http://www.thecarconnection.com/tips Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:19:36 -0500 Tips and Advice -- find out how to maintain, service, insure, wash and wax, and change the oil in your car with tips from TheCarConnection.com. Lifestyle/Fashion http://static.thecarconnection.com/website/tcc-feed.jpg http://www.thecarconnection.com/tips http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1038178_prosthetic-arms-allow-former-mechanic-to-drive-again http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1038178_prosthetic-arms-allow-former-mechanic-to-drive-again Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:37:00 -0500 Christian Kandlbauer was an 18-year-old Austrian auto mechanic when he lost both his arms in an electrical accident. Thanks to German companies Paravan and Otto Bock, however, Kandlbauer was recently outfitted with thought-controlled prosthetic arms, which have given him the ability to do many things he never thought he'd do again -- including ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1038177_video-taylor-swift-complains-about-your-parents-driving http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1038177_video-taylor-swift-complains-about-your-parents-driving Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:22:00 -0500 Apart from her music, we don't have anything against Taylor Swift. In fact, we felt pretty bad about that whole VMA thing with Kanye and Beyonce and the Henny and the internet meme that just wouldn't die. However, after seeing Taylor on Saturday Night Live last weekend, we're beginning to wonder if she shouldn't be interrupted more often. Case ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1038135_new-ways-to-watch-your-teen-driver-courtesy-of-greenroad http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1038135_new-ways-to-watch-your-teen-driver-courtesy-of-greenroad Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:48:00 -0500 Back in the 18th century, British philosopher Jeremy Bentham came up with a nifty way to keep prisoners in line: as long as the incarcerated thought they were being watched, they behaved, even if they couldn't see the guards. The same "big brother" philosophy has been used ad nauseam since then, even in automobiles. Its newest iteration comes ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1037463_sfpd-to-go-lightly-on-drivers-without-licenses-ruckus-ensues http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1037463_sfpd-to-go-lightly-on-drivers-without-licenses-ruckus-ensues Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:53:00 -0400 Many police departments around the U.S. impound the cars of drivers caught behind the wheel without a license. But starting Sunday, San Francisco plans to abolish that policy, calling it unfair to illegal immigrants. Mayor Gavin Newsom, police chief George Gascón, and supervisor David Campos (himself a former illegal immigrant) all agree that ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1036811_talking-and-driving-bans-cut-use-for-a-while-iihs-says http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1036811_talking-and-driving-bans-cut-use-for-a-while-iihs-says Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:00:00 -0400 Is technology a better way to keep us from talking and driving? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says it could be, while it also cautions that talking-and-driving laws aren't always as effective or durable as legislators think. In a release issued today, the IIHS says it's studied how drivers react in the long term, to laws banning ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1036682_wtf-canadian-truckers-busted-for-smoking-behind-the-wheel http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1036682_wtf-canadian-truckers-busted-for-smoking-behind-the-wheel Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:02:00 -0400 Like red light cameras, prohibitions on smoking in the workplace have become common in much of the Western world. But what happens when your workplace is your car -- or perhaps, your big rig? It's not such a hypothetical question in Ontario, where ten truckers have been hit with a $305 (Canadian) fine for smoking in the cabs of their trucks ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1036319_technology-pronto4-system-lets-vehicles-drive-themselves http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1036319_technology-pronto4-system-lets-vehicles-drive-themselves Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:50:00 -0400 A couple of months ago, John Voelcker reported on a futuristic, self-driving vehicle dreamed up by Google's industrial designers. That sort of personalized, automated transport may seem fairly sci-fi, but it's not as far off as you might think. For proof, look no further than the Pronto4 System, which allows nearly any car to drive itself, ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035958_transportation-summit-aims-to-curb-distracted-driving http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035958_transportation-summit-aims-to-curb-distracted-driving Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:35:00 -0400 At a meeting on auto safety organized by the U.S. Transportation Department, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood this morning reported on the dangers of distracted driving. His figures were grim: last year, almost 6,000 traffic fatalities and 515,000 injuries were linked to driver distraction. The goal of the two-day "distracted driving ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035515_is-it-opposite-day-or-can-being-carless-really-make-you-fat http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035515_is-it-opposite-day-or-can-being-carless-really-make-you-fat Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:51:00 -0400 The anti-car movement insists that automobiles have made us fat and lazy -- and there's some truth to that. However, a new study in the Journal of Urban Health shows that being carless doesn't always mean being healthier. Of the 2,156 individuals studied, car owners weighed about 8.5 pounds more than their carless colleagues -- the exception ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035099_bridget-the-midgets-world-tour-for-charity http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035099_bridget-the-midgets-world-tour-for-charity Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:47:00 -0400 We cover a lot of stuff here at TCC. Most is directly related to the auto industry, some other items are just for fun, and every so often, we stumble across something really special. Case in point: the story of Roy Locock, a 52-year-old Brit who bought a 1977 MG Midget a couple of years back, and it changed his life. Shortly after purchasing ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035098_wtf-giant-monkey-is-gibbon-phoenix-police-the-runaround http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1035098_wtf-giant-monkey-is-gibbon-phoenix-police-the-runaround Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:42:00 -0400 We don't mean to alarm anyone, but we have it on good authority that there's a giant monkey zipping around Phoenix in a Subaru Outback. The police have taken dozens of radar photos of this chump breaking speed limits, and they've ticketed the car's owner, Dave Vontesmar, but as anyone can plainly see from looking at the pics, that's a giant ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034888_on-a-lighter-note-french-mayors-duel-with-traffic-signs http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034888_on-a-lighter-note-french-mayors-duel-with-traffic-signs Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:40:00 -0400 Proving once again that juvenile governmental feuds aren't solely the province of the New York state legislature or the South Korean parliament, the mayors of two Parisian suburbs have installed contradictory street signage just make a point -- and to make drivers furious. In a nutshell: the conservative mayor of Levallois-Perret was tired of ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034802_department-of-transportation-funds-solar-roadways-project http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034802_department-of-transportation-funds-solar-roadways-project Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:15:00 -0400 The Department of Energy may be getting a lot of press these days for its big-dollar loans to EV automakers, but the Department of Transportation is doing its own small part to brighten the future, too. The DOT recently awarded Solar Roadways (warning: crappy website ahead) a $100,000 contract to prototype its proposed -- wait for it -- solar ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034757_traffic-enabled-satnav-may-save-drivers-four-days-per-year http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034757_traffic-enabled-satnav-may-save-drivers-four-days-per-year Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:32:00 -0400 A satnav study released last week reached some interesting conclusions: U.S. drivers who use GPS systems with traffic-enabled navigation save the equivalent of four days on the roadways each year. Moreover, as a result of driving smarter and shorter, those folks reduce their CO2 output by 21%. Brits don't fare quite as well: traffic-enabled ..]]> http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034641_jean-paul-libert-nelson-philippe-teach-you-to-drive-green http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034641_jean-paul-libert-nelson-philippe-teach-you-to-drive-green Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0400 Hypermilers, eco-enthusiasts, and speed demons take note: racers Jean Paul Libert and Nelson Philippe are here to make your day a little brighter. They've devised a new program called I Drive Green that teaches motorists to burn less gas, emit less CO2, and get where they're going a little faster. It's basically a two-part process -- the first ..]]>