Despite our reservations in reinforcing the stereotype of Asians as terrible, horrible, no good drivers: here is a collection of 34 low-speed collisions caught by CCTV cameras.

So whether you’re a motorist, biker, or pedestrian, keep your head on a swivel and foot/hand/mind on the brake.

By Kyle Fitzsimmons

Popularity: 14% [?]

Yasmine Aida Villasana had quite the Memorial Day.

The 22-year-old did her best John Glenn impression when she rocketed her Chevy Impala over the toll booth at Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport.

Villasana, who just finished watching an 18-hour Dukes of Hazard marathon on TV Land while consuming a liter and a half of El Toro Tequila, luckily walked away from the accident with only a broken wrist and video proof that rummaging through your car seats for $1.25 in quarters isn’t so bad after all.

By Kyle Fitzsimmons

Popularity: 5% [?]

Ok, so I find it unbearably funny, that people still don’t understand why it’s important to drive safely.  Now, understandably, there are people who can reserve the right to drive any way they choose, however, as many of our posts have covered….MOST people should think twice before getting behind the wheel.  Let alone owning and operating a motor vehicle.  So I’m browsing through various news bits when I read this:

Cellphone Curbs May Not Decrease Car Crashes…

WASHINGTON—Laws that forbid motorists from using hand-held phones or texting while driving don’t appear to result in a significant decrease in vehicle crashes, according to a new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute expected to be released Friday.

The study, expected to be released at a conference in Washington, D.C., Friday, comes amid stepped-up efforts by federal highway-safety regulators to ban texting while driving and curb other forms of driver distraction. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood earlier this week announced rules to forbid commercial truck and bus drivers from text messaging while driving. Mr. LaHood has said he would ban all texting while driving if he could…Read the rest here.

So, riddle me this….

If driving isn’t enough of a distraction and we’re going to try and disprove the fact that just about anything you do, outside of paying attention to the road poses as a distraction…how do we explain crap like this?

If anything, we should be telling people how much everything you do is a distraction and how they should pay attention to the road, that’s why we impose crazy laws…because people abuse our freedoms.

After I saw this, I went to shop for better auto insurance, and found some pretty  cheap auto insurance quotes on a site named Cheap Auto Insurance…go figure.  Put in my zip, got a listing of top providers in my location, and was happy to find that my insurer was listed already.  Since I tend to drive fast, I like to get quotes every 6 months ($$$ save that money for sweet upgrades to my Solara!)

It makes me scared that nutjobs like these are out there spouting statistics that don’t make logical sense.  Don’t drink and drive, buckle your seatbelt…and most of all….lol, make sure you’re driving legal.  The license suspension and hella fines are totally not worth it!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Because it’s only Tuesday and as Americans we find great joy in laughing at the misfortune of others, here is a little clip of what happens when two idiots in a Ford Fiesta try and navigate the black ice covered roads of an English village.

Golly, winter driving blows.

By K. Fitty Ditty

Popularity: 5% [?]

From a very young age, most children are enthralled with the concept of driving. Even though they are years away from fully experiencing what life is like behind the wheel of an automobile, most children are drawn to anything with a steering wheel and tires. Christmastime is an excellent time to satisfy your child’s hungry for peelin’ out and kickin’ up dust on the back roads of your neighborhood. When I was a kid we had big wheels:

Times have changed, however, and the modest, do-it-yourself nature of the big wheel has been replaced. Nowadays, children’s toys that represent driving are more fancy and sophisticated. Take the $25,000 Neiman Marcus Cupcake Car, for example. For what amounts to more than most Americans pay for their family car, you can choose the toppings of your little motorized cupcake which you sit in and can zip around town at about the same speed as a grocery store Rascal Scooter.

Let Mr. David Letterman, host of The Late Show, demonstrate:

By K. Fitty Ditty

Popularity: 7% [?]

Adam and Jamie of the Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters are not impervious to busting bland, uninteresting myths. But for the most part their program promises exciting explosions combined with an attention to detail and excellent craftsmanship. But nothing, and I repeat, nothing can match what results when a rocket sled crashes into a car at 650 mph, sandwiching it into a wall. Basically what you get is a pancake of melted steel not unlike the pancake of melted butter and syrup you had for breakfast this morning.

Watch in awe:

By K. Fitty Ditty

Popularity: 6% [?]

Science. It’s a flammable object meeting fire and going boom and it happens all the time at gas stations all over the country to those who aren’t careful. It can happen by the most commonsensical means like smoking a cigarette while pumping. Cue video below of two jack asses tryin’ to look cool at their local gas ‘n go.

Moving on to a more sympathetic victim of gas station disasters, here is a video of a poor chap falling victim to the silent striker known as static electricity.

Not all causes of gas station explosions are easily explained. Take cell phone use for example: the Petroleum Equipment Institute found that there is no concrete evidence supporting the claim that cell phone use while filling up can cause an explosion. However, there is still some speculation on whether or not cell phones can inadvertently cause a fuel station fiasco. Take the following video as an example:

So, remember kids: keep your cigarettes in your shirt sleeve, your cell phone in its holster, and your friction to yourself and you will give yourself the best chance at staying flame-free while filling up.

By K. Fitty Ditty

Popularity: 6% [?]

Anyone who drives knows that purchasing auto insurance is a gamble. We’ve all been there when trying to decide whether to go with the cheapest, bare bones liability coverage and assume that accidents and theft happen to other cars, not yours. Hell, comprehensive and collision coverage is a lot of extra money that could be spent on more fruitful endeavors like Bell’s Oberon baby kegs and taking your kids to the zoo.

However, the fact of the matter is collision damage and non-collision damage can happen to anyone. One of the most uncommon, straight out of luck types of non-collision damage is that inflicted by Mother Nature herself. Yes, with all the dozens of cars parked on your street that giant oak tree that was uprooted from the ground while you were sleeping last night decided to land squarely on the hood of your Kia.

Your car can be damaged by flood, hail, high winds, and just about anything else that Mother Nature decides to ruin your day with. Even an earthquake? You bet:

Maybe a 12-pack of Pabst and kids-get-in-free Sundays at the zoo are in your future. Yes?

By K. Fitty Ditty

Popularity: 6% [?]

When it comes to your future and career and all that jazz the phrase, “Lookin’ out for number one” gets tossed around a lot and, with a few exceptions, rightfully so. You should be concerned primarily with your moves and actions and how those moves and actions will affect your financial future. However, when it comes to almost all other aspects of life, looking out for others and treating others the way you would like to be treated is a mantra that gets forgotten about all too often.

Hit and run accidents are a travesty that occur far too often and are a glaring example of humanity at its worst. There is absolutely no excuse to strike another human being with your automobile, intentional or not, and then drive off fearing your legal repercussions and assuming them greater than the life of another human.

Perhaps it is easier to deal with (forget about) hit and runs being a common occurrence by not having to witness them first hand. However, with the emergence of surveillance cameras at intersections, the horrors of the road have become ubiquitous in news broadcasts. Take this gem for example:

Count the number of cars that drive by that motionless body in the middle of a busy street during peak hour and then count the number of bystanders and gawk from a distance and try not to shake your head at humanity.

But hey, humanity ain’t all bad. I mean, there’s habitat for humanity and pro football players giving back to their communities and charity car washes for high school cheer leading teams.

By K. Fitty Ditty

Popularity: 7% [?]

Kids these days are a wild and wacky bunch. They get their rocks off playing these newfangled video games and one of the most popular franchises, Grand Theft Auto, puts the player in the body of an ex-con. No, this ex-con does not donate his time to the local soup kitchen or help old ladies across the street. In fact, he cuts the old lady to shreds with a chainsaw then steals her Buick LeSabre.

But it’s only a video game, right? I mean, anyone with half a brain can dismiss the correlation between violent video games and such terrible tragedies as the Columbine Massacre. Regardless, grand theft auto is a very relevent crime these days that seems to grow more and more popular with each passing year. Here are some videos of some funny/boneheaded/just plain head scratching videos of auto theft taking place sans chainsawed old ladies.

Popularity: 8% [?]