standards needed in their cars. Rules and regulations will also need to be established and a segment of the radio spectrum will need to be kept free to use with this technology. Although the timeframe may take a while, these seem to be steps in the right direction when it comes to traffic safety, with estimates of reducing up to eighty percent of the current 30,000 traffic fatalities a year.
Hiking is an excellent way to take in the great outdoors and get some exercise while you're at it. Depending on where you hike though, it can be a bit dangerous. A hiker in Down Valley Park in Colorado found herself being stalked by a mountain lion. That scenario right there would be enough to make me just curl up and cry, but not for Kyra Kopenstonsky. She did all the things they say to do, stay facing the lion, she made herself look bigger by holding a large branch, etc. none of which seemed to deter the lion from its hunt. This is when Kyra pulled out her secret weapon, opera singing! She began to belt opera songs and although it didn't scare the lion off (like it probably did other hikers in the area) it made her stalker uncomfortable enough where it didn't attack. She was able to get a call to park rangers who met her at the trailhead. She was shaken but not stirred...not hurt. The only problem is that the lion has a taste for opera now, so watch yourself next time you are at the theater!
As the push for greener transportation continues, it’s important that there are people leading the charge and championing the cause. Tesla Motors seems to be stepping up to be the hero we need. They project for this year to deliver 50,000 vehicles. That number is impressive for electric cars, but the real excitement comes from their projection of 100,000 delivered cars on an annualized basis next year. CEO Elon Musk has also stated that they have partnered with Panasonic Corp. to open a five billion dollar new “gigafactory” to begin producing cheaper and more efficient car batteries. It’s exciting to see a large push like this from an electric car company. Until now electrics and hybrids have been the underdog, but they are poised to push themselves and greener transportation to the front of the pack.
There are a lot of things that can ruin a commute; traffic, being stuck behind a school bus stopping at every house, beavers, car troubles…wait…beavers? Yup, you heard that right, beavers were the cause of one family’s car woes in Canada. A family from Quebec was visiting Prince Edward Island when a tree fell on their car! The large tree fell on the roof causing extensive damage to the windshield, roof and rooftop cargo bin. The family all escaped uninjured, but so did the beaver that caused this damage. The RCMP is on the case and will promptly bill the beaver’s insurance once he is found, and charge him with fleeing the scene.
We’ve all heard of dumb criminals before. But some really make you stop and think, is this real? A man in Costa Mesa California had recently been on a two-day burglary spree. Breaking into three businesses in the area. The last stop on his list was the eatery El Pollo Loco. The man was caught on camera breaking in through the drive through window and ransacking the registers looking for money. Not even twelve hours later, the same man was…wait for it…STANDING IN LINE AT EL POLLO LOCO WAITING TO ORDER FOOD! What?!?! Are you kidding me?!? Isn’t the first rule of crime to not return to the scene of the crime? Wait though, it gets better. Not only did he return to the scene of the crime less than twelve hours after the break in, but he was WEARING THE SAME CLOTHES THAT HE WORE WHEN HE WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA BREAKING IN!!!! My mind is too blown apart by the actions of this man that I can’t think of a witty way to wrap up this blog entry. Seriously, he had to know he was going to get caught right? Right???
