VIDEO: Gigantic Sinkhole Cuts Through Road in Guatemala City

By now, you've probably heard about the massive sinkhole that opened without warning at a street intersection in Guatemala City swallowing an entire three-story (!) building, but here's a couple of videos from the site of the collapse.

Scientists believe that the huge sinkhole, which runs some 200ft or 60 meters into the earth, was most likely being formed for weeks or maybe even years with flood-waters from the catastrophic tropical storm Agatha causing it to finally collapse on Sunday, May 31. Watch the videos after the jump.

Via: Youtube

That's Gotta Hurt: Tree Falls on New Aston Martin Rapide Sedan and Bentley Continental Supersports

Here's a sight that no driver would like to see his car in, even more so if the vehicles in question are a spanking-new $200,000+ Aston Martin Rapide sports saloon and a Bentley Continental Supersports.

According to Joel Feder (the man who took these photos), the incident happened at the Midwestern Automotive Media Association earlier this week when a thunderstorm followed by hail and strong winds took down a tree that landed right on the parked Aston Martin and Bentley.

And while the Continental didn't sustain any damages, the Rapide's encounter with the tree wasn't so fortunate. As you can see in the gallery below, the Aston Martin suffered a smashed windshield, a broken mirror, scratches and a dent on the hood.

Photos: Joel Feder

VIDEO: Drunk Driver Simply Refuses to Stop, "Crashes" Serbian Parliament!

It may look like a commercial for the Citroen C5, but it's not. What you see going on here in this amateur video is an unbelievable incident that took place (literally) in front of the Serbian parliamentary building.

It all started when a middle-aged man (evidently intoxicated) drove his Citroen C5 on the opposite side of the road. A police officer attempted to stop the driver by opening the door of his car and talk some reason into him.

At first, it looked like the police man succeeded and that the driver was willing to make a 'U' turn and stop on the other side of the road, but he didn't...

What he did do is drive the car across the steps leading to the entrance of the Serbian parliamentary building and -as if nothing happened- leave it at the parking lot! Watch the video after the jump.

Unbelievable: Dog Found Trapped Inside Car's Bumper After Being Hit on the Highway!

If you found yesterday's [video] story with a man dodging an oncoming automobile mind-boggling, then you're definitely going to love this one.

An unnamed man from Santiago, Chile, hit a dog with his car on the local highway. The driver, certain that the dog had met its maker after the impact, decided to find a repair shop to inspect the condition of his vehicle.

Half an hour later he arrived at a repair shop, but the minor blemishes to the vehicle's front-end wasn't what caught everyone's attention. Believe it or not, it was the dog that had been trapped inside the car's bumper after the impact! Amazingly, the four-legged animal was alive having suffered only a broken leg! Watch the video after the jump.

VIDEO: One Extremely Lucky Guy Avoids Oncoming Car

If anything else, the man seen in this video (from a security camera) dodging an out-of-control vehicle heading his way has some awesome reflexes... Unfortunately, we don't have any details on the incident so we can't give you an answer to as why the driver of the car abandoned his vehicle and started running down the road. Watch the clip after the jump.

VIDEO: Driving in Dubai is Never Boring...

Judging by this video, someone in Dubai was having one of those days; you know, when you just need to cause a bunch of mayhem on the interstate.

Initially there's just some old Toyota truck doing burnouts across five lanes of traffic (pretty normal, right?), but then someone else decides to get involved by doing a two-wheel side-stand in their SUV. That's really all there is to be said about this video, so enjoy it after the jump.

By Phil Alex

Via: Youtube and Clutchd

First Recorded Crash of Ferrari 458 Italia!

It was bound to happen sooner or later; someone had the unfortunate luck of being the first one -or at least the first we've heard of- to crash Maranello's new 458 Italia supercar. Details remain scarce, though the guys over at Wreckexotics claim that this incident occurred in the city of Wroclaw in Poland. If you happen to know something about the Ferrari 458 crash, leave us a comment below. Supercar-accident-addicts can get their fix in the gallery after the break.

Via: Wreckexotics

Vauxhall Astra VXR Nürburgring Crash with Videos

Some guy in a Vauxhall Astra VXR Nürburgring Edition went to the notorious Nordschleife to try to live up to the name on the side of his car and made a booboo. Hey, no sweat, these things happen all the time.

People get a little antsy in the pantsy, lose their concentration, and wreck their car. The real point of interest here is the potential costs involved (other than that of a damaged car and pride).

Thanks to folks from 'Nurburgring.co.uk', we have a breakdown of some costs - no word on if they're official - involved with accidents at the 'Ring.

Don't forget to watch how it played out in the vids below.

By Phil Alex

Cost of an accident at the Nurburgring:

• Base fee for attendance of armco truck: €150
  
• Removing damaged armco: €10/metre (x2 or x3 or x4 for multiple-height sections)
  
• Replacement armco: €31/metre (x2 or x3 for double/triple height)
  
• Removing damaged armco posts: €5.10 each
  
• Replacing armco post: €39 each
  
• Safety car attendance: €82 per 30 mins (car + 2 people)
  
• Circuit closure: €1,350 per hour
  
• Recovery truck: €190 (inc VAT)
  
• Hospital stay & air ambulance:
  

Everything except the recovery truck is then subject to 19% VAT.

Via: Diariomotor , Costs: Nurburgring.co.uk

Staged Accident Claims Up 46% in the States

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB; I can already see Bruckheimer behind this) reports that "staged accident questionable claims", or QCs, grew a whopping 46% over the years 2007-2009 (probably due to the recession).

As proof that something is awry, BI (Bodily Injury) and PIP (Personal Injury Protection) claims have decreased.

Here's what the report revealed:

"The top five states that generated the most staged accident QCs were: (1) Florida, 3,006; (2) New York, 1,680; (3) California, 1,619; (4) Texas, 792; and (5) Illinois, 433.

The five cities that generated the most staged accident QCs were: (1) New York City, 1,304; (2) Tampa, 562; (3) Miami, 511; (4) Orlando, 422; and (5) Houston, 376."

For more ways on how to avoid (...or avoid getting busted for) these Questionable Claims, the NICB has made some public service announcements for your entertainment that you can check out here.

By Phil Alex

Insurance Survey Says Teen Girls Speed More Than Boys...

Allstate Insurance Company recently did a nationwide survey of teenage drivers (the worst kind) consisting of 1,063 people and found out some not-so-surprising facts.

Of the teenage females surveyed, 48% said they were "likely to drive 10 miles per hour over the speed limit". 16% admitted to being aggressive drivers. On the other hand, only 36% of males admitted the same (liars).

Speeding is important, no doubt, but that's been happening for ages. Let's look at something more contemporary (and able to be resolved through technology): texting and talking on cell phones. Girls took that one home at over 50%, while 38% of boys said they would.

The Allstate Foundation's Meghann Dowd said these answers were "a surprise to many people". Frankly, I don't see how (unless you've been living under a rock).

Another unsurprising response to the survey was that teens were ratting each other out, saying their friends are worse, MOM! Then there were confidence levels at 65%, feeling unsafe with friends driving at 77%, and 23% saying their own kind (teens) are safe on the road.

"This suggests teens recognize in their friends the dubious and dangerous behavior they won't admit to indulging in themselves." Hey, it didn't happen if you didn't get caught, right?

Stacy Sharpe, Allstate's assistant vice president for federal affairs, says that there may be more behind this speeding than meets the eye. "Younger women] are taking on more risks in all aspects of their lives," which could be representative of a growing social shift in "the way girls view themselves and their aspirations."

As far as numbers go, all you need to know for dinner conversation with the neighbors is that the male/female driving quality gap is closing and that auto accidents involving teens are ever-decreasing, even in the face of all this scary mobile technology coming our way.

Allstate said it would not use the information learned to rate teen drivers, and if you believe that I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.

By Phil Alex

Via: WSJ & Allstate

EPIC FAIL: 2011 Volvo S60 "Collision Warning with Auto Brake" System Doesn't Work, Car Crashes at Press Event! [with Video]

It's probably a PR's worst nightmare - having something going completely wrong at a press event. And that's exactly what happened to Volvo at the media presentation of the firm's new S60 saloon in Sweden this week.

See, the Swedes wanted to show journalists how the 2011 S60 sedan's new 'Collision Warning with Auto Brake' system works in action, so they catapulted a test car out of a tunnel at around 35km/h towards a parked truck.

Volvo says this about the system: "Volvo's new Collision Warning with Auto Brake automatically brakes the car if there is an imminent risk of a collision with a moving or stationary vehicle. The system starts by alerting the driver and preparing the braking system for emergency braking. If the driver does not respond despite the warning, the brakes are applied automatically."

But guess what? In this case, the system didn't work and the 2011 S60 smashed into the rear-end of the truck in front of the eyes of dozens of journalists equipped with cameras! Luckily, Volvo had not used a person to drive the car, so no one was hurt.

Some journalists were quick to point out that the system had worked earlier stopping the car before it hit the truck.

Volvo claimed that the pre-production test car "suffered as the result of a human error in preparation" and that the car's battery was at fault, adding that "had a human been driving, he or she would have noticed the system was not operating correctly."

Well, we'll leave the comments to you...

Via: Wired & Jalopnik

VIDEO: Shocking MINI Racer Accident in Australia

A horrific crash involving a MINI Cooper S racer took place this past weekend at the Ipswich Raceway in Brisbane, Australia, when debutant racer Kain Magro, 23, literally cart-wheeled out of control over a barrier and into a crowd of spectators during a racing event that preceded the Ipswich 300 V8 Supercars race.

Miraculously, the driver was unhurt while only two people from the crowd were treated for minor injuries. Check out the video after the break.

Hat tip to Braddo!

Flame on! Fifth Tata Nano Bursts into Flames...

Another Nano, the fifth from since 2009, has gone up in smoke, this time in Gujarat, western India. For reference, the last one toasted itself in Mumbai in late March, 2010. According to Business Week, an email from Tata states that "the car belonged to the company and has no design flaw."

Bursting into flames due to "faulty switches that caused smoke and plastic parts to melt" seems like a possible design flaw to me.

As for an update regarding Tata's Mumbai victim (Tata still can't determine the cause of the fire), Satish Purshotam Sawant wants some compensation for putting him and his family in danger...in the form of Rs 15 lakhs (1,500,000 Rupees or ~$33,700 US) and a Fiat Punto. Tata says no dice: it's either a new Nano or a full refund.

In response, Sawant has filed a First Information Report with local authorities.

"It's been ten days and there's been no response from Tata Motors or Concorde [the dealer where Sawant purchased the car]. I've read in the newspapers that [Tata spokesman] Debasis Ray says technical investigations are on. Isn't it Tata Motors' responsibility to give details of the investigation?"

Yes, yes it is.

We'll see how this plays out.

By Phil Alex

Via: Businessweek and Moneycontrol