Rear-end crashes prompt probe into Amazon's Zoox self-driving cars

Either they learned to brake-check or motorcycles were following too close

The case was opened on Friday with an Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) preliminary evaluation that summarizes the circumstances of the two crashes, both of which involved a Zoox-powered Toyota Highlander braking suddenly and then being rear-ended by a motorcycle. One of the motorcyclists received minor injuries their crash.

Beechcraft King Air, with 3 passengers onboard, makes safe landing, after landing gear failed on take off, at Newcastle Airport, Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5ecboqtpM

That's 1 way to bring the roof down.

Army truck drives into Queensland service station.


Luckily no one was hurt.

Cheers.

You never know what to find in the overhead carry-on bin.
Southwest Airlines Passengers Unbothered by Woman Lying Down for a Nap in Overhead Bin

A woman on a Southwest Airlines flight was lying inside the overhead luggage bins while people were boarding the plane.

Monique Guzman, a woman who was on the aircraft, shared footage of the odd situation online that showed the woman lying next to a suitcase while flight attendants greeted passengers. In a statement to Storyful, Guzman said she saw "a head pop out of the overhead" and that passengers were "just casually walking" past the woman.

Research finds electric cars are silent but violent for pedestrians

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have highlighted a worrying side effect of the electric vehicle revolution.

As a pedestrian, you are twice as likely to be injured by an electric or hybrid (E-HE) car than by one with an internal combustion engine (ICE), according to a paper published in the BMJ Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, and three times more likely in cities and towns.

The paper says this is "consistent with the theory that E-HE vehicles are less audible to pedestrians in urban areas where background ambient noise levels are higher."

The conclusion that "E-HE cars pose greater risk to pedestrians than ICE cars in urban environments" was reached based on analysis of 32 billion miles of battery-powered car travel and 3 trillion miles of petrol and diesel car journeys in Britain between 2013 and 2017.

Or equally, when the driver is playing an 'infotainment' game, eyes down on the central console...


Drive safely?
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

The noise blend they play on speakers is just that noise. It can be hard to discern where it is coming from in a crowded city environment.

I know it will sound like a fart description. But at low speeds EVs are silent and deadly. Debate has been ongoing for several years about adding a sound at low speed travel. The big problem is what sounds and at what speed do the sounds stop.

---

An upcoming change to our design rules for electric cars is that must make a noise when traveling up to 40km/h. V8 audio?

Cheers.

While you're at it... you may want to change the rule for motorbikes too: must not make excessive noise when traveling more than 40 km/h. No screaming jet turbine!

Electric Vehicle Warning Sounds
I do like this. But some of the manufacturers have odd and sometimes eccentric ideas what you hear. Look on YouTube for some of the low speed EV sounds. One makes me look up for the ufo about to land.
Personally I want a Ferrari, Porsche or Aston Martin.

---

The Aston Martin DB6: Remastered and electrified
You only live twice. Watch at the end of the video when they unplug the “Bond” car.

---

It had to happen at some time.

Families of Marines killed in 2022 Osprey crash sue aircraft manufacturers Boeing, Bell, Rolls Royce.

Families of four of the five Marines killed when their Osprey crashed in California in June of 2022 filed a federal lawsuit Thursday alleging that the aircraft's manufacturers failed to address known mechanical failures that led to the deaths.

The Marines were killed when their MV-22 Osprey experienced a catastrophic mechanical failure known as hard-clutch engagement, a known problem with the tilt-rotor aircraft that has happened more than a dozen times since 2010.

The families named Bell Textron, The Boeing Co. and Rolls Royce in their lawsuit. Bell assembles the Osprey in a partnership with Boeing in its facilities in Amarillo, Texas; Rolls Royce produces the Osprey’s engines.

The Osprey can take off or land like a helicopter but fly like an airplane. The military services have called it a game-changer in that it allows them to travel long distances quickly and land on a target, but it has not been without significant cost: More than 50 service members have been killed in accidents since 2000 in the aircraft.

The lawsuit alleges that the Osprey’s design was flawed and did not meet U.S. safety standards.

The Osprey’s two engines are linked by an interconnected drive shaft that runs inside the length of the wings. On each tip, by the engines, a component called a sprag clutch transfers torque, or power, from one proprotor to the other to make sure both rotors are spinning at the same speed. That keeps the Osprey’s flight in balance. If one of the two engines fails, the sprag clutch is also a safety feature[/b[: It will transfer power from the working side to the failing engine’s side to keep both rotors going.....

It's certainly doesn't live up to being a "safety feature".

Talk about only just making it- the wing tip & it's shadow damn near touched as it went over the last building as it banked to land on the taxiway.
Light plane only metres from crashing.

---

Grant
Darwin NT

What could go wrong said Murphy.
Labor safety first.

---

What could go wrong said Murphy.
Labor safety first.

That first one is a classic- i think he hit a high-pressure gas main. How it didn't result in a fireball i've no idea.

Ah, here we go-
Post driver hits gas line

---

Grant
Darwin NT

Why Women should not be driving cars when they have high heels on.
Facebook Video link about 9 minutes long:
https://www.facebook.com/wonderandraw/videos/1534611304155271/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

GPS interference prevented Finnair's airplane from landing in Joensuu
wrote:

On Tuesday morning, a Finnair aircraft traveling from Helsinki to Joensuu at 6.35 was unable to land due to GPS interference. After some time, the captain decided to return to Helsinki, resulting in the cancellation of the return flight from Joensuu to Helsinki.

Joensuu is the regional capital of North Karelia, and the city’s eastern region borders to Russia.

Kajsa Tikkanen, Finnair’s chief of communications, explained that Joensuu airport is one of few airports in Finland that only uses satellite based GPS navigation in guiding aircraft during the approach. Hence, if GPS interference appears the aircraft is not allowed to initiate or continue the approach.

Tikkanen noted that GPS interference usually lasts only a few minutes, but this time it persisted, resulting in the captain’s decision to return to Helsinki.

I still do not understand why Russia interferes with GPS everywhere and up to Karelia in Finland. I understand why they do it in the Black Sea, but not the Baltics.

Given the current war footing. Do you want GPS guided munitions hitting targets?

---