To Be Announced...

Update to earlier post about Des Moines' moratorium on digital billboards: More Roadside Distractions

Just a few more distractions the busybodies who don't trust us with our licenses to drive might want to know about - just in case:

Horntones: Customize Your Honk

The Horntones FX-550 system is the first mobile audio system that allows you to customize the sound of your vehicle’s horn function using virtually any standard audio file.

Using the latest electronic device and communications technology, Horntones Audio products provide you with a unique capability to personalize your automobile experience with an unlimited variety of sound clips.

So when you get mad at that guy who cut you off, why not play a few bars of Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Chamillionaire’s hit single “Ridin’”, or for that old-school classic feel, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s “You Saw My Blinker.”

It’s an after-market accessory that ties into your regular car horn system, but allows you to play any standard audio file loudly at nearby drivers and pedestrians. The unit holds up to eight audio files at once and can be loaded from any USB flash drive. The Horntones FX-550 will cost $149.99 when it’s released in April, but they’re planning to start accepting pre-orders as of this Thursday, February 15th.

Happy Valentines Day, honey!

And you'll never see this go much further because there are more green-friendly goofballs than there are blind people. But it's certain to cause quite a ruckus in the politically correct crowd:

The Blind Say Hybrid Cars Could Endanger Lives

(WJZ) ANNAPOLIS, Md. A house committee in Annapolis voted "yes" to a bill Thursday which would require more hybrid cars to be sold in Maryland.

But, as WJZ's Suzanne Collins reports, there is one group of people saying a law like that could endanger their lives.

(cue sympathetic look on reporters face and dramatic hand movements)

The National Federation of the Blind said it is very concerned about any law that would require more hybrid and fuel efficient cars be sold because those cars make very little noise.

"For blind people we use the sound of the traffic not only to determine when to cross the street, but to navigate, and hybrid vehicles are silent," said Chris Danielsen from the Federation of the Blind.

Naturally, they don't want hybrid cars banned...they just want them noisy. This news story comes from a TV news website, so that's why it contains small sentences and sounds like it's written for 3-rd graders:

Advocates for the blind have made two suggestions to lawmakers. One is to have the radiator fan of the hybrid vehicle go on when the cars go into electric mode, the other is to put something in the car's wheel well to make noise when the car is moving.

(cut to outdoor scene with reporter walking toward camera...suggest possible "staged" close call with reporter and hybrid example just as we cut to more video tape interview)

Blind city-goers explained they can hear the wind resistance of cars on a high speed highway or the grinding of gravel on a country road, but when crossing city streets they need to hear the car's engine.

John Pare belongs to the National Federation of the Blind and he is very concerned about the bill. "The traffic and the sound of the cars give a very clear signal of what the pattern is, when stopping, when accelerating, when they're turning."

Are we just a bunch of nuts, or what? Maybe they should require AND ban the Horntones FX-550!


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