Autoblog

Inhabitants of Oak Lawn, Ill. apparently have a hard time understanding the meaning of the large red octagons posted on street corners through the city. So in an effort to get people to actually stop, the city installed smaller signs below their larger, legal counterparts to get motorists attention while providing them a half-hearted chuckle. The extra signs correlated with the "Stop" written above, with slogans including "and smell the roses," "right there pilgrim" and "means you're not moving." While residents and the town's mayor found them funny, the Illinois Department of Transportation was less than enthused and claims that the signs violate the Fed's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. That means that federal funding for projects in the city could be put on hold, so $1,700 worth of signs were pulled down. In a word: lame.


[Source: Associated Press]

FoMoCo is on the brink of settling a class-action lawsuit brought by owners claiming that Ford's Explorer was prone to rolling over. The settlement covers approximately one million people in California, Connecticut, Illinois and Texas who've owned 1991 through 2001 Explorers.

Ford's spokesperson, Kristen Kinley, believes that "the settlement is fair and reasonable," but declined to given an estimate of how much Ford would be shilling out to slighted owners. However, vouchers are expected to be issued to owners in the four states that would allow them to put $500 towards a new Explorer or $300 for another Ford, Lincoln or Mercury product.

[Source: Detroit News]

It's hard out there for a pimped out ride. As of this month, Rockford, Illinois will start seizing vehicles that play music too loudly. The kicker is that your car can be seized if someone merely accuses you of playing loud music, because "hearsay evidence shall be admissible."

The ordinance is worded in a way that actually disallows many OEM stereos: ""No person shall operate... any device used to... reproduce any recorded sound if the device is located... in any motor vehicle on the public way and the sound can be heard from 75 feet or more from the device." And you don't have to be playing music at the time -- someone could have heard you blasting tunes on your way down the street and reported it to the police. By the time the police show up your stereo's been silent for hours. But if the police determine there's probable cause that it was you, your car goes away.

The fine is $150 to $750, plus $75 for towing and $20 per day for storage. If the officer has to wait more than an hour for the tow truck, it's another $60 per hour for his or her time. And if you want to fight it, the city keeps your car while you go through the appeals process, charging you for storage fees, of course. Silent running might be the phrase to keep in mind while rolling through Rockford.

Thanks for the tip, F451!

[Source: The Newspaper]

This week, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and the state's two U.S. senators, Richard Durbin and Barack Obama, sent letters to the heads of the six major oil companies as part of an investigation to see if they have any policies that are inhibiting construction and operation of biodiesel and ethanol pumps at fuel service stations. The state is the biggest user of ethanol and the country's second largest producer of the alternative fuel. However, only three of the 108 service stations selling E-85 (gasoline mixed with 85 percent ethanol), are franchises branded by the oil companies.

Also, U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman has indicated he will speaks with the oil companies, though he plans to discuss their policies on promoting alternative fuels. The oil companies in question? BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Shell Oil Co., and Valero Energy.

[Source: Reuters]