Time once again to answer some letters.There were a lot of responses to my column on safe riding (July 8). Most in agreement.Toronto resident Alex Beamish concurs that riding a motorcycle gives you a unique perspective on how bad some drivers really are.

The Audi S4 and BMW M3 finished in a virtual tie with ''Excellent'' overall ratings following tests of four high-powered sports cars for the September issue of Consumer Reports. Both vehicles outpointed the magazine's previously top-rated sports car, the Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

Fewer deaths than initially projected for the second half of 2003, helped by more seat belt use, pushed overall U.S. highway fatalities down for the year to 42,643.

What is it about covered bridges?These leftovers from a bygone era often have all the visual appeal of old rail cars or discarded cracker boxes, yet are fixtures on every tourist route map in North America.

Unfortunately I'm old enough to remember when the Datsun 240Z first came out.I saw a bright orange Z pull up to my high school in late 1969 or 1970, and as it sped off down the drive, I can remember the consternation with which I and my friends viewed the car. After all, weren't Datsuns those little square boxes you saw every now and then stepping lightly through traffic lest they be crushed by the American juggernauts surrounding them?

If you are looking for a full-size sport-utility vehicle that sports a luxury car maker's label without the $100,000 price tag, then you may be in luck.

General Motors has not broken any styling ground with the 2005 Corvette, choosing to evolve the car rather than start a design revolution.Except for one element: the pop-up headlights are no more. They were deemed too old-fashioned for this modern sports car. The new headlight assembly has three projectors and they look like camera lenses under glass.

I am pulling serious Gs as my 2005 Chevrolet Corvette coupe hunkers deep down on its dampers, diving through a recreation of the nasty ''toilet bowl'' section of Germany's famous Nurburgring.

A century ago, vehicles provided little warning of impending mechanical disaster.The first thing likely to make a pioneer motorist aware of an overheating problem was a geyser of steam from the radiator, if the engine hadn't already seized solid.

A crash recently took the life of a young man, an acquaintance of the family. His car failed to negotiate a corner, continuing straight across the centre line into a bus travelling in the opposite direction.