Edmunds Daily
Car Safety
February 18, 2009
Hi, meet Bryn MacKinnon and Brent Romans, two editors at Edmunds.com. Each Wednesday in the Idle Chat Lounge (read: a dusty couch in the breakroom), they pontificate on a topic that's kinda about cars.
Today's Idle Chat Topic: Our cantankerous editors are at odds about whether seat belts or LATCH connectors are better for securing child safety seats.
Mr. Romans: I've been using a child safety seat for a year-and-half now. Not for me, obviously, but for my 1.5-year-old daughter. And I must say I greatly prefer securing the seat in my car with LATCH connections. I don't know why people bother with the seatbelt method. If LATCH is done right, it's quick and easy. With the seatbelt method, you have to unreel the belt, thread the buckle through the back of the seat and click it in, all while trying to keep everything snug and not letting go. Getting my kid into the car is hassle enough; I don't need more of it.
Ms. MacKinnon: Brent, though you may think using LATCH is the way to go, I respectfully disagree. I've found installing with seat belts to also be quick and easy -- and I switch our car seat in and out of different test cars almost every day as a part of my job. And regardless of how much easier you think LATCH connections make the hooking-in process, LATCH doesn't eliminate the need to put your weight on the seat and pull with all your might to tighten the seat down - my most hated part of the whole thing. Another tick in the seat belt method's favor: Rear seat belts are in every car built since 1968, making installation via seat belt an equal-opportunity, all-inclusive way to travel with the kiddie. Seat Belt Nation. Love it or leave it, babydaddy.
Which install method do you prefer?
(Disclaimer: This post is not intended to be a serious discussion about safety. If you want authoritative advice, read your child safety seat's owner's manual as well as our safety seat story. Also, Bryn and Brent advise to play nice, chew your food slowly and not to run with scissors.)
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- Brent Romans February 18, 2009, 12:00 PM
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- Car Safety, Idle Chat
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- Auto Safety
February 16, 2009
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released its latest list of vehicle recalls. The 2009 Mazda6, Ford Ranger, Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, 2005-2006 Pontiac G6 and 2005-2007 Ferrari F430 are all on the list.
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- Lee Scott February 16, 2009, 3:00 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
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- Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, Ferrari F430, Ford Ranger, Mazda6, Pontiac G6, Recalls, Safety Recalls
February 11, 2009
That big impenetrable feeling you get when driving a full-size pickup can be a false impression. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released its results for a trio of full-size half-ton pickups: the Dodge Ram 1500, Nissan Titan and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (and GMC Sierra 1500). All essentially flunked the side-crash tests.
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- JRiz February 11, 2009, 10:45 AM
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- Car Safety
January 21, 2009
Lately I've nticed that I've been taking advantage of the height-adjustable seat belts in a lot of our test cars. They really help me get my seatbelt placement and comfort just right. My fellow editors (and their passengers) run the gamut in terms of height, and I happen to have a long torso, too, so maybe it's not surprising that I have to adjust the height of the shoulder strap in a test car now and then after someone else has been driving it. But my ability to do so makes me really appreciate that height-adjustable seat belts are becoming more and more common in new cars.
For drivers who are at the extremes of the growth chart -- especially shorter drivers -- height-adjustable seat belts are a key safety feature, given that an ill-placed shoulder strap can be very dangerous in a collision. And couples of drastically different heights will appreciate the ability to fine-tune this aspect of their seating position. On your next test drive, I highly recommend taking a second to see if the car you're considering has this useful feature.
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- Bryn MacKinnon January 21, 2009, 12:00 PM
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- Car Safety
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- car safety, safety features, seat belt
January 14, 2009
Britax, the child safety seat company, recently issued a recall for its Frontier five-point harness-equipped booster seat (pictured at right). The fix is a quick and simple matter of putting a couple of Britax-supplied rubber caps on a metal yoke that keeps the straps attached in the back of the seat. The Recaro Como car seat we're testing had a similar issue early last year. But Britax Frontier owners who haven't registered their car seat with the company wouldn't know there's a problem that needs fixing.
If you're a parent or caretaker and you haven't already done so, I urge you to take the time today to register for car seat recall notices. It won't take long. You can do so at your car seat manufacturer's website.
Or you can register with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to get every car seat recall notice that they issue (about eight per year) via e-mail. At NHTSA's site, you can also elect to receive the other recall notices they have, including tires, cars (you have a choice of all cars or up to five specific cars), motorcycles and school buses.
Chances are you did a lot of research before you chose a car seat for your precious bundle. Don't let all that research be for naught.
For more child safety seat know-how, check out our feature story on car seats.
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- Bryn MacKinnon January 14, 2009, 12:00 PM
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- Car Safety
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- carseats, child safety seat, Safety Recalls
January 10, 2009
Marley cuts a brutal swath of destruction.
The hit movie Marley and Me tells the story of a family and its lovable but psychotic very wayward dog. If you have a similar dog in your life -- or any dog, for that matter -- you know that traveling with your pet can sometimes prove to be a real test of your relationship. Get man's best friend in a car and he can quickly morph into an upholstery-chewing, driver-distracting four-legged foe like no other.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to make automotive adventures with your favorite canine a whole lot easier. Getting up to speed on these tips can help you keep your car's cabin free of unsavory accessories like dog puke -- did you know that there are steps you can take to prevent your dog from getting carsick? Other tips could wind up literally saving your pet's life.
Get the full story by checking out our Top 10 Tips for Traveling With Dogs. Both Fido and your car's beige Novillo leather upholstery will be grateful.
Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor
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- Warren Clarke January 10, 2009, 6:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Driving, Tip of the Day
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- dog harness, pet barriers, pet carriers, road trip
December 31, 2008
Two days ago, a friend of mine was complaining that she just paid $3,500 to a Nissan dealer to replace a "cracked engine block." Or perhaps it was "some seals that broke," she said, clearly unfamiliar with anything automotive. But the car, only four years old, had just 17,000 miles on it.
That didn't seem possible. How could a car fall apart that quickly? Did she have a lemon on her hands? She went through the ins and outs of her nightmarish experience with a local mechanic and the dealer's service department: How they insisted that she must have overheated her car even though she swore that she hadn't, how the warning lights never came on, and how the dealer fixes didn't "take" and she ended up at the inconveniently located dealer repeatedly.
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- Joanne Helperin December 31, 2008, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Maintenance
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- Car Maintenance, Nissan Quest, Oil Change
December 29, 2008
Ford recently announced that they would offer a backup camera on 75% of their vehicles by the end of 2009. I am a big fan of rear view cameras, and I consider them a must-have safety feature.
Until recently, most consumers could only get them as part of a pricey navigation system, with the camera using the screen of the navigation system to display the rear camera's image. That is now changing as we are seeing more vehicles with integrated information screens in the dash and the expanded availability of screens built into the rear view mirror, like what Ford is offering. These types of installations, which don't require expensive optional navigations systems, reduce the cost of this invaluable safety feature down to as little as a few hundred dollars.
Consumer Reports did a very revealing study showing that even a typical car (never mind an SUV or pickup truck) has a sizeable rear blind spot, which only a camera can eliminate. I am glad to see the more car buyers will be able to benefit from this safety feature.
Read the full Ford press release after the jump.
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- Lee Scott December 29, 2008, 12:00 PM
- Categories:
- Car Audio and Electronics, Car Buying, Car Safety
- Technorati Tags:
- Backup Cameras, Blind Spot, Ford, Safety
December 24, 2008
The latest addition to our growing stable of investigative stories is Confessions of a Car Thief. It's a peek into the world of an auto thief -- his motivations, education and techniques -- that can help empower you as a car owner, give you some tips on what to do, and what not to do to decrease your chance of having your vehicle stolen.
For this 4-part series, Senior Features Editor Joanne Helperin tracked down a reformed car thief who was willing to reveal the tricks of his trade, what happens to a car once it's stolen and what you can do to protect your car from thieves.
Shopping for a car this holiday season? Check out the other articles in our series: Confessions of an Auto Finance Manager and the story that started it all: Confessions of a Car Salesman.
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- Bryn MacKinnon December 24, 2008, 12:00 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, Tip of the Day
- Technorati Tags:
- auto security, auto theft, car security, car theft, stolen car
November 12, 2008
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently launched an automated system that sends instant, free alerts to consumers about safety recalls via RSS or email.
The NHTSA estimates there are about 600 vehicle recalls each year. And while many consumers know it's important to get recalled vehicles repaired as quickly as possible, one in four motorists still ignores recall announcements. Transportation officials hope that making it easier to get information about the latest recalls will prompt more people to act.
RSS feeds are available via XML, MyYahoo! or Google; email alerts are customizable by topic and/or by a specific make and model. To sign up, go to www.safercar.gov and look for the "Defects & Recalls" section on the right-hand side.
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- Laura Burstein November 12, 2008, 12:15 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
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- NHTSA, Safety Recalls
November 5, 2008
So the battle on road to the White House is over... finally. But the country's roads play host to another contest that reaches its peak in November: that of man vs. deer. And the deer are winning.
New data from State Farm Insurance says that "animal strike" claims have increased almost 16% in the last five years. In fact, some 1.2 million such claims were filed just in the last half of 2007 and the first half of 2008. It turns out that such collisions spike radically November each year (during the breeding season), according to the Highway Loss Data Institute. Deer aren't the only animals involved, but they are the most common.
The most affected states? Texas, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Rural roads or roads with speed limits over 55 are the most likely to see an animal/vehicle crash, particularly when it's dusk or night. And while most collisions don't result in deaths, fatalities have been increasing as well. (Of course, not wearing a seat belt contributed to many of those deaths.)
So as Caribou Barbie retreats to the wilds of Alaska to lick her wounds, be careful that a more life-threatening battle doesn't ensue between Bambi and you.
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- Joanne Helperin November 5, 2008, 6:00 AM
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- Car Safety, Driving
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- Highway Loss Data Institute, State Farm Insurance
November 4, 2008
Too many drivers don't give much thought to winter driving or worse, think they don't have to. Especially those with all-wheel-drive vehicles such as SUVs. The common "wisdom" among these fools seems to be "I've got all-wheel drive, anti-lock brakes and stability control -- I'm immune to the laws of physics." I'm guessing that is why I would often see -- when I lived back in snowy New England -- SUVs and pickup trucks spun out on the side of the road, a befuddled expression on the driver's face.
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- johnnyturbo November 4, 2008, 6:00 AM
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- Car Safety, Driving, Tip of the Day
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- Driving in Winter
October 8, 2008
A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute indicates that some of the booster seats designed to protect children in a car crash don't perform effectively -- and could actually injure their occupants.
In fact, 13 of the 41 booster seats tested did so poorly on the test that the IIHS says it can't recommend them, including models from Cosco, Safety 1st, Evenflo and Graco. Click here for the details on "Best Bets," "Good Bets" and "Not Recommended" models.
Volvo is now happily touting the fact that its own height-adjustable integrated booster cushion (a world first) made the "Best Bets" list. It comes standard on the XC70 and V70 models. You go, Volvo.
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- Joanne Helperin October 8, 2008, 6:00 AM
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- Car Safety
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- Booster Seats, Child Passenger Safety, IIHS, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
September 29, 2008
The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS) recently added 11 more vehicles to its "Top Safety Pick" list for 2008. The 11 vehicles are: small cars '09 Honda Civic*, '09 Mitsubishi Lancer*, '09 Scion xB, '09 VW Rabbit, midsized '09 VW Jetta and Passat, large luxury '09 Lincoln MKS, midsized SUV '09 Ford Flex and '09 Honda Pilot, small pickup '09 Toyota Tacoma and midsized convertible '09 VW Eos. These 11 vehicles are added to the
existing list of 51 vehicles that have earned this distinction.
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- Lee Scott September 29, 2008, 9:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Buying, Car Safety
- Technorati Tags:
- Electronic Stability Control, ESC, IIHS, Safety, Top Safety Pick
September 17, 2008
With impending changes in the way crash tests are being conducted in the U.S. and Europe, one factor that still seems debated by safety experts is the most effective speed at which to conduct those tests.
A recent article by analyst P. Aswinkumar at Frost & Sullivan says European frontal impact tests - which are currently done at 64km/hr (39.8 mph) - aren't being conducted at high enough speeds. Although accident studies say the current speed covers a large percentage of serious and fatal injuries in Europe, ADAC, the largest independent automotive club in Germany, found that just increasing the crash test speed from the standard 64km/hr to 80km/hr (49.7 mph) drastically increased the risk of serious injury to both the driver and the car.
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- Laura Burstein September 17, 2008, 11:45 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
- Technorati Tags:
- Automotive Safety, Car Clubs, Crash Testing, NHTSA
September 10, 2008
If you're trying to save money by buying a used car instead of a new one, watch out. According to Experian Automotive, which compiled the data from DMV departments across the country, almost 15% of the 1.3 million cars that were severely damaged by collision, flood, or fire in the first half of 2008 have received "clean" titles that don't identify that damage. Meaning, of course, that these vehicles can be sold to unsuspecting customers. Called "title washing," this illegal practice often happens when unscrupulous dealers (or auto brokers) take the cars over state lines, where they get new titles for them.
With peak hurricane season now underway, it's likely we'll see more of this type of behavior. So to protect yourself, read our updated article, How to Avoid Buying a Flood-Damaged Car. It's got some really useful tips for spotting these cars and what to do if you find out too late.
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- Joanne Helperin September 10, 2008, 11:30 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Used Cars
- Technorati Tags:
- Flood-Damaged Cars, Flooded Vehicles, Used Cars
Ford may be on the cutting edge of in-car music integration, but it's still dealing with the fallout of other technologies that don't work like they should. Today the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) -- the government's automotive arm of the law -- issued a consumer warning: Approximately five million people with Ford, Lincoln or Mercury vehicles have ignored (or haven't received) voluntary recall notices warning them that faulty wiring in their cruise control switch can lead to a fire at any time -- whether the vehicle is moving, parked, or even completely off. Whoa. If that happens in your garage, your whole house could go up in smoke.
Here's a list of the affected vehicles. They're anywhere from 4 - 16 years old:
1. 1993 - 2004 Ford F150
2. 1993 - 1999 Ford F250 (gasoline engine)
3. 1993 - 1996 Ford Bronco
4. 1994 - 1996 Ford Econoline
5. 1997 - 2002 Ford Expedition
6. 1998 - 2002 Lincoln Navigator
7. 1998 - 2002 Ford Ranger
8. 1992 - 1998 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car
9. 1993 - 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII
10. 1993 - 1995 Ford Taurus SHO with automatic transmission
11. 1994 - Mercury Capri
12. 1998 - 2001 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer
13. 2001 - 2002 Ford Explorer Sport and Explorer Sport Trac
14. 1992 - 1993 and 1997 - 2003 Ford E-150-350 gasoline or natural gas vehicles
15. 2002 - Ford E-550 gasoline engine vehicles
16. 1996 - 2003 Ford E-450 gasoline or natural gas vehicles
17. 1994 - 2002 Ford F-250 through F-550 super Duty trucks (gasoline engine)
18. 2000 - 2002 Ford Excursion (gasoline engine)
19. 2003 - F250 - F550 Super Duty, Ford Excursion
20. 1995 - 2002 Ford F53 Motor home chassis
21. 2002 - 2003 Lincoln Blackwood
If you have one of these vehicles, don't wait. Get your local Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealer to repair it ASAP, and in the meantime, Ford says, park your car outside and don't use the cruise control. (Although not using it will not prevent the problem from occuring long term.) If you've got questions, ask the dealer or call 888-222-2751. More detailed information from Ford here.
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- Joanne Helperin September 10, 2008, 5:30 AM
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- Car Safety
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- Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, NHTSA, Vehicle Recall
September 3, 2008
Nothing inspires confidence like having your new car recalled for a potentially dangerous problem.
There are often recalls for a small number of cars or for issues that don't affect safety, but this past week, both GM and Hyundai issued some biggies.
GM is recalling almost 89,000 2008 Buick Enclave, 2007-2008 Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia vehicles due to potential snow and ice build-up on the windshield wipers, which could cause them to fail, creating serious visibility issues. Even if you don't live in one of the so-called "cold weather states" under the recall, you may travel up into the mountains and have some cause for concern. The recall is set to go into effect in October.
Hyundai is also recalling 65,000 2008 Elantras equipped with the 2.0 Beta engine because of a fuel pump problem. NHTSA says this could cause poor engine starting, hestitation, or other performance issues that can increase crash risk. This recall is in effect now.
In both cases, contact your dealer for the free fix asap. If you ever want to check whether your car -- new or old -- has been recalled, just go to
our tool. It will tell you not only about recalls, but also any technical service bulletins that have been issued and when to perform which type of regular maintenance on your car.
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- Joanne Helperin September 3, 2008, 6:44 AM
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- Car Safety
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- General Motors, GM, Hyundai, Vehicle Recall
August 13, 2008
It's common knowledge that tires must be replaced when the tread has been worn down (the penny test is a great way to check your tires' tread depth). But it's a lesser-known fact that tires have a shelf-life after which they can be dangerous to drive on, even if they're brand-new or have plenty of tread left.
Experts say 6 years is the maximum that tires should be in use, provided they were stored properly after they were manufactured. The problem is that, as tires age, the tread is more likely to separate from the rest of the tire, which, if it happens on the road, can cause a sitation much more difficult to recover from than a tire blowout. (Check out this dramatic 20/20 report on the subject to see footage of a tire losing its tread and how dangerous it can truly be, plus hear the stories of people it happened to.)
So, how do you know how old your tires -- or the tires you'd like to buy -- are? You've gotta crack the code.
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- Bryn MacKinnon August 13, 2008, 12:00 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Maintenance
- Technorati Tags:
- Car Safety, Tires
We're a tired nation. Long work days, long commutes, kids keeping you up at night -- whatever. Admit it: You've sometimes caught yourself taking those "one-second naps" and jerking yourself awake just in time. (Damn if the Starbucks isn't closed just when you need it.)
Mercedes-Benz is combating our chronic case of road fatigue with its newly developed Attention Assist. It's actually pretty cool technology. As soon as you start driving, it develops a "profile" of the way you drive based on a constant flow of sensor data, including steering wheel movements, speed, linear/lateral acceleration, indicator and pedal operation, and environmental measurements like side winds and uneven road surfaces. The onboard electric control model constantly compares how you're driving to your profile, and if it determines that you're overtired, it warns you with an acoustic signal and a display on the instrument cluster that says, "Attention Assist. Break!"
Yeah, I know, I know. Good drivers don't need nannies. Just another safety technology that jacks up the price, right? At least that's the response of some of our staff here. But hey, it's a Mercedes. It's already full of technology you probably don't need and may never really use, but pay through the nose for, anyway. Think of it this way: Everyone knows drunk driving is dangerous, but studies show that "drowsy driving" is even more so -- causing some 25% of all serious car crashes. It's hard to measure, of course, because there's no equivalent of the breathalyzer for sleepyheads.
Big brother is coming down the pike in so many forms: Black boxes that record everything you do in the moments before an accident, transmitters that can send your odometer to the insurance company, GPS units that can tell people -- who knows who? -- where you are at all times, and so on. All these "nannies" are pretty much as inevitable as seats belts, stability control by 2012, and red light cameras. The only question is, where do you stand on the subject? Is more safety always a good thing, or not?
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- Joanne Helperin August 13, 2008, 6:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Driving
- Technorati Tags:
- Attention Assist, Drowsy Driving, In-Car Technology, Mercedes-Benz
July 12, 2008
As reported in our earlier Consumer Advice article, the federal government is going to change the way its crash tests are conducted and rated. This will make it tougher for cars to achieve that 5-star safety rating that so many automakers tout when advertising their cars.
Beginning with the 2010 model year, cars will feature an overall safety rating that combines results from frontal, side and rollover tests. The upgraded system also will include new frontal crash tests, and a new side pole test to simulate wrapping a vehicle around a tree. Female crash dummies will be added to the tests, so women and larger children are represented, and new testing for leg injuries will be done.
And here's something really new: Emerging safety technologies will have their own rating be added so consumers will know whether specific crash avoidance technologies (electronic stability control, lane departure warning systems and forward collision warning systems) are optional or standard features on new vehicles.
So what's the bottom line?
For a long time, NHTSA lagged behind in its crash test scoring, and we always felt that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's ratings, while different, were more true-to-life. The new NHTSA tests go a long way toward bringing the 5-star rating system up to snuff, and the addition of the emerging technologies rating is an excellent feature that will encourage automakers to include more of these technologies as either optional or standard. (Under another federal ruling, stability control will be a standard feature of all cars sold in the U.S. by 2012).
For more information on the new changes, click here.
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- Joanne Helperin July 12, 2008, 5:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Buying, Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
- Technorati Tags:
- Car Safety, Crash Tests, IIHS, NHTSA
June 25, 2008
Yesterday, J.D. Power and Associates released their U.S. Automotive Emerging Technologies Study, in which they polled 19,000 people across the country.
Some of the interesting highlights: 72% of consumers said they were "definitely/probably" interested in having hybrid technology. After they were told that it would cost them $5000 extra, that figure dropped to 46%...
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- Joanne Helperin June 25, 2008, 1:14 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
June 20, 2008
I am not a techie person. I’m no luddite, but I’m definitely not a first-adopter. Case in point: Last week, in preparation for
complying with California’s hands-free law, I decided to find out if my cell phone (which I’ve had for about 2 years -- insert blushing smiley face here) has Bluetooth. After some searching (and some help from Edmunds.com’s tech-guru Brian Moody, more blushing smileys), I’ve discovered that it does!..
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- Bryn MacKinnon June 20, 2008, 6:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
June 18, 2008
Summer is high book-reading season. If you're tired of the Oprah list, or want something other than fiction, here are some reads you might enjoy.
First is Car Advice for Women (and Smart Men), by the husband and wife team of Alexander Law and Susan Winlaw. Unlike Lauren Fix's book, this one has no illustrations, just a couple of charts and lots of information, all broken down into easily digestible bits...
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- Joanne Helperin June 18, 2008, 11:35 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
June 11, 2008
Lauren Fix, a.k.a. "The Car Coach," just published a new book titled, Lauren Fix's Guide to Loving Your Car: Everything You Need to Know to Take Charge of Your Car and Get On with Your Life.
Lauren is the host of Talk 2 DIY Automotive on the Do-It-Yourself Network and has authored several automotive books. Her latest tome is designed to give you "Car Smarts" and to make good decisions on buying, driving, maintenance, and safety, and to save money...
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- Joanne Helperin June 11, 2008, 4:37 PM
- Categories:
- Car Maintenance, Car Safety
June 9, 2008
In a gloomy economy, one can’t help but think that manufacturers are taking shortcuts to create new vehicles. But that’s not true according to
J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study.
The study is an industry standard for new-vehicle quality measured at 90 days of ownership...
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- Holly Reich June 9, 2008, 4:49 AM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Maintenance, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
June 6, 2008
On July 1, 2008, California will join the handful of other states (plus Washington, DC and the Virgin Islands) that ban use of a cell phone while driving, unless you use a hands-free device like Bluetooth or a regular tethered headset.
Whether this new law (here) will make driving near other cell phone-using drivers safer remains to be seen, though some studies have suggested that it will. But the fact remains that if you live in California, have a cell phone, and don’t already own a headset that goes with it, you’ve got less than a month to comply.
Lucky for you (and for anyone outside of California who would like to drive hands-free, too), there’s Freeheadset.org, a non-profit organization created in 2003 after site creator Matt McAdams witnessed a fatal accident caused by a cell phone user...
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- Bryn MacKinnon June 6, 2008, 6:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
June 5, 2008
Although I'm happily back in the saddle of my new 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid (the battery's working fine, thanks!), I couldn't pass up the opportunity to drive home from the office in our long-term 2008 smart fortwo passion. Edmunds readers are giving it rave reviews, but the buzz aound the office after our Gas-Sipper Smackdown was that it is a real dog.
I admit I was nervous about riding in such a small car...
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- Joanne Helperin June 5, 2008, 3:24 PM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, The Car I Drove Last Night
May 19, 2008
I recently took a trip to Carmel, California in our long-term 2008 Hyundai Veracruz AWD. There are so many little reasons to like this car. In fact, it's the first time I've ever considered buying a Korean vehicle as my personal car.
Sure, I had a couple of gripes, which you can read on the Straightline blog: The "Cool Box" in the console doesn't cool that well, it's got too much wind and road noise for my taste, it could handle the bumps with more grace, and the horn wouldn't work. But overall, this is a car I really enjoyed and would recommend. Here's why:
First: It's good-looking. I like the styling and didn't feel like I was driving a boxy-looking SUV or egg-shaped minivan. I know it's a matter of personal taste, but I really like its lines, particularly the sporty-looking back end.
Second: It's spacious. We lowered the third row and filled the cargo area with the following: a large cooler, a large plastic container filled with non-perishable food, a large rolling duffel bag, an carry-on rolling bag (airline size), four backpacks, a guitar, a mandolin (don't ask!), a men's suit bag, a couple of shopping bags, a bunch of heavy jackets and sweater. Yeah, we overpack, don't we?!
We were still able to see out the rear view. In fact, the rear view on this car is one of its very best features. The only thing that really hinders it, though, is the DVD screen. Not much you can do about that.
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- Joanne Helperin May 19, 2008, 4:55 PM
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- Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
May 15, 2008
My 2-year-old daughter and I have spent a good deal of time with the Recaro Como convertible car seat now, and I’m pleased to report that we both are very happy with its performance in most areas. We’ve tested it in a large percentage of our long-term test vehicles, including the 2008 Honda Accord, 2007 Saturn Aura, 2008 Buick Enclave, 2008 Cadillac CTS, 2008 Hyundai Veracruz, 2007 Honda Fit, 2008 Pontiac G8, and 2005 Volkswagen Jetta. I thought it was time for a little update on how it's been working out.
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- Bryn MacKinnon May 15, 2008, 4:28 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
May 2, 2008
Each year the
Automotive News Pace Awards reward innovation in the automotive supply chain.
This year, three of the 12 awards focused on parking and backing up.
While I have used a lot of the new technology for parking, I have yet to see anything this comprehensive. But, I admit, I feel a bit worried about the future of my teenagers. With all this hi-tech stuff will they be able to park in a pinch, I asked Dr. Bill Sharfman, Director of Judging for the Pace Awards.
“There is no substitute for learning how to operate your car properly,” he stressed.
However, he explained that these innovations will lead to a safer, less anxiety provoking and more confident driving experience.
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- Holly Reich May 2, 2008, 12:14 PM
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April 29, 2008
A few weeks ago, racing and sport seat specialist, Recaro, sent us two of its latest child safety seats to try. While Bryn's toddler has been spending time in the Como Convertible toddler seat, my 45-pound, seven-year-old daughter is the perfect size to road-test Recaro's Vivo high-back booster.
The Vivo, designed for children 3-12 years, 30-100 lbs, retails for $99.99, and provides ultra-thick side bolstering and head protection wings, as well as a height-adjustable back and washable micro-fiber and velveteen cover.
We plan to try the Recaro Vivo in a variety of test cars and monitor its ease of installation, along with comfort commentary from the Peanut Gallery...
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- Kelly Toepke April 29, 2008, 2:37 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
April 14, 2008
NHTSA's done a lot of good work under Chief Nicole Nason, about whom we wrote only weeks ago. Here's another new annoucement that The Driving Woman is applauding: At NHTSA's consumer site, Safercar.gov, you now can signup for automatic e-mail alerts if the government recalls tires or child safety seats.
This is great news, because so many people miss these recall notices...
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- Joanne Helperin April 14, 2008, 5:37 PM
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- Car Maintenance, Car Safety, Rants and Raves
April 10, 2008
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety just released its crash tests of 2008 midsize sedans. Hopefully you can read the graphic above.
The bottom line: All the cars were significantly improved over the IIHS test done in 2004...
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- Joanne Helperin April 10, 2008, 4:00 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
April 9, 2008
The under approach.....so to continue the discussion from
yesterday on how to hold a steering wheel, in my google search I came up with the
JD Power article titled Steering for Optimal Control.
The JD Power piece supports the low riders. As quoted; ”The current recommendation for hand placement (if you imagine your steering wheel is a clock) is anywhere between 7 o'clock and 9 o'clock for your left hand and between 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock for your right hand. Although it may feel strange to have your hands so low on the steering wheel, this actually provides better control than the "10 and 2" method.
I asked Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing at Edmunds Inc. (no relation to Edmunds), for his opinion. He pointed to a line in the article that states, "A lower hand position (8 and 4 or 7 and 5) makes it less likely that you will overcorrect during an emergency maneuver, which is what often causes spins, slides, and rollovers."
His take? "This line of reasoning is an outgrowth of the popularity of SUVs. Since high CG [center of gravity] vehicles like these don't handle well in emergency maneuvers and are the source of most of the rollovers they allude to, this improper hand position is being advocated to compensate. You can't input very much when holding the wheel in this way--so you can't roll the thing over--or so goes the reasoning. They're trying to dull someone's natural reactions."
Furthermore, Edmunds says this theory is not taking into account the fact that stability control systems are becoming standard on SUVs (to pass the government rollover test) and will be required on all vehicles in a couple of years.
"Overcorrecting isn't an issue with stability control-equipped vehicles, so this advice seems directed at older SUVs," he said. "I agree that 12 or 6 is bad, bad, bad, but 7 and 5 is nearly the same as 6. I can't follow the logic on this one."
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- Holly Reich April 9, 2008, 7:35 AM
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April 4, 2008
Recaro, the company that has been designing racing and sport seats for race teams and carmakers around the world for decades, added five new models to its child safety seat lineup this year (here), and we were able to secure one of the new seats to put through our battery of real-world test scenarios (read: I’m using it as my primary car seat in Edmunds long-term vehicles to shuttle my toddler around for a while).
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- Bryn MacKinnon April 4, 2008, 5:03 PM
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April 1, 2008
Since y'all were so helpful in Michelle's quest for a new car, which resulted in her happy purchase of a 2008 Scion xD, I thought I'd ask for your input for my next purchase. The lease on my 2005 Toyota Highlander is up in July. Once I crunch the numbers, it may turn out that buying out the lease is a good idea, but in the meantime, I want to consider other contenders.
My most important criteria: seating for 6 or more (for carpool when necessary), safety (good crash test scores, side curtain airbags, stability control), and a low price...
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- Joanne Helperin April 1, 2008, 4:36 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
March 13, 2008
NHTSA's tests a vehicle's roof strength with a special crush test.
I came across this excellent article about a new IIHS crash test report on SUVs in USA Today. Here's an excerpt:
"Now comes a sobering conclusion in a report to be released Wednesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that suggests safety advocates and plaintiff's lawyers have been correct all along...
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- Joanne Helperin March 13, 2008, 1:26 PM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
February 29, 2008
I’ve been sitting here staring at my monitor in stunned silence for a while now. The more I delve into the stories behind the bill that President Bush signed into law yesterday, the more overwhelmed I become. They’re stories of anguished parents who’ve had to cope with the death of their son or daughter when the child was backed over after he or she happened to walk into the colossal blind zones modern vehicles often have. Hearing how often a small child is injured (48 times a week) or killed (2 times a week) in this way in the U.S...
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- Bryn MacKinnon February 29, 2008, 6:25 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
February 28, 2008
Nissan Murano trumps the tests!
This week the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released new crash test results for nine 2008 and 2009 model SUVs.
The best overall performer is the
2009 Nissan Murano earning Top Safety Pick designation on good ratings for front, side and rear crash protection as well as standard stability control. The
Kia Sorento earned the lowest rating of poor for side impact protection, even with standard side airbags. The
Jeep Liberty and
Jeep Wrangler were rated marginal in the side test. And the biggest surpise? The Hummer H3 didn’t get a good rating for frontal or side crash protection and it’s rated poor for rear crash protection.
The good news? SUV safety is improving...
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- Holly Reich February 28, 2008, 3:08 PM
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February 15, 2008
It’s important to note that GM is quite involved in causes beyond building cars. Read on…
According to The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among children ages 3 to 14. In 2003, 1,591 children ages 14 and under died and 220,000 were injured in crashes.
The sad fact is, half of the children that die in crashes are completely unrestrained...
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- Holly Reich February 15, 2008, 5:13 AM
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February 4, 2008
If you know someone who has -- or might have -- this infant car seat, please let them know about this important recall. Evenflo is doing the right thing by recalling the car seats before anything catastrophic happens.
From the Associated Press:
Evenflo Co...
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- Joanne Helperin February 4, 2008, 5:08 PM
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January 28, 2008
Our view from a cabin at Mammoth Mountain, California.
I hadn't skied in 20 years, but I felt that I owed it to my two kids -- who had never seen a real snowfall in their lives -- to make the 5+ hour journey from L.A. to Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort. Since it was time to bring my 2002 Honda Odyssey in for service anyway, I took the car in the day before we left to make sure it was in tip top shape for the journey. I also bought snow chains.
Apparently, "chains" now come in two varieties -- the old fashioned kind that are actually made of chain link, and "cables," which are made of, well, cable. After striking out at one auto parts store, I found the ones I needed at Pep Boys. I also picked up a snow brush/ice scraper and a can of de-icer spray. I thought at the time that perhaps it was overkill. Boy, was I wrong.
As we climbed the eastern Sierras and the air turn colder, snow began to appear on the hill peaks. But then, simultaneous with our vacation, southern Cal was hit with a really wet storm that lasted for days: inches of rain for L.A., and buckets of snow up in the mountains. It snowed the whole time we were there. Great skiing, but challenging driving.
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- Joanne Helperin January 28, 2008, 4:55 PM
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- Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night
January 4, 2008
Hey folks.
You've probably seen Edmunds'
CarSpace -- where consumers can discuss any automotive-related topic from shopping for cars to the specifics of makes and models. Now, the people in charge of CarSpace (the Community team) has just launched a new service to answer all your questions. Appropriately called
Edmunds' Answers, i
t's a social question and answer system where any member can ask an automotive question. Members of the community, including Edmunds employees, can answer these questions...Continue reading...
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- Joanne Helperin January 4, 2008, 5:09 PM
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- Car Maintenance, Car Safety, Dealing with Car Dealers, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
January 3, 2008
Approximately 30,000 high-speed chases happen on American roads each year, killing some 300 people and injuring scores more. Now G.M.'s OnStar, which helps to locate and recover stolen vehicles, is hoping to lower those numbers by incorporating a new feature, called Stolen Vehicle Slowdown (SVS).
What does it do?..
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- Joanne Helperin January 3, 2008, 2:24 PM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
December 27, 2007
A group from the office took our 2008 Mazda CX-9 for a spin the other day, and we were pleasantly surprised by the rear-view camera. Instead of seeing a rear-view image on the navigation screen, as is typical, the image appeared on the rear-view mirror. Immediately, this made sense to us...
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- Joanne Helperin December 27, 2007, 12:55 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
December 21, 2007
Honda Odyssey Ranked Best in Bumper TestsBottom line. It costs a lot to repair a bumper on a minivan. We’re talking a range of $5,000 to $8,000. And that’s for driving at low speeds...
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- Holly Reich December 21, 2007, 2:13 PM
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- Car Maintenance, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
December 4, 2007
OK all you moms and grandmoms, the new scores are out from the fed's National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), and if you're hoping to buy a minivan, these scores may hold the same excitement as the call-back sheet in "High School Musical." And just as in that all-pervasive flick, there may be few surprises.
First, the 2008 Toyota Sienna didn't make the top cut, because its frontal driver crash test score was four stars instead of five. Not bad, but still...
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- Joanne Helperin December 4, 2007, 5:20 PM
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November 27, 2007
Porsche has been running driving classes at Alabama's Barber Motorsports Park for years -- the idea being to give new Boxster, Cayman and 911 owners some much needed instruction in proper car control. These classes have always been co-ed, but Porsche instructors noticed that women in the classes were uncomfortable, sometimes even intimidated, around the male drivers, even when those men were boyfriends or spouses.
In response, the company created new one- and two-day courses just for women -- the Women's Performance Course. One of our contributing editors, Jackie Liu, recently went to the school...
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- Erin Riches November 27, 2007, 5:40 PM
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November 25, 2007
Just for kicks I am a regular at
Weather.com. Time and time again I've learned my lesson -- despite technological innovation, the elements are unpredictable. When we left from New York to drive 600 miles to Detroit for Thanksgiving the weather was balmy -- nearly 60 degrees. Over the week, I saw that the low was to be a tolerable 45 degree. I believed the hype until the temperature dropped and weather.com missed again.
First came the hail on Wednesday...
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- November 25, 2007, 7:02 AM
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November 8, 2007
I recently discovered these cute-as-can-be kits for women. While the Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit has a few car-related items [instructions on how to change a tire and jump a battery, light sticks (instead of the matches shown below), water bottle, emergency blanket, accident record], it won't substitute for a full-blown emergency kit.
Instead, its charm is in everything else that's inside, including a professional emory board; breath mints; antibacterial wipes; band aids and alcohol wipes; portable wipes (for taking out stains); two squares of Ghiradelli chocolate (!); Dove invisible solid antiperspirant; eyeglass cleaning tissue; a sewing kit with scissors, buttons, and safety pins in a tiny, pink plastic case; a lip balm and aromatherapy headache remedy from Balm of Gilead...
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- Joanne Helperin November 8, 2007, 11:32 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
November 1, 2007
Dealing with tired and distracted drivers is a popular topic of discussion, as people work longer hours, acquire more multi-tasking gadgets and sit in longer and more frequent traffic jams. Practical solutions thus far have focused on driver screw-ups -- i.e., lane departure warning systems that provide an audible alarm or a tactile nudge if a camera mounted on the car determines that your vehicle has begun to veer out of its lane.
Another way to address this could be to turn the camera back on the driver. Saab issued an interesting press release today detailing its efforts toward a production application of such a system, and the company is about to start an eight-month trial with a 9-3 SportCombi wagon...
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- Erin Riches November 1, 2007, 4:58 PM
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October 23, 2007
In what I see as a smart move, the California DMV has created a DMV channel on YouTube (www.youtube.com/californiadmv). Although it's targeted at California teens, teens in any state can go online and get useful tips about taking driving tests, routine maintenance, speed and weather, passing, what kids usually do wrong during their driver's license test, and so on. Lots of safety info there, but also lots of information on how to navigate the process of getting a license. (I'm sure there's variation from state to state, but still, the rules of the road aren't all that different.) The DMV YouTube channel has 54 (!) video clips ranging from 1-5 minutes. Seems to me that's a great way to connect to young people.
The CA DMV has also acreated a MySpace page (www.myspace.com/californiadmv) that lets users link to all the online services the DMV offers, such as setting up appointments, renewing drivers' licenses, and so on...
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- Joanne Helperin October 23, 2007, 4:35 PM
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October 16, 2007
A Congressional resolution, put forth by Pennsylvania Congressman Charlie Dent and Senator Robert Casey, has designated the third week of October "National Teen Driver Safety Week" in an effort to bring attention to the fact that auto accidents are the leading cause of death for teens. The special week is also hoped to inspire community-sponsored programs to educate teens about how to drive safely.
Car companies are getting in the act: Ford Motor Company will be sponsoring
teen driving clinics in L.A. today and tomorrow while Toyota will be offering a
teen safe driving course for free on Southern California's Santa Anita Raceway from October 19th through the 21st...
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- Caroline Pardilla October 16, 2007, 12:37 PM
- Categories:
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October 12, 2007
When you're pregnant, is it safe to drive yourself around what with the purported dangers of seatbelts and airbags? It can be if you know how to position the seatbelt and your seat properly. Fortunately, a new Edmunds article, "Driving Pregnant: Seatbelts and Airbags," offers some keys to car safety while driving pregnant.
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- Caroline Pardilla October 12, 2007, 4:41 PM
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October 11, 2007
The
IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) just released their newest stats on front and side crash tests for six midsize SUVs. The midsize SUV’s tested were: Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner, Nissan XTerra, Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Chevrolet Trailblazer.
One conclusion: some of these SUVs performed worse than many cars. While SUVs are safer now than they were just a few years ago (especially with the addition of electronic stability control) not one of the six SUVs earned the Institute’s
TOP SAFETY PICK due to low ratings for protection in side and/or rear impacts.
Following, my boiled down version of the report. I have no comments on this as yet – all I can say is that just when I was feeling secure about driving in SUV’s…
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- Holly Reich October 11, 2007, 1:43 PM
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FRONTAL OFFSET TEST: 2008 NISSAN PATHFINDER — GOOD
The
IIHS (insurance Institute for Highway Safety) just released their newest stats on front and side crash tests for six midsize SUVs. The midsize SUV’s tested were: Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner, Nissan XTerra, Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Chevrolet Trailblazer.
One conclusion: some of these SUVs performed worse than many cars. While SUVs are safer now than they were just a few years ago (especially with the addition of electronic stability control) not one of the six SUVs earned the Institute’s TOP SAFETY PICK due to low ratings for protection in side and/or rear impacts.
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- Holly Reich October 11, 2007, 12:20 PM
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September 25, 2007
I used to like driving small cars. They are agile in and out of traffic, easy to park, and often peppy for their size. But then I had kids, and in came the minivan and the SUV...
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- Joanne Helperin September 25, 2007, 3:18 PM
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September 10, 2007
I don't like to reprint press releases, but this one was too cute to change, so here goes:
Dogs and Cats Everywhere Jump for Joy as Progressive Introduces Pet Injury Coverage, Included At No Extra Charge For Customers With Collision Coverage
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--If you’re like most of us, nothing gets your tail wagging faster than hitting the open road with your "master" at the wheel and you in the passenger seat, the windows rolled down, the wind in your fur.
But does it ever get stuck in your paw
– I mean craw –to think that if something happens and this fancy metal cage with the four donut-shaped rubber chew toys that you’re riding in slams into something (your master would call this a "car accident"), your master’s car insurance policy would cover everyone in the car…except YOU?
Well, finally, there’s one car insurance company that is stepping up and giving man’s best friend the stature we’re due. The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies announced that it’s gone to the dogs
– and cats. In most states, a Progressive policy with Collision coverage will now cover its customers’ canine and feline four-legged family members.
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- Joanne Helperin September 10, 2007, 10:53 AM
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September 5, 2007
Teen safety is a hot topic. And it should be. In the words of a speaker at the Teen Safety Summit at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan:
"...
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- Joanne Helperin September 5, 2007, 5:40 PM
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August 31, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dorel Juvenile Group (DJG) is issuing a voluntary safety recall for certain Cosco®, Safety 1st® and Eddie Bauer® brand child restraint systems manufactured during November 2003 through December 2005. Although no injuries have been reported, there is a potential for the harness adjustment strap to loosen during use. If this were to occur, the harness may be loose around the child, possibly increasing the risk of injury in a crash. We feel that it is important to replace the harness adjustment strap.
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- Joanne Helperin August 31, 2007, 9:24 AM
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August 28, 2007
RIP to my 1998 Saturn SW2 wagon, totalled in an accident this summer. My husband and son walked away, but the car was beyond repair. The cause? An unprotected turn. (The photo above is a different accident.)
Here is the lesson learned (beyond the obvious one of always wearing your seat belt and using belts and booster seats for younger kids....)
Making an unprotected turn is a game of automotive chicken. My husband is a very cautious and safe driver, but in this instance, he miscalculated. When the intersection light turned yellow, he had been expecting a protected left green arrow.
"It always goes to a green arrow at that point in the light cycle," he told me, "so while I was a bit out in the intersection waiting to turn left, I just kept expecting the arrow. When it turned yellow instead, it surprised me, but I had to make a move. The SUV that was coming the other way sped up to get through her yellow light. She didn't think I'd turn, and I didn't think she'd run through the intersection. We both lost. The only good news was that she happened to be an EMT, so we had the best possible help right after the accident."
Let's just say that when it comes to unprotected turns these days, we either wait for the green arrow or don't go unless the approaching cars are about 10 miles away.
A few days after the accident, we paid a mournful visit to the local wrecker's to gather our belongings from the Saturn. It was the first time that either of us had had a chance to see the extent of the damage, or to see how close the point of impact was from my 7 year-old son in the back seat...
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- August 28, 2007, 6:36 AM
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August 23, 2007
Just when you think you're comfortable as a driver, your teenager starts going to driver's ed. classes.
Let the critiques begin....
"Mom, if you put your hands there on the steering wheel, your wrists are gonna be broken if the airbag deploys."
Well, gee, so much for putting my hands at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock, I guess.
"Mom, you're supposed to come to a complete stop at this corner."
OK, so I did roll slightly forward as I checked traffic.
"Mom, that's illegal!! You'll get two tickets, one for speeding and one for running a yellow light."
Sorry, I was in a hurry to get her to, um, driving school on time.
The truth is that even though I haven't had a ticket or accident in over twenty years, I'm not the world's greatest driver. I get impatient, and there's a reason that my Dad called me "Leadfoot" as a teenager.
My attitude towards brakes? Wear them out; that's what brake pads are for.
The annoying thing is that my daughter is usually correct. Her pronouncements remind me that I've developed careless habits over the years. Anyone can get too comfortable behind the wheel after decades of driving and thousands of miles on various odometers.
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- August 23, 2007, 7:15 AM
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August 22, 2007
Before Antisplash Tires...................................and after!
While the technology for sapping latex from trees is still a hands-on affair, the technology of tires has evolved considerably from 1895 when Andre Michelin first introduced pneumatic tires on a car.
A little over a decade later, in 1908, Frank Seiberling invented grooved tires for improved road traction. (Those grooves have evolved into sipes and treads that provide a multitude of functions.) And tires were white (like latex) until 1910 when B.F. Goodrich Company invented longer life tires by adding carbon to the rubber, invented the first synthetic rubber tires in 1937 made of a patented substance called Chemigum...
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- Holly Reich August 22, 2007, 7:58 AM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
August 17, 2007
When the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) first began conducting its 31-mph side-impact crash test, which simulates a hit from a pickup or SUV, it was soon clear that this was a more demanding test than the government (NHTSA) side-impact test. Initially, the Subaru Forester and Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute twins were
the only small SUVs to earn the top "Good" rating in the IIHS test, and many manufacturers were forced to make major structural changes to their small sedans -- unlike in a head-on impact, there's little in the way of crush space when you get hit from the side.
Now, however, we've begun to take it as a foregone conclusion that new and redesigned sedans, SUVs and minivans will have what it takes to get a "Good" rating. However, another batch of test results released by the IIHS this week provides a reminder that not all cars on the road are yet up to par in this regard, even if they're very expensive...
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- Erin Riches August 17, 2007, 5:23 PM
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August 8, 2007
Last week, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released a report on low-speed bumper strength tests it conducted on entry-level luxury sedans. The IIHS conducts these tests on all popular, mainstream cars, and they're a way of evaluating likely repair costs in low-speed front- or rear-end collisions -- as opposed to the actual safety of the vehicle.
The revelation in this batch of tests was that luxury-brand cars sustain just as much damage as non-luxury cars in low-speed impacts...
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- Erin Riches August 8, 2007, 3:08 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
June 18, 2007
We ran across an interesting and amusing blog post on Autoblog today. A UK auto insurer aimed at women known as Sheila's Wheels has come up with the Sheila Driving Heel. If it's ever actually produced, and is sufficiently attractive to wear, this could be the shoe we've all been waiting for: It's a real high-heel, but that heel folds away to transform the shoe into a flat, thus allowing for safe pedal operation and, for those so inclined, heel-and-toe downshifts in manual-gearbox cars.
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- Erin Riches June 18, 2007, 6:05 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
June 14, 2007
The auto insurer Allstate just released its 3rd annual "Best Drivers Report," in which it ranks the 10 safest cities in the U.S. based on the per capita frequency of car accidents. Here they are:
Top 10 Cities with average years between collisions per licensed driver
1. Sioux Falls, S.D. - 13.7
2...
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- Erin Riches June 14, 2007, 5:41 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
June 13, 2007
We knew this day would come. After the big push for wireless earpieces and Bluetooth-equipped cars to enable "safer," handsfree cell phone use while driving, people are putting their hands back into the picture. And it's not just teenagers sending text messages, it's middle-aged adults with Blackberries.
Although NHTSA has yet to link text messaging (at least not separately from other cell phone-related activities) with any hard numbers for vehicle crashes or fatalities, the issue is now on the pop culture radar, as evidenced by this June 12 article in USA Today...
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- Erin Riches June 13, 2007, 5:30 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
June 4, 2007
Hey readers! Want to give your Dad a gift for Father’s Day that will appeal to his inner car guy? It’s very easy to be creative when it comes to cars. And you can go from practical to more exotic...
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- Holly Reich June 4, 2007, 1:16 PM
- Categories:
- Car Maintenance, Car Safety, Rants and Raves
May 17, 2007
A new report from HealthyCar.org, a project of the Ecology Center, indicates that some of the best-selling child seats in the country are "out-gassing" dangerous chemicals. If you think that's being alarmist, you should check out the details on their Web site, where you'll also find out about the toxic chemicals being thrown off by the materials your car is made of. (That "new car smell" comes from somewhere, you know...) When you see a report like this, it's tempting to think, "Oh, everything nowadays is chemical, and there's no way to know what's really going on," and just forget about it. It's easier to adopt a fatalistic attitude...
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- Joanne Helperin May 17, 2007, 1:50 PM
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- Car Safety
May 16, 2007
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has just awarded its Top Safety Picks for 2007. These cars were picked for providing superior overall crash protection among the vehicles in their class. To qualify, vehicles must earn the highest rating of good in all three Institute tests
— front, side, and rear...
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- Joanne Helperin May 16, 2007, 12:45 PM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
May 10, 2007
Today, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and Evenflo jointly announced a massive recall of the Evenflo Embrace Infant Car Seat/Carrier (pictured here). When used as an infant carrier, the handle can unexpectedly release, causing the seat to rotate forward. When this happens, an infant inside the carrier can fall to the ground and suffer serious injuries...
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- Joanne Helperin May 10, 2007, 10:27 AM
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- Car Safety
May 3, 2007
From Janette Fennell, President, KidsAndCars.org:
Tune in tomorrow morning, Friday, May 4, to NBC’s The TODAY Show for an excellent segment about the dangers of blind zones behind vehicles. This piece is supposed to air @ 8:15 am.
The information they are airing will inform millions of viewers about the dangers we all face when backing our vehicles and will show solutions so we do not have to continue to back up blind.
April has been just an unimaginable month regarding the number of fatal backovers. We have documented at least 16 fatalities...
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- Joanne Helperin May 3, 2007, 12:28 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
April 27, 2007
As always, there's lots that happened in the past week. Here are some interesting tidbits:
If you haven't already heard,
Toyota surpassed General Motors in global auto sales for the first time, during the first quarter of '07. While GM may regain the #1 spot in subsequent quarters, no one doubts that, over the long haul, Toyota will reign...
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- Joanne Helperin April 27, 2007, 1:37 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage
April 25, 2007
A group called Make Roads Safe has published a press release claiming that one-third of healthy Americans who die each year while traveling overseas are killed in traffic accidents, based on the group's analysis of 2004-2006 U.S. State Department data. In 73% of those cases, said Americans are driving or riding in an automobile.
The press release unfortunately doesn't get into hard numbers -- like the total number of Americans killed in car crashes in countries outside the U.S...
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- Erin Riches April 25, 2007, 1:27 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
April 19, 2007
Every year the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS, releases report on the vehicles with the highest and lowest death rates.
You can read the full report in PDF form, but these are the top 10 vehicles with the highest and lowest death rates per million registered vehicles for the 2001-04 model years during the 2004-05 calendar years. Got all that?
Top 10 Lowest Death Rates (fewer than 20 deaths/million)
1. Chevrolet Astro
2...
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- Erin Riches April 19, 2007, 7:08 PM
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- Car Safety
April 12, 2007
I just returned from a vacation in Puerto Rico, where the
2007 Hyundai Accent is marketed instead as the Brio -- "determination" or "vigor" in Spanish. My family and I, desperate for a rental on Good Friday, paid $60 for one day's use of this tiny coupe. I was apprehensive packing my kids into the back of a two-seater, but it's all that was available.
We didn't have much opportunity to test out the Brio's vigor, but we did get a great chance to test out the brakes: We were traveling down the main road, not more than a few blocks from the car's home at the Charlie rental car company, when a dodo traveling in the opposite direction decided to make a left turn into a parking lot -- directly in front of us. We (my husband, actually) slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. We slammed head-on into the right front wheel of his car. The airbags didn't deploy, but we all got a good jolt.
We stared in disbelief at the other driver. He stared back in disbelief at us.
I made sure the kids were OK, and the other driver as well. His wheel, and possibly his axle, were badly damaged. There was no doubt his car wasn't drivable for more than the a few blocks back to the rental car company. Our car? A small scrape/dent in the front bumper. Not bad, considering. I was
so glad I had insisted on paying an extra $10 for two booster seats. My kids are 5 and 8, and the 8-year-old is not yet 4'9", which is the height he should be for an adult seat belt. Those booster seats saved their necks -- literally. And thanks to this incident, I no longer have to tell my son why he has to wear a booster even if some of his friends don't. (Moms, take note.)
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- Joanne Helperin April 12, 2007, 3:42 PM
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- Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night
March 27, 2007
GM realizes that cars should be more like women and have that "sixth sense." In fact, this is what they are tagging their newest techowizardry, Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication (V2V). This technology helps vehicles detect the position and movement of other vehicles up to a quarter of a mile away and instantly warns the drivers with chimes, visual icons and seat vibrations. If the driver doesn't respond to the sensory alerts, the car can bring itself to a safe stop, avoiding a collision...
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- Joanne Helperin March 27, 2007, 1:39 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
March 14, 2007
A while back we
blogged about the
New York Times article on "sleep driving" cases, in which people taking Ambien drove in their sleep, often with scary (and sometimes hilarious) consequences. Today, the FDA ordered the makers of 13 "sedative-hypnotic" drugs to strengthen the warnings on their labels and, later this year, issue guides to consumers. Those drugs are: Ambien; Butisol sodium; Carbrital; Dalmane; Doral; Halcion; Lunesta; Placidyl; Prosom; Restoril; Rozerem; Seconal; Sonata. In addition, there will be warnings about other "sleep activities" -- people are apparently eating and having sex while fully asleep...
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- Joanne Helperin March 14, 2007, 1:38 PM
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- Car Safety
March 13, 2007
I happened to walk past the Recaro booth at the 2007 Geneva Auto Show, and in addition to all the aftermarket seats the company offers (for people who want to swap out their car's factory seats), there was a display dedicated to Recaro's line of car seats and boosters. One thing that struck me was that each seat -- from this front-facing toddler seat to the rear-facing infant seat below -- had serious lateral bolstering. Plus, they were all equipped with removable liners with extra bolstering so that you can keep a small child snug and then remove it as he/she grows into the seat.
I know such features are not unheard of on deluxe car seats, but if I were about to become a parent, I'd definitely be looking at seats like these...
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- Erin Riches March 13, 2007, 4:38 PM
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- Car Safety
March 2, 2007
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has come out with new vehicle crash tests, this time for front, rear, and corner impacts at slow speeds (3 and 6 mph).
Excerpt: Only 3 midsize cars among 17 the Institute tested — the Mitsubishi Galant, Toyota Camry, and Mazda 6 — withstood 4 bumper tests with $1,500 damage or less in each test. Some cars sustained more than $4,500 damage in just 1 of the 4 tests, and 2 cars rang up more than $9,000 total damage.
"Our tests measure how well bumpers protect cars from damage in everyday bumps," says Institute president Adrian Lund. "The whole purpose of bumpers is to keep damage away from headlights, hoods, and other parts that are expensive to repair, but this purpose was accomplished in only 2 of the 68 tests we conducted...
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- Joanne Helperin March 2, 2007, 3:03 PM
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- Car Safety
February 28, 2007
You may have seen our article on the 2008 Volvo V70, set to be unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show on March 6. Of course, the new wagon is stylish and should be quicker and smoother-riding than the current-gen V70. But if you're a parent, the more important changes are in the backseat.
Not only will the V70 be available with Volvo's famed built-in booster cushions, those cushions will be height-adjustable. The lower setting is for big kids who are 42 to 55 inches in height and weigh between 49 and 79 pounds...
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- Erin Riches February 28, 2007, 5:38 PM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
February 21, 2007
Drunken behavior and a night at a karaoke bar used to be the accepted way of life in Japanese culture. But after a drunk driver killed three children in the southern town of Fukuoka last year, consumer groups are taking drunken driving seriously.
The number of heavy drinkers in Japan has more than doubled in the last 30 years and a recent survey found that nearly 2% of the population were alcoholics. Police are rallying to raise the maximum prison sentence for drunk driving to five years and double the fine to the equivalent of $8,200 U.S...
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- Holly Reich February 21, 2007, 2:40 PM
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- Car Safety
February 16, 2007
There's plenty of interesting and important safety news from the government this week.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the federal governments vehicle safety arm, released
New Crash and Rollover Safety Ratings for 2007 Vehicles. Twenty-four vehicles rated "high" in the crash tests, which is great, but NHTSA expects to revise their "star"rating system soon to provide more useful information to consumers, and to better distinguish between the vehicles...
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- Joanne Helperin February 16, 2007, 11:38 AM
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- Car Safety
February 13, 2007
Here at Edmunds, we're really big on child passenger safety, and since this is National Child Passenger Safety week (Feb. 11-17), we thought we'd remind you of some tips for keeping the little ones safe:
- Kids 12 and under should be properly restrained in the back seat every single time they ride in a vehicle
- Read both your car seat manual and owner's manual to properly install a car seat. Get it checked if you have any doubts...
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- Joanne Helperin February 13, 2007, 12:31 PM
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- Car Safety
February 5, 2007
The 2007 Ford Edge crossover received a "Top Safety Pick" award on Monday from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. To quality for the highest rating, vehicles must earn the highest rating of "good" in all three Institute tests, which include front, side, and rear crash protection.
The Edge's twin, the Lincoln MKX received the same award since the vehicles share the same underpinnings. The award applies to vehicles built after January 2007 because Ford modified head restraints to improve rear crash protection...
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- Kelly Toepke February 5, 2007, 12:13 PM
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- Car Safety
January 30, 2007
This was an interesting story on NPR's Marketplace last week: Carnegie Mellon University has teamed up with AAA to create a searchable traffic database called Traffic STATS (STatistics on Traffic Safety). It's a fairly complicated tool, but the long and the short of it is that you can find out how likely you or a friend or family member are to die in a motor vehicle collision.
You can run a report specifying age, gender, driver or passenger, type of vehicle, time of day, day of the week, month of the year and region of the country. A few interesting tidbits:
-Men are twice as likely to die in a car accident as women...
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- Erin Riches January 30, 2007, 6:45 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
January 19, 2007
Wow, this is a biggie.
We knew that Consumer Reports hit a nerve when it published the
results of infant car seat tests that rated all but two of the seats as dangerous in side impact crashes tests. The car seat industry as well as NHTSA were in an uproar...
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- Joanne Helperin January 19, 2007, 1:27 PM
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- Car Safety
January 16, 2007
The federal government is ready to toughen up the rules for automotive safety. For starters, they want to improve automobile crash tests and buff up the five-star vehicle safety rating system.
“Safety is not a static concept. Our approach to constantly improving vehicle safety can’t be either...
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- Holly Reich January 16, 2007, 9:04 AM
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January 14, 2007
Recent findings from
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that
teens driving themselves to school might be risky business. Researchers
collected data from crashes from September 2001 to August 2004 in
Fairfax County, Virginia, a Washington DC suburb with the largest
public school system in the state. The review found that crashes (more
likely to involve a teenage girl behind the wheel) increased during
school commute times.
"The students were crashing into each other," reports Anne McCartt, author of the study...
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- Holly Reich January 14, 2007, 11:38 AM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
January 10, 2007
I am old enough to remember the days before cell phone service, when driving alone late at night or taking a road trip meant checking in with a relative before departure, and if I had car trouble on such a journey, hoping a benevolent stranger would drive by or walking to a pay phone to call AAA or a sympathetic friend.
Perhaps I'm alone in my awe over the powers of the information universe, with companies like OnStar that are like Big Sister programs, looking out with high tech capabilities and the human touch of English and Spanish operators. OnStar, by far is the giant in passenger communication, boasting millions of customers that own GM products. After visiting the OnStar command center in Detroit I feel like, for better or worse, someone's watching.
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- January 10, 2007, 9:29 AM
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January 8, 2007
The auto and child safety community is in a bit of an uproar about the
new Consumer Reports article, which blasts most infant carseat carriers as being unacceptably dangerous. They tested the kind of infact carrier that comes with a base. The base stays in the car, while the carrier portion is used to transport the baby. They tested the seats at the maximum weight limit for each one...
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- Joanne Helperin January 8, 2007, 9:51 AM
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December 28, 2006
Bad news for used car buyers: You have to be extra careful that the car you want to buy wasn't flood damaged in hurricane Katrina.
New study by Experian, which provides vehicle history data, found that thousands of cars have been retitled by unscrupulous dealers who bring the cars across state lines for "title washing." That means the cars title won't say "Salvage" or "Flooded" like flood-damaged cars should. About
half the cars that are brought across state lines are given clean titles. Experian estimates about 7,000 cars are on the loose that could have real safety problems with their electrical systems, brakes, etc...
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- Joanne Helperin December 28, 2006, 2:14 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Dealing with Car Dealers, Rants and Raves
December 20, 2006
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), which crash tests cars and issues "best picks" as well, has just released the results of a new test of "minicars," which weigh 2,500 lbs. or less. By contrast, a typical "small" car weighs 300 lbs. more, and a typical midsize car weighs some 800 lbs. more than a minicar. Minicars include the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, Scion xB, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Chevrolet Aveo, and MINI Cooper. The Versa, although technically a "small car," was included in the study because it is marketed against the minicars. The cars were subjected to front, side, and rear testing. When the dust had cleared, only the Versa, the largest of the bunch, earned "good" ratings in all three categories - but that's only when it was equipped with optional side airbags. The Versa was followed by the Fit and the Mini Cooper. Here's a
complete look at the rankings.
As you would expect, models with side airbags did better than models without -- Except for the Kia Rio and Hyundai Accent, which faired poorly even
with their standard side airbags. Ouch! The lesson here (other than perhaps staying away from those two models), is to make sure that the car you buy has side impact airbags, whether it's a minicar or a larger car, like the Toyota Prius. You need to check if side airbags are standard or optional. If they are optional,
buy them.
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- Joanne Helperin December 20, 2006, 4:57 PM
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- Car Safety
December 12, 2006
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety just released a new report revealing four main risk factors for car crashes:
- Speeding -- nearly triples the odds of being involved in a crash
- Driving while drowsy -- also nearly triples the odds
- Taking your eyes off the road for more than two seconds, for any reason, nearly double the odds
- Aggressive driving -- More than doubles the odds of crashing
OK, OK, we've heard it before, right? But this holiday season, plenty of people will crash on the road because they didn't actually pay any mind to these ideas. Clearly there are other risk factors, like drinking...
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- Joanne Helperin December 12, 2006, 6:56 PM
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- Car Safety
December 6, 2006
Imagine watching a Buick Rainier launch into the air, turn on its side, then land with the bone-chilling sound of crushing metal on a concrete floor.
That’s what I witnessed yesterday, as General Motors demonstrated its new $10 million, state-of-the-art rollover crash test facility at their Milford Proving Grounds outside Detroit. The 38,500 square-foot lab is a big step forward in vehicle safety testing, and will help GM develop air bag sensors that will help protect occupants and prevent them from being ejected from the car if it rolls over...
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- Joanne Helperin December 6, 2006, 4:12 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
November 21, 2006
Today the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced its Top Safety Picks for 2007. The criteria this year was different -- and tougher than last year's. First, only vehicles with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) were considered, because it "significantly reduces crash risk, especially the risk of fatal single-vehicle crashes, by helping drivers maintain control of their vehicles during emergency maneuvers," according to the IIHS. Second, SUVs were considered eligible for the first time, because the Institute has now evaluated their
side crashworthiness, in addition to front and rear crashworthiness...
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- Joanne Helperin November 21, 2006, 4:37 PM
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- Car Safety
November 20, 2006
You've probably heard that the 2007 Ford Edge, the 5-passenger midsize crossover SUV that means so much to the company's future, has been delayed. It was supposed to go on sale in early November. Now it looks like you won't be able to buy one in early December. Originally, the story was that there were difficulties on the production line that Ford needed to smooth out...
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- Erin Riches November 20, 2006, 11:52 AM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
November 16, 2006
I wrote yesterday about how the NHTSA has determined that bumper-mounted sonar sensors (the audible kind) don't work that well. Still, I think they're better than nothing, especially on pickup trucks, a vehicle class in which this safety feature is just starting to become available as factory equipment. Our new long-term '07 Chevy Silverado crew cab has rear sensors. Do they deliver "false alarms"?..
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- Erin Riches November 16, 2006, 7:44 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
November 15, 2006
NHTSA released a study on vehicle backover avoidance technology (i.e., bumper-mounted sonar sensors and rearview camera systems integrated into navigation interfaces) this week. It's a 65-page pdf tome, but of course there's an executive summary for those who don't want to plow through. It's more than a study really, as the report makes recommendations to Congress for dealing with the problem of larger trucks and SUVs (as well as cars with poor rear visibility) hitting small children while backing up -- the cause of at least 183 fatalities annually and approximately 7,000 injuries. Some of the more interesting points:
-Sonar sensors (the "dots" mounted on rear bumpers) don't work as well as the camera systems...
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- Erin Riches November 15, 2006, 2:43 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
November 7, 2006
Like many women, I'm the one in my family that plans the vacations, coordinates the kids' schedules, plans for retirement, etc. "Be prepared" is something of a personal mantra. You'd think that, since I live in the land that awaits the "Big One," I'd have my emregency preparedness kit all ready, right? Far from it. Life "gets in the way," and assembling all the necessities takes so much time, that I just haven't gotten around to it. Here to rescue me (and you) is possibly the best thought out and most organized emergency preparedness kit on the market...
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- Joanne Helperin November 7, 2006, 1:49 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
October 17, 2006
As I write, I am sitting next to a girlfriend who, years ago, was in a horrible car crash. She was in the back seat of a coupe with three other young women in upstate New York. It had finished raining but the roads were still slick. When the driver took a curve a little too fast, the car hydroplaned into a guardrail, and flipped -- no one knows exactly how many times...
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- Joanne Helperin October 17, 2006, 9:59 PM
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- Car Safety
October 13, 2006
Big surprise: Head-protecting side curtain airbags significantly reduce the fatality rate in side-impact collisions, and they do a better job of it than side airbags that only protect only the chest and abdomen. According to an October 5 press release from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the overall fatality rate drops 37 percent on vehicles with side curtain airbags. On SUVs, the drop is 52 percent -- likely because these vehicle are more prone to roll over in these types of accidents.
In addition to the press release, the IIHS has put together a short video (just click on the link above to get to it) in which Anne McCartt, Institute vice president for research and an author of the study, lays out the results and explains the differences between the types of side airbags...
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- Erin Riches October 13, 2006, 6:59 PM
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- Car Safety
October 11, 2006
On September 25th I wrote that BMW's Performance Driving School is going on the road, taking its program across the nation so driving enthusiasts can sample BMW's race-inspired M-series vehicles while learning important driving skills. I took the program myself yesterday at the California Speedway (think NASCAR). No, we didn't get to lap the oval, but were still treated to plenty of thrills...
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- Joanne Helperin October 11, 2006, 3:47 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car, Women in Motorsports
September 25, 2006
Every year, editorial staffers at Edmunds are required to spend a day at performance driving school, to brush up on and improve our driving skills. Even seasoned veterans get something out of the program, which features an autocross, skidpad, and track event. (This year at Skip Barber we also had a braking exercise.)
My first year at driving school, last year, was a challenge, especially since I had just learned to drive a stick and had never driven anything faster than your run-of-the-mill sedan/SUV/minivan. But I left feeling thrilled and empowered...
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- Joanne Helperin September 25, 2006, 3:37 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
September 8, 2006
In a big win for consumers, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now requiring that its crash test results be displayed on all new car window stickers starting September 2007. The program, called "Stars on Cars," will indicate how many stars a car has received (from 1-5, 5 being the best) during testing. This will allow consumers shopping on a dealer lot to plainly see how a car they are considering stands up to both impacts and potential rollovers.The new rules cover passenger cars, vans, and SUVs, but not pickups...
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- Joanne Helperin September 8, 2006, 3:13 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
September 6, 2006
Related to Joanne's post on Ford's 4-point seatbelt design, I came across an article in this week's Automotive News, an industry publication, on the subject. Evidently, one obstacle that has to be addressed before this type of seatbelt can be installed in production cars is how to make the belts safe for use by pregnant women. Because the buckle assembly of a four-point belt is in the center and sits on the user's lap, Ford has to design an adaptor to reduce the pressure that would be exerted on the fetus in the event of a collision.
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- Erin Riches September 6, 2006, 11:49 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
August 30, 2006
Ford is advocating to put four-point seat belts in their cars.
According to Ford, "Recent customer research showed Ford scientists and engineers that consumers perceive four-point belts to be safer, as well as more comfortable and, depending on their design, easier to use than traditional three-point belts." Ford's research tested the belt on thousands of people of all demographics and sizes.
These belts remind me of the belts worn by race drivers, of course, and by young children, who use a five-point harness...
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- Joanne Helperin August 30, 2006, 4:27 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
August 17, 2006
Here's an opposing point of view to the article cited in Joanne's post from August 15: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) issued a news release a week ago with highlights from a new study in which the Institute found that highway deaths have indeed dropped steadily since the 1980s -- but only because people are driving newer, safer vehicles. Otherwise, the death rate would be on the rise, says the IIHS, because of reduced emphasis on seatbelt use and DWI laws during the 1990s accompanied by increased speed limits. Cell phone use isn't mentioned, but I can't but help but wonder if that, along with the increased entertainment options available to drivers today, doesn't also play a role.
Snippet: "The downward trend in death rates even as speed limits were being raised on US roads led some speed advocates to argue that posted limits don't matter," [Insitute President Adrian] Lund says...
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- Erin Riches August 17, 2006, 11:40 AM
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- Car Safety
August 15, 2006
The Virginian-Pilot and
The Ledger-Star, in Norfolk, VA, had a great article yesterday on the conflicting theories behind the decline in highway fatalities across the country... and the rise in Virginia's own highway deaths. The article begins, "Sometimes America's experts should just shut up."
The author notes that conservatives, liberals, environmentalists and insurance companies all have a spin on why the numbers have improved (though they are still pretty dismal).
"Increased seat belt use could explain fewer fatalities, but it doesn't explain why the number of crashes has dropped twice as fast...
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- Joanne Helperin August 15, 2006, 4:05 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
July 26, 2006
This morning's Today show had a great segment in which former race car driver Mac Demere illustrates what to do if your car's tire has a blow out. He covers high- and low-speed situations and what to do if you're rounding a curve. Tips for avoiding a blow out in the first place are also featured...
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- Joanne Helperin July 26, 2006, 3:58 PM
- Categories:
- Car Maintenance, Car Safety
July 25, 2006
There's a
lot more to learning how to drive than driver's ed, and Ford is doing something about it.
The Ford Motor Company Fund, in partnership with the Governors Highway Safety Association, is sponsoring "Driving Skills for Life" at the Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo, August 1-3. More than 500 lucky Detroit-area teen drivers will attend the a free summer day camp to learn to drive better and more safely...
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- Joanne Helperin July 25, 2006, 1:21 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
July 3, 2006
Hot temperatures put more stress on your car's tires, so if you're traveling anywhere over the Fourth of July holiday, it's a good idea to check your tire pressure first. The benefits to driving your car on properly inflated tires are many:
-Better handling
-Better fuel economy
-Less susceptible to sudden blowouts in the event of a puncture
-Less susceptible to tread separation (think Ford Explorer/Firestone scandal)
Checking your pressure is easy. You can buy a digital gauge at any Target, Kmart or auto parts store. To find the correct psi for your tires, look for a sticker on the inside of the driver door jamb: If your tires are cold (i.e., your car has been sitting in the garage), this is the psi you should go by...
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- Erin Riches July 3, 2006, 11:14 AM
- Categories:
- Car Maintenance, Car Safety
June 30, 2006
Research shows that driving while talking on a cell phone can be even more dangerous than driving while intoxicated.
In Los Angeles, you can't drive around without seeing at least half of the other motorists chatting away on their phones. You see them trying to turn a corner with one hand, swerving left and right in their lane, or not starting up every time a light changes green. Besides being annoying, they could seriously injure someone or worse...
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- Donna DeRosa June 30, 2006, 3:42 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
June 20, 2006
It's an idea whose time has come.
The Baltimore City Public School System is installing a GPS-based vehicle locaton system for their school bus fleet. How does this help? It streamlines bus operations, but more important, it helps keep kids safe by assigning each of them a barcode...
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- Joanne Helperin June 20, 2006, 5:21 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
June 15, 2006
I was on the Palisades Parkway in NJ last Sunday, and some idiot was driving way too slowly in the left lane. Totally oblivious, he slowed down traffic for miles. I was behind him. The guy behind me, not realizing what was causing this up ahead, was on my tail so persistently that I had to give him a couple of “back off” signals (I won't tell you what those were)...
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- Joanne Helperin June 15, 2006, 1:16 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves
June 14, 2006
We at Edmunds.com have been talking about the usefulness of stability control for the last 5 years, and yesterday the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released a report that backs up that sentiment with some hard numbers:
-Stability control reduces single-vehicle crashes (the majority of them, rollovers) in SUVs by 49%. In cars, the drop is 33%.
-Fatal single-vehicle crashes dropped 80% in SUVs, 77% in cars.
-For all types of fatal crashes, stability control-equipped vehicles reduce the risk by 43%.
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- Erin Riches June 14, 2006, 11:50 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
June 13, 2006
The headlines have been filled with terrible tragedies. Children who are healthy and happy one minute are being killed after being struck by a vehicle -- often driven by a parent.
"Family Member Accidentally Runs Over Toddler"
"Boy's death was 'tragic accident'"
"Dad, uncle back truck over, kill 3-year-old"
"Toddler Accidentally Killed by Mother at Fort Detrick"
"Father Accidentally Backs Over, Kills His Toddler Son"
These headlines only begin to tell the story.... During the last 30 days at least 28 children have been killed. Sixteen of the fatalities were due to children being backed over and nine children lost their lives when a vehicle moved forward very slowly in a driveway or parking lot.
Technology that can save children's lives, such as rear-detection and auto-reversing windows, already exist -- but is only available in high-end vehicles. Advocacy group Kids and Cars is asking the public to sign a Consumers Union petition calling for legislative action so a rearward visibility performance standard will be put into place, helping to save hundreds of children's lives.
Kids and Cars' goal is to have 20,000 signatures on the Consumers Union petition, and we're almost halfway there...
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- Joanne Helperin June 13, 2006, 10:25 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
June 9, 2006
As women start to exercise their considerable power in the car-buying and maintenance arena, more women-oriented auto Web sites are popping up to serve them. Here's a new one we like:
AskPatty.com. Billed as "a safe place for women to get advice on car purchases, maintenance and other automotive related topics," users can -- literally -- ask Patty questions through an interactive blog. Responses typically come the same day, and selected questions will be addressed by a panel of women automotive experts for the benefit of all the readers...
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- Joanne Helperin June 9, 2006, 1:54 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, Women in Motorsports
June 6, 2006
It's hard to believe that some people still need convincing, but they do, and here it is: A new study from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention (at the renowned Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania) found that children who were using child restraints were 28 percent less likely to be killed in a crash than children who were wearing seat belts alone:
"For every 100 children who were killed in a crash wearing only a seat belt, 28 of them would have survived if they'd been in a car seat or booster seat," explained study author Dennis Durbin, M.D., M.S.C.E., a pediatric emergency medicine physician and co-scientific director at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention."
The study examined data for nearly 9,000 children aged two through six involved in serious motor vehicle crashes. For this study, the Center updated its methodology and used data that only dated back to 1998, ensuring that the results would be relevant to the technology built into today's cars and carseats.
If you have any questions about child passenger safety, check out
Partners for Child Passenger Safety as well as Edmunds.com's own
Safety and
Women and Family sections.
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- Joanne Helperin June 6, 2006, 4:18 PM
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- Car Safety
May 17, 2006
This news from the Edmunds.com Forums about the Toyota Avalon Limited.
One of the options available on the new (05 and 06) Avalon Limited is laser cruise control, which automatically slows down the car if it perceives that it's coming to close to the car in front of it. While driving on the interstate, a Forums member observed a Limited slow down “dramatically” because the car in front of him had...
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- Joanne Helperin May 17, 2006, 2:45 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
May 16, 2006
While searching around on NHTSA's safercar.gov site, I stumbled across this chart. It provides an exhaustive list of 2004-2007 vehicles with side-impact and head curtain airbags, and tells you which kind each vehicle has, which rows of seating they cover, and whether they're standard or optional. I wouldn't call the chart a masterpiece of graphic design, but it's very useful if you're shopping for a vehicle based on airbag availability.
For more on airbag types and what you should look for, see our safety article, "Who Benefits from Side and Head Airbags?"...
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- Erin Riches May 16, 2006, 11:14 AM
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- Car Safety
May 15, 2006
I happened to be checking crash test scores on the IIHS website, and I noticed this news release. The first part is all about how well the 2006 Kia Sedona scored in crash tests, but if you read down, you'll see some worrisome news about GM's minivans, the Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, Saturn Relay and Buick Terraza. When the IIHS conducted its side-impact test on an Uplander equipped with side airbags, the seats came unbolted from the floor! This lowered the van's rating from "Acceptable" (second highest) to "Marginal" (second lowest).
IIHS President Adrian Lund noted that the seat detachment "didn't worsen the injury measures recorded on the rear dummy, but a real person in a more complicated real-world crash might not fare as well. Seats should stay attached because they're part of the restraint system, and in real crashes vehicles may roll over or be hit again."
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- Erin Riches May 15, 2006, 1:46 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
May 2, 2006
One of the big disadvantages to driving a large SUV or truck (or a sports car with a high beltline, for that matter) is visibility. Rear blind spots are typically massive and audible rear parking sensors are typically something you have to pay extra for, either as a factory option or an aftermarket add-on. Even more helpful than sensors are rear bumper-mounted cameras that allow you to see what's behind you, but you invariably have to pony up for a pricey navigation system to get this feature.
So why bother?..
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- Erin Riches May 2, 2006, 7:35 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
April 26, 2006
If you still think you can manage to talk on the cell phone (or put on makeup, or eat) while driving, here's sobering news. A new, landmark study by NHTSA and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute states that nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver "inattention" within three seconds before the event. The main • Drowsiness is a significant problem that increases a driver’s risk of a crash or near-crash by at least a factor of four. But drowsy driving may be significantly under-reported in police crash investigations.causes of driver inattention are cell phones and drowsiness.
The "100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study" tracked driver behavior in 100 vehicles equipped with video and sensor devices for more than one year. Participants drove nearly 2,000,000 miles, yielding 42,300 hours of data. That's a lot of number crunching, but some interesting results came out of it.
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- Joanne Helperin April 26, 2006, 1:43 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
April 21, 2006
NHTSA issued its preliminary report on 2005 crash statistics yesterday, and although we won't know the final numbers until late summer, it looks like traffic fatalities were up in 2005. In fact, with 43,200 deaths, 2005 looks to be the deadliest year since 1990. Fifty-five percent of those who died were not wearing a seatbelt. Traffic fatalities numbered 42,636 in 2004...
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- Erin Riches April 21, 2006, 6:35 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
April 19, 2006
Getting five stars in NHTSA front- and side-impact crash tests is basically expected among today's minivans. Earning top ratings in the different, more demanding frontal offset, side-impact and rear bumper tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is more difficult. And the 2006 Kia Sedona is the first minivan to get the highest rating ("Good") in all three tests and earn the coveted gold award.
This is quite a step up the Sedona, as the first-generation van rated only "Acceptable" for frontal-offset crash safety and earned negative publicity for its poor rear bumper design (resulting in high repair costs after rear-end collisions)...
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- Erin Riches April 19, 2006, 9:07 PM
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- Car Safety
April 14, 2006
If you're thinking of taking your family to the 2006 New York Auto Show on the public days (April 14-23), be sure to stop by the Volvo stand. While I was looking at a cutaway display of the Volvo XC90 -- with a child-size crash test dummy strapped into a booster seat in the SUV's third row -- one of the company's PR gurus, Stephen Bohannon, stopped by and told me that kids who come by the display will be able to have their picture taken with the crash test dummy. Don't worry: The kid dummy at the show is a little better dressed than the one here, complete with New Balance sneakers.
The idea is to emphasize that Volvo is serious about rear-seat safety and has taken measures to ensure that 3rd-row occupants, particularly children, in the XC90 SUV are as safe as they can be...
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- Erin Riches April 14, 2006, 12:55 PM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety
April 4, 2006
Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry has become the national spokesperson for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), marking the first time in history of the Miss America Pageant that the winner has chosen to represent MADD. Miss America will promote her platform, "Building Intolerance to Drunk Driving and Underage Drinking," across the country. MADD, of course, is the non-profit organization working to stop drunk driving,
support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking...
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- Joanne Helperin April 4, 2006, 12:53 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
April 3, 2006
It's a risky venture: A group of women in the U.K. has launched "Pink Ladies," a taxi service (complete with hot pink limos) driven by and servicing exclusively women. The theory is that women will be
safer in a Pink Ladies taxi cab...
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- Joanne Helperin April 3, 2006, 1:15 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
March 16, 2006
From the "get a load of this" files:
Police Chief Joseph DeLopez ,in affluent Winnetka, Illinois, has proposed a "distracted driving" law that would outlaw radio tuning, talking to passengers and tending
to children or pets while driving, in addition to the more typical bans
on using electronic devices, reading the newspaper or applying makeup.
You gotta be kidding me. The proposal was a result of a "citizen panel." Clearly the citizens are out of touch with reality. According to UPI, village trustee Sandra Berger said "police probably would enforce the ban only if there were an accident." So if you get into a crash, you also get -- what, a fine? -- for changing the radio station?
I'm a safety nut, and I applaud most attempts to make the roads safer, but this strikes me as draconian. While distracted driving has definitely been linked to crashes, Winnetka and Illinois should focus on cell phone use alone before they restrict everything else.
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- Joanne Helperin March 16, 2006, 12:25 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
March 15, 2006
Here's a new warning about Audis from the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON - The government said Friday it was re-examining a 2004
recall of Audi sedans for wiring problems after it received six reports
of fires starting in the driver's side dashboard.
In March 2004,
Audi recalled about 173,000 models of the A6, S6 and Allroad Quattro
vehicles made between 1998 and 2004. But the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration said it has recently received the reports of
fires in A6 sedans from the 1998-2004 model years...
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- Joanne Helperin March 15, 2006, 4:25 PM
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- Car Safety
March 8, 2006
Wow, this is an interesting one. An article in today's New York Times titled,
"Some Sleeping Pill Users Range Far Beyond Bed" tells some wacky stories about the unintended influences of the sleep aid Ambien, including some about people who get into their cars -- and crash them while "sleep-driving." The drivers have no recollection of the events. If you take Ambien, you've gotta read this.
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- Joanne Helperin March 8, 2006, 3:13 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
March 6, 2006
The
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just released results of a new crash tests for seven new or redesigned midsize cars. The tests involved front, side, and rear impacts. Models included were Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Pontiac G6, Acura TSX, BMW 3
series, Infiniti G35, and Lexus IS. The end result?..
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- Joanne Helperin March 6, 2006, 1:15 PM
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- Car Safety
February 28, 2006
Last week, my 2002
Nissan Altima was in the shop so I was driving my husband's 2003
Saturn ION 3. When we bought the Saturn, we had a vehicle emergency and needed a car within two days, but we had just bought our first house, so our funds were limited. Saturn had 0% financing and, of all the economy cars we looked at, it seemed like we got the most for our money with the Saturn. As far as features and options were concerned, we did, but when it comes to drivability, comfort and peace of mind, we did not.
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- Michelle Magoffin February 28, 2006, 10:14 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night
February 15, 2006
National Child Safety Week means that you can get a free car seat check up, safety belt fit tests, advice on booster seats, and more. See SafeKids.org to find special programs this week close to your home or work....
On the topic of child safety... there's a new car seat that claims to be the most advanced, safest child seat ever invented...
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- Joanne Helperin February 15, 2006, 1:32 PM
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- Car Safety
February 13, 2006
Vehicle accidents are the #1 killer of children in America. Every year, safety organizations around the country promote National Child Passenger Safety Week to remind parents and caregivers of the importance of child safety seats. CPSW falls Feb...
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- Joanne Helperin February 13, 2006, 9:00 AM
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- Car Safety
January 29, 2006
A couple days ago the industry publication, Automotive News, reported that a Texas jury awarded a $29 million settlement to Rose Marie Muñoz, who became quadriplegic after the '92 Mazda Navajo SUV (an old twin of the Ford Explorer) she was riding in rolled over. The trigger for the rollover was tire tread separation. Yet, the incident occurred in the spring of 2002... after the Ford/Firestone tire recall was already in full swing...
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- Erin Riches January 29, 2006, 12:25 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
December 16, 2005
I was eating with my family at a restaurant on Robertson Blvd. last night when I heard loud screech from the street. I looked outside just in time to see a white Toyota Camry ('95 or '96) sideswipe a bicyclist, who was violently thrown to the ground. The car zoomed away at top speed; the driver never looked back. In fact, he nearly took out a pedestrian as he fled the scene...
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- Joanne Helperin December 16, 2005, 2:10 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
December 13, 2005
I just discovered an interesting CD ROM product, called
"Car Care 4 Us Girls."
It was developed in Ireland (so the cars on the CD are driving on the
"wrong" side of the road), but the principles of basic car care
maintenance are the same. Might make a good holiday gift for the
do-it-herselfer. Check out their
Web site.
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- Joanne Helperin December 13, 2005, 1:15 PM
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December 7, 2005
In its state-of-the-art laboratory, Ford tested both teens and adults for their level of distraction while trying to accomplish certain tasks, including talking on a cell phone. If you're the parent of a teen, you'll want to read the full release....
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- Joanne Helperin December 7, 2005, 2:01 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
December 6, 2005
If
you only had to invest five minutes to make sure your car's most
important safety feature was working properly, would you do it?
According to a new study of 1001 people by Farmers Insurance Group,
14% of people
never check their tire pressure. Almost 30% said
they don't check their tires' treads more than once a year, or have
their wheels aligned and tires balanced more than every two years.
Considering that underinflated tires are the leading contributor to
tire blowouts -- which cause 414 deaths and 10,275 non-fatal injuries
each
year, according to NHTSA -- it seems that people are in a little too
much of a hurry. What's five minutes once a month to ensure car safety?..
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- Joanne Helperin December 6, 2005, 1:39 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage
December 5, 2005
Judging a vehicle by its crash-test scores isn't easy. Both the NHTSA and the IIHS conduct frontal- and side-impact crash tests, but their method is different: A perfect five stars from NHTSA doesn't always translate to the top "Good" rating from the IIHS. In an effort to make things easier for consumers, the IIHS has come up with comprehensive "Gold" and "Silver" ratings. To meet the Gold standard, a car must earn "Good" ratings in IIHS frontal- and side-impact tests, plus earn a "Good" rating for its head restraints...
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- Erin Riches December 5, 2005, 3:47 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
December 1, 2005
A new report says that one of out every five British men admit to being
so distracted by roadside billboards of semi-naked models that they
have veered dangerously out of their lane. (Only one in 10 women were
similarly distracted by a semi-dressed male model.)
Any surprises here? Not really. The ads were put up to get attention...
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- Joanne Helperin December 1, 2005, 1:44 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
November 29, 2005
Can coffee kill your car? Apparently,
the location of the cupholder causes coffee or other liquids to spill
into the transmission shifter and other electronics on the Mercedes
2000-2001 C-, E-, CLK- and SLK-class cars. Automotive
News reports that NHTSA has received 11 complaints and a petition for
an investigation into the affected Mercedes, which could total more
than 150,000 cars...
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- Joanne Helperin November 29, 2005, 3:04 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
November 28, 2005
On Thanksgiving night after the festivities had died down, three of my brother's friends went for a drive--a 21-year-old and his two cousins, 47 and 17. The 21-year-old driver of the car apparently didn't see the 90-degree turn coming up and with the road slick from the rain and the fact that he was speeding, he lost control of the car. All three men were killed upon impact having landed roof first on top of a nearby house. No other car was involved and no one really knows why Joe would be driving at a high rate of speed on a private road. The CHP said, judging from the scene, alcohol didn't seem to be a factor.
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- Caroline Pardilla November 28, 2005, 11:28 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
November 25, 2005
I love Bluetooth. Only when a car has it will I consider carrying on a lengthy cell phone call as I drive. But like all cool new technology, it turns out you to have take care how you use it.
And that means you should disable the Bluetooth connection when you leave your phone in the car...
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- Erin Riches November 25, 2005, 9:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
November 16, 2005
According to
USA Today, the nine major automakers agreed Tuesday to make SUVs and pickups less dangerous to people in cars that are hit head-on.
Read the full article
here.
This is a key step forward in solving a problem that's gone on for too
long. Another important development is that now automakers will also
begin to focus on how to keep car occupants safe during
side-impact
crashes...
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- Joanne Helperin November 16, 2005, 5:06 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
November 11, 2005
At a hormone conference in London,
Bradford University scientists posited that the presence of estrogen in
women makes them better suited for certain driving tasks:
"'This
study demonstrates that tasks requiring mental flexibility favour women
over men, an area previously not considered to elicit strong sex
differences.
'Driving could be an example of how this is applied to everyday life.'"
Women excel at shifting attention from one thing to
another. That ability to multitask (we always knew it, didn't we?) is
helpful in driving. But men have their strengths, too:
"What we tend to find is that in certain aspects men are better - things like navigation, spatial awareness and confidence," said Dr Nick Neave, an evolutionary psychologist...</fo
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- Joanne Helperin November 11, 2005, 2:11 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
November 9, 2005
Backover deaths, which occur when a vehicle accidentally backs
over a child, have become bigger news and have received recent
attention in an
article in CNN/Money. Amost 2,500 kids are involved in such accidents each year in the U.S., with 100 deaths. Here's an excerpt:
"'It's called the "bye-bye syndrome" said Janette Fennell, founder of
the auto safety group Kids and Cars. Wanting one last chance to see
mommy, daddy, or grandmother before they go, a child will run up behind
the vehicle at the worst possible time."
Read the article; it could save your child's life...
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- Joanne Helperin November 9, 2005, 2:42 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
November 7, 2005
For the first time, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
performed side-impact tests on minivans, simulating crashes in which
SUVs or pickup trucks strike the sides of minivans. According to the
IIHS, these are the kinds of crashes that can occur at intersections
when a vehicle runs a red light or stop sign.
The 2006 Toyota
Sienna, Nissan Quest, and Honda Odyssey, when equipped with their
standard airbags, rated "good" ratings, the highest rating possible.
The Mercury Monterey tested "acceptable." Therest of the results,
and the hows and whys of the test are found in
the IIHS press release...
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- Joanne Helperin November 7, 2005, 2:50 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
Subaru improved the Legacy's cage specifically to increase its
crashworthiness. It apparently worked. The Legacy, along with the Audi
A3 and VW Passat, received "Double Best Pick" from the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), which mean they received the top
score of "Good" on both front and side impact tests. The larger, Ford
Five Hundred/Mercury Montego received good scores but not a double best
pick...
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- Joanne Helperin November 7, 2005, 2:35 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety
November 3, 2005
Time for true confessions: Before we women leave the house, we check
the mirror to see how we look from behind. C'mon, you know you do!
Whether your tail looks good in those pants is good to know, of course,
but it doesn't affect your safety. How your
car's tail looks is far more vital, and yet most people rarely check it -- if ever...
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- Joanne Helperin November 3, 2005, 12:18 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Rants and Raves
October 31, 2005
The scariest thing about Halloween isn't the costumes, but the fact that Halloween is consistently one of the top three days for pedestrian injuries and fatalities. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that children are four times more likely to be struck by a motor vehicle on Halloween than any other day of the year.
Tonight may be especially dangerous because it is a day after the clocks were turned back. Here are some tips to protect your kids and the kids walking house to house tonight...
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- Joanne Helperin October 31, 2005, 11:13 AM
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- Car Safety
October 28, 2005
GM is recalling nearly 106,000 SUVs for a faulty door latch, Reuters is
reporting. One injury has been reported. Is it any wonder with all the
domestic recalls that the Japanese are still eating our lunch?
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- Joanne Helperin October 28, 2005, 2:25 PM
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- Car Safety
October 24, 2005
Dan Lienert has written a piece on The Least Safe Cars of 2006 for Forbes Magazine. There are both economy and luxury cars on the list.
I'm guessing there's a lot of PR people scrambling right about
now... It'll be interesting to see how they defend themselves...
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- Joanne Helperin October 24, 2005, 2:20 PM
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- Car Safety
