NHTSA Considers Requiring New Advanced Safety Features in Cars

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will consider new requirements for advanced safety features in new cars. The first is a system that warns drivers when their vehicle is leaving its lane, while the second is a system that automatically brakes the car before an impending crash.

Crash-imminent braking and lane departure warning systems could become the new standard as soon as 2011. Safety advocates say both systems could dramatically reduce the 40,000 traffic deaths and 2.5 million injuries each year. Cars.com has tested both types of systems in cars from Volvo and Infiniti. The systems aren’t cheap, costing upward of $2,000 as options.

Frontal crashes account for one in six road fatalities, or about 7,200 deaths per year, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Automatic braking could potentially save many of those lives, while lane departure warning systems could positively affect the outcomes of the 483,000 crashes per year that occur when drivers are distracted or fall asleep behind the wheel. IIHS says about 10,000 people die each year when vehicles leave their lanes or the road.

The question is one of cost-effectiveness. Mandating the new systems could be expensive for automakers, who will pass the cost on to consumers, but the two systems have become a major part of NHTSA’s revamped New Car Assessment Program, which will begin with the 2011 model year. The program will performance-test those two systems.

NHTSA May Impose More Safety Features (Detroit News)

Drunken Driving Fatalities Decline in 2008

A slow economy and the summer’s high gas prices contributed to a solid decrease in the number of drunken driving fatalities in 2008. According to the Department of Transportation 11,773 people died as a result of alcohol-related vehicle accidents in 2008, compared with 13,041 in 2007. That’s a 9.7% decrease.

The fatality rate, which takes into account miles traveled, reached its lowest recorded level, while the overall number of traffic deaths fell to its lowest point since 1961, with 37,261 deaths in 2008. The states that had the sharpest decrease were Arizona and New Mexico, which had 21% and 20% drops, respectively. Both of those states have ignition interlock laws that keep offenders from starting their cars. Currently, 11 states have such laws.

Texas was the worst state for drunken driving-related fatalities, which advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving attributes to “segments of the alcohol industry and lack of leadership from the legislature and other elected officials.”

Find out how your state fared by visiting the state-by-state fatality numbers here.

It’s also important to note that aside from the personal tragedies it creates, drunken driving costs Americans $130 billion each year, according to a 2009 report from the Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation.

NHTSA Looking to Mandate Rear Turn-Signal Color

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking for public comment on a proposed new regulation that would mandate vehicle rear turn signals to be amber-colored. Currently, they can be either amber or red, in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108.

According to a study by NHTSA, amber rear turn signals have proved 5.3% more effective than red turn signals in preventing crashes. The study focused on “switch pairs,” which are vehicles that switched rear turn-signal color from one model year to the next, while controlling for “extraneous factors” such as vehicle and driver traits.

European countries already mandate that turn signals be amber, and although 5.3% sounds like a fairly small difference, NHTSA says it’s statistically significant and in line with other studies done on the subject. If automakers have to make a separate, colored turn signal in the rear it will cost more money for the domestics, but save money for automakers importing European models.

The comment period for the proposed regulation will last through Sept. 6.

New Jersey Bill Would Ban GPS Use While Driving

In March 2008, New Jersey joined the growing number of states to enact hand-held cell phone bans for drivers. Now, a Jersey City assemblyman wants to add the use of GPS devices to that ban.

Democrat L. Harvey Smith has introduced a bill that would fine drivers caught manually operating a GPS unit while driving, with an exception for voice-activated models. Smith’s bill proposes fining drivers up to $100 for the offense.

GPS instruction manuals warn against programming while driving, but like talking on a cell phone in the car, sometimes it just happens. While it’s probably not a good idea, making it illegal seems like a bit of a stretch.

After all, searching through the channels on satellite radio or changing the song on an MP3 player can also be distracting, but legislating people’s behavior behind the wheel can only go so far. Realistically, looking out the window at a nice piece of scenery can be a major distraction, but no one’s proposing an “Eyeballs on the Road” law. At some point, people’s common sense and judgment will just have to be enough.

Bill Targets Drivers’ Use of GPS Devices (DailyRecord.com)

Airbags Could Cost You a Digit

Pittsburgh psychiatrist Ken Thompson plans to file a lawsuit against BMW for the near loss of his thumb. While driving in his 2006 325xi, Thompson honked the horn when a car pulled in front of him. The vehicles collided, the airbag deployed and Thompson’s thumb was “just basically hanging.”

Although the thumb was reattached, he still experiences pain and partial loss of function. Thompson maintains that the horn’s position directly over the airbag, instead of on the rim of the steering wheel, caused his injury.

It turns out, losing a digit or suffering other injuries to the hands and arms as a result of airbag deployment is rare but highly possible. William Smock, an ER doctor at the University of Louisville Hospital, said he’s seen about 25 such injuries over the past decade. He advocates including a warning label near the steering wheel, saying that would make people more likely to keep their arms clear of the airbag during an accident.

Toyota Venza and Lexus RX Are Top Safety Picks

The all-new 2009 Toyota Venza and redesigned 2010 Lexus RX received Top Safety Pick awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. To earn Top Safety Pick status, vehicles must rank Good — the institute’s top crash rating — in front, side and rear impacts. They also must be equipped with electronic stability control.

The two models join 20 other Top Safety Picks in the midsize SUV category. Cars.com’s David Thomas recently reviewed the new Venza and thought it was an attractive buy for small families. Mike Hanley took on the updated Lexus, which is one of the company’s most popular models.

2010 Lexus RX 450h review (Cars.com) 
2009 Toyota Venza video (Cars.com)

Survey Ranks Cities by Least Courteous Drivers

An AutoVantage survey asked drivers about the courteousness of their fellow road warriors, and New York came out on top for the city with the most road rage.

Um … shocking?

Perhaps not, but following on New York’s heels were the sprawl-heavy commuter cities of Dallas and Atlanta, the industrial graveyard of Detroit, and the peculiar twins of Minneapolis and St. Paul to round it out.

Respondents cited aggressive speeding, horn-honking and anger issues as the prime road-rage indicators, while angry drivers pointed to drivers talking on cell phones, tailgating, eating and, yes, emailing as poor behaviors that set them off.

So what’s an Atlanta driver to do? Well, you could always move.

The survey found that Portland (Oregon), Cleveland, Baltimore, Sacramento and Pittsburgh were the cities with the most courteous drivers.

That move may be worth it: A full 7% admitted that they call the police in response to rude driving behavior, while 1% confessed they slam the offending car.

Study: Where Does Your City Rank Among the Road-Rageous? (Autoblog)

Traffic Fatalities Take Biggest Toll in Developing World

Traffic accidents ranked as the 10th leading cause of death in the world in 2004, but they’re on track to become the fifth-leading cause by 2030, with most of the increase coming in the developing world, according to a report by the World Health Organization.

The numbers speak for themselves: Of the 1.2 million people killed in traffic accidents around the world each year, most are not in cars, but on motorcycles, bicycles or walking along the roadside. These occur on the crowded roads and urban grids of developing countries.

High-income countries like the U.S. and Western Europe have 52% of the registered vehicles worldwide but make up only 8.5% of traffic deaths. Developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia have only 9% of the vehicles but 42% of the deaths.

In other words, the countries with the fewest cars still have the most traffic deaths.

The report points to the five greatest risk factors: speed, drunken driving, helmets, seat belts and child restraints. The countries that have adopted laws enforcing standards in these areas tend to fare best, but only 15% have laws that address each area sufficiently, according to the report.

Fewer Cars, More Traffic Fatalities (The Washington Post)

IIHS Gives Small Cars Poor Marks for Bumper Collisions

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is best known for telling you how well your vehicle will protect you in the event of an accident, but it also tests how much minor fender-benders will cost to repair.

IIHS conducted bumper tests on seven small cars to find out how well the bumpers would hold up in the event of a full-width hit at 6 mph, as well as front and rear corner hits at 3 mph. The answer is, not too well.

Out of seven cars, none received the top rating of Good. The Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Mini Cooper and Toyota Yaris all received the lowest rating, Poor, while the Chevy Aveo managed a Marginal rating and the Smart ForTwo was rated Acceptable thanks to its pre-painted, dent-resistant body panels, which are inexpensive and easy to replace.

How does IIHS make its calculations? Take the Rio, for example: The full-bumper test caused $3,701 in damage (30% of the car’s purchase price). Overall, total repairs to the bumper cost $9,380, which was the highest total in the test.

In order to receive a Good rating, each repair would have had to average less than $500.

Just something to keep in mind when buying a small car.

Computer Will Discourage Distracted Driving

Distracted driving can be dangerous, but how do you stop a driver from fiddling with the stereo? How do you police someone checking his or her hair in the rearview mirror?

Toshiba thinks it might have an answer. The company has built a driving computer that literally watches to see how attentive you are to the road. The system uses a dashboard-mounted camera to monitor your pupils and facial orientation while driving. It looks at nine predetermined sectors of your vision, so if you start paying more attention to the A/C than the road, it will give you a gentle audio warning.

Initially, this sounds kind of, well, obnoxious, but the camera also tracks blinking patterns to make sure drivers aren’t falling asleep — a greater safety concern than most people imagine. The system can also take commands via facial expression. For instance, a certain twitch could turn on your windshield wipers.

As bizarre as this technology sounds, Toshiba has said that it plans to commercialize it. Would you want a computer watching you for driving distractions? Let us know in the comments.

Toshiba's Automotive System Keeps Eye on Driver's Face (Tech-on via Gizmodo)