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Parade celebrates astronauts and Corvettes

After Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into outer space in 1961, General Motors executive Ed Cole presented the astronaut with a new 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, customized with a space-age interior. Shepard had brought along his own 1957 Corvette when he reported for the space-training program in 1959. Thanks to a special lease arrangement between the space men and a Melbourne, Fla., Chevy dealership, six of the Mercury Seven astronauts were Corvette owners.

Planning continues for driverless cars

OFFICIALS in California have been looking to the future as they bid to legislate for the arrival of hi-tech driver-less cars. A law passed in 2012 set a deadline of the end of this year for the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to decide how to legally integrate the so-called autonomous vehicles - which were once the stuff of science fiction but could be commercially available by the end of the decade. The latest talks on the matter among roads officials focused on how the vehicles will record actions so the data can be used to reconstruct an accident in an effort to trace the cause.

Texting tragedy recounted by state trooper

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is spreading messages aimed at ending distracted driving in honor of tweet, LaHood shared a touching story written by a Kansas state trooper. In the story, trooper Casey Simoneau recounts taking inventory of a car accident scene. The accident was caused by one driver hitting another car head-on after attempting to pass while texting.