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SANTA MONICA, Calif. — May 20, 2011 — Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, today released the live webcast link for its first-ever Automotive Safety Conference on Tuesday, May 24. A live stream of the conference, which will feature counter-intuitive insights from fascinating researchers as well as updates from the safety establishment, will be available online at http://www.autoobserver.com/2011-car-safety-conference/webcast.html.
Viewers watching the conference online will also have the opportunity to participate by sending questions or comments. Conference moderators will accept feedback and questions at conference@edmunds.com before and during the webcast. Viewers are also encouraged to post their thoughts on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/edmunds or by tweeting @edmunds using the #safetycon hashtag.
The safety conference promises to examine the issue of automotive safety from several new – and perhaps controversial – perspectives. Some of these visionary ideas, which are also documented in Edmunds.com’s Car Safety Library, include:
· “The principles of "shared space" challenge many long-standing assumptions about the meaning of safety, and the use of familiar highway engineering such as traffic signals, curbs and barriers.” (Ben Hamilton-Baillie, Architect, urban designer and movement specialist)
· “Having your eyes on the road is not the same as having your brain focused on the road. And the health of the driver is an important factor, as the perfectly healthy 75-year-old is far more capable of driving a car than a 60-year-old suffering from Type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease and taking medication that would affect cognition, decision making, speed of processing.” (Bryan Reimer, Associate Director of the New England University Transportation Center and Research Scientist in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab)
· “While evaluating the effectiveness of new high-tech crash avoidance features, we need to remember that other, lower-tech road design, traffic law, and vehicle improvements also can prevent crashes and injuries.” (Adrian Lund, President of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
A full schedule and list of speakers at next Tuesday’s safety conference can be found at http://www.autoobserver.com/2011-car-safety-conference/program.html.
I have a Mazda 5 and my kids ride on the rear-most seats often. They are just a few inches from the rear door. I do not know of any evidence that this car or any other car was ever tested for protection against a rear end collision.
NHTSA Overhaul Bill Introduced In Senate (AutoObserver)
The folks in the Questions About Private Sale Transactions Forum will probably have some answers for you. Just click the link to get there.
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http://www.autoobserver.com/2011/09/toyota-pledges-50m-for-new-safety-research.h- tml">Toyota Pledges $50M For New Safety Research (AutoObserver)
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
The odds of being injured in a crash are 25 percent lower for people in hybrids than non-hybrid models, said the Highway Loss Data Institute."
Hybrids Have Safety Edge in Crashes, Study Says (Inside Line)
In the test, 25 percent of a car's driver-side front end strikes a 5-foot-tall rigid barrier at 40 miles per hour, with an average-size male dummy belted into the driver's seat.
The test is designed to replicate what happens when the front corner of a car collides with another vehicle, or with an object such as a tree or a utility pole."
New crash test may prompt safer cars (Detroit News)
Laws have very little to do with it- the cause is sheer lack of driving ability. True driver training in the US is virtually non-existent, which is why I sent my son to a two day professional driving school as well as to the BMW CCA Foundation's Street Survival course.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
Performed poorly in test: Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Lincoln, etc.
Only cars to do well: Volvo S60 and Acura TL
This 3 minute video is interesting to watch as some expensive cars seems to do a poor job at protecting occupants....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7xh-nYlnpo
The report also notes that the last decade saw a big jump in light trucks, especially SUVs, on the nation's roads, but showed little difference in fatality risks among people in cars and SUVs."
Fatality rate drops for crashes in passenger vehicles (Detroit News)
I currently own a 2003 Jeep Liberty that is coming up on 180K miles. If safety were not an issue, I'd probably drive it until it dies, but I recently moved to the Miami area and am concerned about the high rate of accidents here in South Florida.
After shopping around a bit, I am leaning towards a used Volvo XC90 from around 2009 (Consumer Reports says to avoid the 2010 model, and I wouldn't necessarily let that stop me, but it is probably out of my price range.) Safety, a comfortable driving experience (I am in outside sales and sometimes spend 5+ hours per day in my car), and a price at around $20K if I am not gaining any fuel economy over the Jeep, are my 3 main priorities. I am leaning towards a white 8cyl AWD model if I can find one in that range.
My main question: Over the past 5 or so years, what is the safest car across all categories? I have viewed the IIHS top picks, but they are broken down into different classes of cars. I am looking for a vehicle (likely a Volvo), that will provide the best protection in a highway accident and have been leaning towards the XC90 as it is big, heavy, and has Volvo's safety features.
Thank you for any insight you can provide!
http://www.youtube.com/embed/h-8PBx7isoM
As in Joan Claybrook.
Had to look Stein up, but yeah, she has possibilities.
'Secret' informal car defect probes more common (Detroit Free Press)
My take is the Federal Government and its too many agencies are overpaid, bloated and lazy fiefdoms.
I trust the Euro nanny orgs more when it comes to safety.
But on topic, I don't have a huge amount of faith in the gubbamint when it comes to automotive safety concerns. I guess I should be reassured that seatbelts are mandatory equipment.
The emphasis has shifted from "safety" to "protect the most inept and clueless brain-dead idiot from the consequences of his moronic actions- no matter what the cost"
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
SRS is back pushing for tire aging standards most recently (and giving Ray LaHood a "rousing" send-off).
I guess it makes sense though, seeing what is able to pass a licensing exam these days.
The lawyers have probably done a lot to make safety tech mandatory, but I think the automakers were working on it beforehand. Last thing we need to do is support ambulance chasers :shades:
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Anwyl said that consumers so love the feeling of being able to stay connected to their social circle that "it's almost an addiction." As a result, many consumers will end up bringing their devices into their cars — regardless of the rules.
His proposed solution was driver education, not more laws. Anwyl cited a NHTSA statistic: 90 percent of accidents are caused by driver error. He stressed that drivers do not take that fact serious enough, preferring to think that car safety is all about the best technology, crash-test ratings and lots of airbags."
A Shift in Safety Technology Is Coming
Such systems enable drivers to see whether people or objects are in the blind spot behind vehicles. Safety advocates say that each year more than 200 individuals are killed and 18,000 injured in so-called "backover" crashes." Children under the age of 5 account for 44 percent of the fatalities.
The lawsuit asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to direct the DOT to issue a mandatory rule within 90 days."
Feds, Safety Advocates Fight Over Rearview Camera Recommendation
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
After making the 160-mile drive back to Dallas from Fort Hood, deputy James Blesoe declared that the vehicle "exceeded expectations,
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/09/dallas_county_now_has_its_ver- y.php
Cozying up with the regulators?
"Master lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who did time for stretching the influence peddling rules to the breaking point, distilled the practice to its essentials in his 2011 post-prison memoir, "Capitol Punishment." Once he dangled a lobbying job in front of a congressional staffer, he wrote, "I would own him and, consequently, that entire office. No ruled had been broken … but suddenly, every move that staffer made, he made with his future at my firm in mind."
The revolving doors may be well-distributed around Washington, but NHTSA has long been viewed as a particular problem child. In 2001, at the request of Sens. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), the Department of Transportation's inspector general compiled a list of NHTSA officials who had moved directly between the agency and the auto industry over the previous 27 years.
The list ran to 63 names. Those jumping directly to the industry included four administrators (the top job), two chief counsels and dozens of department heads, engineers and attorneys."
Automakers stay cozy in U.S. capital (latimes.com)
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2014/02/25/321433.htm#.UwzzJWablxo.email
Good point there, oldsters are healthier than ever, so maybe that will help their driving.
We can hope so, as there will be proportionally more oldsters on the road in the near future than ever. It could be a disaster, but might also hasten the move to at least partially autonomous cars.
I took the AARP safety course and as a consequence I've cut my freeway speed down to 80! (I'm so proud).
"A team from Washington State University Spokane, however, has developed a system that detects drowsy drivers through inexpensive electronics that monitor movement of the steering wheel.
...variability in both steering wheel movements and lane position were the two best indicators of fatigue."
Steering wheel system could detect driver fatigue on the cheap (gizmag.com)
Those students should install their devices on their father's farm tractor so he can plow straight and get more wheat per acre.
Those GPS gizmos (pardon me, precision farming systems) have been on tractors since 2000 or so. Some of the fancier systems download sat images of the fields and do the calculation for the fertilizer application and then plug the info into the tractor's guidance system. That enables the tractor to auto steer and spray the right amount where it's needed. So nap away.
I bet the autonomous car developers have been plowing through all the ag studies on this.
"The furor over General Motors Co.’s deadly ignition switch has the potential to doom the antiquated car key, a technology drivers have been using -- and complaining about -- for 65 years.
Push-button start, which showed up in Mercedes models in the late 1990s, is now an option in 72 percent of 2014 cars and trucks in the U.S., according to Edmunds.com. In a survey conducted by auto researcher AutoPacific, consumers ranked the technology the fifth most coveted upgrade for $100 or less "
Deadly GM Switch Spells Demise of Antiquated Ignition Key (Bloomberg)
you mean the "antiquated ignition key that didn't cost $400 to replace".