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Man trapped in Cadillac XLR for 14 hours after battery dies

A 75-year old Cleveland man ended up trapped in his 2006 Cadillac XLR for 14 hours last month, according to a story reported by the Detroit Free Press. The owner of the car, Peter Pyros, hopped into his roadster to back out onto his driveway, but he quickly learned that the battery was dead. He was "trapped" because the doors use an electric button to activate the door latch to open the door. Since the battery was dead, the buttons did nothing. Now, GM planned for an eventuality like this by placing a manual door release handle on the ground next to the seat. It's marked with a red diagram of the driver-side door opening. There's also a section about it in the owner's manual. The only problem here, was that Pyros says he didn't know the release was there, and he didn't have his owner's manual in the car. Because of this, Pyros may not have made it out alive if not for a neighbor coming to his rescue. "I came to the conclusion that I was going to die ... I was at peace with it. I asked God to help me twice, then I said, 'OK, God if this is the way I'm supposed to die, I will die,'" Pyros said to reporters. There's every chance he could have died in the car, too. Temperatures in Cleveland hit 77 degrees the day he was in the car, and he said it was unbearably hot and difficult to breathe after only 30 minutes sealed inside. Pyros reportedly tried yelling, pounding on and even trying to break the car's windows without success. At one point, Pyros wrote a note to his nephew explaining what happened if he ended up dying. What eventually saved him was a curious neighbor who came to investigate after he noticed his garage door was still open late at night. His neighbor called the police after he found him in the car, and emergency personnel actually ended up charging his car's battery up enough to get the electric door release to work. Of course, after everything settled down, there are now lawyers involved. They're going after GM, with an argument accusing the automaker of not making the emergency latch more obvious both in the car and in the owner's manual. GM doesn't appear to be having any of it. Here's its statement on the matter: "Because this varies by make and model, drivers should review the door lock section of their owner's manual, and follow up with their dealer or customer assistance center if they have any questions," GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson wrote to the Free Press. This type of door release isn't particularly uncommon for GM vehicles.

2015 Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra recalled for steering issues

DETROIT — General Motors Co is recalling more than 1 million pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in the United States due to issues with a temporary loss of power steering, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. The recall is for 2015 models. They are: the Chevy Silverado 1500, Suburban and Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon and Yukon XL and Cadillac Escalade. The problem may cause difficulty steering the vehicle, especially at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash, the auto safety regulator said in a document dated Sept. 12. The document did not highlight any reports of accidents and injuries, because of the power steering issue. GM dealers will update the power steering module software, free of charge for owners of the affected vehicles. In 2014, the No.1 U.S. automaker had recalled nearly 800,000 pickup trucks worldwide because of the same problem. GM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Related Video:

40+ cars that barely avoid the gas guzzler tax

The Gas Guzzler schedule, with mpg ratings and charges that haven't changed since 1991, lays out which fuel-swillers owe what to Uncle Sam.
I started thinking about the "Gas Guzzler Tax" - considerably less well known as The Energy Tax Act of 1978 - when I was driving Dodge's new Challenger SRT Hellcat last week. Unsurprisingly for a car that can burn 1.5 gallons of gas per minute at max tilt, theoretically able to empty a full tank of premium in about 13 minutes, the Hellcat will be subject to the Gas Guzzler Tax schedule when it goes on sale.