The Biggest Factor in Automotive Safety

Posted on May 23, 2022 in Safety | 1 comment

Can you remember a time when there has been more bad press for car companies? The unintended acceleration debacles with Audi in 1986 and Toyota in 2009 were precursors to the multitude of problems that have reared their ugly heads this year. The General Motors ignition switch recall, Chrysler’s defiance of the NHTSA, and now, Volkswagen’s diesel issue all call...

Can You Spare the Spare?

Posted on Apr 22, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Can You Spare the Spare?

My daughter’s birthday nearly ended in the bitter cold, stranded on the side of the road in a questionable area of downtown. After a nice birthday dinner, my wife and two of our girls clambered into the Legacy to thaw from the unusually frozen April night. With the car started and the heat on, I was ready to pull out of my prime parking space and embark on the...

Dangers of Texting and Driving: A Personal Experience

Posted on Apr 20, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Dangers of Texting and Driving: A Personal Experience

The call every parent dreads begins like this: “Your kids have been in an accident.” There’s nothing scarier or more dreadful than hearing those words except for the unknown information that comes next. Are they okay? Where are they? What happened? The questions flood your brain like rapid-fire bullets, and the answers can’t come fast enough. Guilt sets in...

What’s Right: Right or Left Braking?

Posted on Mar 19, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on What’s Right: Right or Left Braking?

When does braking feel like hitting a brick wall? When you try to apply the brakes using the wrong foot. For those of us with decades of experience using our right feet to slow down, our left feet might as well be attached to our hips with wet noodles. There’s just no control when it comes to using them to stop a motor vehicle. The debate about driving with two...

Third Age Suit Points to Greater Safety Technology Needs

Posted on Mar 17, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Third Age Suit Points to Greater Safety Technology Needs

Normally driving a 2015 Lexus RC 350 is an exercise in automotive enjoyment. On one hot day recently, I found it extremely difficult. I had trouble seeing. My movements were largely restricted, and my hand was shaking. I was less confident in my ability to safely drive. While it sounds like I was drunk, I wasn’t. I was encased in Ford’s Third Age Suit. It is...

Digging Out? Get Your Car Ready for Spring!

Posted on Mar 16, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Digging Out? Get Your Car Ready for Spring!

I love snow. I’m honestly a little jealous that a good majority of the country got buried this winter while I sat and watched my local ski hill warm up and close for the season by February. If you live anywhere other than the West Coast, odds are good that you, and your car, experienced record snowfall. If you’re one of the many car owners who simply gave up...

Here’s Your Chance to Sell Your Truck Back to the Automaker

Posted on Feb 14, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Here’s Your Chance to Sell Your Truck Back to the Automaker

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has flexed its muscle and leveled Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with a massive fine and buyback program, in addition to requiring strict oversight of future recalls. A fine of up to $105 million is the result of a settlement between the government and FCA over allegations of misconduct in...

Have You Ever Had a Car Stolen?

Posted on Feb 13, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Have You Ever Had a Car Stolen?

If you’re one of the unfortunate people to have experienced an auto theft, you’re familiar with how invasive and unsettling it is to know someone has your car. At first you think you just can’t remember where you parked. You spin in circles, visually scouring the parking lot for any sign of your car. Then you replay the events in your mind of where you parked...

Would You Trust a Self-Driving Car?

Posted on Jan 12, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Would You Trust a Self-Driving Car?

For the first time, a Google self-driving car is at fault for causing an accident. On Valentine’s Day a Lexus RX 450h with Google’s self-driving technology leaned in a little too close to a city bus in Mountain View, California. The two vehicles collided at low speed. Google has acknowledged at least 17 other accidents involving its cars, but this is the first...

Are Convertibles Worth the Safety Risk?

Posted on Jan 11, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Are Convertibles Worth the Safety Risk?

Yesterday we drove Highway 1 in California from San Simeon to Monterey. This is the most beautiful segment of the most beautiful road in America, but one thing started driving me crazy: One in ten cars that passed in the opposite direction was either a red convertible Camaro orMustang. That’s no exaggeration. I don’t know if there’s either a rental place that...

Would You Buy This Damaged Land Rover?

Posted on Jan 10, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Would You Buy This Damaged Land Rover?

What a short attention span we have in this world today. Less than a month ago, we wrote about the Hoegh Osaka. Remember that? If you’re anything like me, you’ll read that name and it’ll sound vaguely familiar, but you won’t remember why. Let me remind you: The ship was carrying around 1,200 Jaguars and Land Rovers before tilting dangerously and running aground...

New BMW Headlights Solve Old Problem

Posted on Dec 18, 2021 in Safety | 1 comment

Imagine a world where you never have to worry about turning down your brights as you drive. We’ve all been there, happily zooming down a country lane or lonely highway with the road in front of us bathed in ample light, our cars cutting through the darkness with high beams in full force. Then a car approaches. We think nothing of it until the approaching...