Posted 8 months 25 days ago under:
Safety,
Supercars,
CaparoSafety systems and materials developed for Formula One make the Caparo T1 one of the world’s safest ultra-performance vehicles. The world’s fastest ever track-biased production car is constructed using an exceptionally strong carbon composite tub and an energy-absorbing carbon nosecone, giving extremely high levels of driver protection.
Posted 9 months 2 days ago under:
Safety,
SaabThe Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan, SportCombi and Convertible have earned the 2008 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Pick Award in the midsize category. This is the fourth consecutive year that the 9-3 Sport Sedan has brought home IIHS top honors, an unique achievement in the luxury segment. For 2007 the 9-3 earned the Top Safety Pick Award, in 2006 the 9-3 earned the Top Safety Pick – Gold Award and received a Double Best Pick crash-test rating for 2005.
Posted 9 months 10 days ago under:
Safety,
SUVs,
NissanNissan Motor Co.’s brand new X-TRAIL SUV was awarded four stars out of a maximum five for adult, as well as child, occupant protection by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP). Following the safety lead set by the Nissan QASHQAI – which received the highest score for adult occupant protection ever by the independent crash test organisation – the X-TRAIL scored especially well in child protection, underlining its role as an ideal family vehicle. X-TRAIL is one of only two vehicles on record to score 43 points for child protection, the maximum yet achieved in Euro NCAP tests.
Posted 9 months 18 days ago under:
Safety,
Technology
Astucia SolarLite flush road stud uses stored solar power to give a ten-fold improvement in night time road visibility. Shorter days and longer hours of darkness, along with inclement winter weather place particular emphasis on the need for road delineation, to show the driver where the road goes next. The latest generation of a British-designed “smart” road-stud has just been certified by the Department for Transport and is making a significant improvement to driving safety, with a big boost in visibility compared with the traditional reflective “cats-eye.” The Astucia SolarLite™ stud stores solar energy during the day, then built-in Light Emitting Diodes automatically illuminate from dusk to dawn, providing drivers with up to 900 metres of visibility. This is ten times greater than the traditional, retro-reflective, passive road stud which relies on being illuminated by the headlight beam of the approaching vehicle. At best it has a useful range of 90 metres.
Posted 9 months 22 days ago under:
Hatchbacks,
Safety,
AudiThe well-known Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the USA has now also awarded the sporty, compact Audi A3 its highest rating of “Top Safety Pick”. This makes Audi the only German manufacturer to have three award-winning models in its ranks: the Audi A4 and A6 have already been honoured with this top safety rating in the past.
Posted 9 months 23 days ago under:
News,
Safety,
AcuraAcura MDX and RDX luxury SUVs earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) 2008 TOP SAFETY PICK Award, the IIHS' highest honor. The annual award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting vehicle occupants involved in front, side, and rear crashes based on ratings in IIHS tests.
Posted 9 months 30 days ago under:
Safety,
Sedans/Saloons,
Technology,
FordFord's high-tech new Mondeo helps drivers make the perfect hill start no matter how steep the gradient or how heavy the load. The car's sophisticated software detects the attitude of the Mondeo every time it becomes stationary – for example at traffic lights. If the Mondeo is on either an uphill or a downhill slope it automatically engages Hill Launch Assist (HLA). A smooth hill start normally requires significant co-ordination skills from a driver. Initially the car is held on the handbrake while the clutch is progressively disengaged and the accelerator applied. As inertia is overcome, the handbrake is gradually released to avoid rollback.
Posted 10 months 6 days ago under:
Safety,
Technology,
Saab
Saab’s Driver Attention Warning System is a development project designed to counter two of the most common causes of road accidents: driver drowsiness and inattention at the wheel. It alerts the driver by using a combination of text and voice messages, or vibrations in the seat cushion, as soon as the risk of drowsiness or inattention is detected. Unlike similar systems, the Driver Attention Warning System does not rely on measuring an erratic change in the steered direction of the vehicle. It is designed to detect the onset of drowsiness or inattention, rather than the immediate consequences. It utilizes two miniature infra-red cameras, one installed at the base of the driver’s A-pillar and the other in the center of the main fascia, which are focused on the driver’s eyes. The image from the cameras is analyzed by software that deploys a series of alerts when the pattern of eye-lid movement indicates the onset of drowsiness, or when the driver is not looking at the road ahead.
Posted 11 months 5 days ago under:
SafetyMotorists at the side of the road can be seen from up to four times as far if they are wearing a high-visibility vest, new research has found. The study, conducted by motoring magazine Auto Express and car care specialist, Comma, was carried out as part of Comma’s campaign at www.safeandseen.co.uk to lower the 250 deaths and serious injuries that happen on the hard shoulders of the UK’s motorways each year.
Posted 11 months 12 days ago under:
Safety,
Sedans/Saloons,
FordThe new Ford Mondeo has won a 5-star rating for adult occupant protection in the latest round of Euro NCAP safety testing announced today. The test result for Mondeo was one of the top 10 ever recorded in the respected independent crash testing evaluations.
