Posts Tagged ‘cars’
Villagers told “move your cars” so caravan can be illegally parked
Villagers have reacted with fury after being ordered to move their cars so that police can escort an extra wide mobile home to an “illegal” travellers’ site.
They have been told to move their cars off the road so that the 15 foot wide mobile home can be delivered to the site which has been ruled illegal but which is subject to a planning appeal. The wide load will be accompanied by a police motorcyclist and Land Rover and any cars blocking the path face being removed.
Two caravans have occupied Three-Cornered Piece, in East Harting, West Sussex, since 2009 after self-proclaimed “travellers” from a village 15 miles away moved in on a Bank Holiday weekend.
Now villagers in South Harting, are up in arms that they risk having their vehicles towed away by police if they don’t remove them from one of the two main village streets. Two days ago they found a notice on their car windscreens saying: “Will owners of vehicles please make sure that there (sic) vehicles are removed from these roads until after the abnormal load has passed, which should hopefully be by 2pm Friday.
“Any vehicle that is obstructing this movement will be towed away at the owners’ expense.”
The occupation led to a planning inspector’s inquiry, but Eric Pickles’s Local Government department stepped in to rule the land agricultural…
The caravanners are claiming that the mobile home is a “replacement” for one of the other much smaller caravans. A concrete base for it is already laid, even though a retrospective planning application for that and a septic tank has yet to be considered.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “At the moment, this is not an illegal site. The court case is pending. We’re blind to the wider sensitivities of the case.
In my peaceful neighborhood, someone attempting to do something like might be met with the neighborhood lying in the road to halt the procession. The saddest part – as I’m certain everyone in East Harting already realizes – is that the local coppers are “blind to the wider sensitivities” of an illegal act.
So, if someone decided to open an illegal gambling casino in their potting shed the police wouldn’t get in the way of that endeavor either?
Hogwash. Lazy coppers. Incompetent roads administration. Politicians with the testicles of a fruit fly.
Tokai University wins World Solar Challenge 2nd year in a row
For the second year in a row, Tokai University can lay claim to the winner’s laurels in the 2011 Veolia World Solar Challenge, a sun-powered race challenge in Australia that winds over 1,800 miles between Darwin and Adelaide using only 5 kWh of on-board energy and the rest beamed in directly from the sun. As the race’s website says, “These are arguably the most efficient electric vehicles.”
According to the provisional results…seven teams managed to go the entire 2,998 kilometer but Tokai came out on top because their average speed – 91.54 kilometers an hour – was faster than any other finisher. The Tokai’s final time was 32 hours and 45 minutes. The fact that only seven teams finished out of a starting list of 37 shows that this is not an easy race, and this year was particularly difficult thanks to brush fires (set by arsonists) along the route.
Bravo!
We have kin who have worked their butts off for similar competitions in North America – and especially appreciate the effort not only by the designers and teams; but, everyone who works to produce the competition.
War Texting lets hackers unlock cars via OnStar
Cellular-based automotive roadside assistance services like GM’s OnStar and BMW Assist allow remote unlocking of vehicles by communicating with remote servers via standard mobile networks. Now a pair of security systems engineers have managed to prove it takes just a few hours of clever reverse engineering to crack the in-car cellular network-based technology to gain access to vehicles. They call their method “War Texting.”
Don Bailey and Mathew Solnik of security company iSEC Partners set up an ad-hoc GSM network, which allowed them to communicate directly with the in-car system, posing as authorized servers. A proprietary protocol that is normally in use proved not be secure enough. All they eventually needed to do, was to send simple messages from a laptop to the car’s computer.
Bailey and Solnik will present their findings during the upcoming Black Hat USA conference in Las Vegas in a briefing entitled “War Texting: Identifying and Interacting with Devices on the Telephone Network,” although they will skip the details regarding the attack, to allow manufacturers to fix vulnerable systems.
However, apparently not just car security technologies are defenseless against the “War Texting” hacking method, as cellular networks are also utilized by SCADA systems that monitor and control industrial infrastructure, or facility-based processes.
Isn’t it a little overdue to require manufacturers of systems like these to build-in security protocols to guarantee safety and security. I surely hope no one is counting on wireless providers to do it.
Identity theft ring targeted funerals
A Fort Lauderdale man who prosecutors said ran an identity theft ring that broke into people’s cars while they attended funerals was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Friday.
Oscar Diaz, 30, must also pay almost $130,000 in restitution to 50 victims from Florida, Maryland and several other states under the terms of a plea agreement he reached with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore…
Prosecutors said Diaz, and several other co-defendants from Broward County, worked together to steal the identities and use them to get cash. Some of them broke into vehicles that were parked outside churches, day care centers, parks, gyms and cemeteries up and down the East Coast, then impersonated the victims at their banks — even donning wigs to disguise themselves, according to court records.
“Diaz’s co-conspirators would even follow funeral processions in order to target cars parked at graveyards,” according to a press release from Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
Diaz says he hopes to get treatment for his problems with substance abuse while he’s in prison. I think that depends on how easy it to get drugs and booze in whichever slammer he gets to spend the next nine years.
“Top Gear” stars think their ignorance is funny
One group of people who seem intent on being added to the list [of TV presenter bigots] are ‘Top Gear’ presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. It seems the trio are in the news on a monthly basis with some ignorant remark or another.
Last week Tweedledee, Tweedledum and The Other One insulted people from Mexico and Albania – an impressive feat to rile people from two countries in one week even by their standards. Here’s what they had to say about Mexican people:
Hammond: …Cars reflect national characteristics, don’t they, so German cars are very well built and ruthlessly efficient, Italian cars are a bit flamboyant and quick, a Mexican car’s just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight… leaning against a fence asleep, looking at a cactus, with a blanket with a hole in the middle as a coat.
May: It is interesting, isn’t it, because they can’t do food, the Mexicans, can they? Because it’s all like sick with cheese on it, I mean…
Hammond: Refried sick!
May: Yeah, refried sick.
Hammond: I’m sorry, but just imagine waking up and remembering you’re Mexican: ‘awww, no’.
Clarkson: No, it’d be brilliant… because you could just go straight back to sleep again.
G.M. withdraws application for Energy Department Loan
General Motors said on Thursday that it was withdrawing its application to borrow $14.4 billion from a pool of federal money intended to help automakers build more fuel-efficient vehicles.
G.M., whose request had been pending with the Energy Department for 15 months, said the decision was based on improved cash reserves and a desire to avoid more debt. The company was profitable in 2010 and had $33.5 billion in cash and marketable securities as of Sept. 30 — much of it the result of federal loans related to its 2009 bankruptcy filing — up from $22.8 billion a year ago.
“This decision is based on our confidence in G.M.’s overall progress and strong, global business performance,” Christopher P. Liddell, G.M.’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. “Withdrawing our D.O.E. loan application is consistent with our goal to carry minimal debt on our balance sheet…”
Congress created the $25 billion fund in 2008, and the Energy Department has lent about $8.5 billion of it so far. The Ford Motor Company received $5.9 billion — about half the amount it requested — with smaller amounts going to Nissan, Tesla and Fisker…
G.M. said that, even without the retooling loans, it had invested $3.4 billion in its American plants since emerging from bankruptcy, creating or retaining 11,000 jobs. Much of the upgrade was related to the manufacture of new high-mileage cars like the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt as well as batteries…
Separately Thursday, G.M. said it was accelerating the introduction of the Volt, a plug-in hybrid, in response to customer demand. Dealers in all 50 states will be able to take orders in the second quarter and start receiving the cars in the second half of the year. Previously, G.M. had said the Volt would not be available nationwide until mid-2012.
They’re also talking about doubling production of the Volt. Reception from retail customers has been better than anything they might have hoped for – at least what automotive journalists stuck into the carbon cycle thought they would get. 
Green Cars from the Detroit Auto Show
The Inhabitat crew hit the Detroit Auto Show and checked out some of the hottest hybrid, fly-wheel and all electric cars. Check out their footage (and yes, that’s Katie Fehrenbacher’s sister).
Lawsuit filed in Canada over car collisions with moose
See that big thing in the road? That’s a moose.
Two Canadians injured in car collisions with moose in Newfoundland have filed a class-action lawsuit against the province, claiming it has not properly controlled the animal’s numbers…
Ben Bellows and Hugh George have both been paralysed by injuries sustained in separate car accidents involving moose.
More than 700 of the animals are struck each year by motorists in the province…
There are roughly 125,000 moose in Newfoundland, a province with 480,000 residents…
Both Mr Bellows and Mr George, who have been restricted to wheelchairs following their accidents, are…seeking financial assistance in the case…
About 40 other people have also signed on to the class-action suit, Mr Crosbie added.
I wish Mr. Bellows and Mr. George no ill for their injuries – and I have no idea how the Provincial government or Canada will handle such a lawsuit. Here in the Rockies it would be considered nothing more than a nuisance and frivolous lawsuit.
In my neck of the prairie, the law governing fences, for example, takes into account free-ranging wild animals – and cash crops like cows. City folks think fences are to keep things inside the fence. Out here, fences are put up to keep things out. Like cows, like moose or elk. It’s the law.
When I still was on the road, I used to drive an East-West stretch of Colorado state highway every two weeks, at night, where hundreds of deer/car collisions happened, every year. And Colorado doesn’t make the top 10 states for deer-car collisions. I drove at the speed limit or below. Used my high beams and driving lights whenever I could – without bothering an oncoming driver. There are lots of tips.
The United States still averages about 1.5 million deer-car collisions a year. That’s slightly better than 2 a minute!
Not hitting a deer is your responsibility. Not the state. Not the police. And certainly not the deer. They ain’t any smarter than a 6-year old child – and it’s your responsibility not to drive over them either.
Just introduced at opposite ends of the Green spectrum
Porsche has rolled out a race-bred version of the company’s 918 Spyder Concept at this year’s Detroit Auto Show. Packing the same drivetrain as the track-proven 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car, Porsche says that the 918 RSR will bring a whopping 767 combined horsepower to the party when it shows up in the paddock. A total of 563 of those ponies are provided by a 6.2-liter V8 that revs to an atmospheric 10,300 rpm. Porsche has partnered its beastly eight-pot with two electric motors capable of 75 kilowatts of juice positioned at each front wheel.
The 918 RSR stores braking energy in a flywheel accumulator stationed where the passenger seat would traditionally rest, and the tech allows the driver to summon up an extra bump in power for passing or acceleration. The pilot can command the boost in grunt for up to eight seconds.
Like the 918 Concept, the bones of the 918 RSR are built of carbon fiber reinforced plastic, and the body was penned to pay respect the legendary racers like the 917 short-tail.
Phew! I don’t know. Maybe if I was as young as my brain thinks I am. And as wealthy as some Republicans think they are…
Toyota falls behind Ford as U.S. sales rise in general
That’s right. #1 seller in the U.S. is still the F-150
Toyota’s U.S. vehicle sales fell in 2010 while industrywide sales rose 11 percent and every other major automaker reported gains. Ford moved up to second place behind only General Motors…Deliveries in December accelerated to the fastest pace of the year…
“The black clouds from Toyota’s recalls just don’t seem to go away,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends for Santa Monica, California-based auto pricing website Truecar.com. “We saw Ford, GM and Hyundai-Kia come on strong. Brand loyalty isn’t what it used to be.”
Industrywide sales in 2010 totaled 11.6 million, according to Autodata Corp., based in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. That’s up from 10.4 million the previous year for the first gain since 2005 and the largest percentage increase since 1984…
Like everything else associated with the Great Recession, you shouldn’t be surprised over dynamic percentage increases. Even the rate of jobs growth is larger than previous recessions – but, it doesn’t always feel like much since we’re starting back from the exceptional pit dug by neocon corruption and laissez-faire economics.
“This is a market that’s coming back significantly,” said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Automotive, a researcher in Lexington, Massachusetts. “And with really strong products coming from GM, Ford and Chrysler, there’s a lot of opportunity for change in the marketplace…”
Ford was the best-selling make in the U.S. in 2010, displacing Toyota’s namesake brand, which fell to third behind GM’s Chevrolet. Ford sold 1.76 million Ford-brand vehicles last year, while GM sold 1.57 million Chevrolets and Toyota sold 1.49 million Toyota cars and trucks…
Rising consumer confidence and retail spending bode well for car sales and may help boost 2011 industrywide sales, including heavy-duty trucks, to 13 million to 13.5 million vehicles, Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales operations, said today on a conference call.
RTFA for details on each marque. They all bode well. Well enough, I guess, for partisanship to resume among those of us who were cheerleaders for TARP and keeping an entire national industry from going down the tubes to satisfy those who base their dollar politics on redemption tales and the Kool-Aid Party.
