Lending a helping rig

In Overdrive’s home base of Tuscaloosa, Ala., in September, truckers pitched in to help police foil a suicide attempt. As a man stood on the ledge of the I-20/59 bridge over McFarland Boulevard, police enlisted haulers with van trailers to build a platform under the bridge. A gallery of Tuscaloosa News photos (tuscaloosanews.com, search “Interstate standoff”) show, among other images, police unrolling an inflatable catch device atop two vans. The man ended up walking away from the edge.

Driving by sonar

Next time you want to scream “Are you blind?” at a reckless four-wheeler, be prepared for an affirmative answer. Technology is enabling blind and other low-vision drivers to navigate road courses in a modified four-wheel buggy developed by Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory, the university’s Transportation Research Institute reports. The buggy features a laser sensor mounted at the front that functions similarly to sonar. It maps the terrain and sends signals to a computer, which provides drivers voice commands and vibrations to help them respond to obstacles.