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E L L I O T T' S TRAVEL NOTES
Travel news, opinion and analysis

January 15, 2004

Crashed Cars Text Message for Help
There is no good place to have a car crash - but some places are worse than others. In a foreign country, for instance, trying to explain via cellphone that you are upside down in a ditch when you cannot speak the local language can fatally delay the arrival of the emergency services. But an answer may be at hand. Researchers funded by the European Commission are beginning tests in January of a system called E-merge that automatically senses when a car has crashed and sends a text message telling emergency services in the local language that the accident has taken place. New Scientist | Posted 3:40 p.m.
• After this week's New York Times story on telematics, this article suggests that tracking and wireless technology for cars can be useful to passengers, too. Send us your comments.

Forget to Stow Luggage? Pay Up
Smoking, using cell phones and swearing at flight attendants have long been behavior airlines ask passengers to refrain from. But today Japan's revised Civil Aeronautics Law takes effect, making the offenses punishable with fines of up to 500,000 yen. Among the infractions you can be written up for: Failing to stow your luggage. Daily Yomiuri | Posted 3:50 p.m.

• Looks as if Japan is playing catch-up with the U.S., where a "zero-tolerance" policy toward unruly passengers has been in effect since 9/11. Send us your comments.

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• And finally ... avoid an international arrival at Washington Dulles if at all possible. Today's bulletin board buzz says immigration lines are more than two hours long. "Everyone got a long quizzing and heaps got bags searched," one traveler remarked. Posted 4 p.m. | Send us your comments.

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