Another GM Embarrassment from the Past

Photo courtesy of GM

I could write a whole book about the many GM embarrassments from the past, including the "brilliant" plan of making tires in-house, the Cadillac Cimmaron, killing off more car brands than (probably) any other company out there, etc. 

This is NOT How to Get Out of a Speeding Ticket!

Photo courtesy of Ford

Unless you are one of the lucky few, you know the dread of being pulled over by the police. Oftentimes it's for speeding, an infraction many are guilty of and few think about until it's too late. If you do happen to get pulled over by the police, there are of course things you should and should not do. For example, don't make any sudden moves, because the police never know if you are going for a weapon or not. You should be courteous to the officer, even if you felt you did nothing wrong, but that doesn't mean you have to be a complete doormat.

Motorists, Pedestrians, Cyclists, etc.

Image courtesy of Volvo Cars

For some weird reason, the people who taught me to drive a car reinforced one truism over and over: I was handling a large, heavy machine capable of dolling out great destruction and even death. Driving wasn't treated as a right but rather as the privilege that it is. I was also taught to be respectful of others' space on the roads.

Hagwalah: How People Tempt Death on the Arabian Peninsula

If you've never heard of hagwalah, you're definitely not alone. Most people in the Western Hemisphere know nothing of the insane "sport" that not only youth, but even grown men who live on the Arabian Peninsula engage in.

Give Me More Horsepower, Damnit!

Photo courtesy of Scion. 

A horsepower war has been raging in the automotive industry for some time now. Unlike the big war in the late 1960s, this one hasn't been choked out by CAFE government fuel economy standards, despite GM's trying to claim such standards would kill the Corvette and any other cool car it makes. Nope, thanks to some pretty creative technologies like variable valve timing, direct fuel injection, turbocharging, hybrid powertrains and other such engineering trickery, we have been able to squeeze out more power from smaller engines.