Safety

LaHood calls for federal ban on using cell phones while driving

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wants a federal law banning talking or texting on a cell phone while driving.

Yesterday at an event in San Antonio, Texas, he called for tough federal legislation that would deal with what he called a "national epidemic" of distracted driving, according to a Reuters report. LaHood told a group of doctors, government officials, and other advocates for bans on cell phone use while driving that police should have "the opportunity to write tickets when people are foolishly thinking they can drive safely or use a cell phone and text and … Read more

Many car buyers show interest in autonomous car tech

A fully autonomous vehicle is looming on the horizon, but do car buyers actually want this cutting-edge technology? And more importantly, will they be willing to pay for it? For approximately a third of car buyers, the first answer is yes, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

The research company conducted a study of 17,400 vehicle owners to measure interest and purchase intent for emerging automotive technologies. Participants were surveyed on the likeliness they would buy current and future autonomous safety technology, such as crash avoidance systems and fully self-driving vehicles. Not surprisingly, the interest participants showed in … Read more

How much will it cost to insure an autonomous car?

Will automotive insurance companies charge you one rate if you're manually driving the vehicle, and another when your car drives itself? That's what Google wants to find out, and is meeting with automotive insurances companies to speed the process for legalizing self-driving cars.

Anthony Levandowski, Google automotive product manager, gave the keynote address at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit last week, and disclosed that the company has been meeting with an unnamed insurance company, according to a Detroit Free Press article. Complex regulatory and liability issues could stall the technology that is fast approaching … Read more

Seeing red? Future Toyotas will sense your mood

Toyota is working on a mood-sensitive electronics system that's part safety net, part backseat driver. According to an article on Whatcar.com, the prototype system customizes the safety system's alert times based on the driver's mood. And how can it tell what mood you're in? Cameras mounted inside the cabin are focused on the driver's position and recognize emotions by interpreting 238 points on the face.

Sad or angry drivers may be distracted or have delayed reaction times, and they may not be able to avoid an accident. If your car thinks you've woken … Read more

Will you be a better driver with Big Brother watching you?

Pretty soon, car accidents will no longer be one person's word against another's -- a new bill will require "black boxes" that record vehicle data to be a standard feature of new cars.

The recently passed Senate Bill 1813 (known as MAP-21) mandates that auto manufactures install Event Data Records (EDR) in all new vehicles starting in 2015. The bill is expected to be approved by the House. The EDRs are similar to the black boxes used to determine what went wrong in an airplane crash, and record data such as speed, brake force, and electrical systems monitoring.

The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration has been studying and mulling over EDRs in vehicles for several years, but has stopped short of requiring manufacturers to implement them. However, many auto manufacturers already use these devices to help engineers and mechanics perform diagnostics tests and identify malfunctioning parts. … Read more

Jalopnik commenters help police find hit-and-run driver

Who knows how long it would have taken police to identify the small piece of metal that was left at the scene of a hit-and-run accident less than two weeks ago? Well, thanks to Jalopnik's knowledgable gearhead audience, police already have two suspects in custody.

On April 7, a 57 year-old woman was struck and killed by a vehicle while walking along the side of a road in Waynesboro, Va. There was no description of a vehicle, and the only evidence was a piece of metal that broke off as a result of the impact.

The Waynesboro Police Department … Read more

To prevent unintended acceleration, NHTSA proposes new standard

If you press the brake, the car should always stop--even if you're also pressing the gas pedal at the same time. That's the way the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration sees it, and it is proposing new regulations that would require brake-throttle override systems in all new vehicles.

In 2009, Toyota vehicles were recalled after a fatal crash involving a Lexus ES350. All occupants of the Lexus were killed when the driver, a 19-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol, was unable to stop the vehicle when the brake was pressed because the gas pedal became stuck … Read more

AAA Foundation study says teen girls top boys in distracted driving habits

Teen girl drivers are more likely to be distracted by electronic devices and their male counterparts, a new study reports.

According to the in-car video study released last week by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, teen girls are twice as likely as teen boys to use cell phones and other electronic devices while driving.

"Cell phones, texting, personal grooming, and reaching for things in the car were among the most common distracting activities found when cameras were put in new teen drivers' cars," AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger said in a press release. "This … Read more

Want to know where your teen is? Ask OnStar

If you're nervous about giving your teen driver the keys to the family car, you may be able to buy peace of mind from OnStar. The telematics company now offers the ability to tell you where your vehicles, and possibly the drivers, are at any time.

Family Link is an optional add-on service to the operator-assisted emergency response and navigation services offered by OnStar. Subscribers can log on to OnStar's Family Link Web site to view a map with the vehicle's location at any time. They can also schedule e-mail or text alerts to update them periodically … Read more

Fed driver distraction guidelines make navigation unusable

Last month, the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency published a dense document with guidelines for automakers on how to minimize the distractions caused by in-vehicle electronics. Buried among equations for determining optimal display viewing angles and testing procedures is the recommendation that navigation devices should only show static or near-static images, which would essentially eliminate their usefulness.

Section V.5.b of the document titled Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices says that "Dynamic, continuously moving maps are not recommended."

The section, which deals with photographs or videos, says that static or near-static maps for … Read more