If you thought police tracking your movements via license plate scanners was creepy, you may want to check your owner’s manual to see if your own car has been spying on you. Event data recorders, also known as EDRs or black boxes, began showing up in cars in 1990 when General Motors introduced them for …
This is a good time to be in the business of selling electric vehicles. Once moribund, sales of electric cars have more than doubled in the U.S. during the first six months of 2013 compared to the same time period in 2012. Americans have purchased 41,447 of plug-in electric vehicles since January. Thirty-six percent of all the electric …
Electric Car Sales Have Doubled, Thanks To High Gas Prices Read More »
Compared with the rest of the world, the U.S. has long been known as the gas guzzler country — the nation of the widest roads, largest vehicles and least amount of public transportation for the geography. That image could be changing, according to a new study that says driving in the U.S. has already peaked …
Thirty pages deep in a beaten-up vehicle’s owner’s manual, there’s a curious warning about aging airbags. It reads: “To ensure long-term functioning, the system must be inspected 10 years after the date of manufacture as noted on the certification label.” In this case, the manual belongs to a 15-year-old Nissan Altima. Similar warnings recommending airbag …
Should Car Owners Replace Airbags In Older Cars? Read More »
Unscrupulous practices conducted throughout the auto industry topped the list of consumer complaints last year, beating out home contractors and other frequent sources of gripes nationwide, according to a review conducted by the Consumer Federation of America. Automotive complaints didn’t even make the Top 5 the previous year. Now, they surpass the likes of shady …
Automotive Gripes Top List Of Consumer Complaints Read More »
Americans are keeping their cars and trucks longer than ever, and even with newcar sales increasing, the average age will continue to rise, an industry research firm says. The average age of the 247 million cars and trucks on U.S. roads hit a record of 11.4 years in January, the latest figures available from state …
On February 22, 2012, Meilan Jin was crossing an intersection at Northern Blvd. and Union St. in Queens, New York. Chatting on her cell phone as she proceeded diagonally across in an attempt to catch a van to her job at a nail salon, a city bus made a fast, wide right turn and struck …
“Distracted Walking” Contributing To Rise In Pedestrian Deaths Read More »
DETROIT (AP) – Six of 12 small cars performed well in front-end crash tests conducted by an insurance industry group, but some popular models fared poorly in the safety evaluations. Only the two-door and four-door Honda Civic models earned the top rating of “good” in the tests done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. …
Several Popular Small Cars Fare Poorly In New Crash Test Read More »
Automotive hackers commandeered control of a Ford Escape and Toyota Prius during a recent experiment, and using data culled from the experiment came up with some tips on how automakers can block hackers from gaining access to cars. Breaching security in the cars’ software, they did things like start and stop the engines, manipulate steering …
Hackers Offer Advice To Automakers On How To Prevent Attacks Read More »
In his documentaries, Werner Herzog has examined grizzly bears, plane crash survivors, cave paintings and death row inmates. For his latest project, the 70-year-old filmmaker is exploring the dangers of texting while driving in “From One Second to the Next,” a 35-minute short film that emotionally recounts how lives have been forever changed by the …
Here’s Why You Need To Stop Texting While Driving Read More »
