There used to be a joke in Florida that if the car in front of you didn’t move when the light turned green, you didn’t know if the driver was dead or just asleep. While this rather lame attempt at humour was a commentary on the number of retirees living in the sunshine state, snoozing drivers is a very real world problem. If fact, according to Volvo & NHTSA there are about 100,000 accidents caused by driver fatigue in the US alone each year.

Adding to a growing number of safety design firsts, Volvo is introducing it’s revolutionary Driver Alert Control on several 2008 models. Rather than actually monitoring the driver, the system watches for erratic driving behaviour such as lane wandering. DAC uses a camera mounted between the rear view mirror and the windshield that measures the distance between the car and road markings. Using these measurements, the system can tell when the car is being driven in an uncontrolled manner. It then warns the driver to smarten up though a combination of auditory and visual warnings.

The system also makes a Lane Departure Warning system possible that alerts the driver of possible unintended lane changes. The LDW system also works with a camera to monitor the vehicle’s position between lane markings. How does the system know that a lane change was intended? Quite simple really, the driver used a turn signal. This system might actually have the spin off effect of teaching drivers to use their signals so they don’t hear a warning.

The downside to all this techie stuff is that it still relies on cameras, meaning that if there are no road markings or the weather affects the camera’s view the system doesn’t work. This means that in inclement weather or on unmarked rural roads the system is just along for the ride.

All the technical details follow in the Volvo press release
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I must admit I’m getting soft in my old age. Given the choice between a nice, hot Starbucks at home or heading to the track on a rainy morning I’ll likely pick the java. Even if one of the family is racing. This weekend though, I had plans to meet up with veteran racer Randy Pobst.
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This photography thing has thrown all sorts of new challenges my way, not to mention some self preservation instincts that I never knew I had. Standing in the spectator area of Mosport’s famed Corner 2 might be one of the coolest places on the planet to watch a race. Standing in the new shooter’s area at the end of the wall halfway down the hill is one of the most intense racing experiences I’ve had beyond actually being in the car. Shooting hyped up showroom stockers in the rain from this spot would approach suicidal. Contrary to some of the music I listened to in high school, I do not have Suicidal Tendencies. As a result, I ended up in the relative safety of the turn 1 outfield. Interestingly, I don’t think I’d watched a session here since the Group C race way back in 1984!
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When I was very young (I’m told by my parents) that I was obsessed with cars. I was always intrigued with how they worked.

I was 12 when I got my first car. It wasn’t much, but it allowed me to learn the mechanical and electronic functions of the car. Once I understood what each part was and its functions, the first thing that came to my mind is how can I make it better or faster.

It wasn’t until high school that I learned how difficult racing is. No one had a real sense of knowledge in the sport. I remember asking my shop teacher about it, and he had pulled me aside and asked me why I had an interest in racing. I explained to him that it captivated me and I wanted to get involved in it. Not much was said after that.

After that I would talking to classmates about racing and racing events. I found that most, if not all, the classmates that I talked to didn’t race or had any interest in it. I was on my own.

It wasn’t until I was 18 when I attended my first Autocross event. Understanding the cars behaviour and making the changes to improve the performance and efficiency is what drives me. After 4 years of Autocrossing, I had to put racing on hold and concentrate on my business.

After a long absence and closing the business, I got back into it. I started to compete in the SoloSprint Series. This is my second year with a new car, new people, and it’s exciting!

I had a few mechanical set backs with the car but I’m on track to finish the season.

mmmmm…classic old school lines, period correct wheels, modern adaption of colour scheme and a big swingin’ wing. Wouldn’t this just look great in The Garage? One things is for sure, it would no longer be a trailer queen. It would be raced at every possible opportunity.

Current bid is a paltry $5,655, which seems a tad low for such a sweet machine.

Once a racer, always a racer. It seems that nobody knows that better than Jacques Villeneuve. Despite having a healthy dose of negative public opinion, the guy just wants to race. It’s not that he needs a job, he just needs the competition. To that end, he’s been hard at work trying to join the NASCAR ranks, but hasn’t had too much luck getting his chance. Today though, things might change as he spends his first day in a Toyota Tundra at Chicagoland Speedway today courtesy of Bill Davis Racing.

I’m a firm believer that a true champion can win in any series given the opportunity with the right equipment. Let’s hope that the Canadian ex-pat can prove my theory right.

Press release after the break
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Good morning everyone and welcome to the lazy Sunday morning, I slept through the start of Turkish Grand Prix edition of the CoW. It must have been the excitement of being at the track yesterday, or maybe just the residual soggy feeling, but I just didn’t want to get out of bed. The coffee is ready though, so let’s get rolling through another big honkin’ Carnival of Wheels.

First up, the folks at Automotive.com are all excited that Top Gear has found it’s way to BBC America and it’s a damn sight better than Pimp my ride. If you’ve never seen Top Gear then you owe it to yourself to give this a look. It’s damn good TV. The Brits manage to do the crazy things we just wonder about. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could blow up a limo to see what would happen? These guys do it. Now if we could just figure out a way to get it back on BBC Canada.
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One problem with heading to the track on Saturday morning with plans to shoot photos is the lack of pit babes. Add in the real rain in months and there are even fewer. Not to worry though, the ladies from Mobil 1 and Kumho were there and they had bright smiles despite the gloomy weather.
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One thing I’ve always loved about Mosport is the accessibility the fans have to the cars & the stars. While my media pass allowed for some great pit lane access, anybody can get up close and personal with the cars and most racers and crew love to talk with the fans.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take full advantage of the trackside access. I didn’t feel like standing at the very edge of the track in the pouring rain. I have no interest in being a target for wayward race cars. I did get some decent shots from the outside of Corner 1 though and will post them later.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Just got back from a very wet morning at Mosport, where I got tons of photos of the Speed World Challenge and ALMS cars both on track and in the paddock. I also got to spend some time with Randy Pobst, and we’ll have some shots of that later on today.

For now just a pit lane teaser