Autoblog

Click above to watch video

We are inundated with safety reminders every time we get into our cars and turn the key. Your car reminds you to fasten your safety belt with incessant beeps and warning lights fill your dashboard when brake or airbag sensors think something is wrong. But, as the video pasted after the break proves, even standing next to your car can be dangerous under the right circumstances. Dynamometers, or dynos, can be awfully dangerous and are usually surrounded by some sort of guard rail, but not this one in Russia Serbia. While it's hard to ignore the guy in the red pants, keep your eyes on the older gentleman at the rear of the room.

While our first inclination was to laugh, the reality is that this face-plant could have been much worse. We're glad that the man in the video appears to be alright. Papa!

[Source: Dragtimes.com]

Click above for more pics of this bashed up Nissan GT-R

This isn't the first Nissan GT-R to find itself looking like an accordion. We brought you another shattered GT-R in Hong Kong in early January, and a GT-R fender bender a few days later in Shibuya (Tokyo). An Autoblog tipster just sent us a link to yet another bashed-up GT-R in Malaysia. As a purely objective observation, the latest incident does a decent job of demonstrating the integrity of the Nissan GT-R's safety cage. Too bad it's at the expense of supercar carnage. Are we the only ones who think this Nissan GT-R bloodshed is getting out of hand? Thanks for the tip, Eric!

[Source: NAGTROC]

Red light cameras are nothing more than a surreptitious tax. Oh sure, they're sold to municipalities as a safety benefit, but what else would you say if you wanted to be paid to install, administrate, and monitor your little ticket-writing bots? The cities and towns that put the cameras greedily snap up the extra revenue generated by dangerously short yellow lights and overzealous cameras. Patrick Bedard has been poking holes in the theory that traffic cameras are the salve for behind the wheel idiocy, and a recent study by the University of South Florida Public Health agrees that the cameras actually cause accidents. Other studies also back up the findings that drivers are quicker to slam on their brakes at yellow lights when they spot the cameras. While it should not play out with a rear ending, nobody maintains a safe following distance, or even pays attention. In some cases, the rate of red light running is low enough that the cameras cause a spike in incidents, proving that the cure can sometimes be worse than the sickness.

[Source: Kicking Tires, Photo: Morning Chu Hi]

There is a good reason to pay attention to those "Bridge May Be Icy" signs that are posted at nearly every overpass in the U.S., and the guy in the photo above would likely have died for ignoring the warning if it weren't for his Dodge Ram. The Ram's sturdy frame is the only thing standing between this lucky mother trucker and a 70 foot fall to the riverbed below. And the picture is the best argument we've seen to date against unibody pickups that would have slid right over the edge. Click here to see more pics of the Ram's high-wire balancing act.

[Source: Wrecked Exotics]

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile may be the most unique and recognizable vehicle on American roads, but even a 7,000-pound hot dog can spin out of control on a patch of ice. The 27-foot-long rolling tribute to pig lips and chicken necks lost its footing and spun into an embankment on highway 15 in Pennsylvania on its way to Penn State for a recruiting visit. Neither of the two women riding in the flailing frankfurter were hurt in the incident, and a tow truck was able to get the over-sized sausage back onto the road.

We're not sure how fast the two women were driving the Wienermobile when the spin-out occured, but this incident only proves that even giant wieners can benefit from stability control. Click the read link below for a lot more bad hot dog humor.

Thanks for the tip, bakerlaw67!

[Source: Star-Gazette]

Two children tragically lost their lives when French driver Catherine Kohtz lost control of her Volvo 850. The 1999 incident, which Kohtz blamed on a loss of braking ability in her Volvo, has led to French courts handing down a finding of manslaughter. The guilty verdict against Volvo also carries an €200,000 fine, though Volvo holds that there wasn't anything wrong with the car's braking system and will likely appeal. Driver Kohtz was fined €300 and also sentenced to a six-month jail term, which was suspended.

Kohtz's accident was initially attributed to reckless operation, and tensions in the town of Wasselonne have been stirred by the circumstances of crash. Rumblings of Kohtz, relatively wealthy, having bought her way out of a more serious outcome for the death of two ten year olds from lesser means have been dividing the town in eastern France. An investigation determined that the brakes in the Volvo 850 suffered from a problem known to Volvo. Rather than recall 180,000 850s, Volvo is alleged to have quietly asked its dealers to fix a rubber pipe prone to rupture or detachment, causing a loss of braking ability. An investigating magistrate contended that service documents instructing dealers how to repair the problem were overly vague, leading to an improper and ineffective repair on Kohtz's car. For a company with such an emphasis on safety, its surprising that it would try to cover up a major flaw in such a crucial system. Volvo argued that the service documents that were seized outline an innocuous fault, and that something else like a loose water bottle behind the pedal was to blame.

[Source: BBC via Winding Road; The Independent]

Sometimes you come across a story that makes you say, "I get it... But I don't get it..." A computer consultant in a rental car recently showcased his unflagging trust in technology, and just barely lived to tell the story. Following the instructions the GPS was giving him -- religiously, in this case -- he was told to make a right turn... onto train tracks. And he did it.

We can't ever imagine a case in which making a right turn onto train tracks could be an acceptable course of action, no matter who's giving the command. Especially in light of some of the places our own GPS has tried to lead us. And not only did the driver make the turn onto the tracks, but he got stuck there -- just as a passenger train was coming. Not being known for their ability to stop on any amount of coinage, and in spite of the man's waving, the train plowed into the car in a "fiery crash."

No one was hurt in the crash -- the driver got out of the way in time. However, the 500 passengers who were stranded for hours probably wanted to do unkind things to him once they found out he was all right. Yet if he's not hurting now, the bill he gets from the rental car company might change that. Even if he checked the comprehensive option, we can't imagine that a train and 250 feet of damaged railroad tracks are covered in the rental company's Loss Damage Waiver.

Thanks for the tip, Brian!

[Source: MSNBC]

Dave Chappelle did a bit about going for a ride with a friend of his in New York City. His friend driving, Chip, started racing down a Manhattan street. When he was pulled over by NYPD, Chip told the officer, "I didn't know I couldn't do that" -- and after a scolding, the officer let him go with "Now go on, get out of here!"

We aren't sure if a 29-year-old man in Washington had the same thing in mind when one evening, after driving in the opposing lane for less than a block, he totaled his car on a light pole. His one-word answer to the police, when he was asked what happened, was this: "pterodactyl." And it appears to have worked: the man was treated at a local hospital and released.

The man's alcohol level was "minimal." We don't know what he was drinking, but it must have been powerful. So on this New Year's be careful out there. And watch out for flying, Mesozoic-era reptiles.

Thanks for the tip, Gary!

[Source: Herald]

We don't particularly enjoy posting about auto accidents, as totaled cars and injured humans is never a good conversation starter. Every once in a while, though, we get an opportunity to post about a crash that didn't happen thanks to the quick thinking and selfless nature of a good samaritan. Such a near miss happened yesterday in San Francisco when a driver on the Golden Gate became unconscious and her Jeep Grand Cherokee came to a stop in the second lane from the center divide. John Beatty almost rammed his Ford F-350 into the back of the Jeep, but stopped just in time. The 50-year-old man from Mill Valley, CA then noticed the Jeep began to creep forward and to the left. Realizing it was headed towards the divide and into oncoming traffic, Beatty positioned his truck in front of the SUV so that it would hit him instead of crossing over. He then guided the Jeep across two lanes of road, which had fortunately been cleared of traffic when other drivers began to realize what Beatty was doing. Unfortunately, there is a sad ending to this story, as the unconscious driver of the Jeep eventually died at the hospital. If it hadn't been for Beatty, however, you would've heard about a fatal multi-car accident on the Golden Gate bridge last night.

Thanks for the tip, Patrick!

[Source: sfgate.com]

click above image for more pics

More details have emerged about the accident that occurred yesterday in Clearwater, Florida involving Nick Hogan, the Hulkster's son, who was driving a yellow souped-up Toyota Supra with his friend, John Graziano. Police are still investigating the accident, though it appears drugs and alcohol were not involved. While the 17-year-old Hogan and his friend were both taken to the hospital yesterday, Nick was released this morning. Graziano remains hospitalized, and according to a statement issued by Linda Hogan, wife of Hulk and mother to Nick, her son is spending the day at the hospital with the Graziano family.

TMZ, our morally bankrupt yet lovable sister site beneath this big AOL umbrella, did some digging and uncovered that Nick has been charged four times for unlawful speeding since September 2006, despite having his license for just one year. Those charges, which include last night's accident, also include a violation for going 115 mph in a 70 mph zone, 57 mph in a 30 and 106 mph in a 70. The link to TMZ also contains a video of Nick doing a burnout in his brand new Viper in front of his mom last December.

We've included a gallery of images below showing the totaled Supra that were shot by Tim Boyles of Getty Images. We're not sure how either Nick or his friend survived the crash, as the Supra is completely destroyed behind the B-pillar.

[Source: TMZ, Getty Images]