After his win in Hungary, then a two-week F1-enforced summer shutdown, it's Lewis Hamilton's first day back at the 'office'. The MP4-24B may still essentially be the same car, but upgrades to the floor, rear and front wings mean the car is now competitive. With the consecutive races of Valencia and Spa next-up (although he won't now get the chance to race Michael Schumacher) Lewis can't wait to get back behind the wheel again...
Sixty-six vehicles earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s TOP SAFETY PICK award for 2011, including 40 cars, 25 SUVs, and a minivan. TOP SAFETY PICK recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, rollover, and rear crashes based on good ratings in Institute tests. Winners also must have available electronic stability control, a crash avoidance feature that significantly reduces crash risk. The ratings help consumers pick vehicles that offer a higher level of protection than federal safety standards require.
Adults have gotten the message that it’s safer for kids to ride in the back seat properly restrained, but when it comes to their own safety, there is a common misperception that buckling up is optional. Among adults who admit to not always using safety belts in the back seat, 4 out of 5 surveyed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety say short trips or traveling by taxi or ride-hailing service are times they don’t bother to use the belt.
The new survey reveals that many rear-seat passengers don’t think belts are necessary because they perceive the back seat to be safer than the front. This shows a clear misunderstanding about why belts are important, no matter where a person sits in a vehicle.
Before the majority of Americans got into the habit of buckling up, the back seat was the safest place to sit, and the center rear seat was the safest place of all in 1960-70s’ era vehicles. In recent decades, high levels of restraint use, the advent of belt pretensioners, load limiters and airbags, plus crashworthy vehicle designs have narrowed the safety advantages of riding in the rear seat for teens and adults.
Parking crashes usually don’t result in serious injuries, but repair costs can quickly mount, along with the hassle of going without the family vehicle while waiting for the body shop to finish work. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has launched a rear crash prevention ratings program to help consumers identify models with the technology that can prevent or mitigate low-speed backing crashes. Two systems earn the highest rating of superior, and four earn the second-highest rating of advanced.
Rear crash prevention encompasses several technologies. Parking sensors issue warning beeps and/or seat vibrations when the equipped vehicle gets too close to another vehicle or object directly behind it, or, in some cases, in front of it. Rear cross-traffic alert warns drivers of approaching vehicles that might cross their path as they back up. Rear automatic emergency braking systems detect objects behind a reversing vehicle and may automatically brake if the driver doesn’t heed alerts to stop.
IIHS engineers evaluated rear autobrake systems on six popular 2017 model vehicles — the BMW 5 series sedan, Cadillac XT5 SUV, Infiniti QX60 SUV, Jeep Cherokee SUV, Subaru Outback wagon and Toyota Prius hatchback.
Under the three-tier rating scheme, models with optional or standard rear crash prevention systems are rated superior, advanced or basic. Ratings are determined by whether the vehicles have available rear autobrake and, if so, how it performs in a series of car-to-car and car-to-pole tests with different approach angles. The availability of parking sensors and rear cross-traffic alert also is factored in.
The Outback and XT5 earn a superior rating when equipped with optional rear autobrake, parking sensors and rear cross-traffic alert. The Cherokee, 5 series, QX60 and Prius earn an advanced rating with this optional gear.
You’ve heard a lot about GM in the news lately. Now meet the GM employees who contribute their passions and talents to develop the best cars and trucks in the world. Holly Wendt, a Senior Program Quality Engineer for GM’s rear-wheel drive vehicles, shares why she loves her job and what it’s like to be part of GM’s exciting reinvention. Read more about Holly at http://www.facesofgm.com/.
Choosing the right tires and properly maintaining them are effective ways to enhance your vehicle’s performance and improve road safety. This week is National Tire Safety Week and leading tire manufacturer Michelin is reminding consumers of the benefits of choosing the right tires and of simple, cost-effective ways to contribute to tire safety. After all – your tires are the only part of your car in contact with the road.
For more information, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/player/44463-michelin-tire-safety-week/
According to the United Nations, worldwide nearly 1.3 million lives are lost in traffic accidents each year and this number could rise to nearly 1.9 million in the next 10 years. Furthermore, estimates show that nearly 90 percent of all crashes are caused by driver error, making advanced safety systems an important focus for automakers and governing agencies. Bosch offers active and passive safety technologies, as well as driver assistance functions that can help reduce the number of accidents and save lives.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/48705-bosch-helps-drivers-avoid-crashes-reduce-injuries
It\'s a dramatic moment. In an ultra-modern audio studio, a Pearl White Lexus LFA supercar faces its challenger: a lone crystal champagne flute on a pedestal alongside a sleek amplifier. The vehicle\'s keyless ignition is engaged, and its rear wheels start spinning on a dynamometer. The engine roars louder and louder, the speedometer clicks past 150, 160, 170 mph. That\'s when the glass quivers and shimmies until – kshhh! – the flute shatters in gorgeous slow motion.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/lexus/44440/
The new BMW 5 Series Touring is an uncompromising synthesis of power, handling, versatility and elegant style, delivering an experience that suits business and pleasure in equal measure. The BMW 5 Series Touring has always existed to be the perfect estate car for a premium car buyer who wants it all. The dramatic styling and sloping rear roof line create an elegant silhouette, but function follows form as the latest Touring is even more practical. Clearly it is a package that has global appeal as since the first ever car was introduced in 1991, more than 670,000 have been sold.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/bmwuk/46299/
The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf earn the highest safety ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the first-ever U.S. crash test evaluations of plug-in electric cars. The milestone demonstrates that automakers are using the same safety engineering in new electric cars as they do in gasoline-powered vehicles.
The Volt and Leaf earn the top rating of good for front, side, rear, and rollover crash protection. With standard electronic stability control, they qualify as winners of TOP SAFETY PICK, the Institute’s award for state-of-the-art crash protection. The ratings help consumers pick vehicles that offer a higher level of protection than federal safety standards require.
Six of 13 small cars recently evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety earn the TOP SAFETY PICK award, and none earn a poor rating in any of 4 tests. This is a turnaround from a few years ago when small cars struggled to earn top safety ratings. The new tests include hybrids and gasoline-only models that are among the most fuel-efficient vehicles available in the U.S. market.
The ratings are based on performance in front, side, rollover, and rear impact evaluations. Cars that earn the top rating of good in each test and have available electronic stability control (ESC) qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK. Winners are the 2012 Ford Focus and Honda Civic, along with the 2011 Hyundai Elantra, Lexus CT 200h hybrid, Nissan Juke, and Toyota Prius hybrid. The Civic, CT 200h, Elantra, Focus, and Prius have at least one version with a government fuel economy rating of at least 40 miles per gallon on the highway. The Dodge Caliber, Honda CR-Z and Insight hybrids, Nissan Sentra and Versa, Scion xD, and Suzuki SX4 also were rated but didn’t earn TOP SAFETY PICK.
Vehicles are doing a better job of protecting people in crashes, but a new crop of advanced technology aims to prevent many crashes from happening altogether. A new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) finds that one kind of advanced forward collision avoidance system is working to prevent about a quarter of the common low-speed crashes that happen in everyday commuter traffic.
The study of insurance claims found that Volvo XC60 midsize SUVs outfitted with a standard collision avoidance feature called City Safety are far less likely to be involved in low-speed crashes than comparable vehicles without the system. City Safety is designed to help a driver avoid rear-ending another vehicle in slow-moving, heavy traffic. Claims under property damage liability coverage — the insurance that pays for damage to vehicles that an at-fault driver hits — were filed 27 percent less often for the XC60 than other midsize luxury SUVs.
For more information: www.iihs.org
