Call for stronger penalties for texting drivers

DRIVERS convicted of causing death by dangerous driving should be given stronger and more consistent penalties, according to road safety charity the Institute of Advanced Motorists has said. An IAM analysis of eleven recent prosecutions involving mobile and smartphone use revealed that the average sentence for causing death by dangerous driving is four-and-a-half years in prison and a disqualification from driving for seven years. In all of the cases analysed, the convicted drivers were found to have lost their concentration due to using their mobile phone.

One Lap of the Web: Famous Porsches at auction, Smokey the Aventador and classic snow cars

Here's a tip: If you're going to have a rev battle with a collection of Lamborghini Aventador supercars, keep clear of flammable foliage. Better yet, don't participate in something lame like a rev battle. If you're in a part of the country that's recently been socked by winter weather, don't think you have to put away the classic car: Hagerty Insurance lists five old cars that make great winter drivers.

'Where They Raced' is SoCal racing history on DVD

Harold Osmer was looking for a master's thesis. This was about 15 years ago, and the car and racing enthusiast was working on his MS in geography from Cal State Northridge when he started to find old race tracks -- hundreds of them -- all over Southern California. Most had long since been plowed under and replaced by tract homes and strip malls.