Free Talk Live

Once a secret project, Google's autonomous vehicles are now out in the open, quite literally, with the company test-driving them on public roads and, on one occasion, even inviting people to ride inside one of the robot cars as it raced around a closed course.

"We've all looked longingly and lovingly at the auto shows in Europe and Japan and wondered how we might drive some of the awesome cars that don't make it to the states. Turns out, a passport, plane ticket and rental agreement might be the only way. Sure, some lustworthy Euro-spec cars can make it in. Witness the list of Show and Display cars the overlords at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration OK'd despite the fact that not one of them meets government safety standards."

Google has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver. With someone behind the wheel to take control if something goes awry and a technician in the passenger seat to monitor the navigation system, seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control.

he Obama administration proposed new rules Friday that would effectively require passenger cars to be equipped with video cameras and in-vehicle displays to eliminate driver blind spots behind the vehicle.

The rule would be phased in starting in 2012 and would apply to all cars manufactured after Sept. 1, 2004.

Rearview video is the most expensive single technology in vehicles, regulators said, and they estimated that equipping all new cars in a given year could cost between $1.9 billion and $2.7 billion.

WASHINGTON—Many motorists don't know it, but it's likely that every time they get behind the wheel, there's a snitch along for the ride.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday proposed long-delayed regulations requiring auto manufacturers to include event data recorders—better known as "black boxes"—in all new cars and light trucks beginning Sept. 1, 2014.

Information and resources on repossessed cars for sale. How to buy used cars cheaper for both newcomers and seasoned buyers.

There was a time when horses were way more convenient, reliable and cost-effective than automobiles. But we stuck with cars through the growing pains, because we knew that cars were only going to get better, while horses would stay the same.That's where we are with "green" technology -- at the awkward stage where we have to wonder if it's all really worth it. Because some of the kinks we're running into range from horrifying to downright bizarre ...

"Buying a car sucks," Scott Painter says. "It's something that most consumers fear."

Back in the '90s, Painter started a company to try to change this. "The name of the company was Cars Direct," he says. "The mission was to sell cars directly." Painter wanted his company to build virtual dealerships that would let people go online and buy cars. But after talking with a few car execs, he realized nobody would even consider his idea. Painter was stopped by a web of state laws that make it very, very difficult to change the way cars are sold.

"Police in Upper Moreland Township said 75 percent of their auto burglaries since 2008 happened in unlocked cars. Township officials are now considering fining people who leave their cars unlocked in public areas."