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California Closed The Loophole That Made Robotaxis Immune To Traffic Tickets

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California ends “citation immunity” for robotaxis starting July 1. First responders gain 30-second access plus emergency geofencing. Heavy trucks over 10,001 lbs are now cleared for autonomous testing. California’s autonomous vehicle industry has spent years operating under a regulatory framework that, in practice, treated its products as exempt from the rules everyone else has to follow. That ends now. The California Department of Motor Vehicles has formally adopted a new framework allowing officers to ticket robotaxis, while simultaneously opening the state’s highways to heavy-duty autonomous trucks under tight conditions. The loophole was always faintly absurd. Traffic citations are written to whoever is sitting behind the wheel. When no one is, officers had no mechanism to enforce the rules. Assembly Bill 1777 first published on September 27, 2024, closes the gap on July 1. The Power To Cite The most significant change comes from defining how police interact wit...
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Mercedes Refuses To Kill The Big Screens, Even As It Admits Buttons Won

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Giant screens stay, but real switches return for key in-cabin functions. The steering wheel scroll wheel is replacing haptic slide controls again. Executives admit the brand knew about the complaints two years ago. Over the last decade, it’s been easy to see a shift away from buttons and toward iPad-sized screens in cars. In fact, plenty of brands, Mercedes included, boast about how many inches of screen they offer in certain models. While giant screens are objectively eye-catching, physical buttons clearly have some advantages. Now, Mercedes is doubling down on the screens but admitting that last part too. Buttons will soon return to the brand’s interior design, but the screens are staying, like it or not. More: Hyundai’s Design Boss Embraces Analog Controls “When we do car research clinics, customers are very clear: ‘We love the big screens, but we want to have [hard controls for] specific functionalities.’” Those are the words of Mercedes executive Mathias Geisen t...
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Jeep’s Facelifted Avenger Finally Catches Up To The Compass

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Jeep has revealed the design of the facelifted Avenger. It sports an illuminated grille and a new front bumper. Subcompact could also benefit from an updated interior. The teaser drip-fed earlier this week has now run its course. Jeep has pulled the covers off the facelifted Avenger in Brazil. It looks instantly recognizable, but has a modernized design that echoes newer models such as the Compass . As part of the makeover, the crossover adopts an all-new seven slot grille with illuminated accents. The company also appears to have ditched the black grille surround, which gives the model a cleaner and more streamlined appearance. Review: Jeep Avenger EV Is A Fun Little Gem That’s Too Small For America Further below, we can see a redesigned front bumper and revised cladding. The faux silver skid plate is also accompanied by new horizontal accents, which help to break up the mass of black plastic cladding. They’re joined by two new slots beneath the headlights, which coul...
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America Built A 100% Tariff Wall To Keep Chinese EVs Out, Volvo’s Plant Could Open The Door

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Volvo is open to building Geely EVs at their South Carolina plant. Facility is underutilized as it makes slow-selling EX90 and Polestar 3. Geely had previously suggested they want to come to US in 2-3 years. Volvo had high hopes for their Ridgeville, South Carolina plant, which opened in 2018 to build the S60. Unfortunately, the sedan arrived as consumers were embracing crossovers. The S60 rode off into the sunset six years later and the plant was retooled to build the even slower-selling EX90 and Polestar 3. This has left the facility underutilized and the automaker will attempt to address that problem by adding the XC60 later this year . However, they might not stop there. More: Volvo’s Chinese Parent Built A $14K Sedan Americans Can’t Get In an interview, Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson said the company would consider building Geely vehicles at the plant as they have excess capacity. However, the executive told Business Insider that any such move would require the Chin...
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Ford Rates The Mustang GTD At 815 HP, A Dyno Shows 753 WHP, And That Loss Is Good News

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Mustang GTD puts down 753 wheel horsepower and 609 lb-ft of torque on a Dynojet. That’s a massive jump over the old Shelby GT500 and proof Ford’s supercharged V8 evolved. The improved broad torque curve is one reason Dark Horse SC buyers can be very excited. Automakers claim all sorts of things as they’re building and marketing their products. Horsepower and torque figures tell us what an engine can make, but they don’t tell us how much of that energy makes it to the tire. Now, we’re learning exactly how much power a Ford Mustang GTD pushed to the wheels, and to put it simply, it’s downright impressive. Perhaps even more notable is that Dark Horse SC buyers are going to get a similarly stellar powertrain. First, let’s get the headline figures out of the way. Ford says this ultimate, $320,000+ super muscle car will make 815 horsepower (608 kW) and 664 lb-ft (900 Nm) of torque to the flywheel. Late Model Restoration just put one on its DynoJet dynamometer, and it made 75...
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Driver Says Cyclists Took His Lane, Then His Honda Pilot Hit Two Of Them

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Cyclists claim 72-year-old Jerry Ross used his Honda Pilot to hit two riders. Cellphone video caught the plate and helped deputies quickly find him. Ross now faces charges of aggravated assault, hit-and-run, reckless driving, and more. Road rage is just objectively one of the dumbest activities one can engage in. Often, though, the result is little more than a spike in blood pressure and perhaps a damaged ego. In this case, it led the driver of a Honda Pilot to jail, facing several serious charges. It also made the cyclists he was allegedly angry at look nearly as reckless in the process. According to WSBTV , authorities in Cherokee County, Georgia, say 72-year-old Jerry Ross of Woodstock pulled up behind a group of 10 cyclists on Sugar Pike Road, laid on the horn, then aggressively passed them in his Honda Pilot despite having an empty oncoming lane to use. Instead of giving them the legally required room, deputies say he struck two riders and then fled the scene. Rea...
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A 17.3 MPH Speed Limit Sounds Like A Mistake, Wisconsin Says It Isn’t

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Wisconsin drivers are doing a double-take after spotting a 17.3 mph speed limit sign. Officials say the oddly specific number is designed to break “autopilot” driving habits. Similar decimal-point speed limits, such as 8.2 mph, have appeared elsewhere. Habituation is what we humans experience when we fail to notice something because our brain believes the information is somewhat unimportant. We roll by a 25 mph (40 km/h) speed limit sign and don’t think too hard about whether we’re actually going below that limit. Wisconsin has a government facility that’s trying to buck that trend with a simple decimal point. Rather than a limit of 15 or 20 mph, drivers have to stay below 17.3 mph (27.8 km/h). And that double-take is exactly the point. Read: Speed Limits Are Outdated, And We All Know It According to officials at the Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste facility, the oddly precise number was chosen for one simple reason. It forces people to stop and actually lo...
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