Would you like your next new car or truck to get 35 mpg?

More »

There’s an easy, uncomplicated and entirely voluntary way we could cut our gas consumption by a third our more - without federal fuel efficiency dictates, pocket-picking gas tax hikes or force or extortion of any kind.

More »

$3 per gallon begins to take the joy out of driving. But even worse are the new “abuser fees” several states have passed into law that crucify drivers over relatively trivial motor vehicle infractions.

More »

“Pre-emptive war” got us into a real mess in Iraq. So maybe we ought to think twice before adopting similar measures when it comes to traffic law. Specifically, when it comes to an idea floated by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to require that all new cars be fitted with an ignition interlock that can detect alcohol in the driver’s system - and shut the car down if it does.

More »

One definition of injustice is grossly disproportionate punishment. You don’t put people into prison for a year because they jay-walked. So what do we make of Virginia’s new “civil remedial fines” that slam ordinary motorists with thousand-dollar fines (payable in “three easy installments”) for relatively minor traffic violations?

More »

Lots of automotive journalists, bloggers and others have expressed enthusiasm for the revived Camaro that GM plans to bring back to market sometime in mid-late 2008. But liking the car and buying the car are two very different things. GM may be in for a rude surprise - and left holding the bag (again).

More »

As the aptly named Cerberus (in Greek mythology, the “demon of the pit,” “hound of Hades” ) picks over the corpse of Chrysler, it’s a good time to reflect on the complete disconnect between auto industry CEO compensation and auto industry CEO performance.

More »

Big Oil gets a lot of grief over high gas prices - but what about Big Government? Motor fuels taxes account for some 22 percent or so of the current per-gallon cost of gasoline in this country. This is arguably both regressive (because it hits people with low and moderate incomes harder than it does the well-heeled) as well as disproportionate - since the amount of tax is very high relative to the actual cost of the item being taxed.

More »

If you drove 91 mph in a 65 mph zone while text messaging on your Blackberry and got into a bad wreck that resulted in major injuries to several people, you’d be looking at a “reckless driving” beef — at the very least — in addition to the broken bones and a trashed car.

More »

A ban on using cell phones in cars is a lot like putting a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound. Neither does much about the underlying problem.

More »

So far, at least, we’re still free to choose whether to exercise — or not. We can also decide for ourselves whether to engage in “risky” sports — for example, skiing (or motorcycle riding).

More »

How do you recover trust once lost?

More »

As I write this Letter, speculation is rampant about the possible/pending divorce of Daimler from Chrysler.

More »

Should back-up cameras (designed to prevent kids from being run over by vehicles moving in reverse) be mandatory equipment in every new car sold? If legislation introduced by Sens. Hillary Clinton and John Sununu — the Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act — is signed into law, they will be.

More »

Cars are increasingly being used as mobile offices, powder rooms and cafes — activities not generally compatible with focusing on the road ahead. Not surprisingly, accidents due to inattentive or just plain addled driving are on the rise.

More »

What if we just said no?

More »

What will become of Ford?

More »

President Bush’s call for a 20 percent reduction in gas consumption over the next ten years could be accomplished much sooner — and without having to resort to either elaborate (and expensive) new technologies or a pack of federal mandates.

More »

I got into writing about cars because I enjoy driving — which is why I find myself less and less interested in new cars.

More »

I’ve been saying for years that Pontiac’s problem (and Buick’s) is they’ve both lost their former reasons for existing.

More »

Who owns you?

More »

“Speeding” is one of those things that’s very much in the eye of the beholder — and the letter of the law.

More »

Does anyone miss Oldsmobile? Not what Oldsmobile was in its heyday — but what it had become by the mid-late 1990s just before GM pulled the plug?

More »

No one (well, almost no one) approves of wife beating — but since most marriages don’t deteriorate into physical assault, we don’t insist that all husbands be treated as potential wife-beaters the moment they say “I do.”

More »

There is talk of making electronic stability control a mandatory feature on all new cars by 2012.

More »

What happens (or should happen) when you run down 70 people with your car — killing 10 of them? If you’re “elderly,” apparently probation and a fine is punishment enough.

More »

In the end, it won’t be $3 per gallon gas that causes Americans to rethink SUVs — it will be their rediscovery of the station wagon.

More »

The idiot-proofing of America continues to pick up speed.

More »

There’s a good bit of debate on the pros (not getting lost) and cons ( being distracted) of satellite navigation units and related in-car gadgets.

More »

If you think those “Click it or Ticket” seat belt enforcement drives are all about your safety, give it another think. State and local law enforcement agencies have a huge financial incentive to dole out as many tickets as they possibly can — in order to qualify for the federal grant boodle dangled before their noses like a savory porkchop in front of a hungry blue tick hound.

More »

After Consumer Reports published its top ten new car list recently — a list that contained not one American-brand vehicle — there were some who pointed to this as evidence of an ongoing pattern of anti-American car bias at CR. A bias that continues to poison the waters — and alienate buyers — at the expense of Detroit.

More »

The sticker looks mighty tempting — a full-size, seven passenger SUV with a V-8 engine rated at a hybrid-like 33 mpg!

More »