Safety

Side Blinkers Drive Schwoerer Bonkers

By Martin Schwoerer
September 17, 2008 -

The facelifted Audi A6 is the first of Ingolstadt’s machines to abandon conventional front indicators; instead, they’re located on the side mirrors. Other brands are set to follow suit. This is a bad, even stupid, idea. When you hold a conversation with somebody, do you look at their ears? Of course not. You look into their eyes and try to interpret their facial expression. This is hard-wired into people’s brains, so we’re pretty good at it. Cars have faces too and car makers go long ways to make them expressive and individual. Some are supposed to be cute. BMWs for the supposed benefit of [überho] prestige are supposed to look masculine. And some are unintentionally genital. But it’s not a stretch to say that all intend to be recognizable. So why make them less readable? You’re in traffic, you want to see what the other guy is going to do, so you look at his car’s front, hoping for a signal. Sure, blinking mirrors are better than no blinkers at all. But I surmise that the average driver sees them a  split-second later than he would front-mounted ones. And locating indicators on mirrors sucks anyway. They are more prone to break in normal driving conditions than fender-mounted indicators. Will you be able to get a replacement high-tech-mirror for your Audi 15 years hence? I doubt it. And some side blinkers are downright dangerous; the ones on the VW Golf glare into your peripheral vision in rainy or foggy driving conditions. Car makers should stop introducing empty styling gimmicks.

Posted in Design | News Blog | Safety | 22 comments

When Your Mobile Talks To Traffic Lights, Do You Feel Envy?

By Martin Schwoerer
September 13, 2008 -

Researchers at The Institute of Traffic Engineering and Logistics in Kassel, Germany, don’t like induction loops (those things under the pavement that detect how long a car has been waiting for traffic lights to change). They say the loops are expensive, failure-prone and easily damaged. Simplistic, too: they only say how long a car has been waiting; they don’t tell you how many other cars are in line, how many are approaching and whether the other drivers plan to turn off or go straight ahead. The solution: mobile phones that automatically communicate with traffic lights. AKTIV (Adaptive and Kooperative Technologies for Intelligent Traffic, a project funded with federal millions) envisions mobile phones equipped with WLAN and GPS sensors, installed inside cars that tell nearbye traffic lights where you are heading. As a quid pro quo, the traffic lights tell your mobile how many seconds remain till the light turns green and whether you should turn your engine off. Traffic flows should improve, because AKTIV (pro-actively) times traffic light changes according to the amount of vehicles waiting. It should save fuel too, because stops are shorter and enables engine shut-down combined, with a “wake up call” to let drivers know green is on the way. A pilot project will begin in 2009. I asked AKTIV’s Walter Scholl if people fear Big Brother. “We consider data protection crucial. So all car data will be anonymized, and deleted as soon as you leave a junction.” But isn’t it so that the more gadgets people use, the less attentive they drive? “We have a working unit concentrating on ’safety and attentiveness,’ and we need to attain empirical evidence that our system doesn’t distract from the task of driving.” Isn’t this technical overkill? Why not just replace traffic lights with traffic circles / roundabouts? “Good question… Roundabouts help, but there will always be many situations where lights are better and safer. In addition, our system will help reduce the amount of street signs as well as other distractions”. I’d like to hope so.

Aktiv.org »

Posted in Gizmology | News Blog | Safety | 5 comments

NHTSA: “Five Million Unrepaired Ford, Lincoln and Mercury Could Pose Serious Fire Hazard to Vehicles and Dwellings”

By Robert Farago
September 9, 2008 -

CNN reports that The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a second recall for Ford; Lincoln and Mercury vehicles that may (more or less) spontaneously combust, thanks to a defective cruise control part. “NHTSA remains concerned that many owners have yet to respond to multiple safety defect recall notifications from Ford. Of the 12 million vehicles involved in the recall, nearly five million have not yet been brought to Ford for repair. The vehicles contain a defective cruise control switch that could lead to a fire at any time, even while the vehicle is turned-off, parked and unattended.” NHTSA promises that “repair parts are immediately available.” That’s a step-up from the initial recall, where a lack of parts meant that many Ford dealers were simply disconnecting the cruise control switch. [Click here for a NHTSA Press Release with a full list of vehicles involved.]

CNN »

Posted in News Blog | Safety | 14 comments

New Euro-NCAP Rules: Yet Another Nail in the SUV’s Coffin

By Martin Schwoerer
August 29, 2008 -

What is a safe car? A car that prevents a crash, a car that protects the car's passengers, or something else? Safety testing groups around the world have their own, varying definitions. Euro-NCAP (the European benchmarking organization, or New Car Assessment Program), has decided it needs a new standard which will integrate several safety factors. I spoke with Cordelia Wilson of Euro-NCAP: "Consumers have told us they find the present system of star ratings which differentiates according to adult passenger crash protection, child passenger protection and pedestrian protection, confusing. A modern SUV will often get five stars at adult protection and one star at pedestrian protection, but how good is it in sum? So starting in 2009, we intend to introduce a fairer, clearer system which rates overall safety performance". Will car makers continue to advertise with excellent results in selected areas, but conveniently forget to mention when they score dismal results in others? "We won't use stars anymore. Instead, you can expect a percentage rating which will integrate adult safety, child safety, pedestrian protection, and 'safety assist', meaning electronic devices such as ESP". SUV makers are said to be horrified, since while perceived safety is a strong SUV selling point, they are normally lousy at pedestrian protection. Let me guess: Honda is happy about these changes in the benchmarking rules, while BMW and Land Rover are having a fit? "You said that, not me".

Euro-NCAP »

Posted in Europe | News Blog | Safety | 25 comments

German Crash Tests, Part 3: Crash Slow or Die Hard

By Martin Schwoerer
August 21, 2008 -

Crash tests have shown that contemporary cars are pretty safe at middling speeds. You can hit a wall at 40 mph and walk away with a few bruises. But what happens at higher speeds? German automotive club ADAC crashed a five-star (Euro-NCAP) car at 50 mph and the results were not pretty. The Renault Laguna III is way up there is terms of safety, as good or better than any other passenger car (no Freedom Fries jokes here please, I've driven a Laguna and it's good). In this video, a grey Laguna hits a solid barrier at 40 mph, after which its occupants could exit unharmed (if dummies could walk). Taken to 50 mph, the orange Laguna is close to doing a Dianamobile. The A-beam collapses and the door sill folds. Physics rule; at double the speed, crash energy increases to the square, so even a relatively small increase in velocity can cause havoc. Passengers of the orange Laguna would suffer serious injury, despite being equipped with the works: chest airbags, seatbelt tensioners, and knee airbags. At the tested speed, the crumple zone is used up. Any faster and the car would basically fall apart. ADAC: "Appropriate speed can save your life". Which is not exactly news, but seeing the evidence is more, uh, "visceral" than just knowing the facts.

Posted in Germany | News Blog | Safety | 22 comments

Carmakers Fight Anti-Terrorism Import Law

By Robert Farago
August 20, 2008 -

You'd think "just-in-time" production techniques wouldn't extend to, say, Korea (Aveo) or China (Equinox engine). But you'd be wrong. And The National Association of Automakers view new anti-terrorism legislation– that's been six years in the making– as a threat to their business. "The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bureau wants shippers to collect 10 new categories of data for U.S.-bound cargo 24 hours before it's loaded on ships in foreign countries," The Detroit News reports. "As well as to provide data about the physical location of cargo aboard a U.S.-bound vessel and status messages that report container movements… Automakers say the rule could upset the delicate 'just in time' shipping of parts to arrive at auto factories as they are needed for vehicle production, which saves the companies the cost of stockpiling parts… The automakers argue the rules would do little to make the country safer." And might be extended to Canada and Mexico. "Automakers argue in their letter that 'there is a better way,' saying that CBP [Customs and Border Protection] should focus 'on importers, exporters and countries that pose a risk.'" Isn't that exactly what they're trying to do?

The Detroit News »

Posted in China | News Blog | Safety | Suppliers | 35 comments

German Crash Tests, Part 2

By Martin Schwoerer
August 18, 2008 -

What happens when a Audi Q7 (the SUV that looks like it eats subcompacts for breakfast) crashes with a minuscule Fiat 500? The result is predictable (Audi vs Fiat 10:0), but the reasons are somewhat surprising. German auto club ADAC has been testing the so-called crash-compatibility of cars for 15 years. The Fiat 500 is an up-to-date car, with five Euro-NCAP stars and even equipped with knee airbags. In this 50 percent-offset test, conducted at around 40 mph (56 km/ h, but equivalent to 80km/h for the lower-mass Fiat), the Fiat fares much worse than it would if it just hit a wall. This is because the Audi's longitudinal beam misses the Fiat's frame and bores right into the smaller car's footwell. Subsequently, the Fiat's frame collapses and the driver's overtaxed airbag ruptures. For the Fiat's occupants, such a crash would likely be fatal, while the Audi's passengers would suffer not much more than some bruises. ADAC's Rolf Ambos says this result is quite unnecessary: with cross members and longitudinal beams in similar heights, damage would be much lower. "We at ADAC call for regulations that require larger cars to have energy-absorbing beams on several levels. Most heavy sedans already take compatibility into consideration; SUVs should too." Yet another nail in the SUVs coffin?

Posted in News Blog | Safety | 14 comments

German Crash Tests Part 1: Segway

By Martin Schwoerer
August 18, 2008 -

Germans are fond of testing the heck out of machines, no matter how oddball the configuration. They even turned testing into a world-class industry, what with companies such as TÜV expanding into unlikely places such as China. The newest and strangest crash test was carried out for the German insurance industry association, as shown in this video via Spiegel TV. Surprise, surprise! If you drive your Segway down a sidewalk at top speed (15 km per hour) and a car pulls out in front of you, the resulting crash can be fatal. "At slow speeds such as 9 km/h, the Segway is fun and safe, but at higher speeds, even a helmet cannot prevent serious injury, because the full impact force is on the driver's jaw", says test engineer Siegfried Brockman. The rest of the video is worth watching for the pirouetting meter maids, and the "World's Funniest Video"-style clips of people (including GWB) falling off their Segways. But isn't life about choices? One could wear a full-face helmet (and scare small children), or hope for an airbag-equipped Segway in 2010 (just kidding). Or maybe just walk.

Posted in Germany | News Blog | Safety | 20 comments

U.S. Sec of Transportation: Gas Prices Kill

By Robert Farago
August 15, 2008 -

Motorcyclists. Of course, Mary E. Peters didn't quite put it that way. “We have seen the total motorcycle participation in vehicle miles traveled go up,” Mary E. Peters, the secretary of transportation and a "longtime Harley-Davidson rider" told The New York Times. “We might see more people moving to that mode of transportation. We might see that data skew.” (I don't know about you, but I wouldn't use that kind of language around my fellow Hell's Angels.) By the numbers, "Deaths of motorcyclists surged 6.6 percent, to 5,154; 2007 was the 10th straight year of increase… Total deaths in motor vehicle crashes in 2007 declined to 41,059, a drop of 3.9 percent compared with 2006. Deaths in cars fell 7.8 percent, and in light trucks 2.7 percent. Even alcohol-related deaths fell." Obviously, there are enough unconfirmed variables to please/challenge any advocacy group: gas prices, passive safety, driver education, drink drive enforcement, changing demographics, helmet laws, etc. But common sense suggests that gas price hikes are a double-edged sword. At the moment, it looks like a net safety gain. Or loss. Or something. 

The New York Times »

Posted in News Blog | Safety | 19 comments

When Bad Things Happen to Bad Drivers

By Robert Farago
August 9, 2008 -

I live just off Blackstone Boulevard (GPS coordinates available for GM Black Ops rotary winged aircraft). It's RI's urban highway: two-lanes in each direction with a large, leafy central island (once a streecar route, now joggers' paradise). The Boulevard is also the Mother of All Speed Traps; I'll pay anyone who can drive down that piece of tarmac at 25mph to wear one of those Mission Impossible masks and sit through my kids' school plays. Well, that's the way it used to be. Suddenly, Renaissance City Planners have added a bike lane to Blackstone Boulevard, restricting traffic in each direction to a single lane. As a two-wheeled boulevardier, I can only say WTF? The new lane places two-wheelers closer to the traffic (there's a lane for parking next to the curb). Why didn't my unelected representatives ban parking and put the bike lane next to the curb? And now I hear these self-same traffic planners [sic] are going to install speed bumps. All I've got to say about that is this article about a Canadian traffic calming strategy gone serious awry. "[Local resident Brenda] White says cars and a motorcycle have spun out of control after hitting or dodging [constricted] curbs. Some cars spin onto lawns, she said. Some shear off trees or dent traffic signs and cable boxes. Curbs are chipped and blackened by the many tires that have struck them. A recent survey found residents are almost as concerned about the curbs as they are about speeding. Their concerns are justified. Between 2004 and 2006, five drivers lost control on Heritage Drive and crashed. Five more vehicles crashed for other reasons. One of these 10 collisions claimed a life."

The Record »

Posted in Crime & Punishment | News Blog | Safety | 29 comments