I know this is a tire industry website and we should be focused on tire industry stuff, but this kind of stuff is hard to resist.
Insurance.com just revealed its new "Ticketmasters" survey, recounting the most popular excuses American drivers give when pulled over by the police. Speaking for myself, after reading this list I wonder how some of these people still have valid driver’s licenses, but that’s another blog on another day.
So, the most-used excuse used by a driver pulled over for a traffic violation is:
“I couldn’t see the sign telling me not to do it” – used by a whopping 20.4% of violators.
Placing second was “I’m lost and unfamiliar with the roads,” a moderately plausible statement claimed by 15.6%.
Third was “I didn’t know it was broken,” used by 12.4%.
Fourth was the old “Everyone else was doing it” excuse, pulled out 6.4% of the time.
Fifth was the questionable “I’m having an emergency situation in my car,” which was clarified as things such as spilling a hot drink, dropping a donut, etc., by 5.4% of excuse makers.
“I missed my turn/exit” was offered by 4.8%, while seventh place went to “I had to go to the bathroom” stated by the 4.6% who were squiggling around in their seat.
Pulling in eighth was the always smart “I didn’t do anything dangerous,” mistakenly offered by 4.2% of those stopped, followed by “I was on my way to an emergency,” stated by the 4% seeking to become an emergency.
Because “everyone else was doing it” wasn’t enough, 2.2% preferred to blame technology: “My GPS said it was the right thing to do.” And rounding out the list was the 2% offering that “I’m just helping out; I wasn’t even supposed to be driving.”
Next time you’re stopped, see if any of these work for you!
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Tired of late workers? Don’t think your tire techs are working hard enough?
Try robots!
Yes, scientists have developed a robot that can change a tire – to the degree that the Mechanized Mechanic could soon pull off a full tire rotation without human intervention.
Discovery Channel online reported that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency created the robot, which can pick up a tire/wheel assembly, do a demount/mount on a wheel, and use a wrench to loosen/tighten lug nuts.
Some of the actual functions are still simulated; the demount/mound sequence, for example, can be done on screen but the actual action is still being perfected.
The most impressive part, Discovery Channel maintains, is that the robot can pick up, hold and use a hand tool.
“Robots that can hold tools are a lot more versatile than those built for a specific task, because then they can adapt to doing whatever is asked of them – instead of a robot that only tightens nuts, it’s possible to ask one to pick up a screwdriver as well,” the report said.
For now, no one needs to fear for their jobs; the current model is described as being “rather slow.” But remember that we were all using dial-up modems 20 years ago, and now look at what we can do.
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Kudos to friend of the show Howard Fleischmann for helping keep a TV reporter in check.
Recently, a Phoenix station sunk its teeth in the used/expired tire issue, sending out hidden cameras to “several used tire businesses in the Valley,” looking for “dangerous” tires that were offered to the unsuspecting (and apparently blind) public.
In fairness, the report did find “either expired (older than six years) or damaged tires” at every location visited. “We’re talking about tires with severe sun damage, cracked sidewalls, and we found a bald tire that even had a nail in it. All for sale at a discounted price and ready for the road.”
Fleischmann was called in to provide an expert opinion, and did well to both educate the public and quell the breathless TV reporter before they created wide-spread panic.
“We showed our video to Fleischmann who said, ‘In every case, every tire you have shown me today is an accident waiting to happen. It’s a danger to that motorist and other motorists.’ Fleischmann says most new tire dealers in the Valley dispose of expired tires, but they still find their way into used tire shops.”
When it comes to consumers buying used tires, Fleischmann offered this advice: “’You don’t know where that tire came from. You don’t know how old that tire is. You don’t know how it was treated before,’ said Fleischmann.”
Words to live by. Literally.
