An Infographic View of Auto Theft in the United States
Some quick facts:
- In 2010, there were 737,000 vehicle thefts and only 56% of those vehicles were ever recovered.
- The average loss per vehicle was $6,152. Not exactly a small number by anyone’s standards.
- What’s worse is that, if you own a Honda Accord, Honda Civic, and Toyota Camry, you are more likely to be a victim because these were the top three vehicles stolen in 2010.
- The Ford Mustang made up a total of 9,116 instances of car theft in 2010, so we can only imagine how many of the top three vehicles were stolen during that time.
A Storify Story: BART fire smokes commute between East Bay, S.F.
Here is a storify post by George Kelley about the recent fire on San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) that stranded commuters and the reactions on twitter.
In Russia, Police Obeys You – Citizen Tells Cops to Hang Up Cell Phone and Wear a Seat Belt; Police Comply; NO SHOTS FIRED
I cannot imagine a US citizen/resident uttering these words to a cop in uniform on his/her beat: “…why are you not wearing a seat belt? remove the mobile phone, you are on duty & in the official car, stop breaking the rules…” That’s exactly what is being told to a couple of cops in Russia and they comply, POLITELY!
Adding Ammo To The Argument: Why Riding A Motorcycle Is Good (& Encouraged) In Britain
A few days back we saw a nice video from RidetoWorkUK , promoting motorcycles as a commuting option. And today I saw this new video posted by a British biker showing how wonderfully he bypassed a longggg traffic queue by hopping on the dedicated bus lane. And with that today I learned, motorcycles are allowed to use bus lanes in some parts of UK..
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxDeXZSfAzM&hd=1‘]
Why are we not doing that in this part of the world (i.e., US)? Or do you know of any cities where such a practice is in place?
Mountain of Stupid: Why are these stupid bikers not in jail for endangering the lives of everyone on the road…
(Source: via Reddit)
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Seriously, this video tells you how far America has deteriorated into the abuse of law. The attorney clearly knows what is wrong here (over speeding: speed at impact ~110mph; at times nearing 140mph-160mph as shown in the helmet cam recording) but he still presents the case without any qualms and goes on to showcase this as a milestone achievement for his firm. It is clearly the motorcyclists fault and I’m curious to know how this attorney claims to have gotten compensation from multiple insurance companies! (Either he is lying through his teeth or have some stupid layers representing the insurance companies?). As the Redditor pointed out this is a mountain of stupid. Of course, the operator of the motorcycle is dead, which leaves me wondering if the police have pressed charges against the rest of this reckless crew of bandits who put everyone else (and their own lives) at risk in this high-speed thrill ride. Stupid. A Mountain of Stupid!
Exposed: Thailand Jet Ski Scam Caught on Tape! Moral of the Story: Do not rent jet skis if you are visiting Thailand
The Thai government now has a serious problem and should jump in immediately before the country’s image takes a further in the minds of the foreign visitors. Hate it when the police are corrupt like this..
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Infograph: The Evolution of Motorcycle Safety (in Britain)
(Source: Newsilike)
This neat infograph showcases the progress and milestones achieved in Motorcycle safety in Britain over the years.. and today I learned that Motorcycles are excluded from London’s congestion charging..
The Evolution of Motorcycle Safety via Bennetts- image courtesy: NewsiLike.com
“Now you see it. Now you don’t.” — Brilliant drunk-driving advisory poster by Fiat in Brazil
Brilliant stuff.. FIAT is getting super creative lately with their messaging.. (Correction: The title wrongly noted the origin as Portugal but actually it is from Brazil, where they speak Portuguese).
Image Courtesy: via Reddit
You Decide On Your Speed. Physics Decides Whether You Live Or Die! – Striking Australian road safety campaign targets motorcycle safety and speed
(Source: Victoria TAC)
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This stunning video from Victoria, Australia arrives just in time as the weather around the US starts to warm up and the motorcyclists are polishing up the iron ponies for some good times on the road. The Transport Accident Commission (TAC)’s public education campaign targets two of Victoria’s biggest issues in road safety — motorcycle safety and speed. The description of the video as shown on YouTube: The campaign, titled “Reconstruction”, features a slow motion replay of a crash involving a motorcyclist and a car. The ad graphically depicts the rider suffering a broken neck as a result of his speeding prior to the collision.
The video get’s the message across in an very effective way. If you haven’t yet, you may want to check out the other campaign videos made by the TAC on their awesome YouTube Channel (~19 million views and 4600 subscribers. Whew!!!). Brilliant use of public $$ to educate the public! Hope the US Department of Transportation puts out a similar campaign to educate the American motorcyclists. and prevent thousands of fatal accidents involving motorcyclists (statistics: 3615 people died in 2010 from motorcycle accidents on U.S. roads) .
