CAR CRASH

Oh God, read this? I got it from www.popsci.com, I struggle with walking, let alone driving?

ve cars has reached an important step -- driver awareness systems are now being integrated into a mass-production vehicle. Blind drivers will test-drive a specially outfitted Ford Escape in January at Daytona International Speedway, team members announced Friday.

It will probably be a while before a legally blind person will be able to drive a car on the highway, but it’s not as far-fetched as it used to be. Legally blind? So what if you are, illegally blind?

 A team at Virginia Tech has been working on a car for the blind since 2007, when they won a Darpa Grand Challenge award for a self-driving vehicle that used sensors to perceive traffic, avoid crashing into other cars and objects and run like any other vehicle.

The National Federation for the Blind joined forces with the Tech team, which spent the next two years developing a dune buggy that used lasers and cameras to act as the vehicle’s “eyes.”

Now, the team has two new interfaces that use blind drivers’ other senses to help them perceive the road. A blind person, who has not yet been selected, will drive a modified Escape on the famous Daytona race track in January, AP reports.

The vehicle has a couple interfaces -- one, called DriveGrip, uses gloves with vibrating motors that cover the knuckles. Vibrations tell the driver when and where to turn, AP reports.

Another interface, AirPix, works like an air-hockey game. It involves a tablet with holes that release compressed air, essentially creating a sensory map of the driver’s surroundings, AP explains.

The National Federation of the Blind is involved in the research, hoping to provide blind people with more independence.

I just wish they would spend the money on finding a cure? I really can’t imagine, how we, Hub and I were not allowed to climb up the tower at a Cathedral in lovely Durham, for health and safety reasons, but we will be allowed to drive? I think it is just a gimmick? A publicity stunt. A talking point, a blog spot? It  will or should not ever happen. What if the computer in the car goes wrong? I really don’t feel right about this? Do you?

Right if that scared you, this also terrifies me, read on and you will see? As if we don’t have enough rubbish on our lovely spoiling land, now we are to wreck the sky’s?

Terrafugia in Flight This flying car will be available for purchase next year. Terrafugia

Late next year, you'll be able to buy your own flying car -- er, "roadable aircraft" -- thanks to a thumbs-up from the Federal Aviation Administration. As long as you have $194,000 and a sport pilot license.

The agency have approved the Transition plane-car giving it a Light Sport Aircraft rating. The test prototype has been flying for about a year, but plane-maker Terrafugia will unveil its production-class plane next month at the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual convention in Oshkosh, Wisc.

The Transition drives like a car, uses normal high-octane gasoline, has front-wheel-drive and even comes with airbags. Its fuel economy is about 30 miles per gallon. But unlike your Prius, it can unfold its wings and fly. You'll only need a one-third of a mile strip for a runway, meaning you could conceivably use your own street. It is powered by a rear propeller and flies about 115 miles per hour.

The ideal customer is a sport pilot who gets tired of flying to regional regional airports only to have to wait for a cab, rent a car or use public transportation. Now he or she can just fold up the wings and motor on to the next errand.

It won't be ideal for cargo trips -- it only holds about 460 pounds,

“oh, that’s me on the ground then? This is including fuel and passengers -- but for sport pilots on short jaunts, it's a one-vehicle solution.

The Transition uses normal fuel, making it the greenest plane in the sky, Terrafugia says. And potentially one of the safest -- if the weather turns bad, the plane can land and drive home instead.

Transition Fills Up: The Transition roadable aircraft uses high-octane unleaded gas. Terrafugia

Five former MIT students, all of them pilots, founded Terrafugia in 2006. The plane's FAA approval had been delayed because it weighs too much for the Light Sport Aircraft designation, but the aviation agency gave it an exemption this month. It needed a few extra pounds to accommodate the airbag system and a safety cage, Terrafugia says.

The retail version of the Transition should have been available by late 2011. The company has already received 70 orders. I would hate to live in a tall building? I guess I better get on my roof, and check out how strong the tiles are?

 Then we have the stupid

·         hybrids cars, that have no sound to their engines. So blind people step out and don’t hear the cars coming. Well thankfully the RNIB, in the UK, are focusing on trying to get the manufactures to change the silent road killers, so there is some sound to the engines. I mean it’s not only the blind, but elderly people, children who just run out, and cyclists?  Just make the engines quieter, not silenced?