30/08/2012
Hair-raising highway ordeal
Driving can sometimes be a frightening business, but one woman driver in the United States recently had a particularly terrifying behind-the-wheel experience.
While driving along the highway, her car suddenly accelerated and could not be slowed down.
Over the course of 58 miles, she consistently reached speeds of 120 mph.
Initially police thought that they had a speeding car in their hand and tried to get the driver to pull over – and although they were right about the speeding, they were wrong about having a criminal driver on their hands.
Understandably alarmed that she could not get her KIA 4WD to stop or slow down, the woman called her husband and the emergency services in the hope they would be able to help.
First she was told that she should put her car into neutral, but that didn’t help, so police then cleared the highway while clearly preparing for the worst.
Finally, she was told to lift her stuck accelerator pedal while simultaneously braking. Relief all around: it worked.
What an astonishing and hair-raising ordeal! Certainly a far cry from the more humdrum motoring dilemma of looking for the cheapest car insurance quote!
Photo © The Tire Zoo via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
While driving along the highway, her car suddenly accelerated and could not be slowed down.
Over the course of 58 miles, she consistently reached speeds of 120 mph.
Initially police thought that they had a speeding car in their hand and tried to get the driver to pull over – and although they were right about the speeding, they were wrong about having a criminal driver on their hands.
Understandably alarmed that she could not get her KIA 4WD to stop or slow down, the woman called her husband and the emergency services in the hope they would be able to help.
First she was told that she should put her car into neutral, but that didn’t help, so police then cleared the highway while clearly preparing for the worst.
Finally, she was told to lift her stuck accelerator pedal while simultaneously braking. Relief all around: it worked.
What an astonishing and hair-raising ordeal! Certainly a far cry from the more humdrum motoring dilemma of looking for the cheapest car insurance quote!
Photo © The Tire Zoo via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: accelerated, braking, car, cheapest car insurance, driver, driving, highway, motoring, pedal, police, quote, speed, wheel
18/04/2011
Burning up the highway
A few posts ago we brought you a car which ran on leftover Indian restaurant vegetable oil – now we bring you a 25-year-old wood-powered Chevrolet pick-up truck. The Finnish vehicle owner has modified his truck so that it now has a wood-burning stove in the back, just behind the rear window.
The car is run on the gas produced by the wood, which is burned in an oxygen-deprived environment. Although this might sound as if it would produce a lot of emissions, in fact this process is relatively eco-friendly and emission-low.
Apparently the vehicle can travel 125 miles on 76.2 kg of wood chips, and if the motorist wants to drive further than that – the pick-up can still fit enough timber in the back for an extra 800 miles, despite the stove taking up some room.
Plus, the man claims that he can still reach a top speed of around 90mph with this unconventional fuel.
After the wood has been burned the ash can be used to make fertiliser, so that nothing is wasted – however one disadvantage is that it can take around 20 minutes for the stove to become hot enough to produce gas and get the car moving.
No last minute dashes to get dinner before the shops close then – or spur of the moment cinema outings just as the trailers are set to begin.
Image by Creativity103 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car, eco-friendly, emissions, fuel, motorist, speed, vehicle
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