Monthly Archives: September 2016

My mother was the librarian at the school I attended from Pre-K to 8^th grade. It was actually pretty awesome. I rode to school with her every day and sometimes we wore matching sweaters (I’ve already texted her asking for pictures, hopefully coming soon). She also ran the summer camp program, so I spent my summers in the library until I was old enough to stay home by myself.

The school is in Topeka, KS, but some of the students lived in Lawrence, KS, (where I ended up going to college, Rock Chalk!) about 30 minutes away. These students took “The Lawrence Bus” to school, which looking back on it...

I’ve been in New York for about a year and a half. I’ve gotten a lot better at navigation. I can get on the train going the right direction and know when to transfer to a different train or bus. My first week in the city I got off a very crowded A Train to let people off with the intention of hoping back on. That didn’t happen. The doors closed and I ended up waiting for the next (crowded) train.

Because I live relatively close to where I work, I often ride a bike to work. Needless to say it’s very different than riding a bike in the Midwest. I stick to bike lanes and ride defensively. I wear a...

As long as I can remember I’ve always loved the water. As a child I looked forward to spending every summer with my family at the lake. Riding in the boat, swimming in the water and eating ice cream on the dock. I’m from the Midwest, we were always outside. Looking back on it, those summers were pretty lo-tech.

I’m the last of 4 children (All boys, sorry, Mom!) so it was always a circus getting us together in the car for anything. We took turns helping my Dad guide the SUV to the hitch.

“A little more, a little more, a bit more, a tiny bit more, OK STOP! You all heard me, I said stop!”

Somewhere...

Yesterday the U.S Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued a Federal Automated Vehicles Policy. The new policy ensures consistent safe testing and regulations for self-driving vehicles. Existing safety standards make it nearly impossible for manufacturers to certify automated vehicles. It makes sense, as the standards were made under the assumption there would be a human driving.

“Automated vehicles have the potential to save thousands of lives, driving the single biggest leap in road safety that our country has ever taken,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in a press release...

This morning U.S. Representatives Tim Ryan (D-13th OH), Peter King (R-2nd NY) and Jan Schakowsky (D-9th IL) introduced the Helping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats Act (HOT CARS Act of 2016). The HOT CARS act requires technology in passenger vehicles to alert the driver when a passenger is left in the back seat.

"This legislation will address the needless deaths of children from heatstroke when unintentionally left in vehicles," said Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety president Jackie Gillian in a media conference call on the legislation.

This bipartisan initiative would prevent...

We are all being encouraged to share the space in our own car or ride with someone else, in order to not just save money but also to help reduce emissions and improve the environment.

Ridesharing is a great idea and if you can grab a ride in a comfortable car like the Chrysler 300 for example, it has its attractions as well as offering convenience. Although personal safety is not often a concern for the majority of passengers and drivers too, it does make sense to at least have some basic safety awareness, especially if you are a busy rideshare driver.

Get yourself a dual dashcam

Dashcams are rapidly...

Google has had some interesting patents when it comes to self-driving technology. Remember the human flypaper? A patent filed back in 2014 and confirmed earlier this month is a little more realistic. The new technology allows the vehicles to distinguish and interact with emergency vehicles based on their unique flashing lights.

“In one aspect, one or more computing devices may identify a set of light sources from an image based at least in part on one or more templates, and may filter the set of light sources in order to identify one or more light sources corresponding to a potential emergency...

I still remember the day I got my driver’s license. After a year with a learner’s permit driving to and from high school, countless hours driving with my parents, and a frustrating 30 minutes in a technical school parking lot with my brother trying to learn stick (Sorry, Walker), the day finally arrived.

The written test was easy. I studied hard, I needed this license. The driving test was with 3 other potential drivers. When I was up, I drove defensively, checked all my mirrors and passed with flying colors. I was so relieved and proud. I could almost taste the milkshakes I was going to buy after...

Many accidents happen every year because of distracted drivers. Sometimes these can result in serious injuries or death to the driver and other road users and pedestrians.

In fact, over eight people a day are killed due to distracted driving in the United States every day. And the use of apps like Pokemon Go while driving have also led to car accidents.

As a result, it's important that we try to reduce this problem as much as possible.

As well as taking common sense advice to avoid becoming distracted while driving, there are also a number of apps and technologies being released that could provide...

There are new stories about semi-autonomous technology every day. Many companies are throwing their hat into this ring, but what do consumers look for when buying a new car? Though the average consumer is highly motivated by tech options when purchasing a new car, many are still unfamiliar with the latest features.

The 2016 Nielsen AutoTECHCAST Report, an annual study highlighting consumer preference on advanced vehicle technologies, reports that only 25% of the nearly 12,000 U.S of new car buyers surveyed are familiar with 44 vehicle-related technologies.

Rear view backup camera systems, smartphone-linked...