Surprise! Radio Still Used In Cars
Here’s the good news: According to a recent study by the NPD Group, 73% of people who have FM radios in their cars say they turn them on during most car trips, and even in-car CD players are hanging onto the dashboard, with 57% reporting that they want a CD player in their next car’s audio system. The downside, which is not totally unexpected? More and more people are using their phones or iPods in their cars, with consumers spending more than $170 million last year on systems to help these gadgets play well with the decks in their autos, and 32% of respondents want smartphone or MP3 player hookups in their next car audio system. NPD’s Mobile CE: A Look Inside the Vehicle says that an astonishing 79% of people are now using some form of “portable media device” in their car, with 37% of iPod owners reporting they’re used “always” or “most of the time” while behind the wheel.“Traditional radio and CD audio remain firmly entrenched in the vehicle from both a device and entertainment standpoint,” said Ben Arnold, NPD Director of Industry Analysis. “But as ownership of mobile devices, digital content and apps expands, consumers will be looking for ways to customize the in-vehicle environment with content and services. We’re only going to see greater consumer attachment to social media, streaming audio and video and other services as content options grow.” So as phones become just another button on the dashboard, are you making your content compelling enough that drivers don’t punch out of your preset?
Consumer Reports Top Vehicles for 2012 is… ?!
Two years after Consumer Reports smacked Toyota by pulling its coveted Recommended label from the Japanese automaker’s vehicles in the wake of safety concerns, the venerable consumer products testing magazine has slipped back into its comfortable role of being one of Toyota’s biggest fans In announcing its annual Top Picks list, CR lauded five Toyota models as best-in-class, meaning the once beleaguered brand captured fully half of the category awards.36 cars fall through ice at Wisconsin fishing tournament
This winter hasn’t been quite as cold as it could have been, but in Wisconsin, there have been enough sub-freezing days for lakes to develop about of foot-thick coating of ice. That’s enough ice for some good ice fishing, but it apparently isn’t thick enough to use as a high-traffic parking lot.THE MOST ANNOYING THINGS DRIVERS DO
What behavior really gets your goat? According to a Consumer Reports survey, texters top the list of most annoying drivers. Consumer Reports polled 895 Americans in a January 2012 telephone survey and asked the respondents to rate 20 common driver complaints on a scale from one (not annoyed) to 10 (very annoyed).
Age and gender had a lot to do with the results: Women were more irritated by texters and tailgaters, and younger drivers were less bothered by loud music than older motorists.
Most annoying behaviors on a scale of 1-10:
- Texting on a cell phone while driving 8.9
- Able-bodied drivers parking in handicapped spaces 8.7
- Tailgaters 8.4
- Drivers who cut you off 8.3
- Speeding and swerving in and out of traffic 8.2
- Taking up two parking spaces 7.7
- Talking on a cell phone while driving 7.6
- Not letting you merge into a lane 7.6
- Not dimming high beams when approaching 7.6
- Not using turn signals 7.5
- Slow drivers dawdling in the passing lane 7.3
- Jaywalkers stepping in front of your car 7.3
- Excessive horn honking 7.1
- Slowing down to “rubberneck” at accidents 7.0
- Not turning on lights when it’s raining or at dusk 6.8
- Drivers who are indecisive about where to turn 6.6
- Slow drivers on a two-lane road who won’t pull over 6.5
- Not going when the light turns green 6.1
- Bicyclists who don’t let you by 5.8
- Cranking up the radio volume 5.7
Monster truck driver pays for crushing teen’s first car
Stay with us on this, because the scene to the left is one big misunderstanding. It’s a little hard to make out in the YouTube video below, but Norman Nowling is backing his Ford Econoline monster van over the top of a Toyota Camry When he finished his brutal work, the Camry wouldn’t be going anywhere that didn’t involve the words “flatbed” and “chains.” So imagine the shock when the Toyota’s 16-year-old owner returned to it in the wee hours, noticeably flatter than we she left it.CITIZENS GET RADAR GUNS IN OREGON
Eugene, Oregon Police will lend out radar guns to citizens to help police nab speeders, Sgt. Lisa Barrong said earlier this week. Citizens who are entrusted with the devices must complete a department training program led by a traffic enforcement officer, Barrong explained, and when they’re ready to hit the streets, they will work in pairs, using calibrated guns to ensure accuracy of speeds recorded.
A detailed log of activity is then submitted to police, who say they may see a drop in speeding merely due to the program’s preventative nature. “If people see someone standing there pointing a radar gun typically they’ll slow their speed down,” Barrong said.
Newt Gingrich: “You cannot put a gun rack in a Chevy Volt”…WRONG!!!
Looks like Newt Gingrich is getting into the right-wing, “let’s-all-hate-on-the-Chevrolet-Volt” bandwagon.During a campaign stop at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK, the trailing Republican candidate said, “Let me start from a simple premise that Oklahomans will understand: you cannot put a gun rack in a Volt,” Talking Points Memo reports. It appears that Gingrich is trying out a new attack line, as Raw Story is reporting that he used a similar line at an event in Suwanee, GA. There, he continued, “There is no reason not to believe that we couldn’t stabilize with American production by drowning demand in supply the old-fashioned, free market way. There’s no reason we couldn’t have a stable price around $2 or $2.50 [per gallon].” As you might imagine, it didn’t take long for a Volt owner to take Mr. Gingrich’s words as a challenge… you can see the predictable YouTube results BELOW:
Swedish man found alive after snow buries him in car for two months
In a chilling story, of which details are still emerging, a 45-year-old Swedish man has been found alive after being stranded in his snow-covered car near the Arctic Circle for a reported two months. He survived without food, but was apparently able to melt snow for water.
According to authorities, men on snowmobiles were traveling through the forest in Sweden’s northern town of Umeå when they came across a vehicle buried in the snow. Being nearly a mile from the main road, they cleared the windows to peer inside and were shocked to see a man huddled in a sleeping bag on the back seat Rescue services soon arrived, in tracked vehicles, to bring the seriously emaciated man to the hospital.
Since the rescued man is barely able to speak, the medical staff has estimated that he was trapped in the vehicle for about two months –
about as long as a human can survive without food. Despite temperatures plunging a low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit, the vehicle and its thick layer of snow apparently helped to protect him from the extreme weather. The man is currently recovering in an intensive care unit at Umeå University Hospital.CARS FOR TERRORISTS
A federal complaint contends that U.S.-based car buyers received almost a quarter billion dollars to purchase and ship used vehicles as part of an international money-laundering scheme involving Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah. The civil action pending in U.S. District Court in New York City seeks forfeiture of assets from several Middle Eastern financial institutions and 30 used-car buyers and exporters. The U.S. Attorney says these automotive companies bought vehicles at auction with money provided by banks, currency exchanges and individuals “associated with, funded by, controlled by, or directed by” Hezbollah. A lawyer for the companies said his clients are not connected to Hezbollah and had no knowledge that money provided to them came from the group.
A total of about $248 million was wired from Lebanon to the 30 car buyers between January 2007 and early 2011, according to the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan.. A restraining order accompanying the forfeiture action says the U.S. seeks “all assets” of the car buyers, “including but not limited to” the $248 million sent to their accounts “and proceeds traceable thereto.” It is illegal for any American citizen to deal in property or interests of Hezbollah, which the U.S. government identifies as one of the nation’s top enemies, responsible for the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and other deadly attacks against Americans.
The “RISKY BUSINESS” PORSCHE IS SOLD
What’s Tom Cruise’s name worth? Apparently $41,200. A Porsche 928 that appeared in the film “Risky Business” was sold for $49,000 after a Beverly Hills car dealer read about it on FoxNews.com. The car was being offered by the Volo Auto Museum outside Chicago in order to make room for a couple of new additions to its collection.
The 1979 coupe was used in several scenes in the 1983 film that launched Cruise’s career as a Hollywood A-lister and was reportedly the very car in which Cruise first learned to drive a manual transmission in. According to NADA Guides, the average street price for a 1979 928 is just $7,800. With over 100,000 miles on the odometer, the platinum metallic coupe may not be in as good shape as its action hero driver, but it clearly has the same kind of box office draw.
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