Auto News - Four One One

In Other Words...
Mazda Pays for RX-8 MistakeMazda is paying for misquoting the power output of the new RX-8 four-door coupe. Japan's fifth-largest carmaker says it will give out $500 debit cards and extended warranties to early buyers of its RX-8 four-door because it overstated the rotary-powered car's horsepower. Early numbers put the manual gearbox version at 247, when it only registers 238 after some final emissions tuning. The automatic-equipped version also drops by 10 hp, to 197 hp. Mazda will repurchase some of the vehicles as well.

IIHS Says Side Airbags are GoodThe Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says its latest brain work finds that cars and light trucks with side airbags suffer fewer fatalities in accidents than vehicles without them. In the case of vehicles equipped with curtain airbags, fatalities dropped about 45 percent; in those with airbags mounted in the seats, the death rate still was 10 percent lower than in vehicles without side bags. Left unanswered: how many people die if a windbag rides in the passenger seat and talks too damn much.

Cell Phones Aren't the Only Problem...
A joint study from AAA and the University of North Carolina finds that most of us are doing something else when we should be paying attention to driving - but talking on the cell phone isn't the worst problem. The study of 70 drivers in North Carolina and Pennsylvania found that 97 percent of drivers distracted in their cars were reaching for something; 91 percent were playing with the radio; and just 30 percent talked on the phone while their cars were moving, according to the Associated Press. As part of the study the drivers had cameras planted in their cars for a week, and researchers chose a random three hours of tape to watch for distracted driving. In total, the study found the average driver is distracted about 16 percent of the time. Various states are considering making driving and talking illegal, after New York State became the first to do so last year.

Honk If You're Legally Blind
Florida is the nation's official waiting room for God, Buddha, Mohammed and even that Japanese golfing religion, we think. So it's only fair the state legislature has come up with a way to patrol its senior citizens' driving abilities. After a long battle with the old-folks powerful state lobby, Florida's lawmakers finally passed a law in May that will test people's eyesight every time they want to renew their driver's license. That is, as long as the driver is older than 80 years old, the Associated Press reports. No word on whether the state will also test to make sure drivers are actually still alive.