Making a play for Parent or Guardian of the Year: Australia Edition, is a man from the small community of Alice Springs.
Pulled over for driving an unregistered sedan, the unidentified man was stopped on the Ross Highway just south of Alice Springs this weekend. After approaching the car officers said they were “appalled”’ to find that the driver had put a seatbelt around his newly acquired “slab” (meaning “case”) of beer in the front seat, while letting a five-year-old child go unrestrained in the back seat.
While it’s clear that the gentleman wasn’t using any sort of good judgment by not strapping in the tot, we can’t help but wonder why he could have been so preoccupied by the welfare of the brew? In any event, the fellow isn’t doing a lot of good to dispel the stereotype of the beer-loving Australian. Guess those Fosters commercials were right after all.
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The 1614 feet Shanghai International Financial Center, the 686 feet Beijing Great Wheel… it seems apparent that some local governments in China are in a frenzy for becoming the world’s No.1 with various construction projects. That seems to be in sync with the new economic boom of this old country.
Now there comes the Hangzhou Bay Bridge; connecting the city of Jiaxing in the northern part Zhejiang Province with Ningbo in the eastern part of the Province. The 22.3 mile (36 kilometers) structure shortened the distance from Ningbo to Shanghai by 74.5 miles and is the world’s longest cross-sea bridge to date.
The 11.8 billion RMB (roughly $ 1.68 billion USD) monster opened on May 1st but things haven’t gone quite smoothly for the new bridge so far. According to the local media, as of May 7th, the traffic police had fined more than 700 drivers for not only speeding, but also slow driving and illegal parking. Some people even took their time while crossing, enjoying taking pictures on the emergency lanes of the bridge. One driver, after caught illegally parking, even posed in front of police cameras. The man said that it’s worth paying the 200 RMB fine (roughly $28.6 USD) for getting his pictures later.
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The Beijing Youth Daily quoted one traffic policeman in the Chinese city of Yangjiang as saying, “More than 50 percent of cars caught on camera for speeding and other offences either cover up their plates or use a fake licence plate. Our chances of capturing them is next to nil.”
One salesman for license plate changing devices, which cost the equivalent of roughly $115, said that the hot-selling items are both “convenient and economical.” No mention of the devices being “illegal” or “satisfying” however. + Automotive News: Chinese drivers get away with speeding (Subscription required)
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Industry leaders in the Automotive realm, including Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli and AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson (pictured), are speaking out against the increasingly controversial “holiday” for the federal excise tax on gasoline.
The plan, which is supported by presidential hopefuls Senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton, would see the 18.4-cents-a-gallon tax halted for the summer driving season in an effort to reduce the increasingly large fuel bills for average Americans.
Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is expected to make an announcement today on “protecting the environment,” which will likely include outlining the fuel economy standards for cars and truck through the 2011-2015 model years. New Federal regulations have spelled out that vehicles must hit a combined (cars and trucks) standard of 35 mpg by 2020.
It seems likely that the midterm economy goals will be averages of close to 30 mpg by 2015, to stay on the steady path to 35 mpg. The current standards require cars to average 27.5 mpg and light trucks to hit 22.5 mpg. The new mandates to corporate average fuel economy, signed into law last December by President Bush, are the first economy updates to the CAFE program since its inception in 1975.
Check our galleries below for a few fuel-sipping cars perfect for Earth Day driving.
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The Florida State Senate spent a useful day yesterday, debating the pros and cons of a bill that involves a popular and rather tasteless automotive accessory.
Made to be the ultimate expression of a truck’s manlier qualities, Truck Nutz (Truck Nuts, Bull Balls, Biker Balls, what have you) are hilarious to some, while being dreadfully offensive to others. The Florida lawmakers were faced with this exact problem while trying to come to a vote on a proposed ban of the aftermarket testicles.
Some members didn’t see what the big deal was. Sen. Jim King revealed that he had a set on a personal truck that he described as “all pimped out,” going on to call the decoration no more than, “an expression of truckliness.” King was forced to admit however that his wife had convinced him to remove the Nutz.
Meanwhile Senators like Steve Geller found the whole discussion silly and off-putting saying, “I find it shocking we’d tell people with metallic testicles on their bumpers that this is a violation. There’s got to be better things for us to spend time debating.”
Not familiar with the dangling truck accessory? Have a guilty look in our gallery below.
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Electric sports car builder Tesla Motors is suing designer Henrik Fisker (pictured) and Bernhard Koehler of Fisker Coachbuild, for fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of contract.
Tesla hired Fisker, who had worked for the likes of BMW and Aston Martin, during 2007 to work on the interior and body styling of its upcoming electric sedan called WhiteStar. The company is making the claim that despite paying Fisker almost $800,000 for the work, the designer purposely held back his best efforts, and helped to push back the launch date of the WhiteStar by six-months to 2010.
(Have a look at the offending piece of evidence, the Fisker Karma, in our gallery below or click through the jump to read on.)
While automakers worldwide are still working feverishly to bring future products in line with the tough new economy standards, the pace of change is likely to do nothing but increase from here on out.
The director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation, Margo Oge, said yesterday at the SAE World Congress in Detroit that U.S. passenger cars and light trucks may have to average as many as 75 miles per gallon by the 2030s, if a proposed cut of greenhouse gases is to come about. The proposal from the scientific-community would hope to see emissions reduced by 50 to 80 percent from 2000 levels, by 2050.
Last weekend marked the Qingming festival (a.k.a. the Tomb Sweeping day), a traditional annual festival in China for people to pay homage to the dead and to taqing, the Chinese way to say “going out and enjoying the greenery of spring“. The quiet festival turned out to be a tragedy for some in Nanyang, Henan Province of China, as an out-of-control truck destroyed five cars, and resulted in eight casualties.
Though there’s not much evidence from these pictures, the truck was tagged by some people in Chinese web forums immediately as being a military lorry. Military license plates have long been considered a privilege in the Middle Kingdom, and have gained a notorious reputation by disobeying traffic regulations such as running red lights and ignoring traffic signs. This is largely because military drivers don’t have to face any form of traffic fine for their misbehavior. (Click through the jump to read on.)
Smart’s Fortwo minicar received top marks in a U.S. government side-impact crash test, despite the car’s driver-side door opening during the simulation.
The Fortwo scored five out of five stars for side impact crashes, while earning four stars for drivers and three starts for passengers during head-on impacts. While the problem of the opening door wasn’t enough to mar the perfect rating for Smart, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did note, “A door opening during a side impact crash increases the likelihood of occupant ejection.”
Smart has been selling the Fortwo about as fast as they can bring them into the country, with the American public seeming more and more receptive to small, fuel efficient vehicles. Roger Penske of the Penske Automotive Group recently said that he could sell as many as 15,000 more units than the 25,000 Fortwos he has been allocated for this year.
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Toyota denied reports today that it had received any funding by the Japanese government to aid in the development of its Prius hybrid car. The denial came in response to an interview of Jim Press by Business Week recently, in which Press claimed, “The Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius.”
Press currently serves as vice chairman and president of Chrysler LLC, but worked for Toyota for 37 years, including years spent working on Prius research.
Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco called the reports by Press untrue saying, “I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support — no money, no grants — from the Japanese government for the development of the Prius.”
(Chances are the Japanese government had little to do with this Star Trek Prius, have a look in the gallery below.)
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Making a play for Parent or Guardian of the Year: Australia Edition, is a man from the small community of Alice Springs.
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