Americans Don't Trust Driverless Cars

 The charts above are from the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between September 10th and 12th of a nationwide sample of 1,500 adults, with a 3 point margin of error.

False Argument

One of the stupidest arguments against regulating guns is the one by right-wingers that says cars kill more people than guns, and no one is wanting to outlaw cars. Well, most people (on the left or right) don't want to outlaw guns either. They just want to regulate their purchase and use in a reasonable way -- just like the way we regulate the purchase and use of cars. Both are too dangerous to be without regulation, even though both should be available to reasonable and law-abiding citizens.

World's Smallest Car ?

A little over a year ago, I posted about a new car coming out in India that would be the smallest and least expensive car in the world. It was called the Nano, and was made by the Indian automaker Tato. The Tato Nano was supposed to cost about $2000, but is really being sold for around $3000. Now it looks like Tato may have some competition in the small inexpensive car market.

Another Indian car company, Bajaj (who has previously been known for two and three wheeled vehicles), is introducing a car that will directly compete with the Tato Nano. It is the Bajaj RE60 (pictured above), and it is slightly smaller than the Nano and should sell for about the same price or a little less.

The RE60 has a rear-mounted 200cc engine that delivers about 20 horsepower, giving it a top speed of about 43 mph. It is designed to be a city vehicle, and seats four people ( or 14.1 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats folded flat). It should get about 80 mpg, and comes in variations that can run on gasoline, liquid propane, or compressed natural gas. The total weight of the car is only about 880 pounds.

But like the Tato Nano, don't expect to see any Bajaj RE60's on American roads. Neither of these tiny inexpensive cars come close to meeting the rigorous safety requirements of cars approved for sale in the United States.

The Disappearing Car

Can you see the car in the photo above? The grill is fairly obvious, but the rest of the car just disappears into the background. You might think this is a bit of computer trickery, but it's not. This effect was achieved with just paint and brush.

This is an art project by second year art student, Sara Watson (the girl in the picture). She is a student at the University of Central Lancashire in England.

Watson said, "I was experimenting with the whole concept of illusion but needed something a bit more physical to make a real impact."A recycling center gave her the old car (a Skoda Fabia) and she set it up in the parking lot outside her studio.

It took her three weeks to do the amazing art work on the car.