The Car Tech blog

(Credit: TomTom)

When we took our first look at the TomTom app for iPhone, it seemed like a perfectly competent helper for getting from points A-to-B. But, we couldn't help but notice that a few of our favorite GPS navigation features were notably absent--particularly TTS instructions and graphic lane guidance.

Well, there's good news for users of the TomTom app in the form of a free update that adds these missing features, and a few more.

The update will add text-to-speech (TTS) for spoken street names and points of interest (POI) as part of the device's directions, graphic lane guidance which displays a visual representation of complex highway intersections with indications of valid lanes for the route, and a "Help menu" offering a shortcut to emergency number and directions to the nearest emergency services. TomTom is also enabling in-app iPod player control, so drivers won't have to exit the application to pick a song or playlist.

Also included in this update are a free map update and the inclusion of a safety camera database update. Users will be able to set audio warnings when approaching safety cameras or driving over the speed limit, possibly preventing citations and increasing vehicle safety.

TomTom tells us that the application update has been submitted to Apple and is pending approval. For current users of the TomTom app for iPhone, this will be a free update. For everyone else, the price of the app will remain at $99.

We purposely attempted common jumper cable errors with the PowerSafe cables and lived to tell the tale.

(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

I was given my first set of jumper cables at the same time I received my first car. Before setting me loose on the world, my father gave me a very serious speech about the dangers of improperly jump-starting a vehicle. I was warned of potential electrocution, sparks igniting gasoline fires, and--most seriously--acid spewing battery explosions if the cables weren't connected in just the right way and in just the right order. Even armed with this sacred knowledge, I still throw sparks every time I jump-start a car, just for kicks. Sorry, dad.

However, most drivers didn't get my dad's speech and as a result, they find themselves in an even more precarious situation when the day comes that they need to borrow a few electrons to jump a dead battery. Here's where Energy Safe Technologies come in with its PowerSafe jumper cables.

The PowerSafe jumper cables look like your standard jumpers, with a pair of terminal clamps on each end. However, midway through the cables' length is a small electronic brain that monitors the state of the connections and only lets power flow when everything is hooked up just right.

So, if you accidentally connect your cable backward on either end, the system will display a red warning light and the power stays off. If you accidentally touch the loose ends of a live cable, the red light glows and there are no sparks. If there's a short of any kind, even within the dead battery, the red light glows and everyone remains safe.

Once both ends are properly connected and both indicator lights glow green, the system uses a soft start circuit to gradually ramp up the power flow, eliminating power spikes and protecting delicate vehicle electronics.

We were given a demo of the PowerSafe cables prototype at Energy Safe Technologies' booth, tucked away in the back of the SEMA Show's north hall. No matter how haphazardly we connected or disconnected the cables, we were unable to cause a fire, throw wicked sparks, or create an acid-spewing battery explosion--which is boring, but very safe.

The PowerSafe jumper cables should be available in early 2010. Pricing has not yet been announced.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay area, I'm sure you're probably familiar with the little golf-cart looking car called the Smart ForTwo. These trendy little things are gas efficient, eco-friendly, and easy to drive, but are they safe? Today's video demonstrates just how potentially dangerous these things are in an accident, so pay attention.

It's been noted that this video has an affiliation with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, although this claim has been disputed by some Web viewers. Regardless, this video is neat as it shows the testers setting up the crash test dummies for placement inside the vehicles. Then shortly after the 3-minute mark, the Smart ForTwo is pitted in a frontal collision test versus a Mercedes E-Class sedan. And even if you know which car is the safer of the two, you should still pay attention to the outcome as the amount of potential damage to a would-be rider in a so-called "Smart" car is hard to realistically comprehend without seeing it for yourselves.

About 50 years ago, a nonprofit organization called the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety was founded to conduct research on consumer automotive safety and preventive measures to reduce vehicular crashes and personal injuries that occur in car crashes. Recently the IIHS made news by crash testing a car from the era of its inception, the 1959 Chevy Bel Air, against a 2009 Chevy Malibu. The video for the Chevy crash test is readily available, but to sum it up, automobile safety features have come a long way, baby.

Today's video clip is also part of the IIHS crash experiment archives, and we see its test of two recently made Toyota sedans going head-to-head. This frontal offset test shows that the Toyota Yaris is clearly less safe for driver and passenger than the Toyota Camry. Unlike the crash test from yesterday's video featuring Chevy cars from notably different periods, the disparity in safety between these comparably aged cars Toyota makes is intriguingly similar to the Chevy crash test. I know the dollar-saving attributes of a Toyota make it slam-dunk for a lot of car buyers, they still might want to consider the "what if" factor of an automobile crash and which car provides them with the best survival odds.

(Credit: Nissan)

Nissan has developed a mini robotic car that can move autonomously in groups while avoiding crashing into obstacles (including other cars).

The Eporo, Nissan says, is the first robot car designed to move in a group by sharing its position and other information. The aim is to incorporate the technology into passenger cars to reduce accidents and traffic jams.

Although a group of Eporos may look like a gang of cybernetic Jawa, Nissan says the cars' design was inspired by the way fish move in schools.

An evolution of the bumblebee-inspired BR23C robot car unveiled last year, the Eporo uses Nissan's collision avoidance technology to travel in groups. Check out BR23C trying to get away from a Japanese lady in this video.

Eporo can dodge obstacles just like fish.

(Credit: Nissan)

The automaker studied how large schools of fish can move without colliding. It says Eporo imitates three rules of fish movement: avoiding crashes, traveling side by side, and keeping close to other members of the school.

The robots use laser range finders and ultra-wideband radio to determine distance to obstacles. They also communicate with each other to form the most efficient group formation to maneuver through tight spots.

Eporo stands for "Episode O (Zero) Robot." That zinger of a mouthful means zero episodes, as in zero accidents and zero emissions.

Nissan intends to show off Eporo at the Ceatec trade show next week in Tokyo.

The number of vehicles on U.S. roadways has grown by 7 percent over the last five years. But the number of times those vehicles have collided with deer has swelled by much more than that.

Using its claims data, State Farm estimates 2.4 million collisions of vehicles with a deer occurred in the U.S. during the two-year period between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009 (100,000 per month). That's 18.3 percent more than five years earlier. To put it another way, one of these unfortunate encounters occurs every 26 seconds (although they are much more likely during the last three months of the year and in the early evening).

Among the 35 states where at least 7,000 deer-vehicle collisions occur per year (not including the percentage changes in the other 15 states, plus D.C., because the lower volume of total collisions makes the percentage changes less credible), New Jersey and Nebraska have posted the largest increases, 54 percent. Kansas is next at 41 percent. Deer-vehicle collisions have jumped by 38 percent in Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Then come Oklahoma (34 percent) and West Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas (33 percent).

For the third year in a row, West Virginia tops the list of states in which a collision with a deer is most likely (for any one vehicle). Using its claims data in conjunction with state motor vehicle registration counts from the Federal Highway Administration, State Farm calculates the chances of a West Virginia vehicle striking a deer over the next 12 months to be 1 in 39. Such an encounter is even more likely in West Virginia than it was a year ago.

Michigan remains second on that list. The likelihood of a specific vehicle striking a deer there is 1 in 78. Pennsylvania (1 in 94) and Iowa (1 in 104) remain third and fourth respectively. Montana (1 in 104) moved up three places to fifth.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, deer-vehicle collisions in the U.S. cause more than 150 human fatalities each year.

These collisions are more frequent during the deer migration and mating seasons in October, November, and December. The combination of growing deer populations and the displacement of deer habitat caused by urban sprawl are producing increasingly hazardous conditions for motorists and deer.

The average property damage cost of these incidents during this period was $3,050.

To demonstrate the advances in motor vehicle safety over the last 50 years, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted a unique crash test using a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu and a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air. Both cars are going 40 mph and the vehicles collide offset, driver side to driver side. This is the same crash configuration represented by the Institute's 40 mph frontal offset barrier test, which is used to rate the frontal crash performance of new cars.

Sure, they can make the Leaf sound like a Spinner, but can they make it fly like one?

(Credit: Nissan Motor Co.)

According to a recent Bloomberg article, the Nissan Leaf all-electric vehicle will be equipped with a noise generator that will add a futuristic sound to the silent vehicle at low speeds.

Nissan Motor engineer Toshiyuki Tabata was charged with recreating the sound of a gasoline engine to increase safety for blind pedestrians and to address the potential for U.S. and Japanese mandates for adding artificial sounds to silent EVs.

"We fought for so long to get rid of that noisy engine sound," said Tabata, Nissan's noise and vibration expert. With electric cars, "we took a completely different approach and listened to composers talk music theory."

The end result should end up sounding something like the high-pitched sound emitted from the flying cars (or Spinners) in the 1982 film "Blade Runner," which is set in the year 2019.

Tabata states that the sound generator would automatically start with the car and shut off at 12 mph, where tire noise--and in the case of HEVs, a gasoline engine--would generate a naturally noticable sound.

(Credit: Automotive News)

TOKYO -- Imagine trying to merge onto a particularly tricky stretch of expressway where visibility is next to zero. You can't see behind you because of buildings or trees, but suddenly an alarm goes off warning that another car is approaching fast from your left. Accident averted.

Toyota Motor Corp. is rolling out an onboard safety system that does just that. It will be offered first in a car for Japan that Toyota didn't identify but said would arrive "soon."

The technology alerts drivers in real time to unseen hazards such as tight curves, merging traffic or sudden vehicle backups.

Onboard systems, such as sonar, already alert drivers to immediate hazards. This new system extends the zone being monitored because it relies on a network of roadside beacons that constantly monitor traffic conditions and transmit radio updates to a car's navigation system.

The technology, which uses a dedicated short-range communications unit, interacts with about 3,000 beacons installed on highway signs and lampposts around Japan's major cities.

The network is maintained by the national and local governments. Development began in 2005. Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism plans to expand it nationwide by 2011.

Toyota has no plans to offer the feature in the United States. But the automaker is participating in several U.S. trials, including the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration system being developed by carmakers, suppliers and government agencies.

(Source: Automotive News)