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Chunk of ice smashes man's windshield

Driving a car piled with snow isn't just lazy, it's dangerous. A driver on Interstate 495 South in Massachusetts learned that the hard way last week after a huge chunk of ice flew off the top of an SUV and onto his windshield. Jeffrey Cote's dashboard camera was running as he drove his Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon down the freeway in Haverhill, MA, Wednesday morning. He was following an SUV in the left hand lane. The SUV doesn't appear to have too much accumulation on it, but the owners clearly didn't remove the snow and ice from the very top of the vehicle. A large chunk of ice flew off the top of the SUV, spun through the air and shattered Cotes windshield. Cote's must be one of the cooler heads on Massachusetts' roads. He didn't swerve, or swear or even gasp. Despite being unable to see the road and covered in glass Cotes safely moved over to the right lanes and safely pulled off on to the shoulder after the accident. The ice not only totally destroyed Cote's windshield but damaged a wiper arm and his side mirror as well. "If I had braked harder, I could have avoided impact," Cotes wrote in the video description. "But it initially appeared the piece was going to fall in front of me." Cotes couldn't read the driver's license plate on the footage and told CBS Boston that he doesn't think the other driver even realizes what occurred. He told the news station he hopes the video reminds people to do the right thing and clear the snow off their cars. "Just a few seconds, just try to slam as much ice as possible off your roof," Cotes told CBS Boston. "Because, it could have gone a lot worse, and it could save someone's life if you do a better job cleaning," Cote said. News Source: CBS Boston Saab Driving Safety Videos snow winter driving cold

Saab begins 9-3 EV pilot production

To say that Saab has had a tough time lately would be like saying that it's been a little colder than usual this winter. After General Motors finally gave up and sold it to Spyker in 2010, Saab declared bankruptcy the following year. GM successfully blocked Spyker from selling Saab to Chinese automaker Youngman the following year, but ultimately it ended up in the hands of another Chinese consortium called NEVS. Standing as it does for National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the new owners promised not only to restart production of the long-suffering 9-3, but also to turn it into an electric vehicle. And that's just what it's doing.
The latest news coming out of Sweden indicates that NEVS/Saab has started building the first examples of the 9-3 EV. These first 200 or so examples are set to be shipped off to Qingdao - the Chinese city that is home to the Tsingtao brewery, hosted the sailing components of the 2008 summer games on Beijing, was supposed to host an IndyCar race in 2012 before it was canceled, and also itself just happens to own 22 percent of NEVS.
These first EVs have their batteries mounted down low in the chassis for a low center of gravity and have a range of about 20 miles on a full charge. That's absolutely paltry compared to the other EVs on the market: a Nissan Leaf will travel more than four times that distance, and a Tesla Model S will go ten times farther on a charge.

GM SUV window switch recall urges owners to park vehicles outside

It's not unusual for there to be a lag between an automaker announcing a recall and the official documentation showing up on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. So it's no surprise that a recent GM campaign took about a month to appear in its official capacity. However, there appears to be some big differences between the two reports with potential safety implications.
In late June, GM announced that it needed to recall 181,984 examples of the Chevrolet Trailblazer, Buick Rainier, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7x from the 2005-2007 model years, plus the 2006 Chevy Trailblazer EXT and 2006 GMC Envoy XL. The new documents paint a slightly different picture with 184,611 needing repaired and different model years listed.
The reason for the fix is still the same, though. It's possible for fluid to contact the master power window switch module in the driver's door, which can corrode the part. Eventually this could cause a short circuit, leaving the buttons inoperable and potentially leading to a fire. But the new NHTSA documents add an important note: "A fire could occur even while the vehicle is not in use. As a precaution, owners are advised to park outside until the remedy has been made."