Edmunds CarPool

If you've been paying attention to the news over the past week you likely heard the tragic story of a California Highway Patrol officer, along with his wife, daughter, and brother-in-law, being killed in a car crash. You may have even heard the chilling, 49-second 911 emergency call from inside the car that leads up to the final moment of impact.

Unlike typical automotive fatalities involving alcohol or a high-speed chase, this accident appears to be the direct result of a jammed accelerator pedal (likely involving the floor mat).

If you're like me, you're probably wondering how a CHP officer, undoubtedly trained in the art of car control, could fail to avoid such a tragic outcome. But after my initial shock I began analyzing the specifics of the situation. Turns out it might not have been so avoidable after all.

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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Lexus, Safety Systems, Talk Back Tuesday

As I write this I've just driven home in a brand new, 2010 Volvo XC60 featuring the new "City Safety" system. This is a system that will completely stop the new Volvo crossover's forward motion, independent of driver input, if you are traveling at less than 20 mph and show no sign of stopping yourself before hitting a solid object (wall, fence or another vehicle). The idea is that even the best of us can have a lapse in judgment or attention, but the car will turn an otherwise costly at best (and potentially deadly at worst) low-speed collision into a non-event. I've tried the system out, and it does indeed work. It can't discern a pedestrian- or motorcycle-sized object, yet, but Volvo says a later version of City Safety will.

This experience comes three weeks after driving a Bentley Continental GTC Speed from Napa to Los Angeles. The Bentley features adapative cruise control, allowing it to match the speed of vehicles in front of it regardless of the speed set in cruise control. These systems have been around for a couple years, but it took that 400-mile jaunt for me to fully realize the extent of its powers. Basically, you can set the speed at just about any velocity (say, 85 mph) and then use surrounding traffic to modulate your speed -- all without ever hitting the brake or gas pedal. Once you get confident in the system's ability (it took me about 100 miles of freeway driving) you realize how much easier it makes long-distant travel. Basically, you just have to steer -- at least until Bentley or someone else comes up with a fully-automatic lane-guidance system. Then you won't have to do anything.

Finally, this afternoon I saw a press release for the new Mobileye Accident Avoidance System. This is an aftermarket modification that can be added to any vehicle for approximately $1,000. Once installed it provides much of the same features listed above, including forward collision warnings and lane departure warnings.

It's clear we're rapidly moving into a world where cars will not only possess advanced radar systems (effectively letting them "see" as well or better than the driver), but they will also make decisions for the driver based on these systems.

Today's question: Is this technology making us better or worse drivers?

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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Driving, Future Vehicles, Safety Systems, Talk Back Tuesday

One of my friends is ready to buy a new car. As you might imagine, when you're in my position and a friend or family member is ramping up for a car purchase the phone often rings (or, as in this case, the "New Email" folder goes bold).

My friend currently owns a 2005 Acura TL, which he purchased because of its combination of luxury, technology and quality. He's a successful lawyer, and financially capable of buying a much more expensive car, but he puts a lot of value on...well, value. When he asked me about the TL four years ago, and told me what his priorities were, I said, "The TL will absolutely serve your needs." He bought it and has had no regrets. But his driving habits rack up the miles quickly, and after four years his TL is pretty worn out.

So he's ready for a new car, and the just-redesigned 2009 Acura TL would be the obvious choice. After all, it still offers all the luxury, technology and quality of the previous version. However, in my friend's words, it is "quite ugly."

His girlfriend drives a 2006 Lexus RX, which he really likes except for one characteristic -- he HATES how the navigation system goes dead once the car is in motion. So he asked me in his email, "You're the car expert. Can you tell me if the new 2010 Lexus RX navigation system can be used while in motion or is it a completely useless upgrade like it has been to this point?" To which I replied, "Lexus=Toyota, and Toyota=nanny-ism. In other words, NO USING NAV WHILE DRIVING!"

This made him very unhappy and put him in a state where I can't reprint his next reply. It also made him write a no-nonsense letter to Lexus; a letter that generated a very corporate response. Follow the jump to read it.

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Categories: Acura, Car Audio and Technology, Honda, Lexus, Safety Systems, Talk Back Tuesday, Toyota, Traffic Safety

"Attention all you lumbering, gas-guzzling SUV drivers out there: It's time for you to do your duty as a good American and trade in that fuel hog for an efficient small car that simply meets your needs -- rather than blatantly exceeds them!"

The above sentiment is likely held by many Americans (and non-Americans, for that matter), but I'm not one of them. I agree it's foolish to own far more car than you really need, especially if it's your daily driver versus an occasional pleasure vehicle. But that just comes down to wasting gas money (especially these days) versus some imagined "moral imperative." If you've got the money to -- literally -- burn and simply must have an SUV, knock yourself out.

But the real point of this blog is to ask that dreaded question: How much safety are you giving up when you "go small" in your car choice? This is a question many SUV and large-car drivers are currently asking themselves, so it deserves a look.

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Categories: Fuel Efficiency, Safety Systems, Smart Car, Traffic Safety

When it comes to product testing you can't take just anyone's word on it. The potential for questionable, if not downright incorrect, results are plentiful. Another way to look at it: There are plenty of ways to get testing "wrong" but very few ways to get it "right." That goes for testing cars, computers and everything in-between, including child seats. Need an example of someone getting it wrong? Well, I don't want to name names (cough-Cosumer Reports-cough), but you all may remember last year's child seat testing debacle.

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Categories: Safety Systems

I worked with the folks over at Parents Magazine to pick the Top Family Cars of 2008. The magazine just hit newsstands, but if you want to save trees you can read the article at the publication's Web site. 

We focused on the items you would expect to find in a solid family vehicle, including strong safety scores, family friendly features and adequate interior space for child-related detritus (car seats, sippy cups, Hanna Montana backpacks). The usual suspects are all here, including the Honda Odyssey, Toyota Highlander and Dodge Grand Caravan. But we also picked winners in the sedan category (Fusion, Malibu), the small car category (Civic) and the value category (Kia Rondo).

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Categories: Driving, Road Trips, Safety Systems

Rather than list off my New Year's resolutions let's talk about the resolutions I'd really like to see the automakers and policymakers embrace and keep. Below are my Top Five Automaker/Policy Maker Resolutions for 2008 (note: may not represent any actual resolutions made by any actual automakers or policymakers, real or imagined):

1. We as automakers resolve to put each and every model on a diet. We understand that technology can usually overcome increasing vehicle poundage by improving power, thus maintaining straightline acceleration (often with a minimal hit to fuel mileage as well). But we also know that a heavier car is harder to turn or stop, to say nothing of the impact (literally) in an accident situation. Thus, we vow to put our vehicles on a diet, which improves acceleration, handling and fuel mileage.

2. We as policy makers vow to acknowledge that we can never completely end automobile-related injuries. We understand that no matter how many safety devices we mandate in an automobile we can never fully address the loose nut behind the wheel. Furthermore, for every additional device we mandate we add complexity, cost and weight (see resolution #1 above) and we realize these devices are in and of themselves something of a safety hazard. After all, really safe cars that nobody can afford don't save lives; neither do really heavy cars that are difficult to slow down and/or tend to plow through other cars/people/buildings when they crash.

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Categories: Domestic Manufacturers Problems/Challenges, Hybrid Vehicles, Safety Systems

I remember when OnStar first hit the market. The advertisements (they had a Batman theme back then) showed how OnStar could help drivers find a local business or the closest ATM. I tried it once in my own neighborhood in a Cadillac test vehicle. This was back around 2001, and I dutifully obeyed the driving instuctions as the OnStar operator directed me right past my local bank -- and ATM -- (about 8 blocks from my house) and on to an ATM about three miles away. I haven't used OnStar for directions since, but I'm willing to believe it's more accurate these days.

Other OnStar selling points include airbag deployment notification, remote door unlocking and even on-the-fly engine diagnostics. All of these features are interesting, but they also follow a common theme -- having somebody, somewhere, know as much or more about your vehicle than you do. Now comes the latest in OnStar "features" -- remote engine shut down. If you follow this link you can learn more and even see a video (crash footage included), but suffice to say OnStar can now disable your engine at will.

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Categories: Safety Systems, Traffic Safety

The Volvo S80 is one of those cars I have a tough time figuring out. On the one hand it's perhaps the most technically advanced sedan on the market, at least in terms of overt -- no, make that glaring -- safety features. Seriously, the collision warning system uses a row of glaring red LEDs, along with a wailing alarm, to hit you over the head with "You're about to crash!" every time you get within five feet of another vehicle. The first time I set it off I was braking hard after a slow-moving truck pulled into my lane. Okay fine, but the second time I set it off I was sliding through a hole in traffic between two other vehicles on PCH. The third time (and every time afterward) I just ignored it. Apparently Volvo's engineers never heard the rule my friend told me when I moved to L.A. 12 years ago. "Remember Karl, in L.A., if your car will fit there you can put it there. It has to fit -- but if it does, you're good." Then there's the blind spot indicator (I got pretty good at ignoring that item, too) and a full battery of airbags at the ready.

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Categories: Safety Systems, Volvo

It's the start of Memorial Day Weekend, and you know what that means. Uh-huh, too many scary drunk drivers taking people out with there 2-plus ton lethal weapons. Normally I avoid the "Don't Drink and Drive!" rant because, well, who among us hasn't already heard it? Of course, I ask myself that question and then I listen to the news reports every Monday night at the end of this weekend and am surprised to find that, apparently, some people haven't heard it. Or else they have but think the chemical reactions between alcohol and their blood/brain are somehow different from the rest of the human race.

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Categories: Driving, Safety Systems, Traffic Safety

After several false starts, the Smart Car looks to finally (officially) be landing on American shores in 2008 (a company called "Zap" has been importing Smarts and selling them in the U.S. for a couple years). For $99 you can reserve your own teensy-tiny city car that is supposed to get 40-plus mpg and cost between $12,000 and $17,000.

When it comes to U.S. buyers' interest in these vehicles, and the level of Smart's success in this country, I'm hearing everything from "it's going to bomb" to "da bomb" from various friends and co-workers. Penske's United Auto Group, the  distributor of Smart's efforts here, is taking the cars on a road show in coming months to promote awareness of -- and interest in -- the little runabout. Here's my take:

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Categories: Fuel Efficiency, Future Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles, Safety Systems, Smart Car

If you've studied automotive history...well, congratulations! You're among a depressingly elite group of people in today's world. Regardless, if you know your history you know that big changes in the automotive marketplace tend to come in cycles. Two of the most dramatic occurred in the 1960s and the 1970s. In the '60s performance ratcheted up as domestic automakers got into a horsepower war; a war that resulted in the most powerful production vehicles of the era. Then, in the early 1970s, a combination of factors aligned to not only end the horsepower war but punish the combatants (both at the manufacturer and customer level). Between political, environmental and safety concerns it was suddenly much cooler (or at least more socially conscious) to drive a Vega than a 'Vette. In case you haven't already noticed, we're on the brink of a similar shift.

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Categories: Domestic Manufacturers Problems/Challenges, Fuel Efficiency, Future Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles, Safety Systems, Talk Back Tuesday

The Volvo XC90 has occupied an honored position in my view of the automotive landscape for the past few years. Since it debuted in 2003 I've felt it's the car I'd most like my family to get into an accident in while driving. No, I don't want my family to have an automobile accident, but if I knew they were about to, and I could pick the vehicle they'd be in, this is it. It's low enough to probably not roll over (unlike too many large SUVs), and it has a high-strength roof that should prove unbendable if it somehow does. Yup, the XC90 has long been my first choice for accident survival.

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Categories: Safety Systems, Volvo

Great story by Christopher Jensen in Sunday's New York Times regarding run-flat tires. In it he reports on the recent class-action lawsuit filed against Honda and Michelin as a result of the Odyssey's Michelin PAX run-flat tire sytem. We had this system on our long-term 2005 Honda Odyssey, and I can personally back-up consumer claims of how aggrevating the PAX system can be when it's time to fix a flat. One of our tires developed a slow leak that kept setting off the warning light for the tire-pressure monitoring system. I called several dealers and then Michelin directly before finding a tire store that had the necessary machine to remove the tire. I drove to the store and waited close to three hours for the repair work because the machine broke half way through and the technicians had to sort of "McGuyver" the tire and plastic innner donut back together after the repair. The bill was $50, and by the time I left I was getting nostolagic for the days when a slow leak was fixed at any tire store in 20 minutes for $20 bucks (or less). If the tire had needed a full replacement it could have been much worse...and more expensive.

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Categories: Honda, Safety Systems, Talk Back Tuesday