US Cops to Become Brain Scanning Marijuana Detectors
By Joe Cadillic, publisher of the MassPrivatel Blog Editor’s Note: The day after Joe published this piece on his blog, Wired.com came out with a story about another company trying to do the same thing. The piece was entitled: Driving While Baked? Inside the High-Tech Quest to Find Out. Joe has given the NMA permission […]
Christine, for Real
Do you remember the horror flick Christine? It was about a self-driving ’58 Plymouth Fury that liked to run people over. Body by Plymouth. Soul by Satan. What unholy spirit animates “self-driving” Teslas? And who is responsible when one of these “Christines” runs over someone? According to the felony manslaughter charges just filed against Los Angeles limo driver Kevin […]
Gas Guzzlers–Then and Now
I took my ’76 Trans Am out yesterday. I needed a reboot, and it needed exercise. Drove the orange-painted, screaming, chickened “gas guzzler” around for about an hour, taking my usual route out and back. Full tank when I left. When I got done, I refilled at my local Marathon. I used about 4 gallons […]
Want to check out my Car’s Infotainment System? Get a Warrant!: NMA E-Newsletter #681
Many of us find using a cell phone convenient for communicating and learning. Now, connecting a smartphone to a vehicle extends the utility of that little pocket computer. Vehicles have become smartphones on wheels. A car’s infotainment system records and stores call logs, contact lists, GPS information, emails, photos, text messages, social media feeds, videos, […]
The Best Satire Mirrors Reality: NMA E-Newsletter #680
Omeleto released a video in March 2021 that describes a utopian society where citizens are programmed to spy on each other. It is brilliant and disturbing. One vignette depicts a man blowing desperately into a breathalyzer device telescoping from the steering wheel of his vehicle to start it. The developers were prescient. Later that same […]
2021: The Year Flock Safety License Plate Readers Exploded Across the Country
By guest writer Joe Cadillic, founder of the MassPrivatel Blog 2021 will also go down as the year police/Flock Safety license plate readers exploded across the country. One major development that went overlooked by the mass media is Flock Safety’s role in the ever-expanding network of police license plate readers. From January 2021-December 2021, law […]
Winter Car Care Products and Services—a Crash Course
By Lauren Fix, The Car Coach According to the AAA, with the holiday season upon us, over 40 million families are predicted to hit the road, and many more will travel by car vs. plane. Driving is still the number one choice of most Americans when it comes to taking the whole family on vacation, […]
The New Money Pit
I’ve owned several Nissan Frontier pick-ups, including my current 2002 model, which is now almost 20 years old. I’ve decided to continue holding it for at least another ten years because it’s a whole lot cheaper to do that than buy a new Frontier. The reason: new cars and trucks are the new money pits. You cannot save money […]
When “Driver Assistance” Doesn’t Work
Almost every new car comes standard with various driver “assistance” technology such as Brake Assist, Lane Keep Assist, and Park Assist. New forms of “assistance” propagate with each new model year and sometimes sooner. It raises questions about people’s competence to drive without such “assistance,” especially when such “assistance” becomes unavailable. This happens for the same basic […]
Car Theft Warning: The Criminal Use of Apple AirTags
By Lauren Fix Some criminals use brute-force tactics, tow trucks or other crafty ways to steal vehicles, while others simply search for victims who are foolish enough to leave their keys in the car. However, some car thieves have learned to use modern technology to track and steal vehicles, usually high-end sports cars and luxury […]