‘Canadian driving club bans newer cars over safety concerns,” reads the headline on the autofocus.ca website report that the BMW Club Canada’s Trillium chapter in Toronto has banned new cars with modern automated forward braking and lane-departure and correction systems from track events because those systems “pose a danger to drivers at speed.”
While such systems may assist unskilled drivers on roadway traffic, “on the racetrack, these systems designed for road safety may actually post a significant hazard,” causing an understeer dynamic that leads to a crash.
The story notes that the club faced a “legal conundrum” had it merely required owners of such cars to switch off technologies on the track, thus perhaps putting some drivers at risk.
The website notes that such technologies will be required in all new cars sold in Canada as of 2022 and its story concludes: “We’re hoping a solution can be found by then, lest driving enthusiasts eventually be forced into classic cars as time wears on.”
Could flying cars provide a solution?
Professor Michael Sivak and his team at the University of Michigan are doing fascinating automotive research and their most recent work looked at public attitudes toward flying cars.
No longer merely the subject of newsstand magazine covers, flying cars are moving toward reality. Dezeen.com reports that European airplane manufacturer Airbus promises to test what it calls “self-piloted personal aircraft” designed to reduce traffic on inner-city roads by the end of this year.
More than 70 percent of respondents to said the shortened travel time made flying cars particularly attractive, though more than 80 percent were concerned about safety. Ah, but there may be a solution: Fully autonomous — self-driving and self-flying — cars, in which nearly 45 percent of women and nearly 38 percent of men said they would be “very interested.”
Cruisin’ on Kearney becomes legal again
In May, Springfield, Missouri, will be the site of the Mid-America Street Rod Nationals car show. In August, the city hosts the 7th annual Birthplace of Route 66 Festival.
And just in time, the Springfield city council has decided to make it legal for cars to cruise Kearney Street, provided that activity takes place between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on the second Friday of the month, from April through September.
“I think the possibility of classic car cruising brings enormous opportunities to the businesses on Kearney and really all of north Springfield,” councilwoman Phyllis Ferguson told radio station KTTS.
Classics included at New York Auto Show
“From Manhattan to Buffalo to Saratoga Springs and beyond, many people are surprised to learn that New York State was once home to over 100 different automobile manufacturers,” the Saratoga Automobile Museum said in unveiling a collection of vintage vehicles that are being showcased this week at the New York Auto Show.
The museum curated the display, which includes a 1909 Alco-6 Racer, 1923 Franklin Series 10B sedan, 1947 Playboy prototype, 1950 Allard JC and 1956 open-wheeled midget racer, among others.
Pierce Arrow and Franklin were major players in the early years of the motorcar in America, the museum noted, adding that coachbuilder Brewster was based in Long Island City.
