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You can tell the world economy’s gone sour when local badasses resort to joyriding…in a double-decker bus.

The U.K. Register reports today that three royal subjects–two teenage girls and an adult man–made off with a high-top bus in the town of Amesbury last week in the wee hours.

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The Terrafugia Transition, a light aircraft that can convert into a road-legal automobile, is to go into production after being given a special weight exemption by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

The Transition was designed as a “light sport” aircraft, the smallest kind of private aeroplane under FAA classification, with a maximum weight of 1,320lb. But the manufacturers found it impossible to fit the safety features – airbags, crumple zones and roll cage, for instance – that are required for road vehicles into that weight.

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The statistics are startling. On average, 30 to 40 children die each year in the U.S. due to hyperthermia from being left in a hot car for too long. There have been 462 deaths since 1998, and there were seven deaths between June 13 and June 20 of this year alone.

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American auto dealers were dealt a winning hand yesterday as the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to exclude auto loans from an upcoming consumer protection bill. A competing bill from the Senate has similar language, and the two are now being reconciled in conference committee.

The consumer protection bill came about as a reaction to predatory and poorly regulated lending practices by Wall Street financial institutions. Given widespread reports of shady auto loans being foisted on new- and used-car buyers — particularly military personnel — Congress had initially included auto lenders in the bill.

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Brake, a road safety charity, has challenged the dismissive comments of newly appointed British Road Safety Minister Mike Penning about speed cameras in a parliamentary debate. Questioned on the recent announcement of the government that it would halt investment into new speed cameras, Penning said the government would “strongly encourage” local authorities to use “other methods and effective safety measures” rather than speed cameras. Penning also voiced out concerns that used car drivers considered speed cameras as a “cash cow.”

“It is shocking to hear the new minister making such dismissive comments about speed cameras, which research proves are highly effective in preventing deaths and injuries. Every year Brake is contacted by scores of communities crying out for measures like speed cameras to protect local people and enable them to use roads without fear of speeding traffic”, said Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive of Brake.

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