He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford, which was granted by their School of Engineering.

The speed of light is still absolute, that's non negotiable. What's changed with a 'warp drive' is space itself. Maybe a subtle distinction, but relativity is intact.

Well, they technically are a 'racing team':

It sound like you're justifying large trucks blowing through red lights being acceptable because they can't stop... are you serious?!? If your vehicle can't stop for a red light... slow the fuck down! Even if the truck is going the posted speed limit, it's still 'speeding' (i.e too fast for the conditions).

Am I the only purist that would prefer neither... and ideally want a RWD manual?

This is the shifter I'm putting in the Factory Five 818 I'm building:

I got to do that at Deer Valley... They closed Lady Morgan Lift due to high winds; since the base of it is down in a gulley with no other access, they towed the few skiers stuck there up behind a snowmobile to the base of Northside. So fun I did it again :)

thinking bikes should be on the sidewalk = ignorant asshat driver.

"Its rare (if ever), that a manual car is even equipped with cruise control... "

Harsh? Maybe... but neither my wife nor I have ever owned a slushbox. I guess it was a deal-breaker for both of us!

As I originally said, we don't know the details... but that wouldn't be an 'accident' either.

No... few motor vehicle collisions are 'accidents' (a very poor term which should not be used as it dilutes responsibility). Most are attributable to human error. In all likelihood it was the truck driver who, through inattentiveness or other (in)action, caused the collision which almost killed a woman.

"car was hit from behind by an 18-wheeler not once but twice"

I'm building my dream car, a Factory Five 818:

"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."