Horry County officer back at work after 3-day suspension for going 131 mph in Kershaw County
Do you ever get the feeling that cops are reluctant to give other cops speeding tickets? We’ve heard a few tales of off-duty police officers flashing their badge to an on-duty traffic officer and getting off without points or a fine. That doesn’t happen all the time, though, as South Carolina state trooper J.D. McGaha knows all too well. McGaha was actually on his shift and traveling in an unmarked Dodge Charger patrol car when he was clocked going 131 on a 70-mph interstate.
His reason for driving at ridiculous speeds was that he was on his way to work traffic at the Carolina Cup in Camden, SC and was running late. Just like “running late” isn’t a good excuse for the rest of us, in this case it didn’t didn’t warrant a free pass for Mr. McGaha. The Charlotte Observes quotes Department of Public Safety director Mark Keel saying:
He faces a $355 fine and six points against his license if convicted.
“There was no justification for it,” Keel said. “He had no excuse.”
While McGaha was being stopped, he flashed the car’s police lights, presumably to let the trooper know he was a police officer, Keel said.
In August 2006, McGaha was recognized by the Department of Public Safety and Mothers Against Drunk Driving as “Statewide Rookie of the Year” for his work stopping drunk drivers.
“He’s been a great trooper from what I understand,” Keel said. “He was very apologetic, and he knew he made an error in judgment, and it’s those kinds of errors that can get people hurt.”
General Motors has announced a new incentive program that it hopes will encourage people to enter the car buying market again. Called GM Total Confidence, the program has four prongs that includes Payment Protection if you lose your job, equity assistance if you trade in your vehicle later for another one from GM, one year of OnStar and the automaker’s 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. We’re already familiar with the last two components of GM’s Total Confidence program, so let’s focus on the first two.
GM’s payment protection program is much like Hyundai’s Assurance Program in that the automaker will cover your payments in the event that you lose your job. GM’s program covers you for 24 months and will make up to nine payments valued at up to $500/month. According to GM, if you qualify for state unemployment benefits, you’ll qualify for the payment protection to kick in.
The last element of GM’s Total Confidence incentive program is equity assistance, or what GM calls Vehicle Value Protection. This part of the program will cover the difference between what you owe on your vehicle and its NADA Clean Retail Value when you trade it in for another GM vehicle. The idea is to wipe out any negative equity caused by vehicle depreciation when you move on to your next car.
The following is an exceprt from GM’s Press Release:
Protects your Paycheck: ‘Payment Protection*’ provides up to nine months of payments on vehicle loans or leases ($500 max/month) if you lose your job for economic reasons. When looking for a job, you need a vehicle more than ever. ‘Payment Protection’ helps you get back on your feet.
Protects your Investment: Once you are halfway through your finance contract, the customer qualifies for ‘Vehicle Value Protection.*’ This helps protect customers against uncertainty in the future used car market. For example, on a 60-month contract, you become eligible after the 30th month. Much as we’ve seen home prices decline in this tough market – and homeowners may owe more than the current resale value of their house – ‘Vehicle Value Protection’ provides peace-of-mind for customers when they want to go purchase another GM vehicle.
Protects your Vehicle: GM’s 5 year/100,000 mile transferable powertrain limited warranty (whichever comes first) plus roadside assistance and courtesy transportation. GM protects your vehicle with the best coverage in the business – so you don’t have to worry. With the high quality of GM vehicles today, offering the best coverage only makes sense. See your dealer for warranty details.
Protects your Family: One Year OnStar ‘Safety and Security’ Package. Knowing that OnStar is there if you should ever need them really makes a difference. With Automatic Crash Response, OnStar’s cutting-edge technology that protects your family when they travel. Visit onstar.com for more details.
The “GM Total Confidence” plan is available for vehicles purchased April 1 through April 30, 2009. For more information, please visit gmconfidence.com.
After a lot of hype and delivery of 250 Tesla Roadsters, the company’s Model S was unveiled today in Hawthorne, California. It is expect that production will be ramped up to 20,000 units annually by the end of the first year of production; after the $7,500 tax break, the Model S will start at just under $50,000 – $49,900 to be exact; and 440-volt charging will be available. That base price is for the 160-mile range pack; a 230-mile range pack and a 300-mile range packwill also be available. The biggest hitch: the car doesn’t go into production until Q3 of 2011.
Transportgooru thinks this is a game changer and here is the “why”:
According to Tesla’s numbers, buying a Tesla S will save you $10-$15K vs a comparably priced gas-powered sedan when gas is $4 per gallon. For an equivalent comparison, you’d have to lease a $35,000 gas-powered car.
The car fits seven people and their luggage: five adults and two children in rear-facing seats under the hatch inside, with luggage in the boot up front.
If not people, it can fit a mountain bike with its wheels still on, a surfboard and a 50-inch television at the same time.
On a 220V outlet, the car can be recharged in 4 hours.
The quickness: the standard S will get to 60 in 5.5 to 6.0 seconds. A coming sport version will get to 60 in “well under five seconds,” the company’s folks say.
These facts are what one would come to expect from a conventiona, gasoline powered automobiles that rules the roads today. As more charging stations pop-up around the country, these vehicles will make transportation seamless. The few cons that could be obviously recognized are the re-charging times and the lack of charging stations at public locations (Gas stations, parking lots, etc). With the conventional gasoline cars, refuelling is quick and doesn’t take more than 5 minutes at the gas stations, which means you can continue travelling without enduring massing delays while traveling longer distances. It can be expected that unveiling of such cars renders a wonderful opportunity for regional electric companies to enter a niche market to provide “electricity” through charging stations in the service areas along highways, just like a gas station. Or even better if these charging stations are added to existing gas stations. If charging times can be shortened with the advent of new technology (See the TransportGooru article about MIT’s breakthrough research on batteries, allowing for lightening quick charging times)
Click here to read the entire post on Autoblog’s site anddon’t forget to check out the eye popping Tesla Gallery. Here is Wall Street Journal’s interview with Tesla at the North American Int’l Auto Show (via YouTube):
Michael Harold Lynch was ticketed for doing 54 mph in a 35 mph area that was also a construction zone. The fine was $206. Lynch decided to let his anger flow by placing $206 in a plastic bag, peeing in the bag and sending it in. Upon receiving Lynch’s little care package, the courthouse staff gave it to a police officer and declined to accept the pungent payment to clear the ticket.
“It was nasty. It reeked,” said Sgt. Phil Anderchuk.
Anderchuk called a U.S. postal inspector to see if federal law had been broken, and learned that it’s not against the law to mail a box of bodily fluids, as long as it’s properly packed and doesn’t emit an obnoxious odor.
In explaining why the courthouse couldn’t accept Lynch’s payment, the sergeant wrote that “the pile of coins emitted a strong, pungent odor of stale urine. This was very concerning to me.”
Anderchuk reminded Lynch he still owed for the ticket.
“I encourage you to submit your payment in a more traditional form,” he wrote in a January letter. He told Lynch to expect a visit from a postal inspector, presumably to talk about how close he came to violating federal law.
Lynch apparently got the message, because a few weeks later a check arrived. But it was made out to the wrong agency. Courthouse staff sent it back. In February, a new check arrived, but this time it was made out for the wrong amount: $206, which didn’t account for $65 in penalties for arriving late. Last week, the state turned Lynch’s case over to a collection agency.
Autocar’s review: Riding on small 12inch wheels and tubeless tyres, the Nano rides surprisingly well. Most bumps are rounded nicely, but as the speeds climb the ride can get a little choppy. The steering has a little vagueness around the centre position, dial in more lock; it feels direct and provides good feedback as well. Grip levels are decent but are limited by the narrow tyres. Straightline stability is also commendable.
Here is the verdict:
So is it a proper car? Yes, it definitely is. It offers better space than even a Santro at the front, while backseat space is quite decent. Comfort levels are good and it will come with an efficient engine as well. It isn’t perfect; owners will want more power and a 5-speed gearbox. But Tata has achieved what it had set out to do – Affordable motoring for the masses.
Our good friends at Jalopnik say this after watching the review from Autocar: The reviewers seem amazed the car is able to drive down the road and not feel like it’s going to roll over at any moment. Sort of like Sarah Palin in Vice Presidential debates, if you set the bar so low you’re only expecting to see a human being able to put a three-word sentence together, you can’t not clear it. Thus, the reviews are filled with notes galore on the tiny wheels, flat seats, and comparisons to the Model T.
Click here to read the full review. For all those interested in the video of this review click below:
Note 1: Transportgooru likes this particular piece of the reviewer’s commentary: If the Germans had built the Nano, they would have added too much stuff to it and made their version just as expensive as the MINI, while if the Americans were behind the Nano, we would’ve priced it right below the competition and took away it’s striking price point. How true! The comparisions of Ratan Tata to Henry Ford is not overrated as both have done the same thing – slashed the cost of motoring by a large margin from the norm during their generations (1920s vs 2009). Brilliant achievement in deed!
Note 2: Our friends at Jalopnik added this interesting note to their column: We’re working to get Tata to agree to ship us one for a battery of tests including, but not limited to LeMons pit car duty, a RallyAmerica stage or three, clocking quarter mile times at Milan Dragway and reenacting our favorite Bollywood chase sequences. So, we better stay glued to their website to find out what happens.
Germany recently began a scrapping incentive program that gives buyers €2,500 to get rid of their old cars and buy new ones. The plan helped create a 21% jump in car sales during the month of February, even though the plan didn’t take effect until February 20. It was the kind of success that has both the UK and the U.S. mulling over such a program, and has Germany considering doubling the incentive plan by adding another €1.5 billion of government money.
According to The Local, a Düsseldorf paper – Rheinische Post report says that car sales have reportedly increased significantly since the scrapping bonus came into effect on February 20, and now there is “department-wide agreement” that is should be extended, citing an anonymous government source.
But the scheme was only set to be available as long as funds lasted. The paper said the government plans to discuss the extension during a coalition committee meeting after Easter, and that most of the finance and economy officials had already given their consent.
Click here to read the entire article. Also, shown below are two related articles from TransportGooru archives:
Curious what it takes to be a member of the recently-created Auto Task Force? Thanks to an email sent out by Harry J. Wilson, a newly-hired Task Force worker, there’s no need to wonder. Some knowledge of the auto industry would reportedly be helpful, though prospective applicants and their family members cannot currently own any stock in the Detroit automakers or serve on any of the D-3’s boards of directors. Would-be applicants would also need to be “sufficiently intellectually and professionally nimble,” whatever that means, and have 8-12 years of experience on Wall Street.
According the Detroit News, the source of the Autoblog article, “Harry J. Wilson, a new member of the task force, recently sent an e-mail that circulated on Wall Street, seeking applicants for up to four jobs on the autos team. The task force’s findings will help chart the government’s role in the future of the U.S. auto industry. That message said the team was looking for up to two hires in each of two job categories: principal/vice president level and associate/analyst level. Candidates should have eight to 12 years experience and be “sufficiently intellectually and professionally nimble.” The analyst would have “the same skills,” with less experience.
“Our team is quite small,” said Wilson, formerly of Silver Point Capital and the Blackstone Group, in the March 13 e-mail obtained by The Detroit News. “The work is incredibly intense. The amount of work is massive, the timelines are tight and the level of focus is also very high.”
Pre-orders are officially being taken today for the Tata Nano in India at an MSRP of 100,000 rupees (just under $2,000). That makes the Nano officially the cheapest automobile in the world.
The on-road price will be a little bit higher, probably around $2,400, once you factor in excise duty, education fees and road tax, along with transportation cost, local taxes, insurance and registration fees and “a lifetime parking fee” (applicable in some locations).
The Autoblog says “due to the huge demand expected for the car, the automaker has created a special process for reservations. A computer will randomly choose the first 100,000 customers that will have the opportunity to purchase a new Nano. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in July, but in the meantime, Nano-intenders will soon be able to accessorize their life with appropriate accoutrements, including a Nano phone, wristwatch, and t-shirts.”
According to The Detroit News, the United Auto Workers is giving its blessings to a potential Chrysler-Fiat tie-up. Chrysler honcho Bob Nardelli earlier pegged the possible union as a $10 billion bonanza for Chrysler, since the Pentastar would save money on developing a range of platforms, engines, and cars. The UAW’s interest is, of course, the job savings: the partnership has been said to be worth 5,000 jobs that might otherwise be lost.
Click here to read the entire article. On a related note, here is a video of the Chrysler CEO, Bob Nardelli, making a case for this tie-up (video courtesy – You Tube):
