The new Renault Clio, Mazda 3 and electric Audi e-tron are among seven cars to secure five-star Euro NCAP crash test scores in the latest round of testing. The Mazda 3 became just the fourth car ever tested to score 98% for adult occupant protection (AOP), alongside the Volvo V40 and XC60, and the Alfa Romeo Giulia. The latest Clio achieved an AOP score of 96%, and also scored 89% for child occupant safety. The new Volkswagen T-Cross scored 97% for AOP. The other cars to receive five-star scores in the last month are the Lexus UX, Toyota Corolla and Toyota RAV4. Thatcham Research, the only UK safety research centre that conducts Euro NCAP tests, noted the high level of driver assistance systems fitted as standard to many of the cars tested. Matthew Avery, Thatcham’s director of research, said: “Achieving a five-star rating has never been so demanding, so it is pleasing to see carmakers continuing to rise to the challenge. “Consumers have never had it so good and can expect nothing less than top level safety from these
Origin: New Renault Clio, Mazda 3 lead Euro NCAP crash test stars
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Autopilot was on when Tesla hit semi trailer in fatal crash: safety board
A Tesla Model 3 involved in a March 1 fatal crash in Florida was being driven by the vehicle’s semi-autonomous Autopilot system and the driver’s hands weren’t on the steering wheel, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. The driver was killed when the car slammed into the side of a semi-truck that was crossing a highway in Delray Beach, the NTSB said in a preliminary report released Thursday. The driver apparently wasn’t steering in the eight seconds before the collision, according to NTSB. “Preliminary vehicle data show that the Tesla was traveling about 68 mph (109 km/h) when it struck the semitrailer,” the report said. “Neither the preliminary data nor the videos indicate that the driver or the ADAS executed evasive maneuvers.” ADAS refers to Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system. The NTSB used video from a nearby surveillance camera showing the collision and the video devices that Teslas use to help them steer and perform other functions. “We are deeply saddened by this accident and our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy,” Tesla said in an emailed statement. The company informed NTSB and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the Autopilot activation after reviewing the car’s computerized data log, the company said. The crash is the latest Tesla accident under investigation by the NTSB and is strikingly similar to 2016 case in which a Model S hit the side of a truck without braking. In that fatal collision, the NTSB found that the design of Tesla Autopilot system was partially responsible for the crash and issued two recommendations to the company and other manufacturers to improve the safety of such partially autonomous driving tools. Among the NTSB’s findings was that the car’s sensors weren’t designed to identify the side of the truck and, therefore, didn’t slow the car. The NTSB preliminary report on the March 1 collision doesn’t spell out what the car’s sensors detected as the vehicle approached the truck. The safety board is also looking at another fatal crash involving Autopilot in 2018 in California. In that case, a Model X struck a concrete highway barrier, killing the driver. NTSB investigators are also probing how the electric Tesla’s batteries behave after accidents following several
Origin: Autopilot was on when Tesla hit semi trailer in fatal crash: safety board
This app will help you if you crash your Volvo
Volvo Car Accident AdvisorVolvo Crashing your car isn’t fun, and the worst part about doing it is the uncertainty of what to do afterward. Luckily, Volvo is taking some of the guesswork out of car accidents with its new mobile app. The app is aptly called Car Accident Advisor, and is designed to guide you through the first steps you need to take following a minor fender-bender. First, you must confirm to Volvo Customer Care that you are uninjured and that emergency services are not needed; then you will receive a text with a link to the advisor. The app requires that you have a data or internet connection, and then it will guide you through the next steps. The app will prompt the driver to take photographs of the damaged areas and the scene around the vehicles, as well as record facts about the scene. The app can also compile a report to send to your insurance company, and search for repair shops. The whole system should amount to a less stressful experience, as well as a faster repair time for the vehicle and quicker claim response from the insurance company. Obviously, if you are in a larger accident, the app might not be the best thing to use, but for small accidents with other drivers or even with objects, the step-by-step instructions make the whole process less disorienting. The service is available for vehicles model year 2015-and-a-half and up automatically, and via the in-car SOS communications system in newer
Origin: This app will help you if you crash your Volvo
Even light rain increases your risk of a deadly car crash: study
In this file photo, umbrellas provide some rain protection along Lakeshore Blvd. in Etobicoke on July 9, 2010.Ernest Doroszuk / Toronto Sun Even light rain significantly increases your risk of a fatal car crash, a new study out of the U.S. finds. The wetter the roads, the deadlier they become, with rain, snow and ice increasing the risk of deadly car crashes by 34 per cent, according to a study published April in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Light rain – “We’re talking a drizzle, just at the point where you might consider taking an umbrella out,” said study lead author Scott Stevens – increased the fatal crash risk by 27 per cent. Stevens, a data analyst and meteorologist at the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, and colleagues looked at 125,012 fatal car crashes in the Lower 48 states from 2006 to 2011, factoring in how many cars are on the road, to calculate the risk of a fatal accident. While other studies have used police reports and the nearest weather station to calculate rain and snow conditions, Stevens said his is the first study to use more precise weather radar data. It was able to distinguish how hard the rain or snow was falling to come up with results showing an increase in fatal crashes even in rain of less than one-tenth of an inch per hour. “People slow down when it starts to rain heavily, but I think they under-appreciate the risk of light rain,” Stevens said Tuesday. With moderate rain the risk of fatal car crashes is 75 per cent more than in nice weather, Stevens said, and with heavy rain it’s nearly two-and-a-half times more risky. The Northern Rockies and Upper Midwest had the highest risk of fatal crashes with rainy and snowy weather, while the risks were lowest in the Northeast and Southeast. Stevens thinks that’s because the east is more urban and people aren’t driving fast enough for fatal
Origin: Even light rain increases your risk of a deadly car crash: study
Tesla sued over fatal crash blamed on autopilot navigation error
2018 Model X sits on display outside a Tesla showroom.David Zalubowski / AP Photo Tesla Inc. was sued by the family of a man who died as the result of a crash allegedly caused when the Autopilot navigation system of his 2017 Model X malfunctioned. The family of Walter Huang, 38, said in a complaint filed April 26 in California state court that the vehicle, which was sold as a “state-of-the-art” automobile, lacked safety features, such as an automatic emergency braking system. Such features are available on much less expensive vehicles from other carmakers, as well as on more recent Model Xs, Huang’s family said. The family also alleges that Tesla knew, or should have known, “that the Tesla Model X was likely to cause injury to its occupants by leaving travel lanes and striking fixed objects when used in a reasonably foreseeable manner.” The carmaker should have issued a recall or provided a warning “in light of the risk of harm,” the family said in the complaint. Huang died because “Tesla is beta testing its Autopilot software on live drivers,” B. Mark Fong, a lawyer for the family, said in a statement. “The Huang family wants to help prevent this tragedy from happening to other drivers using Tesla vehicles or any semi-autonomous vehicles.” Huang crashed on the morning of March 23, 2018, while driving on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, California, when the Tesla Autopilot allegedly turned the vehicle left, straight into the concrete median. He’s survived by his wife, two children, and his parents. The State of California Department of Transportation is also named as a defendant for failing to repair or restore a crash attenuator that had been damaged in a collision a week before Huang’s crash. The case is Huang v. Tesla Inc., 19CV346663, California Superior Court, Santa Clara
Origin: Tesla sued over fatal crash blamed on autopilot navigation error
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