Car Safety

Everyone’s eagerly waiting for Nissan to release the new Skyline later this year. The car affectionately dubbed ‘Godzilla’ is expected to bring us Porsche 911 performance at Boxster prices and will revive the famous nameplate that’s been gone for too long. One little-known...

The notion of carmakers installing on-board breathalyzers connected with an interlock system to prevent you from starting your car if your blood-alcohol levels are above the illegal limit is not as far fetched as it seems. Nissan is currently testing such a system in a partnership with the Japanese...

Auto supplier Siemens VDO has developed a new ghost driver (person driving in the wrong direction) monitoring system that’s able to read passing road signs in order to warn drivers they’re heading into oncoming traffic. The system works with Siemens’s current road sign recognition...

DaimlerChrysler’s tiny Smart car is a popular model for tackling Europe’s tight inner-city streets and exorbitant fuel prices, but in the US, where it’s common to see 4,500 pound SUVs, fears are rising that the minicar won’t stand much of chance in a serious accident with...

An agreement between the F1 controlling body and the Indianapolis Speedway has failed to materialise by the agreed July 12th cut-off and has therefore nixed any plans for a grand prix in the US next year. Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s commercial supremo, said "We didn't reach an agreement...

More than half of the 87 SUVs and pickups tested by the US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have fallen well short of optimum safety levels, with pickup trucks faring the worst. Other SUV models tested showed only modest improvements in rear-crash protection but, according to the...

A new infrared laser safety system that’s said to be more effective and cheaper than current radar-based systems has been developed, but major suppliers are sticking with the radar technology. These safety systems can be used to monitor whether vehicles up ahead are getting too close and can...

Germany’s ADAC automotive regulatory body has given China’s Brilliance BS6 sedan a poor one-star rating in its latest round of crash tests. This is the car that Brilliance was hoping would convince European buyers that the Chinese brand was capable of building a truly world class car...

A new safety device developed in Australia could potentially reduce injuries or deaths caused by motor vehicle fires by up to 80%. Labeled ‘Vehicle Safety Shutdown’ (VSS), the new system could easily be manufactured in commercially viable numbers and could one day become mandatory in...

Despite the advances in safety technology over the years for light vehicles, a recent study has found that larger, heavier vehicles have had the lowest death rates. The findings come from a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the US and is based on crash data for...

Rolls Royce will begin offering a new armoured version of the Phantom to customers, offering the highest level of ballistic protection in one of the most luxurious cars on the market. Engineered to VR7 level, the Phantom Armoured is virtually indistinguishable from the standard version, inside and...

Japanese researches have come up with a car seat that car detect when its occupant is about to fall asleep. The life-saving technology, which is still in prototype form, may eventually appear as mandatory equipment in vehicles, putting an end to accidents involving a driver that has fallen asleep...

New laws in Switzerland have made it illegal to sell GPS navigation devices that give the driver warnings about stationary and mobile radar traps as well as traffic light cameras. Motorists using them or anyone found producing, importing or selling such devices are facing not only fines but...

Recently, we reported that the backlash in Japan had caused Nissan to develop a system to prevent drunk-drivers from using their cars. Never one to be left behind, Toyota has released details about it’s own technology, which uses sweat sensors embedded in the steering wheel that detect the...

Vehicle data recorders are designed to store information about acceleration, speed, and mechanical faults inside your car and over 60% of 2005 year models in the US are currently fitted with this type of device. Now, a Korean company is developing black boxes that also store images just before and...

An airbag maker is developing special seats that can detect an imminent side impact and push the seat further into the middle of the car to reduce passenger injuries. Side-mounted radar would be used to detect the impact milliseconds before it actually occurs and would activate the safety system...

The wraps will be taken off GM’s brand-new rollover testing facility in Milford today and it’s expected GM will use the occasion to announce that it will make rollover-enabled airbags standard on all retail vehicles by 2012. At the moment, only 43% of light trucks and SUVs have rollover...

Don’t you hate it when you’re stuck in a traffic jam, only to move further up and see that it was caused by a couple of drivers that weren’t paying attention? Volvo’s just developed a system that aims to minimize exactly that by forcing the car to brake when it senses an...

Despite the millions of dollars spent on drink-driving deterrents each year, the number of drivers being caught intoxicated behind the wheel hasn't declined significantly. There’s now a push for the installation of mandatory alcohol detectors to all vehicles in the US, which could be...

Foreign vehicles have taken top honors in a survey of the safest 2007 models for the US, which was conducted by an influential insurance industry group. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety group mandated that all entrants must be equipped with stability control systems, a move that saw the...