Google solves blind driving puzzle - and imagine the implications for drink drivers

Google solves blind driving puzzle with robot Prius

Is Skynet just around the corner? To celebrate 320,000km of safe driving in the USA, the Google Robot Prius has taken blind man Steve Mahan in the so-called driver’s seat from his home to a Morgan Hill, California, Taco Bell for lunch. And - importantly - back. Safely.

Need to Know:

Headlight restoration works on cloudy, discoloured headlights.
Headlight restoration is an easy, one-hour job.
You can do headlight restoration in the driveway at home, with essentially no tools or training. All you need for headlight restoration is a $30 self-contained kit, some masking tape, and elbow grease.
To restore your headlights you don’t need to remove them from the car (we just did that for the video above).
Headlight restoration could save you thousands (think: old European prestige car). It will certainly save you hundreds of dollars compared with the price of two replacement headlamps, even on a basic car.

Here's the detail on restoring those cloudy headlights:

video, DIYJohn Cadogan18 September 2011car, diy, headlamp, headlight, light, money, repair, restoration, saveComment

Car on Fire? Here's what you do

The fact is that cars are jam-packed with flammable liquids and parts. Petrol and oil, for example, burn fiercely. Upholstery and most plastics burn readily, too. In addition, car batteries manufacture hydrogen gas (flammable) and also spray sulphuric acid all over the place should they explode. The vehicle's electrical system is a godd (or is that bad?) source of ignition. In any case it is a powerful one.

In many countries the most common cause of vehicle fires is arson (ie they are intentional). Another common cause is unwittingly introducing static electricity into the refuelling process. You can read about preventing refuelling fires by clicking the link to our story on that. Crashing and mechanical malfunction are also common causes of car fires.

Let's assume, however, you don't intentionally burn your car down. Let's assume you're not refuelling. Let's assume you're driving along and your car catches fire. (Often this is only visible in the rear-view mirrors because you're leaving the smoke behind you as the car cuts into the air in front.) What do you do?