Accessories Pt. 2

Taking a quick break from alternative power for the moment, let's go back to the accessories. This is a rather interesting idea. When you take your foot off the gas pedal, the brake lights flash, thus alerting the driver behind you that you're slowing down.
It never caught on, and neither did a similar system in which the brake lights got brighter, the harder you pressed on the brake pedal. Students at Virginia Tech are looking to revive the idea, however. I wish them luck, but I'm not going to be holding my breath on it ever making it into a production car. It does, however, make a bit more sense than this idea.
That's right, you wiggle your eyebrows and the car hits the brakes. It would make things pretty rough if you caught behind a truck carrying livestock, I'd think. However, the developer shouldn't be mocked, as apparently he's gone on to doing some pioneering research in the use of powered prosthetics for amputees.

Live in a high crime neighborhood? Worried about gangs of thugs roaming the streets? Then perhaps this little accessory is right for you.
Ah, the 1930s when police could shoot first and ask questions later.

Perhaps that was the inspiration for this invention.Of course, if it's the cops shooting at you, I don't know who you expect to come help you.

Now, many people like to project a certain "image" with their vehicles and companies have always sprung up to meet those needs. In some cases, you have to ask yourself, "Is it really the responsible thing to meet this need?"
At $2.98, I think they were severely overpriced.

Probably shortly after John Dunlop invented the pneumatic tire, people started cursing the tendency of air to leak out of the tires once they encountered some sharp, pointy object. To this end, folks have tried to come up with solutions to the problem. One of which was this idea for a sprung, solid tire.
Obviously, that idea didn't catch on. I have to imagine that such a wheel would tend to sling mud, water, and anything else that might be on the road, in far flung directions. Some ideas, of course, refuse to die, and the solid tire idea was revived in the early 1940s as a spare tire.
After the war, Firestone looked at making them, it seems.I imagine that the reason they didn't catch on was because they'd be pretty rough going at highway speeds. Still, folks can't seem to give up on the idea. New car regulations call for pressure sensors to be installed in wheels, so Michelin has come up with the tweel. You'll notice it looks similar to the first tire.

More later.