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Filed under: Safety , Volvo Ursäkta! It's how you say "Excuse me!" in Swedish, though you might not be hearing it much anymore as Volvo has managed to get Oeko-Tex certification for all of its interior fabrics including the roof lining, floor mats, luggage compartment mats, upholstery, door panels, leather-trimmed steering wheels and seat belts. This means the entire Volvo line-up is now completely allergy friendly and won't make any of your friends break out in hives. Seriously, this is why we love Volvo, which had embarked on a quest to reduce harmful pollutants from the inside of its cars a few years back. That "new car smell" so many covet is actually rather toxic and made up of Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs. Those are pretty nasty things, and the Swedish automaker has been working to eliminate them, and its new certified textiles only serve to improve the people-friendliness quotient of these stylish Swedish automobiles. And if it means a few...
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Filed under: Etc. Click above for image gallery of the carbon fiber baby seat If James Bond ever had to carry a baby instead of a bombshell in that DBS Ford Edge, here is the kind of seat worthy of the agent and his cargo. Created by Rory Craig, a student at the Art Center College of Design, the carbon fiber seat with Sparco belts is 3-way adjustable, reclines, and can be pulled apart to be a side infant carrier. There are even holes down the back of the seat for perfect harness adjustment. It's called the Wing Man, but you can't buy it yet - right now it's just a prototype. Rory is pitching it to Sparco, so you might want to write your local Sparco representative and help them make the right decision... Thanks for the tip, Dave! Gallery: Carbon Fiber Baby Seat [Source: Carbon Fiber Gear ] Carbon fiber baby seat keeps Junior secure originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Government/Legal , Recalls/TSBs , Safety 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...
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Filed under: Coupes , Government/Legal , Safety , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge Click above for gallery of 2009 Dodge Challenger crash pics, and here to view video 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...
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Filed under: Etc. , Safety 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...
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Filed under: Safety , Tech , Nissan 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 ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Safety Click above for a high-res image 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...
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Filed under: Safety , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge 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...
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Filed under: Government/Legal , Safety 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...
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Filed under: Recalls/TSBs , Safety , Chevrolet 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 ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Car Buying , Coupes , Safety , Tech , Ford Ford announced today a new technology called MyKey that will be standard on the 2010 Focus Coupe and quickly spread to the rest of the Blue Oval's lineup. MyKey can do three basic things: allow parents to limit a vehicle's top speed to 80 mph and/or the stereo's volume up to 44% of its max, and set a sustaining chime if the seatbelts aren't being used. Clearly targeted towards worry wart parents, the MyKey system is meant to keep teens safe despite their protestation that a system like this curtails their kiddy freedoms. Ford did some polling and found that 67% of teens didn't like the idea, though that number fell to 36% if the MyKey system led to parents letting the kids use the car more. The MyKey system uses off-the-shelf technology from within Ford, particularly the SecuriLock passive anti-theft system, to identify which keys are in the ignition and therefore which driving mode to enable. It's certainly...
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Filed under: Government/Legal , Safety If you've been following the ongoing roof strength regulation saga, this will likely come as no surprise. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters has again asked for an extension to rewrite the government's vehicle roof strength rule. We've been reporting on this for more than three years, and the delays never seem to end (of course, we can assume the big cheese in Washington have more pressing issues on their plates these days). Rewriting the legislation set back in the 1970s isn't as simple as specifying stronger roof pillars. Beefing up the roof will add weight - potentially making a vehicle more top heavy and likely increasing the possibility of a rollover. The new rules will need to address these concerns, and take into account new safety technologies (curtain airbags, stability control, etc...) that are on our current-generation models. While each previous request for an extension included new deadline dates, this latest appeal didn't...
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Filed under: Marketing/Advertising , Crossovers/CUVs , Volvo Click above for high-res gallery of the Volvo XC60 Vehicle sales are brutal everywhere of late, but Volvo has been tanking long before any industry-wide slowdown took place. That makes the March 2009 arrival of the XC60 crossover that much more important, as it's the first all-new Volvo (besides the low volume C30) in many years. Since customers have been turning away from the Volvo brand of late, marketing will play a big part of the XC60's success. Volvo has unleashed its new campaign for the CUV already with the tagline, "The new Volvo XC60. From Sweden with löv." We get it. Volvo is stressing its Swedish roots in marketing its new vehicle. Hey, it works for IKEA, right? Volvo even utilized the Swedish spelling for 'love' to give its new crossover more Euro appeal. Our tipster Caitlin didn't think it works at all. The reason? Löv means 'leaves' in Swedish and has nothing to do...
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Filed under: Safety , Toyota Safety technology has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few decades, and just about every automaker now knows how to score a five star rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Toyota is looking to keep the stars coming by developing a new rear window airbag that will be standard equipment on its upcoming iQ micro car . A quick glance at micro-vehicles like the iQ shows that there is very little space between the back seat and the rear window, which means there won't be as much metal to absorb the impact of a rear collision. With Toyota's new rear window airbag, the rear air bag is ejected from the roof lining during a fender bender. Toyota says it will help protect the heads and necks back seat passengers, which is all the more important in smaller vehicles like the iQ. In addition to this new bag, Toyota wants to improve its safety reputation by making side curtain and shield airbags standard for all of itsmodels. [Source...
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Filed under: Etc. , Government/Legal , Safety California recently banned talking on cellphones , and then followed up by making texting illegal , while driving. For a moment there, it was looking like all you were going to be able to do behind the wheel in California was, you know, drive. But thanks to the dedication of Governor Schwarzenegger, individual freedoms have not been extinguished. Promising to only sign bills that are "the highest priority for California," Arnie vetoed a bill that would ban driving with dogs in your lap. While we understand the spirit of the veto -- California does have much bigger issues to deal with than lapdogs -- we do sometimes wonder why a 40-pound kid has to be in a child seat, but a 40-pound, unpredictable animal can take a nap between you and the steering wheel. [Source: AP , | Photo CC | Credit: Katrinkles ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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