Autoblog

Immense amounts of money, research, effort, time, and science have gone into making cars safer. Your economy car is so safe now that you'll survive an accident with a larger vehicle. But it's also so safe now that the traditional blades, jaws, and saws that fire departments would use to extricate you are no longer strong enough to get through the car's metal.

There are also myriad other features lurking in a car's bodywork that can do more damage than the accident. Rescuers need to make sure they don't cut the pressurized gas canisters that would inflate an airbag, or the battery cables in a hybrid. Once in the car, they need to make sure they don't do something that will make the airbag suddenly go off if it hasn't already. It has meant that rescuers first need to peel back the car's shell to see what's beneath before they begin digging out the passengers.

All this has added time to the rescue effort, which might mean the difference between staying here or checking out the hereafter. It's also ballooned budgets, as crews need to buy the equipment they need to get the job done. Maybe carmakers should start making the tools necessary to break their cars open in an accident. The Jaguar Jaws of Life, anyone? Thanks for the tip, JaysonAych!

[Source: AP]

Ever been in an accident and wished you had in-car camera footage so you could explain to everyone what really happened and why it wasn't your fault? If so, Brickhouse Security has the device for you: the rearview mirror camera recorder. Using a small camera mounted on the back of the rear view mirror, it records everything happening in front of your car. The footage is displayed on a 2.5-inch LCD screen on the face of the mirror, which also includes handy playback controls in case you just want to see the instant replay immediately, or relive the commute to work when you get there.

Recording begins when the engine comes on and ends when the engine goes off. The media records to an SD memory card, is stamped with the date and time, and can be played back on any computer or a television. If there's any down side, it's that the mirror needs to be plugged in to your cigarette lighter to work. But that's the price of CSI ingenuity, and it will, heaven forbid, pay for itself the first time you can prove that "no-fault" accident was actually very much the other person's fault. Thanks for the tip, John!

[Source: Brickhouse Security]