GPS Beams Laughs to British Drivers

Limit of 70 is stifling economy, government argues

(NEWSER) - Britain's government—citing major advances in vehicle safety and the fact that half the country's drivers are ignoring the current limit of 70 miles per hour—is planning to raise the speed limit to 80 on the nation's highways. "Britain's roads should be the arteries of a healthy economy and cars are a vital lifeline for many," the country's transport secretary said, slamming the previous administration's "shortsighted and misguided war on the motorist." More»

No age limit for bad behavior behind wheel

(NEWSER) - One-third of 16- and 17-year-olds say they have written text messages while behind the wheel. Despite that, young drivers are actually more responsible than many adults: 48% of respondents aged 12 to 17 say they’ve been in the car with a driver who was texting. One boy said his dad “drives like he's drunk. His phone is just like sitting right in front of his face, and he puts his knees on the bottom of the steering wheel and tries to text." More»

(NEWSER) - NPR reporter Jason Beaubien didn’t plan to drive across Cuba, but it did provide an apt look at the many problems the island faces. The “Spanish phrase ‘No hay,’ meaning ‘there's no fill-in-the-blank,’ was a constant refrain on this trip,” he reports. The country’s transportation crisis means that cars are rarely available, and the only rental car he could find was a $100-a-day Samsung heap. More»

(NEWSER) - Emily Yoffe is typically a technophobe, but she also has a horrible sense of direction, so she had high hopes for her GPS. “This seemed like a breakthrough that promised only upside,” she writes in the Washington Post. Then she used it. In harrowing trip after harrowing trip, the honey-voiced GPS lady got her lost. Now, she’s “convinced that my GPS was a cross between Lady Macbeth and HAL 9000.” More»

Drivers left crossing their legs as states close pit stops to save cash

(NEWSER) - The pit stops along American highways are starting to go the way of the Pony Express as states slash their budgets, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some states argue that the mushrooming of gas stations and motels at interstate exits make the rest stops obsolete, but American Automobile Association officials warn the trend means drivers will need "a strong rear end and a strong bladder" to hit the highways. More»