safety

Some cities are tiring of red light cameras, feeling that they're more trouble than they are, well, worth.

Other cities--Denver, for example--seem to believe that their worth just hasn't been fully mined.

In a fit of unusual enterprise, one that Wall Street might take a close look at, Denver has reportedly begun to ticket cars that have actually stopped at red lights.

How might city officials do that and keep their face straight? some might wonder.

Well, according to CBS Denver, the city's red light cameras operate a no-tolerance policy on drivers' front wheels. If they are … Read more

A certain safety feature in cars could cut the number of fatalities in single-vehicle accidents by almost half and by 20 percent in multi-car crashes, studies have shown.

Car crashes cost $300 billion a year, according to a recent AAA study, and the human cost is even greater. Consumer Reports says a technology known as electronic stability control can dramatically lower the number of deaths in car accidents. Not all vehicles are equipped with the safety feature; in the past, it was often offered as an upgrade. But starting with the 2012 model year, all cars must come with ESC. … Read more

Moby, the free, multiplatform location-sharing app, has just extended its reach to Android.

Previously the app was only available on the iPhone and BlackBerry platforms, but it appears Contigo Systems, Moby's developer, is making good on its promise to connect families no matter what devices they may be carrying.

Considering the release of Apple's Find My Friends app and the continued adoption of Google Latitude, some might feel like Moby is pushing its way into increasingly dangerous territory. But to Moby's credit, it seems to be taking a different route from the others. While most of the … Read more

In my neighborhood in Portland, Ore., the hipsters all like to ride minimalist fixed-gear bikes (aka fixies). Without a freewheel, a fixie generally requires pedaling forward to move forward and pedaling backward to brake. Brakes with wires are just so last year. Shoot, even handlebars are starting to look a tad frilly.

Good thing, then, that a team out of Saarland University in Germany has devised a wireless braking system that does away with those protruding brake levers and messy wires altogether. What's more, the mathematical calculations the team applied to determine safety--the same used in control systems for aircraft or chemical factories--deem the brake 99.999999999997 percent reliable.… Read more

Four prominent Internet Service Providers in the U.K. will require customers to opt in if they want to view pornography, according to a new report.

According to the Guardian, Prime Minister David Cameron later today will unveil the details of the plan, which will prevent customers of ISPs BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Virgin to access pornographic Web sites without first opting in.

Although full details on how users will be asked to opt in and whether they'll need to do it once or every time they access a site is unknown at this point, in a follow-up report, … Read more

Kids aren't always the best judges of what's best for them. Of course, that's true for all of us, but parents still need to watch out for their children until they leave home (or stop asking for money). Online hazards include scams, porn, malware, predators, bullies, and more.

While there's no perfect way to protect your children without falling off the grid entirely, there are still some tools that can help considerably. Windows Live Family Safety can help you watch what your kids are doing on the computer and lets you nip problems in the bud. … Read more

Who among us hasn't once pushed a wrong button, leading to embarrassment, pain or a very damp shirt at 7-Eleven?

However, who among us has been an airline pilot?

This question shivers through what remain of my timbers after discovering, thanks to the flighty crew at Gizmodo, that a Japanese pilot made such a vast error that he managed to nearly flip his Boeing 737-700.

Yes, the plane was flying 117 passengers at the time.

The Japanese Economic Newswire, which first reported this startling affair, explained that Flight 140 from Naha to Haneda rolled a little to the right … Read more

The approval of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act last year essentially mandated that electric vehicles or hybrids running only on electric power--devoid of the actual engine noise that makes pedestrians (particularly the visually impaired) aware that a vehicle is approaching--must now generate some sort of artificial proximity notification noise. However, although the Act mandated that EVs must make a sound, it didn't specify exactly what sound they should make. This means that every EV and hybrid manufacturer is free to make its cars sound like anything.

Toyota has released a video that explains the vehicle proximity notification sound designed … Read more

There are those who believe you should be fully prepared for anything.

You know, the sort of folks who put chocolate, torches, and other items into a bag you normally use for workout clothing and leave it near the back door. For luck.

But how can you prepare for the entirely infinitesimal possibility that you will be hit by a piece of space junk in a couple of days?

Wait, perhaps you have been away fishing with an NBA player. So let me catch you up. NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite will be falling to earth probably on Friday. … Read more