A former NASCAR employee filed a $225 million dollar sexual harassment, racial discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against NASCAR today. Mauricia Grant, a thirity-two year old African American Woman, worked for NASCAR from January 2005 to October 2007.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and lists twenty-three incidents of sexual harassment and thirty-four incidents of racial and gender discrimination.

 For our Oakland, CA readers, you can trade in your older Segway with the purchase of a newer model at Segway of Oakland.  According to Steve Steinberg, the trade-in program works well for commuters who put in a lot of miles onto their Segways.

Segway Trade-in Program is Incentive for Repeat Customers

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), when comparing a automobile to a motorcycle rider the motorcycle rider has a 35 percent greater chance of getting hurt or dying in a automobile accident compared to a driver in a automobile. When wearing a helmet it is less likely that the motorcyclists will receive a serious head injury and more likely to survive the accident according to the The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Safety helmets for motorcycle users are the law in many states, optional in others. Especially so if the helmet is rated for safety and is properly fit to the wearer. Safety is what it’s all about right.

When wearing a motorcycle helmet it will protect your head against the following, it protects your face, your ears and you are able to have an intercom system to talk to others. A helmet protects your head and your face from injuries. There are many different types of helmets ranging from helmets that have a face guard and helmets that have an open face so you can feel the wind on your face, helmets can be customized to your specifications. Looking for full face helmets can be a challenge. On helmets the face shield can retract by lifting up and down.

Because Motorcycles lack the protection of other vehicles, such as a car or truck, severe injury is much more likely. For comfort and protection they generally have fabric and foam interiors. Motorcycle helmets act as a protection device for your head.

When looking at helmets to purchase don’t let the price determine which helmet you will purchase, you will need to look at the protection factor it can provide and how it is rated. When manufacture design a helmet they look at many different factors, one of the factors is how much impact a helmet can receive without hurting the persons head, many helmet manufactures put padding and made the inner side soft while the outer shell is very hard and very difficult to penetrate.

Trying to find a helmet that fits is very important, when looking at helmets try them on and make sure they fit snug and the feel is comfortable. If you are buying a helmet for a child make sure the helmet fits snug and the child can see out of it and the helmet doesn’t turn around while wearing it, if you are buying a used helmet make sure there are no cracks, the padding is in the helmet and the strap still works.

Even if you don’t choose to wear a motorcycle helmet for safety reasons, there are other reasons. When looking for motorcycle helmets there are so many choices and many different designs, colors and visors. Some manufactures match the men’s helmet with the women’s helmet and other accessories.

Safety helmets successfully reduce the chances of head injury to a great extent. For instance, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has estimated in a report that if you do not wear a helmet there is a 40% chance that the rider will suffer a head injury and a 15% chance of it being a fatal head injury.

The Jackrabbit tonneau cover by Pace Edwards is a retractable tonneau or as some may call a roll top. To briefly describe what a retractable cover is I will try to give you a rough idea. The tonneau itself is made from aluminum panels, which in this case are laminated with a water resistant padded polymer. It has sort of a leather look. The frame is powder coated aluminum. The cover slides in tracks which extend from front to back along your truck bed rails. It rolls up into a canister which is located at the front of your truck box, below the cab rear window. This particular model has the option of stopping every 12 inches along its route so you don’t have to open or close the cover all the way. Water is directed from the cover to the side rails and through drain hoses to the canister and then through drain hose out through small holes in plugs in your truck box.

This cover has been purchase many times and most people loved what they received. Some say it was easy to install others say, actually most said the instructions sucked. Some give advice to read the instructions all the way through, then read them again, while others say make sure you have all the parts then throw the instructions away so you don’t get confused. All in all, customers for this cover did the installation themselves and were rewarded with many compliments for a great looking tonneau cover.

If you have a bed liner you will probably have to do some modifications to install this cover. Usually where the canister sits is a likely place for changes to your bed liner. From what I read I would get some help installing the cover so you don’t end up scratching your truck and just to make the installation a whole lot easier. I have read, a middle age woman installed it herself with little problem. I guess being mechanically incline will help.

A lot of people say their truck bed stays dry while other complained about water getting in between the tailgate and the cover. Just off the top of my head, maybe some extra stick-on weather stripping may help as it does on some other tonneau covers.

Even with lousy directions and water leakage this cover has been highly regarded for its operation and looks.

The Jackrabbit tonneau cover by Pace Edwards is a retractable tonneau or as some may call a roll top. To briefly describe what a retractable cover is I will try to give you a rough idea. The tonneau itself is made from aluminum panels, which in this case are laminated with a water resistant padded polymer. It has sort of a leather look. The frame is powder coated aluminum. The cover slides in tracks which extend from front to back along your truck bed rails. It rolls up into a canister which is located at the front of your truck box, below the cab rear window. This particular model has the option of stopping every 12 inches along its route so you don’t have to open or close the cover all the way. Water is directed from the cover to the side rails and through drain hoses to the canister and then through drain hose out through small holes in plugs in your truck box.

This cover has been purchase many times and most people loved what they received. Some say it was easy to install others say, actually most said the instructions sucked. Some give advice to read the instructions all the way through, then read them again, while others say make sure you have all the parts then throw the instructions away so you don’t get confused. All in all, customers for this cover did the installation themselves and were rewarded with many compliments for a great looking tonneau cover.

If you have a bed liner you will probably have to do some modifications to install this cover. Usually where the canister sits is a likely place for changes to your bed liner. From what I read I would get some help installing the cover so you don’t end up scratching your truck and just to make the installation a whole lot easier. I have read, a middle age woman installed it herself with little problem. I guess being mechanically incline will help.

A lot of people say their truck bed stays dry while other complained about water getting in between the tailgate and the cover. Just off the top of my head, maybe some extra stick-on weather stripping may help as it does on some other tonneau covers.

Even with lousy directions and water leakage this cover has been highly regarded for its operation and looks.

Visiting a Harley-Davidson store. Whether online or offline gives you choices of wide quantity. Ranging from motorcycles, motorcycles parts, clothes, accessories, jewelries, to merchandise with Harley-Davidson logo on it.

The company’s web site alone offers a wide array of products that will surely give every Harley-Davidson enthusiasts a collection of a lifetime. Sounds overrated? No, we are just telling the truth.

Take for instance the company’s official web site. The company’s web site has several pages to visit but let us focus on the products the offer. On the motorcycle, the site offers both the 2006 and 2007 Sportster, Dyna, Softail, VRSC and Touring. Genuine motor accessories are also offered. Other merchandises are sold. To be particular with these here are the following Harley-Davison items:

For men, there is the FXRG functional riding gear, leather collections, gloves, jackets, helmets, eyewear, boots, heated gear, rain gear, vests, shirts, chaps, pants, and other accessories for men. Large sizes are also catered.

For women, items available are FXRG functional riding gear, leather collections, gloves, jackets, eyewear, helmets, rain gear, heated gear, vests, shirts, chaps, pants, and other accessories.

There are also Harley-Davidson items for kids. These are rain suit, finger gloves, helmet, hog bank, and Harley-Davidson sticker book.

For collectors, items such as H-D rage, FXRG functional riding gear, denims, leathers, wet weather gear, cold weather gear, and warm weather gear are available.

Harley-Davidson can also be good as gift items. The site offers men’s perforated fingerless gloves, men’s FXRG midweight leather jacket, men’s stock leather jacket, men’s maverick leather jacket, men’s canal street rain suit, men’s fleece-lined denim jacket, men’s heritage jacket, men’s gear head cotton garage jacket, men’s torque leather jacket, men’s genesis leather jacket, men’s deluxe leather chaps, men’s defiance leather vest, different kinds of t-shirt designs and other item. There are also gift items for women and kids.

Other online stores also offer these products. More often than not, inventories are wider and choices are better. Prices may also be lower.

Auction sites also give better chances of getting Harley-Davidson items in low prices. Sites you are in control of the price at an auction site, it is sometimes better to shop here.

Speaking of savings, there are also Harley-Davidson stores that offer discounted Harley-Davidson product. All you have to do is to watch out for discounts so that you will get cheaper merchandise.

Harley-Davidson is not only limited to motorcycles so every time you visit Harley-Davidson store, you are given more items that you can take home.

Accidents can happen anytime, even if you are an extremely cautious and defensive driver! Most accidents actually occur within a 25 miles of the home, according to a Florida highway spokesman. Sometimes, they happen right in your own driveway. Just ask my sister-in-law who hit her friend’s car in her driveway while backing up! No matter where they occur there are a series of steps that should be followed after an accident.

The Consumer Protection Association of America continually develops a list of recommendations for drivers so that they’ll actually know what they need when a traffic accident occurs. This fine organization takes major steps to increase public awareness regarding traffic safety. Some of the steps are preventative and should be followed now before you’re involved in an accident.

One, have an emergency kit in your glove compartment or storage area. The kit should include a cell phone, pen, pad of paper, and a disposable camera (this is very important). With today most of us carry a cell phone, which takes pictures. As long as you insure that your cell phone is with you and carries a charge this should suffice for the cell phone and disposable camera in the kit. These items are for recording the key information regarding the accident and the scene. You should also have a card with information concerning any medical allergies or conditions you have that require special attention, as well as emergency contact information. It is also recommended by other agencies that you have a number list ed on your cell phone under ICE (in case of emergency), where the attending policeman or EMT can simply hit speed dial on your cell phone to reach your emergency contact. You should also have traffic cones, warning triangles and emergency flares in your trunk.

Two, you need to insure that safety is first! When you are involved in a minor accident and there are no serious injuries, make sure that the vehicles are moved to the side of the road. Do not stay on the road and become an obstacle to oncoming traffic. If you do this, it may result in the occurrence of more and more serious traffic accidents because of your vehicles creating an obstruction in the road. My wife was rear-ended by another woman on an exit ramp and they both left their vehicles on the ramp believing it to be safe and that it was important for the police to see the exact position of the vehicles. In spite of the fact that both vehicles were clearly visible for a minimum of 300 yards and they both had their flashers on, another drive came up and rear-ended the SUV that had originally struck my wife! My wife called me on the cell phone and told me what was going on and I told her to get those vehicles off of the road right away! If the car or cars is not movable, make sure that the other motorists are warned by turning on the hazard lights and setting out flares, traffic cones or orange triangles to divert traffic. If you cannot move the vehicle, do what you can to alert the traffic and then move away a safe distance in case of any further accidents.

When you are involved in an accident with serious injuries make sure that no one is in immediate danger (from fires, falling tress or telephone poles, etc). After you have made sure of this, attend to those hurt. It is important that you not move anyone that has been seriously injured unless they are in immediate danger. Further injury can occur from movement. It is always a good idea to let the emergency response teams attend to and moved the injured whenever possible to help prevent this.

Three, exchange all of the important information with the parties involved. You’ll need to obtain the other driver’s name, addresses, phone numbers (home and work), insurance company, car insurance policy number, driver’s license number, license’s plate number, and make sure to write down a description of each car, the year, make, model, color and any apparent damage. Also, write down what occurred during the accident as soon as possible. Pay special attention to the position of the vehicles, sequence of events and the cause of the damage.

I recommend that you write down all information readily available to you without the cooperation of the other driver such as the license plate number, make, model and color of the car, driver description and brief description of other occupants. Also, obtain any witness information at this time. As long as no one is hurt, most witnesses will soon depart the accident scene, and you want to make sure that you have their information. After obtaining this info, then approach the driver about their information like driver’s license number, insurance information and contact information. This makes sure that the other driver cannot bolt from the scene while you are distracted without obtaining information and it lets them know that you are all business.

Four, take photos of the accident scene and the cars involved. Use your disposable camera or cell phone to document the damage to all the vehicles and the scene of the accident. If there are important points to demonstrate such as long skid marks, hidden entrance/exit, etc. make sure to document these as well. Make sure that the vehicle photos illustrate the total context of the accident so that they will back up your claims. If there are witnesses, make sure to ask them for their name and phone number, and ask if they’ll help you in case of problems with the other driver disputing what actually happened.

Five, file an accident report as soon as possible and obtain a copy of it as soon as it is made available. In some areas law enforcement officials do not respond to traffic accidents unless injuries are present. You should always call the police and request that an officer come to the scene to right up the police report. They will obtain the information from the other drive, if they are uncooperative with sharing the information with you, and they will write down their observations of the scene of the accident, which will further support your claims. If you cannot get a policeman to the scene where your accident occurs, find out how you go about filing an accident report and do so right away. You may have to go to the local police station or you may be able to download accident report forms on-line depending on your locale. A police report usually helps speed up the claims process.

Six, understand your insurance coverage before an accident. The more you know about your insurance coverage the easier the claims process and procedure will go. Does your policy cover towing or a replacement rental car fee? If yours does not and the accident was the other driver’s fault immediately make a claim for this with their insurance company.

The question everyone is typically concerned with is “Who is going to pay for this?” If it is the other driver’s fault you should insist that they pay for the damage. If they agree, get them to acknowledge this in writing if possible. The other drive may be agreeable to pay for the damage now, but after a little time goes by and they are not in your immediate presence they may have a change of heart and decide to try and stiff you (this is why you need witnesses, documentation, etc.).

I recommend calling someone if available to assist you in the accident management process. They will be much calmer and more objective in seeing that everything is carried out. I arrived prior to the police at my wife’s previously mentioned accident when our van was rear-ended. I checked and made sure that everyone was okay. Then I made sure that the vehicles were a safe distance from the road. Next, I obtained all of the vehicle information (make, model, color, license plate number), photographed the vehicles and the accident scene. I then obtained the driver information from the other two drivers involved. After I obtained the car insurance information, I immediately contacted the other driver’s car insurance company and had them open a claim for the damage that had been done to our van. I did all of this before the policeman completed writing his report. I then talked to the police officer and obtained his name and learned the content of his report. When I determined that I was satisfied the content accurately portrayed what my wife indicated had happened, I asked him for the report number so I could obtain a copy as soon as possible. My doing this streamlined the whole process for our claim and it moved through like clockwork.

If you drive a Jeep and you need some replacement parts, you can get them for low prices at Xtreme Terrain Concepts, which specializes in Jeep items. They can be found at www.xtremeterrain.com

Lately specialty license plates are one of the coolest items in several areas around the nation, and it is not so hard to see why. Think about it. No matter what model your car is, any other driver on the road has, in all likelihood, seen hundreds if not thousands of the same car in his or her lifetime. However with custom license plates, it does not matter because you can be recognized anyway. If you have an exclusive and clever license plate, then you will be at the very least the only one in your state to get noticed with that particular message. Now tell me who does not want to be noticed? I sure know that I do.

One of my favorite license plates is the one where the letters form unusual patterns. It went something like “wvwvwvw” once. Now when I think back on this vanity license plate, perhaps whoever got it, did so just to baffle the cops, but still, it was pretty cool. What are even cooler these days are that you can use in some states - custom front plates. Where I live - in California, the law requires you to have the same state issued license plates on both the front as well as the back of your car or truck, but in several places this is not the case. You can actually choose to have anything you want as your front license plate, and that is where you can let your creativity run wild and have a lot of fun.

Among my favorite front license plates are the ones representing your favorite brand of something. In fact I particularly like license plates that advertise the kind of car that they are on. Who knows, for instance, why you are driving that Ford. Perhaps you love it or because you inherited it from your aunt when she passed away, or just simply because you got a fantastic deal on it. However if you put custom license plates that say “Ford” on the front of it, everyone will know that you are driving that car because it is your dream car, and their respect for you will go way up. Sure, everyone loves a woman or a man who reaches out and takes just what they want, someone who is decisive and an achiever, and specialty license plates can let everyone know that that is just what you are. Surely, there is no substitute for that kind of publicity.

The import car show is just one aspect of the burgeoning subculture that has sprung up around the idea of taking import cars and modifying them for street racing in the United States.

The spread of the import car scene can now be felt all across the mainstream from movies such as The Fast and the Furious to video games such as the Need for Speed series.

Although much controversy surrounds every aspect of this subculture, the fact that it is here to stay is probably best exemplified by the growth of the import car show industry. Of course, this growth may have less to do with interest in import cars than with interest in that other topic so near and dear to the hearts of young men.

Go to any import car show, or any web site containing information about an import car show, or pick any magazine about import cars and you will be greeted by the smiling faces and scantily clad bodies of beautiful girls who have come to be known as import models. Import models pose for sexy photos that are found on web sites and in magazines, but they also make personal appearances at import car shows around the world.

The popularity of these girls almost rivals the popularity of the modified cars they are usually photographed posing over. In fact, many of the models who got their start making personal appearances at an import car show now have their own web sites.

Of course, cars and girls have gone together since long before Bruce Springsteen made a career out of singing about their connection to each other. And car magazines have always featured buxom beauties posing on hoods and roofs, so it should hardly be surprising that import car shows continue to make use of attractive young women.

What is different, however, is that where in the past the women who appeared on the covers of car magazines were relatively anonymous and interchangeable, today’s import models have become a prime drawing attraction. In fact, it is not going too far to say that many of the males who attend import car shows are there not to see the latest in car modifications, but their favorite import model. Import car shows have become a showcase for models of the living and non-living types.

The import car shows have become a jumping-off point for a whole new genre of models. And the fascination with these girls doesn’t end when the import car show leaves town. Not only do most of the girls have their official web sites featuring bios, interviews, and, of course, sexy photos, but fan sites dedicated to import car show models have also been popping up over all the internet.

Clearly there is a connection being made between the import car show, the import model and the internet. As these girls become ever more popular, expect to find the import car show becoming an ever more integral part of the import car subculture.

Every car commercial tells you that their car has a five-star safety rating. Does this score really mean anything? What tests are being performed and who does the measuring?

The Organizations

In the United States, there are two organizations that score cars on safety ratings, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The NHTSA is run by the Department of Transportation and is sometimes called the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) or the government five star rating.

Frontal Collision Ratings

The NHTSA gets its data by running a car directly into a wall at 35 mph. The IIHS does a different test, where the impact is offset, and not directly in the middle. The IIHS test does a better job of mimicking real-life accidents. While most cars do well in directly head-on collisions, most real-life collisions are offset.

The NHTSA scores with five stars. Five stars means that there is ten percent or less chance of injury. Injury is defined as something life-threatening or for which you will need immediate hospitalization. Four stars is between eleven and twenty percent chance of injury. Three stars is between twenty-one and thirty-five percent chance.

The IIHS score is not in a five star format. They rate a vehicle as Good, Acceptable, Marginal, or Poor.

The NHTSA and the IIHS scores should be looked at in conjunction with one another. Remember, both these scores only rate what would happen if you collide with another vehicle the same size as yours. However, many crashes involve only one-vehicle, so these tests are useful.

Side-Impact Ratings

Again, the NHTSA and IIHS uses different side-impact tests. The NTSA crashes a giant beam into the side of a car and measures the shock on two male-sized dummies. They then make a star rating based on the chance of chest injury to the dummies. Five stars means less than 5% chance of injury, four stars is 6%-10%, and 3 stars is 11%-20%. They don’t gage the damage to the head in this star rating, but if they think that it is excessively dangerous, they will add a safety note to their report.

The IIHS uses dummies that represent adolescents or small-statured women. This helps assess the safety of people other than men in the car. They also use a larger beam. They score their rating based on injury to the head, neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis, and femur. This is arguably a more comprehensive test than the NHTSA test.

Rollover Ratings

The NHTSA is the only company that does Rollover ratings. Rollovers are often the most fatal type of accident. The NHTSA measures the chance of a car rolling with no external catalyst, and the chance of it happening for a reason (hitting a shallow ditch, hitting the curb, going onto the shoulder). 95% of rollovers are “tripped,” and have some external element.

Recent NHTSA testing has proven what we know about SUVs being much more likely to rollover than sedans or other cars.

Low-Impact Bumper Test

The IIHS performs a low-impact bumper test to see how much repairs would cost you if you gently hit something by accident. They rate the cars accordingly. Although this is not necessarily a safety rating, it will tell you what you can expect for possible repairs for your car and is something to keep in mind while purchasing a car.

When you shop

Considering the safety ratings of cars is important. But it is also important to know how these ratings are measured so that you can make the most informed decision about your purchase. Maybe you want your car to be cool, or to be functional, but most of all you want it to be safe.

Maternity Seat Belt - Whatever the invention or creation that a scientist sets about working upon, you can rest assured that the piece of equipment or gadget involved with the experiment will be given the scientists undivided attention where - priorities lie with the safety issues before any introduction outside the doors of the laboratory.

Sadly, scientists are rarely recognized for the work that they do by the public. Experiments can take month`s even years - where scientists continuously work with their heads down to give us some new toy of some sort etc.

Inventor Steinar Kruse.in 1989 brought to our attention one of the most useful accessories to be used by pregnant women that was to ensure their safety whilst motoring, and that was the Maternity seat belt

Women are now taking to the road with peace of mind and contentment - knowing that the measures taken regarding the Maternity seat belt has been bettered than the existing seat belts used by expectant mothers.

In today`s modern world, the Maternity Seat Belt is a repositioning device designed to hold the lap portion of the vehicle`s existing seat belt low over the pregnant woman`s upper thighs, which is the suggested position for the seat belt. If this particular design by Steinar Kruse had not been sanctioned, then the discomfort could prove to be unbearable for the pregnant woman while driving

However, much controversy and debate has taken place regarding the danger risks involved for the safety of the unborn child, because of how - even a positioned seat belt can tend to rise up to settle on the abdomen. The numbers in pregnant women who have voiced their concern and questioned this matter is quite high. For fear of harming their unborn baby - women tend to stress themselves over all the confusion as to whether they should or should not wear seat belts. Stress is not good throughout pregnancy - so try to relax and speak with an expert.

Maternity seat belts can be purchased in most leading stores. Other options can be to take a trip to a mother and baby group gathering and speak with other expectant mothers who may well be able to help put your mind at rest - with their own personal experiences. The Maternity seat belt was invented with safety in mind - so it may be wise to clunk click every trip. If you have any doubts then talk to your doctor.