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Ford's Simple Suit Makes You Feel Like A Drunk Driver

We've all heard about the dangers of drunk driving for practically our entire lives. Whether it's from PSAs on TV or lectures in school, no one can claim ignorance of drunk driving being extremely dangerous. However, that doesn't prevent some people from still doing it. Ford is trying to take the safety message directly to young drivers with a special suit that allows them to simulate driving under the influence. It is all part of Ford's Driving Skills for Life program that gives free driving education to young people. The program is meant to "train kids in skills they don't learn in driver's ed," said Kelli Felker, Ford Safety Communications Manager, to Autoblog. The drivers don a few items to impair their senses and make them off-balance to simulate having a few too many drinks and then go out on a closed course with an instructor to see the effects. Felker said that the suit is a new part of the program, and Ford just received the outfit in the US. It will be incorporated into the training here in the late spring or early summer. Scroll down to see the effect it has on drivers in Europe. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Meet Shelby Mustang GT500 Miller, Iowa's latest hatchet-wielding criminal

Well, we've found the long-lost cousin of yesterday's Bentley-tattooed criminal from Florida. This is Shelby Mustang GT500 Miller. No, seriously. While his name seems just like the sort of thing we'd expect the Sunshine State to produce, he actually hails from Iowa. Despite coming from the Hawkeye State, Miller was arrested for a decidedly Floridian offense – getting in a bar fight and then returning with a hatchet. The only way this story could be more Florida is if meth, a manatee or bath salts were involved. The fight, which was at the Cheap Seats Sports Bar, started off typically enough, with a verbal argument in the parking lot (please, please let his nemesis be named "Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 Smith"). This, naturally, attracted passing police officers. Things were broken up and some friends took Miller to his home, which was apparently just behind the bar. That's when he returned with the hatchet tucked under his shirt. Miller promptly proceeded to take out the implement of destruction in the bar's bathroom and... forget about it entirely. Fortunately, the police hadn't left the area yet. Not surprisingly, Miller was arrested for a parole violation, as well as public intoxication and going armed with intent. Still, cool name, bro. News Source: Iowa City Press CitizenImage Credit: Polk County Sheriff's OfficeTip: Mike Government/Legal Ford crime shelby iowa

Did a US automaker blow the whistle on Hyundai, Kia fuel economy issue?

In all of the most hotly contested mainstream segments of the motoring universe, the difference of one mile per gallon averaged on a widow sticker can mean the difference between a sale and a walk-off - to say nothing of two or three mpg. So, when Hyundai and Kia were forced to reveal that many of their 40-mpg ratings were actually 38s and 37s, well, it made for big news.
It also, conceivably, made for a competitive disadvantage immediately, when the Korean automakers' products were being shopped versus the guys down the block. And it's that disadvantage that makes a recent story from Automotive News so juicy.
AN is reporting that Margo Oge, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, got a tip in 2010 that Hyundai/Kia were "cheating" to get its impressive fuel economy numbers. The tip, said Oge (who retired from the EPA this past September), came from a senior vice president from a domestic automaker. The source was credible enough for Oge to launch an audit of the Hyundai figures, which ultimately lead to the debacle that we reported on a few months ago, and that the Korean company has been trying to bounce back from ever since.