Your Favorite Auto Show Moment Could Win You A Trip To The New York Auto Show
Have you always wanted to attend press days at a major auto show, but lacked the press credentials and insider access to do so? We've partnered with Hyundai and the New York International Auto Show for an opportunity to offer aspiring automotive writers access to this year's New York International Auto Show press days.
Tell us about your most memorable auto show moment and be entered to win. It only takes one published story to count as an entry, but the more you write the better your chance to win.
The contest is as much about writing as it is about creativity. Each submission must be at least 250 words and well-written. Our editorial team will be looking for the best. Originality is definitely key, as is grammar and spelling. While our blogging platform gives you access to a huge library of photos, you can always utilize resources such as YouTube and other sites. Always properly cite your sources.
The contest ends on April 11 at 11:59 PM EST, so start brainstorming now. Remember, the more you enter the better your chances to win.Below are a few videos that will help jump start your creative process:
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport: Driven
Mitsubishi's idea, last year, of previewing its Outlander Sport by making it the first model ever that could be remotely test driven, live—via a virtual system that promised way more than a tilt-and-pan virtual showroom tour—was the first of its kind. And it's definitely one of the coolest launch ideas of this past year.
The messaging, in a way, prepared us for an unexciting yet tech-laden vehicle; it sounded like the kind of marketing gimmickry that's applied to vehicles that aren't much fun to drive.
In both respects, that's not the case. The Outlander Sport doesn't boast much (if any) more onboard tech extras than most other vehicles in its class, but thankfully it's not at all bland from behind the wheel. For a 'tall small' whatchamacalit, the Outlander Sport shows surprising athleticism, with the excellent steering that we've come to expect in all of Mitsubishi's smaller vehicles.
More than a hatchback, or not quite a hefty crossover?
It makes sense when you consider that the Outlander Sport is, according to Mitsubishi, a lighter, shorter version of the Outlander crossover vehicle—about a foot shorter but the same in wheelbase, with nearly the same overall width and height. But to us, it drives quite differently. A lot of the heft is gone from the experience, replaced by better responsiveness, and it feels a lot more like the Lancer sedan, which also shares some underpinnings. Its 3,100-pounds weight and excellent steering contribute to the light-and-nimble feel, no doubt, and drives a class smaller than most compact crossovers like the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, or even the Kia Sportage—but it also doesn't feel as anesthetized as the Scion xD or xB in their standard tune.
(more...)2011 Kia Sportage SX: First Drive
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
The 6 Things To Know About Star Safety Ratings
While you might be perfectly happy with a two-star hotel or restaurant choice, you shouldn't ever settle for anything but five stars in a vehicle.
As before, you'll find federal star ratings printed on the window sticker of all new vehicles. But this year, they're different. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has revamped its New-Car Assessment Program (NCAP) for 2011—and now those star ratings are more likely to show, at a glance, the differences in protection from one model to another.
That was the intent, at least, with a new system that rates vehicles based on three stars as average, versus the star ratings corresponding to actual likelihood of injury. Already, there have been plenty of three-star ratings, and some two-star results, dealt out in a field that, last year, was packed with five-star results.
Yet there haven't been as many one- and two-star ratings as you might think.
"It's a good step forward," says Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the other organization that crash-tests and rates U.S.-market vehicles for safety. "But it's not resulting in as much differentiation as NHTSA anticipated earlier."
The IIHS rates vehicles on a good/acceptable/marginal/poor scale, with vehicles that rate 'good' in all categories and include electronic stability control given Top Safety Pick status. At this point there are about 75 Top Safety Picks for 2011.
Crash tests and safety ratings have made cars much safer, especially over the past ten to fifteen years while we've had two active testing organizations ramping up requirements. Yet the IIHS's Rader concedes that there are still people being killed in vehicles that perform well by all existing crash-test ratings, and it's up for his organization and the federal government to raise the bar, not by introducing tougher versions of existing frontal and side impact tests, but with new tests that will target those scenarios—including crash structures that don't match.
How do you choose the safest vehicle possible? For starters, look at IIHS ratings in addition to these new federal star ratings.
And read on for how to best keep your family the safest and get the most out of these ratings.
(more...)IIHS: Vehicle Pedestrian Detection Could Save Thousands Of Lives
Building better-marked crosswalks and intersections, improving sidewalks, and adding traffic-light countdown timers and clear pedestrian right-of-ways all make a significant difference in safety on foot. But these solutions come with their own significant price tags and are subject to the agreement of state and local governments, all with their own different (and today, cost-cutting) priorities.
Yet, according to some new study information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), with a little extra technology in vehicles, thousands of pedestrian fatalities might be avoided. Researchers estimate 2,932 fatalities—roughly three quarters of the current annual total—and 39,000 injuries could be prevented each year with pedestrian detection systems, while 879 fatal crashes and as many as 1.2 million crashes (some of them involving pedestrians) could be avoided with forward collision warning systems.
Forward collision warning is now offered on 19 different vehicles for 2011, according to the IIHS. And so far, the most full-featured, active pedestrian system is the so-called Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake option on the 2011 Volvo S60 sedan. As we've experienced in several test situations, the feature will actually brake you to a complete stop if you're rolling at up to 22 mph, and at lower speeds lessen the speed (and force) of impact.
Such systems, if they were to be deployed industry-wide, could make quite a difference. Researchers looked at thousands of pedestrian fatalities from 2005 to 2009 and found that in 95 percent of accidents, people were struck by the front of the vehicle, and more than 75 percent were crossing traffic, rather than walking in parallel with traffic. And in most of those cases, no braking was reported. And in 62 percent of the fatalities and more than half of the injuries, drivers were simply going straight and had no other visual obstructions.
A driver hitting a pedestrian who's walking or running in line with traffic is the second most common type of fatal crash, accounting for 12 percent of pedestrian deaths. Turning into a pedestrian crosswalk is less common.
Automakers with similar technology under development or offered in other markets include Subaru (EyeSight), Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW.
One of the inhibitive issues here, of course, is the cost of the technology. In luxury cars, there's some overlap with cameras and sonar systems for smart cruise control and/or parking aids. But in lower-cost vehicles, it could cost at minimum hundreds of dollars per vehicle.
Do you think such systems should be mandated for cars? How should we consider cost versus the lives saved?
[IIHS]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Traffic Fatalities At Record Lows–Though Not In All Regions
Despite having driven 21 billion additional miles in 2010, versus 2009, Americans were safer yet on the roadways.
Freshly released numbers from the federal government showing highway fatalities at their lowest rate since 1949—and, technically, "the lowest level in recorded history," as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts it here.
That's particularly impressive as Americans drove an additional 21 million miles in 2010 versus 2009.
Nationally, fatalities were down three percent, to a total of 32,788 in 2010, based on early figures released this week. Adjusted, that's 1.09 deaths per million miles traveled in 2010, versus 1.13 in 2009. And it's a 25-percent drop in fatalities in just five years.
Although it does depend on what region of the U.S. you're talking about. In a single year, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska posted the greatest drops in fatalities—all of them were down by 12 percent—while Arizona, California, and Hawaii were all down by 11 percent from 2009. Much of the South and Southeast posted significant improvements, too. Fatalities were up about 18 percent in Maine and New England; up nearly four percent in the Midwest region (stretching from Ohio and Michigan through to Minnesota), and up about two percent in the region that includes New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
During 2009, fatalities also dropped to record lows, with last year's numbers the lowest since 1954.
Safety officials will no doubt be watching the 2011 numbers, as fatality rates again started rising for the last half of 2010, as drivers again started covering more miles in their vehicles.
"Still, too many of our friends and neighbors are killed in preventable roadway tragedies every day," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in an official release. "We will continue doing everything possible to make cars safer, increase seat belt use, put a stop to drunk driving and distracted driving and encourage drivers to put safety first."
In a blog post on the news, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood emphasized that the agency will continue its enforcement programs for seatbelt use, driving under the influence, and distracted driving. For the latter, LaHood pointed to federal government's distracted-driving campaign, the Faces of Distracted Driving.
Newer, safer vehicles have also contributed to the gains, of course; in official NHTSA new-vehicle crash-test conditions, the average probability of injury for drivers was halved from 1995 to 2008.
LaHood also pointed to several measures including Safety Edge roadway surfaces—which lessen the chances of loss of control and or rollover if a motorists swerves off (and back onto) the roadway—and highway rumble strips and cable barriers as increasing safety for U.S. motorists.
[NHTSA]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
