These idiots who love to tailgate are so annoying. If only there was a way to back them up. Over in England, Colin Fruze has found a way to keep drivers at bay. The solution was simple and elegant. A flamethrower built into the tail of his scooter.

Anyone who dares to drive too close is flame broiled. At first, the flamethrower was installed on his BMX bike, but now it’s activated with the simple touch of a button on his scooter. The flames shoot out 12 feet behind the vehicle.

A car lot in Austin, Texas finances cars to people with credit that might not normally get them approved. Rather than running around with a tow truck repossessing all the cars that people miss payments on, the dealer has a system that disables the car and can make the horn honk if payment isn’t received.

The lot fired an employee this week that had a password to access the computer that controlled the cars. The man was able to disable over 100 cars and made the horn on some cars honk uncontrollably.

We’ve seen our share of steampunk devices around here, but we’ve never seen a steampunk Harley Davidson. Until now. The bike frame looks like a Steampunk skeletal structure more than a frame. There’s also a cool T-Sable Spring engine and of course a Harley-Davidson transmission.

It goes by the name “Barro”. I would call it a sort of minimal interpretation of steampunk, but it works and makes the bike look as if it’s alive.

If you watch TV, read the paper, or surf the internet you know that Toyota is in a world of hurt over sticking accelerator pedals. Interestingly they are not the only carmaker to have problems with sticking accelerators. Ford recalled the SVT Cobra Mustang in 2003 for a sticking accelerator issue that had to do with the carpet. A stuck accelerator on a blown 390 horsepower sports car is not a good thing.

If you drive a Prius or other car that was covered in a recall or are just afraid your car will speed out of control for no apparent reason, The Decelerator might give you peace of mind. The ting is some sort of electrical thingy that plugs into some unspecified part of your car.

Continental has announced that it will be offering a system that will put Google’s Android OS into your car’s head units. AutoLinQ, is powered by Google’s Android, and is part of a new connected services platform that car makers can choose to install in their vehicles. And why wouldn’t they? Everyone loves Android.

The head units will be able to download Android applications and Continental plans to release an AutoLinQ SDK in the first quarter of 2010 with a specific app store in the 2nd half of the year. The AutoLinQ system will also offer remote connectivity to the car via a mobile view from a phone or PC, so you can check the status or location of a vehicle.

Well look what we have here. When we weren’t looking, Honda has begun to operate its next generation solar hydrogen station prototype at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D America. The idea is that its a single, integrated unit which can be installed in any garage.

This Honda Solar Hydrogen Station is smaller than its predecessor and can produce enough hydrogen through an 8-hour overnight fill for the average daily commute (which is about 10,000 miles annually) for each fuel cell electric vehicle. Pretty handy being able to refill your vehicle overnight and you can sleep well while its filling, knowing that you are lowering CO2 emissions, since you take advantage of off-peak power rates. Daytime charging is solar power.

Here’s one we hope performs as well as they say. The ThermaHelm helmet could be a life saver for many. It boasts a few lightweight chemical packs built into the helmets lining. One of the packs has water and the other one nitrate. Together, in a sudden reaction, they cause a cooling reaction that can last up to 45 minutes.

That is important because it helps improve the chances of the rider’s survival after a crash, as it stabilizes the temperature of the brain. The ThermaHelm is expected to arrive in July of this year with GPS, a video camera and Bluetooth. We hope this one saves many lives.

Tired of having your food fly everywhere after you make a sudden turn? Worry no more. You are a large human mammal who needs to eat at all times, even when behind the wheel of a two ton killing machine. Thankfully some comapnies understand this and even encourage your gluttony with new products.

The Swivel Car Tray parks in your cupholder and allows you to shovel food from it’s built in tray to your hungry Jabba mouth while you roam the commuter wastelands looking for your next caloric adventure.

That sweet Viper was certainly cool, but if you need a sports car that will haul groceries and more than two people, Cadillac has debuted a new version of the powerful CTS-V. Previous versions of the CTS-V were four door cars, but the new one is a coupe.

The new coupe has the same 556HP 6.2 liter V8 engine and can be had with a 6-speed manual or auto transmission. The car also gets magnetic ride suspension and big Brembo brakes.

The North American International Auto Show has kicked off in Detroit and so far, there have been cool cars to suit just about every taste unveiled. My personal tastes lean towards powerful and sexy sports cars like the dead sexy Viper ACR 1:33 that has debuted.

The first time I saw the name of the car I thought it was some sort of 1/33 scale replica or something. The name is an homage to the Dodge racing driver Chris Winkler’s fastest ever lap of Laguna Seca for a production sports car of 1:33:944 seconds.

We’ve seen our share of pocket-sized speed radar detectors, but the new Pocket Radar might be the first that could actually fit in your pocket. Or in the palm of your hand. Of course there are some trade-offs for the size.

Still, the company says that it “forges a new standard in speed radar performance,” and supposedly it can track the speed of everything from a fastball to race car within one mile per hour. We can only take their word for it.

This makes my eyeballs very happy. This is the absolute most realistic BTTF DeLorean we have ever seen. It’s probably the most realistic one that exists. Period. And it’s on eBay. So you could own this baby. Starting Bid is $89,000.00. You might recognize the house too as the photo shoot took place at the Pasadena home that was once Doc Brown’s.

This 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 was built by Gary Weaver, a Back to the Future fan who is also apparently the authority on DeLorean time-machine replicas. He also owns BTTFparts.com, which I’m sure helped tremendously. Even so, this car took six years to complete.

You can’t re-invent the wheel. Or can you? Airtrax has done just that, with omnidirectional wheels that actually work. The new wheels will target industrial vehicles, where all of that rolling forward, back, sideways and diagonally will come in handy.

Who knows, maybe we will see these on passenger cars eventually. Sure would help with getting stuck in the snow.

Ford’s next generation of Sync systems will have yet another useful feature. This time around it’s built-in Wi-Fi, turning your car into a rolling hotspot. You’ll be able to share a 3G connection with a driver-defined list of devices.

Of course you’ll need to use your own 3G card, which will plug into the Sync’s USB port. I’m sure other auto makers will offer Wi-Fi soon as well. Then we really will always be connected.

In early 2010 Audi will be bringing the next generation of the A8 to the masses. You’ll be glad to know that the new vehicle will have a variety of Google services on board. The multimedia interface (MMI) navigation plus features a highly evolved operating concept with a touchpad called the MMI touch.

The system also boasts an integrated hard disk for navigation, phone and audio data along with a graphics processor capable of high-quality 3D images. The MMI system will also analyze navigation data and relay information to the control unit managing the automatic cruise control with Stop & Go, adaptive lights and the 8-speed tiptronic gearbox. Yep, this is like a Batmobile.