Snow Rally Crash

Crashing and rally racing just go hand-in-hand. There have been all kinds of crashes in the history of the sport, including cars hitting fans, cars hitting each other, and cars hitting trees. This time, however, the wreck is a car hitting a non-race vehicle.

Everyone Needs to Stay Off Their Phones on the Roads!

I don't know about everyone else, but one of my biggest pet peeves is almost being hit by someone who is driving while using their cell phone. I've had it happen with people who are too busy yakking to someone about their weekend plans,but even worse is when a person is texting, not holding the steering wheel, and not looking at the road at all.

Why You Should Always Tie Down Your Load

In many places it's illegal to drive around with anything in the back of a truck that isn't properly secured. As you can see from the completely horrifying video below, there's a good reason for that.

BMW Drivers are Jerks!

There have been plenty of jokes over the years about what jerks BMW drivers are. I worked in real estate back in the day, and I knew quite a few of the people in the profession considered owning a Bimmer to be a sign that you had truly arrived.

When Gangsters Run From the Cops

I've never advocated anyone running from the police. It's difficult to truly outrun law enforcement in modern times with helicopters, infrared cameras, and radios. You're outnumbered, outgunned, and ill-prepared to take on such a situation.

Truck Tire Rockets Mechanic Through the Air

We've seen all sorts of crazy Russian dashcam videos, but this is something completely unique. The following video also shows the hazards one can face when working on cars without taking the necessary precautions.

Cops Chase a Smart Fortwo

Truth is often stranger than fiction, and the video below of police in Houston, Texas chasing a suspect in a Smart Fortwo is excellent evidence.

The Flame-Shooting Corvette of Your Nightmares

C6 Corvettes are pretty potent machines, but they take well to certain modifications. One of the best things you can do to them is strap on a supercharger, which is exactly what this monstrous machine is packing under the hood.

Uber Makes Sydney Hostage Situation More Expensive

Photo credit Flickr TheTruthAbout

In case you've been under a rock for the past several hours, you should know that there's a major hostage situation in Sydney, Australia's central business district. All that is know as of the writing of this post is that a person(s) is holding numerous hostages in a cafe. That person also placed an Islamic flag in the window, sparking fears that it's a terrorist attack.

Dangerous River Crossings

Image courtesy of Land Rover

River crossings can be pretty dangerous, especially if you don't know what you're doing. I've crossed countless rivers in vehicles, but fortunately none of those instances involved some reckless moron who doesn't understand the basic tenets of physics.

Proof that Germans are Weird

Photos courtesy of Daimler

As an automotive journalist I get all kinds of press releases and other things sent to me. Since I deal with companies spread around the world, that means the stuff is constantly pouring in at all hours, every day of the year. I have to ignore a fair amount of it, because it is an information dump. Every once in a while there's something just completely weird tucked in with new vehicle announcements, technological breakthroughs, and smiling PR photos. I received just such a thing recently from Daimler.

Minivan With a Helicopter Engine

This is just plain nuts: someone plopped a gas turbine engine from a helicopter into a minivan. The back window as deleted to make room for it, and it obviously can't run with the sliding doors closed. I've seen cars with jet engines, but this one is a first for me.

Apparently Driving an Electric Car is Good For Your Health

Photo courtesy of GM

It might seem odd, but there is some unscientific (read: anecdotal) evidence that suggests driving an electric car is beneficial to one's health. It doesn't have to do with EV owners eating more kale or other so-called "superfoods." Instead, it's a horrible habit that's cut out from their usual routine.

Crazy Videos Starring a Bear and a Biplane!

I've seen a lot of crazy videos recently, too many to share on here. I do want to give you all a taste for the insanity I've viewed by posting two that are especially interesting.
One is from GoPro a while ago. It shows the Werth Brothers from Indiana performing what they call a "tail grab." Basically, one brother speeds down a runway on a Honda motorcycle. The other flies inverted in a biplane mere feet from the ground. The one on the bike momentarily grabs the tail of the plane, sending it up (because it's inverted) toward the ground, before the plane goes speeding away from the Earth and certain doom. It's crazy and you have to see it (and the video's way short):

The other is of a guy on a mountain bike. I know it's technically not automotive-related, but the video is crazy since it shows a bear chasing after him. Many people are freaking out about how the guy narrowly escaped death, but the whole thing looks fishy. First off, a bear could easily outrun the guy on the bike. Second, the guy has the time to get off the bike and carry it over the fallen tree limb on the trail. And then the bear doesn't smell him less than a hundred feet away? Bears can smell things miles away, so it's fishy. Even more suspicious is the fact that the bear looks like CGI. Take a look for yourself and see what you think:

Can a Smart Fortwo Be Fast?

People dream of fast cars, or at least enthusiasts and people who have places to be do. Of all the cars sold in the United States, the Smart Fortwo is one that is definitely not considered to be peppy in the least. If you've ever driven one you know that they behave oddly, thanks to a highly unrefined transmission and a little one-liter three-cylinder engine that puts out a measly 70 horsepower.

Is the S-Class a Women's Car?

2014 S-Class. Photos courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.

For quite some time now there have been people inside and even out of the automotive industry who have labeled some cars as being for women. Maybe those models aren't made exclusively for female drivers, but they are viewed as catering to that portion of the populace more.