In many of American cities, it is just more viable to take public transport with gridlock traffic consuming the cities. But even if you don’t live in the city, public transportation may be a great choice, not only to help the environment but to also save yourself a considerable amount of money. Not only would we not have to pay for the the car itself, the gas that powers our cars to get us from home to work and back again, but you may also avoid tolls and car maintenance bills. We can also avoid the monthly car insurance bill as well and when the average cost of a car insurance premium in 2009 was $1,800, that breaks down to be $150 a month. That is $150 we can save or even use to buy something more important.

Now everyone has pondered the idea of traveling to work like George Jetson.  Avoid the morning rush hour and traffic congestion prevalent in our modern cities. There have been many attempts at the flying car, some more plausible than others, but we are now almost there.  Its name, the Terrafugia Transition, as it can travel in both the air as well as on land. Now it’s not exactly as advanced as the Jetson’s car, but it is as advanced as we can ask for. It can switch between a car and a plane within 30 seconds, and can amazingly fit in any standard sized garage. On land it averages 30 mpg, not bad for a car/plane hybrid. In the air it maintains 115 mph and has a range of over 400 miles. Now the Terrafugia is not even considered to be a prototype yet but its developers plan on doing some additional testing to improve its performance and hopefully plan to get it into production. The real question we have to ask ourselves is if we really want to be flying around in the air thousands of feet above the ground with the same people who cut us off on our daily commutes and flip us the bird as if we did something wrong. Obvioulsy this flying car will not solve the traffic congestion problems in the city because there is no place to land, but if you were trying to avoid the traffic you may encounter between point A and point B, and you have the space to take off and land, the Terrafugia may be for you.

Appropriately dubbed the “Distraction Lab,” Ford’s Human Machine Interface Verification Laboratory has been busy at work duplicating the flighty attention span of the average teenage male. To achieve this, Ford engineers have outfitted research participants with special occlusion goggles equipped with small LCD screens programmed to track the amount of time a driver spends with his eyes on and off the road. While wearing the goggles, test subjects are asked to engage in a simulated driving course that requires them to interact with Ford’s in-car infotainment system. By observing the amount of time that any given driver spends orienting himself with (or being otherwise distracted by) the informational system as well as other outside stimuli, researchers may then determine how information should be displayed and accessed to minimize the risk of an accident.

“Occlusion testing is faster and a lot more efficient than other methods for determining eyes-off-road time and the potential for visual distraction,” explained John Shutko, Ford technical specialist in Human Factors and Ergonomics. “In the past, we used occlusion testing primarily to verify other research, but over the past couple of years we’ve been able to develop test models with the technology that allows us to rapidly complete research faster than ever before.”

Much like the principles held by their European subsidiary, Volvo, the primary objective of Ford’s exhaustive research is to accommodate drivers’ needs in the safest way possible. “Studies show voice-operated systems like SYNC offer significant safety benefits over hand-held manual devices,” says Dr. Louis Tijerina, Ford senior technical specialist. “If people are going to use nomadic devices – and there’s no reason to believe that they will stop – Ford wants to offer our customers a safer way to use them, through SYNC.”

Who knew a lifestyle that necessitates surviving almost exclusively on a diet of Ramen noodles and Natural Ice could prove so beneficial to the environment? According to Zipcar, their rideshare programs that currently dot an estimated 140 university campuses across the U.S. and Great Britian are succeeding in astronomically reducing emissions, and all thanks to the overwhelming response from college kids too broke to spring for their own set of wheels. By the numbers, Zipcar estimates they’ve cut CO2 emissions by 56 million pounds annually, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of CO2 that would be emitted by 4,800 dilapidated Honda Accords with Greek and/or obscure band bumper stickers affixed atop the more noticeable dents.

In addition to the significant environmental benefits, Zipcar’s service has also done wonders for solving many of the congestion problems plaguing certain campuses and university officials laud the program with praise. “I cannot say enough about our partnership with Zipcar; their commitment to innovation, marketing, and customer service has allowed us to create the type of brand awareness and customer loyalty that students identify with and respect,” said Tony Mazza, Director of Transportation for the University of Southern California (USC). “With over 20 cars and approximately 1000 members on campus – we are dedicated to continue growing our car-sharing program until our parking demand and environmental goals have been realized.”

When it rains, it pours.

Joining Toyota, Nissan, and Ford in the faulty frenzy, General Motors has also announced its own fairly sizable recall. Despite the seeming irrelevance in the face of the brand’s future demise, the vehicles affected include over 10,000 Pontiac Vibes and braking components that have a tendency to freeze in “very low ambient temperatures.” Specifically, GM’s letter states that condensation from crankcase ventilation has the potential freeze up the brake vacuum’s intake manifold suction port, significantly reducing the braking system’s ability to function properly.

Apparently, the bad luck is no longer limited to Japanese cars. This morning, Ford announced they will be issuing a recall for some 4.5 million vehicles over a fire-prone cruise control switch. The switch, which is manufactured by the geek demi gods at Texas Instruments, is responsible for deactivating the cruise control function and has been shown to malfunction in rather serious ways. According to the recall, the switches may spring an internal leak that immediately erupts in smoking and/or burning, and in some instances the problem has resulted in brake fluid leaking into the ABS, also causing fires. To rectify the problem, dealers have been instructed to install a fused wiring harness and in some vehicles, replace the ABS module.

In an effort to stay one step ahead of the media blitz launched by fellow Detroit automaker, GM, Ford has launched a new marketing campaign involving the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, relatively unknown comedian Mark Malkoff, and a 28-day road trip. It sounds like the campy plot to a Nickelodeon movie, but Ford’s goal is not to see how many painful eye rolls it can elicit in one sitting but rather to showcase the Fusion Hybrid’s astounding fuel efficiency. According to the press release, Malkoff’s lofty goal is to see how many mayors east of the Mississippi he can convince to hand over the keys to their cities while using Ford’s hand-free SYNC system to keep all 10 of his fans updated on his progress via Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.

“Mark came to us with the idea, and we loved it,” said Jeffrey Eggen, manager, Ford Car Experiential Marketing. “It fits in well with our strategy to raise awareness of our new Ford vehicles by getting real customers behind the wheel and letting them tell their own story.”

No, the title isn’t a misprint, Toyota is preparing to recall an estimated 3.8 million vehicles from both the brand of the same name and their luxury arm, Lexus, over potentially deadly removable floor mats. Apparently, the mats in question have the potential to interfere with the accelerator, causing it to be stuck in the full open position.

Unfortunately, the recall is not purely preventative in nature as the problem apparently wasn’t even a blip on Toyota’s radar until an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and his family were killed in an automobile accident caused by a defective floor mat in a 2009 Lexus ES350. According to the rather disturbing 911 phone call, the accelerator had been stuck open and the car was rocketing down the road at 120 mph shortly before the accident.

Did you know that, in the United States, some luckless motorist slams into an unwitting Bambi every 26 seconds? That adds up to more than a million incidents a year … the roads are running red with the blood of cute, innocent woodland animals. Worst of all, the average cost of such an accident is now over $3,000 … What’s going on? Our tin-foil hat theory: Al Qaeda agents have infiltrated our national forests and are hell-bent on destroying our decadent infidel way of life by tossing wildlife at our indulgent BMWs. For the skeptics, click through for more.

All across South Jersey, police are targeting motorists who fail to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. To date, over 700 tickets have been issued to drivers in Cherry Hill, Collingswood, Pennsauken, and Burlington City, and vehicles have begun slowing down to as little as 50 mph before blowing by the foot traffic. Eventually police aim to have them coming to a complete stop, but that plan seems optimistic at best.