Autoblog

If there was a perfect technology to inform car owners about potential problems with their vehicles, it would be RSS. The wonderful Real Simple Syndication that keeps us up-to-date on our favorite blogs has caused a lightbulb to illuminate above a few heads at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTHSA). "Why, with this simple tool, people could sign up to be notified quickly when we issue any alerts or recalls," the agency said in a moment of current-technology clarity (we're paraphrasing.) Once you go to NHTSA's website and sign up, you get a synopsis of the past week's activity, as well as the ability to track up to five different vehicles. The system also allows notification through email or RSS update on your PC, phone, or PDA whenever something pertaining to your vehicle is issued. Additionally, recalls on tires and child safety gear will also go out. Sure beats a hit or miss web search.

[Source: Inside Line]

We like our pony cars to have that muscle car look with the power to back it up. The Dodge Challenger makes good on both counts (at least when it's sporting a V8) and now has a five-star safety record to match its performance. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration slammed some Challengers into brick walls to test the new pony car's crash-worthiness, and the results were five stars for both the driver and front passenger in frontal and side impacts. A front crash impact score of five stars means that there is a 10% or less chance of serious injury at 35 mph, and the five-star side impact score indicates a 5% chance of serious injury at 38.5 mph.

Follow the jump to watch video of the Dodge Challenger taking on the NHTSA's infamous wall of punishment. The Challenger's sheet metal does a good job of absorbing the 35-mph blow in the frontal crash, and the driver door performs brilliantly in the side impact.


[Source: CarScoop]

If you plan on driving in November, and who doesn't, keep an eye out for wildlife. It's likely due to amorous quadrupeds wandering around looking for companionship at the peak of the deer mating season, but you're three times more likely to find a large furry thing in your path of travel during November than any other time of the year, and it's getting worse. The Highway Loss Data Institute has been tracking insurance claims for animal strikes, and incidents have risen 14.9 percent in the last five years.

Breeding season collisions have been getting more prevalent, perhaps due to urban sprawl cutting into animal habitats. Animal versus motorcycle incidents rise in the summer months, mainly because riding two-wheelers is more common. Most of the time, these accidents aren't fatal to people, unless they're asking for it by ignoring seatbelts or insisting that helmets are for sissies. Rural areas, where speeds are higher, tend to have the roads you want to watch out for, especially when it's dark.

Peace of mind can be had for a price. Vehicles from Scandinavian countries must pass the "moose test," which means the car is more resistant to folding up like some kind of metallic origami when encountering large livestock. Vigilance behind the wheel of something like a Saab Turbo X Sport Combi doesn't sound like a bad way to finish out Autumn, now does it?

Nissan's JDM customers will now be able to benefit when some other poor schmo skids a Teana into a ditch. The CARWINGS telematics system has a new application bent on safety called Slip Alert. Slip Alert combines real-time images from cameras set up in Hokkaido to monitor conditions in dangerous areas, data on ABS and traction control usage from other Nissans carrying CARWINGS, and statistics from years gone by in an attempt to keep drivers from wrecking. When cruising along in treacherous going, the navigation system will keep the driver informed with a voice admonishment and an on-screen graphic. Nissan says the system indeed works, but it's not headed for the United States any time soon, so we'll still be able to spot rolled Armadas and stuffed Maximas this winter.

[Source: Wired]

Despite numerous positive crash test results and assurances from both manufacturers and safety organizations, we still hear people say they'll never trade their bank-safe SUV for one of those little tin cans on wheels. This makes some people wonder what it would take to change folks' minds about automotive safety.

A first-hand account from Nick Chambers, an admitted greenie who blogs for gas2.0.org, slammed his Yaris into a dirt embankment then rolled it three times. He not only lived, but walked away from his crumpled Toyota with little more than a bump and a really sore neck. He also admits that before his little off-road excursion in the Yaris, he wasn't completely sold on small car safety. But now he says, "Yes. Yes I would trust my family to a small fuel-efficient car, and I'm miraculously alive and mostly uninjured... so no, it's not a death trap."

[Source: gas2.0 via Instapundit]

If you've taken your car to the track for either an open lapping session or an advanced driver education course, you're undoubtedly aware of the potential risks. While most insurance policies say that the car isn't covered if it's participating in a "timed event," that's all changing now that track time is becoming more common.

A report by The New York Times goes into detail about the loophole and how the big insurers are taking measures to include high-performance driving schools and track days. One interviewee has decided to stop his weekend excursions altogether after learning about the policy changes, and more disturbingly, when another player in the piece asked his insurance company if his Subaru WRX STI was covered during a track event, his policy was dropped six months later.

While the well-to-do are largely immune from the new terms, purchasing dedicated track-day toys or additional insurance, those of us with shallow pockets might have to think twice before we wring our rides out as God intended.

[Source: NYT via TTAC]

If you didn't know all-wheel drive was an available option for the Dodge Avenger, Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Caliber, you're not alone. Only 1.5% of Avenger buyers checked the AWD option box, and the Sebring take rate was an abysmal .7%. The Caliber fared only slightly better at 4.4% for the 2008 model, but that's not nearly enough to keep Chrysler from canceling the option for the 2009 model year. AWD was fast becoming a mainstream option when those models were being developed, but the ability to move all four wheels at once drives down fuel economy. The MSRP goes up, too, and Chrysler and Dodge dealers are having enough trouble selling less expensive base models, much less a $35,000 Sebring with AWD.

While Chrysler may be struggling to sell AWD as an option on its cars, Ford is reporting take rates of up to 20% for the option on the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan. The Blue Oval says AWD is popular in northern climes, and it probably helps that the automaker actually advertises its midsize offerings' AWD capability. Chrysler is quick to point out that its Borg Warner-sourced AWD system isn't the problem, though, as it's also available on the Dodge Journey, which has a 20% take rate for AWD.

[Source: Wards Automotive]

My wife and I thoroughly trained our oldest daughter on seat belt safety, and it got to the point where she would scream at the top of her lungs if one of us didn't buckle our belts. When she first stepped foot on a school bus, she was terrified to learn that there were no seat belts and didn't understand how school buses were the exception to the seat belt rule. After many years of extensive study, however, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is changing that, at least for buses weighing under 10,000 lbs. The NHTSA's findings are the same as a 2002 study that smaller buses should receive belts and seat backs should be raised to 24 inches, but nothing was done about the findings back then. A series of bus crashes since has helped build the case to finally require the seat belts on certain buses and taller seat backs for them all.

Part of the reason for inaction was that adding seat belts would decrease seating capacity by 17% while also adding $40-$50 per seat to bus costs. With 25 million children riding 500,000 buses, that adds up to $100 million in annual costs that would, according to reports, save roughly one life per year. Statistics show that about 5 children die each year in school bus accidents, which represents .1 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. Kids that travel by bike to school die at a far greater rate of 12.2 per 100 million miles traveled, and kids who walk to school die at a rate of 8.7 per 100 million. The NHTSA's ruling goes into effect November 2011, which is five months before my oldest daughter rides the bus for the last time and gets into her own car.

[Source: Detroit News, photo by gareth_lofthouse | CC 2.0]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says passenger airbags in some 2009 Chevrolet Impalas may have a potentially deadly flaw. Not only could the devices fail to inflate in a crash, but the inflator tube could rupture and hurl pieces of it at passengers. Sounds pretty bad, but there is good news for most Impala owners. According to NHTSA, the recall will only affect 79 Impalas, and not all of them will need replacement. Airbags found to be faulty will be completely replaced under the recall campaign at GM service centers.

Notices will be mailed out sometime this month to Impala owners who need to have their vehicles inspected. You can read the entire NHTSA description here.

[Source: Inside Line]

Just a day after unveiling its innovative and controversial MyKey system, Ford has come back with another piece of new technology, this time safety related, that will start appearing on some 2009 models. It's called Collision Warning with Brake Support, and it uses the radar system that makes Adaptive Cruise Control possible to detect what's in front of the car. If the system senses contact with something might happen, most likely another car, it will at first sound an audible alarm and activate a warning light. At the same time it will "precharge" the brakes and activate a brake-assist function in case the driver needs to slam on the brakes. While Ford doesn't give the details about what's exactly happening, it sounds as if this radar system will monitor the distance between your Ford and what's in front of you, and if a collision is deemed imminent will effectively get the brakes ready for a panic stop. We're told the technology will begin on appearing on select Ford and Lincoln models for 2009, along with other radar-based technologies like the aforementioned Adaptive Cruise Control that debuted on the 2009 Lincoln MKS and BLIS, a blind spot warning system. Check out video of the Collision Warning with Brake Support after the jump along with Ford's official press release.


[Source: Ford]