Techdirt. Stories about "pontiac"

Techdirt. Stories about "pontiac" Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us Techdirt. Stories about "pontiac"http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Tue, 3 Jan 2012 17:00:00 PST DailyDirt: More Plastic Cars Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101020/11552911505/dailydirt-more-plastic-cars.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101020/11552911505/dailydirt-more-plastic-cars.shtml Pontiac Fiero was considered a "radical" car. If you don't remember it, the Fiero had a plastic body -- which some folks said made it unsafe (even though owners of it were more likely to be injured from an engine fire). Plastic cars have continued to improve, and here are just a few more car parts that are being made from environmentally-friendly plastic.

Bridgestone has designed some air-free tires from recyclable plastics. These tires aren't quite ready for full-size cars yet, but maybe someday no one will have to check the air pressure in tires. [url]
Replacing steel in cars with composite materials will make our four-wheeled friends lighter and more fuel efficient. Unfortunately, carbon fiber car parts are still a bit too expensive, but that could change.... [url]
Car parts from mad cows? Does anyone want to drive a car made from infected cow skulls, brains, nerves, eyes, tonsils and spinal cords? Oh, Canada! [url]
To discover more interesting car-related content, check out what's driving around StumbleUpon. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101020/11552911505 Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:17:21 PDT Maryland Judge Declares Pontiac G8 GT's Factory Taillights Illegal; Tells Car Owner To Get A Different Car [Updated: Or Maybe Not...] Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100719/00363910263.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100719/00363910263.shtml Update: As some folks are pointing out in the comments, people digging into this have discovered that the guy did, in fact, modify his taillights to make them look like stock. Some are suggesting it still didn't violate local laws, but it's not as clear cut any more...

Aaron Martin-Colby alerts us to the bizarre story of how the owner of a standard, unmodified Pontiac G8 GT was first pulled over for having illegal taillights, and then told by the judge that he should just get a new car, because the taillights, despite being approved by the Department of Transportation, are illegal:
Went to court for my clear tail lights on my car and was found guilty!

The judge actualy told me she didn't care what the manufacturer said, what the federal govt said, what the DOT # stamped onto my taillights said if the officer says my lights aren't legal then they're not legal. I took the G8 sales brochure in along with pics of my car and other G8 GT's and the VIN trace by 3 different dealers saying my lights were factory none of it mattered she found me guilty of failing to display or reflect red light on the rear of the car. Didn't matter the reflecters were in the bumper, didn't matter where the light is has that little red circle, the whole lens isn't red so they're not legal. Also where the back-up and turn signals are should be the reflectors according to the cop so the V6 cars lights aren't legal either.

Judge stupid went on to tell me that maybe I should consider trading in or selling the car since its not legal in MD and that I'm going to continue to get the $60 tickets till I get rid of the car.
Nice to know that the officer and the judge seem to know better than everyone else, including the Department of Transportation...

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