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Driver saved from sinking car in Houston by live news reporter

Heavy rains in Houston, Texas, have turned some roadway underpasses into temporary lakes. While covering the adverse weather, a reporter named Steve Campion engaged in what may be the most half-hearted rescue attempt ever captured on video. The whole clip is a slow-motion disaster that's hard to look away from. The reporter and a cameraman are already on the scene when a driver in a Honda Insight arrives and thinks he can ford the deluge. The plan fails immediately, and the car is quickly in too deep. Despite trying to reverse out of the bad situation and even turning on the windshield wipers, this guy is stuck. Floating, in fact. Campion doesn't even try to hide his contempt and confusion as this unfolds in front of him. "Why are you doing that," the journalist initially asks. He and the cameraman don't leap to action at this scene, either. "What do we do? I don't want to..." the reporter says. The Insight driver seems to be in shock, seemingly unable to process the situation even as his vehicle is sinking. Eventually, the reporter and cameraman convince the guy to leave his vehicle. By the time the driver gets to dry land, his Honda is barely visible above the water. The Honda owner seems unharmed, but the reporter probably doesn't deserve much credit for the rescue, regardless of how it's portrayed on KTRK in Houston. See if you agree after watching the video. Related Video:

Honda Ridgeline spy shots show more truck-like lines

Honda is preparing to roll out its all-new, second-generation Ridgeline. And while we've seen several hints at what it will look like, this is our best look yet. This prototype has dropped all the heavy body cladding and shows its overall shape. As you can see from these latest spy shots, the new Honda Ridgeline will adopt a more conventional form than the model it replaces. So while it still has a bit of a flying buttress behind the C-pillar and above the front of the pickup bed, it looks nowhere near as deep and enveloping one on the outgoing model. The bed also appears to incorporate lighting into its liner. The new Ridgeline still appears to optimize the quad-cab to short-bed ratio proportions. However it looks set to compete more actively in the resurgent midsize pickup market than its segment-defying predecessor. In that regard, Honda aims to more directly take on the likes of the Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, and Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon. What we can't see from these spy shots are details like the lights and grille treatment. However the Baja show truck revealed at SEMA mere weeks ago provided glimpses at those elements. Combine that with the still-camouflaged prototype pictured here, and we're starting to get a pretty solid idea of what the four-door pickup will look like once it reaches production. Related Video:

Fernando Alonso denies giving McLaren a Honda-or-me ultimatum

MONZA, Italy — Fernando Alonso has denied telling McLaren to choose between him and Honda as the Spaniard considers his future with the Formula One team. The two-time world champion also dismissed media speculation that he retired from last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix without there being anything technically wrong with his car's power unit. Some reports this week suggested that Alonso had run out of patience after three years of unreliable and under-powered engines and had told McLaren he would leave if it stayed with Honda. "Absolutely not true," the Spaniard, who won his titles with Renault more than a decade ago, told reporters at the Italian Grand Prix on Thursday. "I have absolutely not decided. More than anything I'm not bigger than a team," added the 36-year-old, who has said he will decide his future in September. His current contract expires at the end of the season. McLaren has sounded out Renault and has also indicated it would support Honda moving to Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso. Honda said after Spa that it could find nothing wrong with Alonso's race engine, but the driver expressed surprise that anyone could suggest he had faked a failure. "It seems people forget that I'm racing here for three years, giving my maximum ... I tried to race with a broken rib in Bahrain," he said, explaining that sensors had started to fail and something had felt wrong. "We retired the car, and they checked the whole engine and it seems everything is fine ... so we will try to fit that engine tomorrow (in the second practice). If it blows up, we will change it," he said. Alonso expects to start Sunday's race at the back of the grid due to penalties for further engine changes. Regarding his future, he said he would start discussing with the team and Honda their expectations for next year and look at what was on the table. "I think we do have now some ingredients to be champions," he said. "I think the team did improve a lot in the last three years ... I think we have the talent in the team, we have the facilities. "We just miss (being) more competitive. We will see what the numbers are saying for next year and after that try to make a decision." Asked whether he thought Honda could be competitive in the short term, he replied: "I think you never know. It could be possible. Why not?" Reporting by Alan BaldwinRelated Video: