By Greg Gaillard

Tires are basically four patches of rubber between you and the road. Often ignored or neglected, those four contact points are ultra-critical to the safety and performance of your car. If you think about it, tires are crucial to keeping you ON the road and avoiding potential hazards. The condition and quality of your tires affect the ride quality, fuel economy efficiency, the amount of traction, and the braking distance. We might go so far as to say that a good tire choice can be the single best upgrade for improving the performance of your favorite ride, whether it be your daily commuter, family urban SUV, or your garage queen. Wouldn’t you want the best when thinking about safety, performance, and fuel economy for something you rely upon almost daily?

Over the past 20 years advances in tire technology have dramatically improved the modern driving experience. The latest tires enable vehicles to deliver a smoother ride, sharper handling and better mileage than their predecessors. As important, today’s tires deliver these improvements with extended service life and improved safety.

Since today’s tires are so refined and have effectively become an integral part of a car’s suspension, choosing the right replacement tire is more complex than it used to be. Add to this increased importance choices of style, specialized performance and cost and the process can feel overwhelming. Most people just want to quickly pick up new set of tires at a fair price. That is certainly possible, but a little extra homework can go a long way in making an efficient, informed choice.This overview offers some general guidelines to consider when shopping for new tires and will provide basic insight into reading the Rosetta Stone of tire sidewall markings.

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Yesterday was a major holiday in the history of automotive safety–it was the 50th anniversary of the most important automobile safety device ever invented: the three-point safety belt, Volvo says.

Invented by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin in 1958 and patented in 1959, the device has saved more than 1 million lives and is now standard equipment on every car. Volvo was also the first carmaker in the world to equip its cars with front seat three-point safety belts as standard.”
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Mercedes-Benz has become the latest automaker to offer high-tech help to fight drowsiness while driving. If you get drowsy or dozy and start to show signs of nodding off, this car will show you a cup of coffee and warn you to wake up with a loud noise.

If you have ever fallen asleep at the wheel, you know just how dangerous it can be. It happened to me one time driving from San Francisco to L.A. on Hwy. 5 (also called the California Autobahn where if you’re driving 90 mph, you’re going too slow) I nodded off and when I woke up, I was in a lettuce field. I was lucky I didn’t total my car!

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In honor of Mother’s Day (it’s this Sunday, so don’t forget people) I thought I’d do a mom-related car posting. In my search, I found a great Web site called motherproof.com. Let’s face it, mothers do a lot of driving. A group of women on motherproof.com take a look at the vehicles, road-test them for two weeks at a time, and then evaluate them based on performance and values. It’s a great idea. Who knows more about car safety than mothers do?

“We load the kids in, test out the latch connectors and the car seats, and the cargo space, and to really ensure that the car that we’re driving would really be a perfect vehicle for the people who visit our website,” said Sara Lacey, a mom-reviewer.

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Here’s something that had never occurred to me: There is no airbag for the rear, center seat passenger. Turn out this fact DID occur to the bright sparks at Toyota, and they have decided to address the issue by making the world’s first rear seat center airbag. This is, by and large, a pretty good idea. Sure, very rarely are cars fully stuffed with people and in need of airbags, but sort of like a motorcycle helmet, when you need a rear seat center airbag you’re sure glad it’s there.

Airbags are one of the few, if not the only safety device currently on cars that were not first developed for racing se. This hindrance aside, they have proven in most cases to be a Godsend. Not only have they saved countless lives in frontal impacts, but the advent of side curtain airbags have done wonders in helping people survive side impact crashes. Recently several manufacturers have started including airbags for rear seat passengers mounted into the seatbacks of the front seats. So, the last man left alone, so to speak, was the person in the center rear seat.

Enter Toyota, whose new Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) airbag is fitted in a large, fixed, rear-seat center console in the roof, and will make its debut in an unnamed Toyota model to be launched in Japan later this year. OK then, everyone is now, er soon, covered.

Source: CarScoop

Have you ever driven past a car that was shaking so violently from loud music emanating from a pounding bass speaker (the size of a beach ball) that you thought your windows were going to shatter?

Well, now a study has found that certain types of loud music in your car can cause you to speed or drive in an unsafe manner.

My buddy’s 18-year-old son has a stereo system in his car that costs more than the car itself. When he cranks up the volume, people run for the hills.

I’m 50, and when I was his age, we played our Foreigner, Peter Frampton and Black Sabbath 8-track tapes loud, but not the way these kids do today. We didn’t have the technology they have now, for one. These new high-tech systems on the market today “go to 11″ as Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest) said in the cult film, “This is Spinal Tap”.

But, this study claims that it’s not just the volume of the music, but the beat as well. Particular tunes with a certain tempo can cause drivers to be highly distracted. Rock music and dance music are the real culprits, apparently.

So, the next time your teenage kid gets a ticket or is in a fender bender, ask him/her what he/she were listening to when it happened. Then, after you ground them for a decade, confiscate the offending CD.

Read portions of this article from the Detroit News after the jump:

Never mind cells and the dangers of texting or eating while driving. A team of scientists at a university in Israel found the tempo of your tunes in your vehicle can lead to speeding or other unsafe driving practices. If their research is correct, listening to Tracy Chapman’s ballad “Fast Car” does not promote a lead foot, but the drive classic, “Radar Love,” by Golden Earring, probably makes the miles go by faster.

The study found those revved up on riffs are more likely to disregard red lights and road crossings and to crash.

Technically speaking, it is because loud rock and dance music need more brain processing and thus competes with other functions like concentrating on driving.

For best driving, listen to teen sensation Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” that is, if you can handle American Idol-style songs.

Here’s some good news from the auto world (a rare occurrence over the past few months), 2008 traffic fatalities are at record lows.

The National Safety Council annual report states that there were 39,800 deaths last year related to motor vehicles in 2008. That’s an 8% drop in the number of fatalities over the previous year. In case you’re wondering, it has nothing to do with people driving less due to increases in gas prices or some other, normal, outside factor. It turns out that the ratio of deaths per vehicle miles driven has also dropped.

According to the National Safety Council there are three factors that contributed to the record low levels. First off, cars and trucks are getting better and better in the safety department, as shown each year by the high safety numbers posted in NHTSA and IIHS crash testing. Also contributing to the record drop are public education and the visible enforcement of safety laws.

There are other upsides to this, in addition to a lower overall death toll. Fewer deaths mean fewer medical expenses and property damage as well as lower loss of wages.

So, good job everybody, and it’s not very frequently that I say that about my fellow drivers … because really, the stuff that I still see on the road makes me shake my head. Actually, I’m surprised the fatality rate hasn’t gone up.

Source: AutoBlog

Yesterday, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) told car manufacturers that they’re going to have to make vehicle roofs thicker and stronger if they want to attain top safety ratings.

It’s a smart decision and one that needed to be made. Too many injuries occur in accidents where cars flip over onto their roofs, which then collapse. This announcement will help save lives and make our cars safer. Many of us spend as much as 25% of our waking hours in our cars, so we obviously want then to be as safe as possible.

I was in an accident many years ago in which the vehicle I was in flipped. The driver fell asleep and so did I, and when I woke up, we were upside down, careening down the road.

There were four of us in the car and fortunately we all walked away unhurt. Luckily, the roof of the car (a Toyota Camry, as I recall) held up nicely and didn’t crumble one iota. Otherwise, I might not be here to write about it.

Carmakers are constantly trying to find new ways to make their vehicles safer. Many use safety as a main selling point, like Volvo, for instance. The smarter manufacturers will tap into this IIHS announcement and leverage it to make their cars safer and more attractive to consumers. As my driving instructor in high school used to say, “Safety is No Accident!”

Original article that appeared in The Detroit News after the jump:

Imagine a world where cars never collide; where accidents just don’t happen; and where cars talk to each other and to the road. Yesterday, Michigan officials announced that they’ll be working with the Michigan International Speedway (MIS) to test two emerging technologies–vehicle connectivity and intelligent highways–that would make cars virtually crash-proof within the next five to seven years.

I predicted a long time ago that cars would drive themselves by the year 2020. Now it looks like it might happen sooner.

These technologies, when fully developed and taken all the way, will eventually permit drivers to jump in their cars and essentially tell them where to go. The car does all the work while the passenger is free to sleep, work, or eat. I’d probably use the time to answer e-mails and watch movies. Suddenly, commuting won’t be such a pain anymore. Sure, people who enjoy driving will not give it up easily, but eventually no one will be operating their own cars. With this new technology, car accidents could be reduced by 80%. Insurance rates will most certainly plummet.

Original article that appeared in The Detroit News after the jump.

The big safety news in the new Volvo XC60 is City Safety – a unique safety feature that can help the driver avoid or reduce the damage of low-speed impacts that are common in city traffic and bumper-to-bumper traffic. If the car is about to strike the vehicle in front and the driver does not react, the car automatically applies the brakes.

What! Why do a I need another electronic nanny and do I really want something that applies the brakes for me?

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It’s getting trickier for drunk drivers to do what they love to do, which is drive drunk. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this earlier (a time right before now)? Motorists convicted of driving drunk will have to install breath-monitoring gadgets in their cars under new laws taking effect in six states earlier this month. How does it work? The gadget, which resembles a walkie-talkie, fits on the dashboard. It’s wired to the car’s ignition system. The driver blows into it (the device) to start the vehicle. If alcohol is in their system, then it’s no-go and time to reach for that bus pass. Manufactured by a Texas-based company, and going by the name Smart Start Ignition Interlock, the device require periodic retesting while the car is running just so crafty alcoholics wont convene their drink driving time after the engine is started.

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Volvo is doing a big promotion across the country as it enters the luxury, performance-oriented, small SUV/crossover market with their new XC60. Two Parallel Tours will cross the country with more than 85 events, giving customers the opportunity to see the new XC60 before it goes on sale at dealerships and experience “City Safety” – Volvo’s most extensive safety package ever.

Using their strong reputation and association with car safety, Volvo has put together a live demonstration of their latest safety innovation – City Safety. According to surveys, 75% of accidents occur at speeds below 18 mph and in city traffic. Volvo’s new City Safety system helps the driver avoid or reduce low-speed collisions. CarReview attended one of the City Safety demonstrations. Follow the link to learn more about the City Safety feature and and how it operates.

Volvo XC60 City Safety System Report

For a hands on experience of Volvo’s latest safety feature, click the link below to find the place and date of the “From Sweden with Löv” tour stop nearest you.

https://www.customers.volvocars.com/xc60tour

Or read the press release on the next page to find out if “From Sweden with Löv” tour stops at a city near you. For more details about the “City Safety” system and other active Volvo safety features such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), blind spot information system (BLIS), collision warning w/auto brake, driver alert control, and lane departure warning information system, visit their website, www.volvocars.us/XC60Tour.

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In 2010 Ford will unveil a vehicle key that parents can give to their teenage drivers, which changes the settings on various safety features within the car. It’s called MyKey and it’s creating quite a controversy with parents and their kids who are of driving age.

Teenagers in cars can be a deadly combination. How many times have you been cruising down the highway when you encounter a kid in a tricked out car tailgating you at high speeds and making faces or gestures indicating that he or she feels you’re going too slow? And you’re driving 80-plus mph in the fast lane?

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By Holly R.

Driver education and skill has a lot of room for improvement in this country. How many times in a day do we complain that driver’s licenses are as easy to get as pulling a prize out of a box of Cap’n Crunch Berries after watching some clown pull a Bozo move on the road? Even if we do consider ourselves above average drivers. How often do we practice ultra-safe driving skills and know how to react if a dangerous situation catches us while we sing-a-long happily to our favorite song on the radio? Or we get caught on a road slicker than Leisure Suit Larry picking up women at O’Leary’s Bar and the rear-end unexpectedly breaks loose and comes around. Do you know how to stay calm, instinctively countersteer and brake smoothly or do you snap into hyper-panic mode, scream like Fay Wray, and then drive your feet through the floor attempting to stop the car as you envision your life flashing in front of you?

Unless you spend a lot of time at the local raceway or kart track, your everyday driving skills could use some improvement. By the way, playing Gran Turismo 3 is a poor substitute for real seat time behind the steering wheel. Fortunately, Mary-Ellen and I had the opportunity to attend the driving school taught by Sia and Jeff at the Driving Safety Foundation (http://www.dsf-usa.com). Jeff was our instructor for the afternoon and introduced us to the Skid Monster.

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