There is a guardrail at the entrance of a 25mph exit from a local freeway near my house. It is damaged every 10 days or so, often severely. People wait until the last minute to move over two lanes, and then don’t have time to slow down. Lack of planning is a big part of it.

Crossing the Gore area is now the largest dollar traffic fine in AZ. Someone hit a motorcycle cop parked in the gore point a few years back, and the legislature responded by raising the fine to over $500.

Seriously, first thing I thought when I saw that gaping maw was “Oh christ, not one of the Lexus grilles”.

I think it to be hideous as well, but there is a pedestrian safety aspect to the design, at least that is what I remember from about a decade ago when the pedestrian safety requirements in EU were updated.

And why is there even such a thing as a two-door Rolls? Do they expect one to sit at the front like a commoner, and make small talk with one’s chauffeur?

My first thought was similar: “Do rich people just like hideous cars??”

My choice as well - being a kid from Asia growing up in the 80s means the image of their cars are forever etched onto my memory.

The appearance seems to be the thing they got right.  I saw my first Ocean a few weeks ago and it really is a great-looking ride.

Like that time with my first girlfriend. 

There were tugs that guided the ship out into the main channel then pulled away as they thought they were no longer needed. When the ship made a distress call they raced back but couldn't reach the ship in time.

Hindsight is incredibly cheap, unfortunately. While that’s an interesting thought, the reality is that this situation, if written into a fiction novel, would probably be rejected by an editor or publisher as being “too unbelievable”, especially if the plot had it as a deliberate act of sabotage. Just like 911 - I…

I had a friend who used to live in Tokyo that said if someone willingly jumped in front of a (high-speed) train, the “cleanup” costs would be charged to the deceased’s family.

For the record, the bridge passed its most recent inspection. Federal inspectors raised a little concern about one of the columns (unclear which one). Some have brought up the fact there were no dolphins or fenders protecting the bridge but there’s a point where, with a ship this big, it becomes a physics question.

Worse than that, it just looks like nothing. It doesn’t look like an Explorer. It doesn’t even look like a Ford. It’s one of the blandest blobs currently in EVs right now.

The reality is that most shops and most dealerships do not work on vehicles with manual transmissions anymore.

why when they have all of those free customer cars to practice on??

And I read Ann Arbor as meaning the driver was likely a student, which may not be true.

Yes and no. The justice department can still come after you if they determine you committed any crimes. But typically, yes, leaving the company pretty much washes away the ick.

They all look like that up close

Depends on if you’re talking a performance hybrid or an efficiency hybrid. If you’re going for the latter then you want the engine, when its running, to be sitting in its peak thermal efficiency range for the power demand, and having a CVT that allows it to operate at pretty much any RPM in relation to transmission…