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Followup: NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video]

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Videos

Max Papis getting slapped

According to Fox News, NASCAR has handed down an indefinite ban from all series events and a $2,500 fine to Kelly Heaphy, girlfriend of Camping World Truck Series driver Mike Skeen. Heaphy open-hand slapped her boyfriend’s rival, Max Papis, after Sunday’s race.

The incident, which we reported on ~~yesterday~~ Tuesday, came about after Papis and Skeen came together while battling for third position on the last lap. Papis made some statements on air that led Heaphy to pounce, delivering a slap that reportedly led to Papis claiming his jaw had been dislocated. It’s unclear if punishments were handed down to the pit crews, which rumbled ahead of Heaphy slapping Papis. If you missed it the first time, you can catch the incident on video below.

Continue reading NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video]

NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Sep 2013 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Followup: NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video]

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Videos

Max Papis getting slapped

Continue reading NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video]

NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Sep 2013 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disabled Aussie man has wheelchair banned from roads because… it’s a tank?!

Filed under: Etc., Videos, Australia

Jim Starr's TC Mobility Tank Chair

An Australian man has been told by local authorities that he cannot use his custom TC Mobility wheelchair on public streets because its size technically lands it in the same category as a tank. The chair uses two rubber treads and a 24-volt electric motor, and it used to allow Jim Starr to go down to the beach with his family. That was before the Driver and Vehicle Licensing agency decided that the chair was too large to be classified as a typical wheelchair. Weighing in at 485 pounds, Starr’s tracked-machine weighs 110 pounds more than the legal limit for motorized wheelchairs. It’s also too wide.

As a result, Starr has been banned from riding his all-terrain chair anywhere other than private land. The hang-up is that in order to get to areas where he can legally use the device, he has to cross public roads.

Starr used to work as a landscape gardener before chronic arthritis, back and joint conditions bound him to a wheelchair in 1999. Head over to YouTube to watch the video of Starr in his Tank Chair (embedding disabled).

[Sources: The Mercury, YouTube]

Disabled Aussie man has wheelchair banned from roads because… it’s a tank?! originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Renault’s racy lesbian Twingo ad banned from Italian TV

Filed under: Budget, Europe, Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchback, Renault

Click above to watch the video after the jump

Some cars are unfairly derided as “chick cars,” like the Mini Cooper or the Mazda MX-5. Less so the Renault Twingo. While we’re sure it’s a good car for its class, it doesn’t exactly ooze testosterone. Which is fine, of course, because not every car is targeted at male customers. But Renault takes things a step further.

In a controversial television commercial, the French automaker depicts a little girl-on-girl encounter for Italian audiences. One that we won’t describe here, but invite you to watch (over and over again) in the video posted after the jump.

Now Renault’s done some racy spots for the Twingo before – two of which we’ve also posted after the jump – so perhaps the more surprising part is that it’s been banned from the airwaves. In Italy, of all places, by the media conglomerate owned by the country’s philanderer-in-chief, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

A political move, perhaps, in light of recent challenges to his tenure made by conservative leaders (reportedly including Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo)? We’ll leave that to the pundits, and invite you to follow us beyond the jump to watch the videos for yourself. Hat tip to Doogie Hauser!

Gallery: Renault New Twingo

[Source: USA Today]

Continue reading Video: Renault’s racy lesbian Twingo ad banned from Italian TV

Video: Renault’s racy lesbian Twingo ad banned from Italian TV originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Laws: Commercial truck and bus drivers banned from texting while driving

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety

Ray Lahood mimics phone

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that in 2009 alone, 5,500 fatalities and half a million injuries occurred as a direct result of distracted driving. The problem is so severe that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (above) recently felt compelled to address Autoblog readers directly in an effort to spread the word about how dangerous it is to multitask while driving.

The Department of Transportation isn’t resting its hopes on Autoblog, though. The DoT has initiated the second National Distracted Driving Summit this week to shine light on the problem, and the government’s latest offensive isn’t going out to texting teens or phone-obsessed commuters. The early pressure is on drivers transporting hazardous materials, commercial truck and bus drivers and rail operators. LaHood opened this week’s summit by talking up new laws that ban commercial bus and truck drivers from texting and driving, while train operators can no longer legally use cell phones or other electronic devices from the driver’s seat. Companies are also getting in on the act, as 1,600 corporations have banned distracted driving, affecting 10.5 million drivers. Another 500 companies will reportedly follow suit in the next year.

Beyond new laws covering commercial drivers, LaHood and friends are also touting the results of heavily increased enforcement. In Hartford, Connecticut 4,956 tickets have been passed out to texting or talking drivers. Syracuse, New York police have issued another 4,446 citations. We usually get anything but excited when hearing about increased tickets and fines, but the results of the texting and talking crackdown are difficult to ignore. The DoT press release after the jump tells us that surveys and observations claim that phone usage is down 56 percent in Hartford and 38 percent in Syracuse. Further, texting is down 68 percent and 42 percent, respectively. Hit the jump to read over the press release.

[Source: Department of Transportation | Image: AP]

Continue reading New Laws: Commercial truck and bus drivers banned from texting while driving

New Laws: Commercial truck and bus drivers banned from texting while driving originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Banned Smart ad sells using fear of back seats?

Filed under: Convertible, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchback, Smart, Humor

Fear of a Back Seat - Smart Ad

Smart ForTwo preys on your back-seat fears – Click above for video after the jump

Are you afraid of getting into your car late at night, only to look in the rearview mirror and see a face staring back at you that isn’t yours? Don’t lie – we all have those random, irrational fears which are all but unfounded. Capitalizing on just such a fear, Daimler’s Smart produced a commercial which preyed on those fears and closed with a clever tagline espousing the fact that Smart ForTwos don’t have a back seat.

The ad was a huge hit in Germany, where it was originally slated to run during the trailers in movie theaters. It garnered such approval that it eventually made its way into television spots throughout Europe and has now ended up on Youtube as a “banned” ad. As we understand it, though, the ad wasn’t banned, it just never aired in the States. The ‘banned” moniker should help it earn some views, but the commercial is good enough on its own to warrant viewing.

See for yourself after you turn on the lights, check behind you and make the jump.

Gallery: Review: 2009 Smart ForTwo

[Source: The Detroit News]

Continue reading Video: Banned Smart ad sells using fear of back seats?

Video: Banned Smart ad sells using fear of back seats? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stillborn USF1 team fined, banned from F1 forever?

Filed under: Motorsports

The World Motor Sport Council is just catching up to USF1’s premature disappearance from Formula 1. The WSMC has reportedly banned the American ex-team forever – which we’re guessing means the troika of Ken Anderson, Peter Windsor and Chad Hurley – from competing in F1, and fined it $382,000 as well as legal costs.

USF1 has seven days to appeal, but we wonder how much this really means. If the WSMC couldn’t ban Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds for cheating in an actual race, it’s unclear whether the USF1 ban will stick. And since it’s the team that’s banned, not the people, we’d be less than shocked if Windsor or Anderson or Hurley showed up somewhere else on the grid in another guise. Thanks for the tip, Chris

[Source: ESPN]

Stillborn USF1 team fined, banned from F1 forever? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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