Lady Drives Fiat Cinquecento with the Handbrake On !!!

While we could understand if someone forgot to release a broken or a loose handbrake that allows the rear wheels to turn around with some difficulty, how can you drive a car on the road with the rear wheels completely locked down and not take any notice?
And that's exactly what we have in this video starring a lady behind the wheel of a green Fiat Cinquecento (which was the 500's predecessor in the Italian brand's range).
Not only did she forget the handbrake on, but she doesn't even pay attention to the young men trying to inform her about the brake. Follow the jump for the video. 

VIDEO

Read more In Cars

Video: BMW Union Workers in California Fight Back

The showdown between BMW and the 68 union workers set to lose their jobs on August 31 at the Bavarian firm's distribution plant in Ontario, California, continues to escalate after Teamster members and their families protested outside 50 BMW dealerships in 11 states in the beginning of the month.
Today, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that represents the soon-to-be-laid-off employees said union members of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) have been organizing informational pickets at 10 ports in nine countries over the past few days to show their solidarity with the BMW workforce.
"This is what international solidarity is all about: Crossing state lines, seas and borders to help workers whose jobs are threatened," said ITF President Paddy Crumlin.
"BMW is planning to outsource good, middle-class jobs," said Bob Lennox, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 495.
"Many of these employees have worked there for decades – some as long as 30 years. BMW told these workers they were a family, and then proceeded to hire union-hostile lawyers to help it exploit America's plant-closing laws. BMW and its lawyers at Jackson Lewis are condemning 68 American families to poverty and misery" Lennox continued.
In addition to the protests, BMW union workers recently launched a dedicated website under the name "BMW Ultimate Misery" where they have uploaded a series of videos to aid their cause.
On its behalf, BMW said that the decision not to renew the contracts of the 68 workers is not related to the union or wages but about operating its Ontario facility in the same way it does with its other North American plants through third-party workers. 

VIDEO

PHOTO GALLERY 

 

 

Read more In Cars

Google's Self-Driving Car Involved in California Accident

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated in the title that this was the first accident involving a Google self-driving car. The corrected version reflects a change only in the title of this article. We also posted an updated story on the incident that includes a new video and an official statement from a Google spokesperson.

Many companies are developing self-driving cars. The latest example is VW’s TAP (Temporary Auto Pilot) that was recently demonstrated on video.
Another earlier model is Google’s automated/driverless fleet of Toyota Prius hybrids developed with the help of the military’s DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) 2007 Urban Challenge winner, Chris Urmson and Anthony Levandowski, the maker of the world’s first autonomous motorcycle (again, for DARPA) – oh, and an self-driving pizza-delivery vehicle.
The question many skeptics raise is who would be responsible in an accident involving a self-driving car. Handing over control to a machine may sound like a good idea: the car will obey speed limits, never do anything dangerous like overtaking on the right, and the streets will be safer.
However, as a recent accident in Google’s campus showed, when a Google Prius was involved in an accident, practice is a different thing from theory.
Google’s autonomous car researcher Sebastian Thrun called the system “the perfect driving machine” and said that self-driving cars can save one million lives every year –and that’ a goal worth pursuing. Google later revealed to Business Insider that one of the cars was operated by a human, the implication being that the autonomous driving system is not the culprit.
While we're not questioning Google’s statement, the issue remains: who exactly is responsible in the case of an accident involving a self-driving car? Since no two situations are ever the same, how can one rely on a computer to decide what’s best and for whom –the passengers of the car it controls, those of another vehicle, or a pedestrian?
What if the software crashes? What if there is a hardware malfunction? Even PCs, with decades of development behind them encounter such problems – which, while frustrating, are not life-and-death issues.
The thing is that Nevada has already been convinced by Google to legalize autonomous cars on the state’s freeways. And Google is using its Prius fleet in California, where legislature does not pose any bans.
But is anyone ready to guarantee that AI-driven vehicles can operate in a fail-safe way dramatically reducing accidents and casualties?

VIDEO

Read more In Cars

Video: How to get Even with Your Other Half

We have no way of knowing if the protagonist of the video you're about to enjoy after the break had some scores to settle with his other half (be that his wife or girlfriend), or if he simply had his moment of Zen, but if it's the former, we can guarantee its success. All joking aside, we'll assume that there's a large entrance located somewhere behind the man filming the driver in the Cobra roadster leaving his mark on the wooden floors – well, that or he built the car from a kit inside the room in which case we'd support the "moment of Zen" theory. Either way, watch the video after the break.

VIDEO

Read more In Cars

Toyota Shows US Market 2012 Yaris Hatch at Lollapalooza Music Fest

When an automaker is ready to launch a new model into the market, we usually receive a press release along with some initial or teaser photos before we see it in person at a major auto show.

But that's not the case with the U.S. market version of the 2012 Yaris as Toyota quietly unwrapped the car under a tent at the…Lollapalooza annual music festival in Chicago this past weekend while today, the Japanese company announced U.S. pricing without, however, releasing any photos or further details. Strange indeed.
We'll remind you that the new generation of the Yaris was first shown in Japan in December, 2010. Toyota then presented a concept hybrid version at the Geneva Show in March this year before revealing the final production model for Europe in June and for Australia in July at the Melbourne Motor Show.
Toyota said the redesigned 2012 Yaris's base MSRP will range from $14,115 for the L grade three-door liftback fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox to $17,200 for the SE grade five-door liftback with a four-speed automatic transmission.
The aforementioned MSRPs do not include a $760 delivery, processing and handling (DPH) fee which lifts prices to $14,875 and $17,960 for the 2012 Yaris L and Yaris SE grades respectively
Toyota said that pricing for the new model is "comparable to a Convenience Package-equipped current generation Yaris" adding that production of the car will start on August 31.
And while Toyota did not announce any further details, Cars.com editor Joe Bruzek was at the Lollapalooza music fest where he managed to get a look at the spec sheet found on the 2012 Yaris LE that was on display.
The LE comes fitted with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine with Toyota stating on the spec sheet that the manual model will return an estimated fuel efficiency of 30mpg city and 38mpgh highway, while the automatic 30mpg city and 35 mpg highway.
By comparison, the current generation Yaris that also features a 1.5-liter gasoline unit, returns 29mpg/36mpg when equipped with a manual gearbox and 29mpg/35mpg when fitted with an automatic.
While we wait for Toyota to release photos of the North American-specification 2012 Yaris, scroll down for a video and a comprehensive gallery of the European market model.

VIDEO

 

PHOTO GALLERY

Read more In Cars

Video: Man Sinks Porsche Boxster into a Lake

Now here is something you don't hear about every day. A local businessman's new Porsche Boxster was discovered paritally submerged in a lake at the Parque Ecológico (Ecological Park) in São Paulo, Brazil on Friday, July 29.
Brazilian news site TV Sol found the owner of the car who told reporters under the condition of anonymity that he was driving through the park when lost control of the Porsche ending up into the lake.
And here's where the story gets slightly twisted as TV Sol also reported that eye witnesses placed the owner of the Boxster at a local restaurant the same night calling a cousin on the phone and telling him to "Throw the Porsche into the lake of the park".
Scroll down for the video news report.

VIDEO

Read more In Cars