Safety equipment (Airbags, Seat Belts, etc.)

Social media emerge as tool to find defects

10:15 am U.S. ET | Jan. 22, 2013
Using the auto industry's newest tool to detect vehicle defects is as simple as logging on to Twitter, Facebook or other social media Web sites. And federal regulators already are doing it, too. National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration investigators now use various forms of social media to do their jobs, an agency spokeswoman acknowledged last week.... Read More »

 

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS WORLD CONGRESS

Panel: Tech tricks will cut driver distraction

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2013
With the right technology, connected vehicles could reduce distracted driving, a panel of auto industry executives said at the Automotive News World Congress.... Read More »

 

Honda recalls 777,000 Odyssey, Pilot vehicles in North America

1:01 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 18, 2013
Honda said it is recalling 777,000 late-model Pilot and Odyssey vehicles in the United States and Canada due to a problem with the deployment of driver's side airbags.... Read More »

 

Backup camera rule for cars in U.S. still alive, Strickland says

8:51 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 15, 2013
The delayed rule that would require backup cameras in new cars remains "very much" on the table, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland said.... Read More »

 

KEITH CRAIN

Anyone have a deck of cards?

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2013
I don't know why hybrids were thrown into the mix, though I assume it's because when they run on electric power they are stealth vehicles as well. Still, I am not sure it should always be up to the government to save us from ourselves Keith Crain is editor-in-chief of Automotive News.... Read More »

 

Lexus concept gives preview of safety gear

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2013
Toyota took the wraps off the highest-tech Lexus LS ever made at the International Consumer Electronics Show here last week. With spinning sensors and probing lasers, the Advanced Safety Research Vehicle is meant to demonstrate safety features that could come to production cars soon.... Read More »

 

Toyota wins order dismissing Prius brakes class-action claims

12:33 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 10, 2013
Toyota has won a federal judge’s ruling blocking a class-action lawsuit by owners of Prius and Lexus models who sued over a 2010 recall to install a software update that fixed a concern with the cars’ anti-lock braking system.... Read More »

 

2013 CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW

Toyota pursues 'co-pilot' car over self-driving vehicle system

4:50 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 7, 2013
Toyota said autonomous safety technologies it’s developing are intended to create a virtual “co-pilot” in vehicles to help drivers avoid accidents rather than self-driving cars and trucks. The company today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas unveiled research it’s doing in Japan where a modified Lexus LS sedan with advanced safety equipment is being tested.... Read More »

 

NHTSA proposes rules for automakers to add sound to hybrids, EVs

1:29 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 7, 2013
Automakers would need to make hybrids and electric vehicles emit sound under rules that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed today. The rules, ordered by Congress three years ago, are meant to protect pedestrians and bicyclists from vehicles that make little sound when using electric power. NHTSA says that designing the vehicles to make noise at speeds below 18 mph would prevent about 2,800 injuries over the life of each model year of vehicles.... Read More »

 

Subaru recalls vehicles in U.S. for lighting issue

8:12 am U.S. ET | Jan. 3, 2013
Subaru is recalling vehicles in the United States for potential lighting problems that could lead to smoke or fire, according to federal safety regulators.... Read More »

 

Toyota's still not off the hook

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 31, 2012
Toyota Motor Corp. eliminated a substantial part of the legal hangover from its unintended-acceleration recalls by reaching a settlement worth as much as $1.4 billion to pay for presumed loss of value in some used models. But the company still faces hundreds of wrongful-death and product-liability cases that it must fight individually.... Read More »

 

Toyota shares rise 2.6% after U.S. settlement was seen smaller than expected

7:28 am U.S. ET | Dec. 27, 2012
Toyota shares gained 2.6 percent today in Japan on relief that its proposal to pay $1.1 billion to settle class-action litigation claims in the United States over unintentional acceleration in its vehicles was smaller than expected.... Read More »

 

Toyota settlement could yield $200 million for plaintiffs' lawyers

8:49 am U.S. ET | Dec. 27, 2012
Plaintiffs' lawyers are seeking up to a $200 million cut from Toyota's agreement to settle unintended acceleration claims for millions of its vehicles in the United States in 2009-2010.... Read More »

 

Toyota to settle U.S. unintended acceleration claims for at least $1.1 billion

5:03 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 26, 2012
Toyota is setting aside $1.1 billion to settle various lawsuits and other claims in the United States stemming from reports of unintended acceleration that plagued the automaker in 2009-2010. The company has agreed to install new braking override systems in certain vehicles and reimburse owners who suffered economic losses because of the problems, Toyota said in a statement.... Read More »

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Technology's great; drivers need work

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 24, 2012
For too long, NHTSA has focused on making motor vehicles safer and ignored driver behavior.... Read More »

 

GM recalls 145,628 mid-sized pickups for hood latch issue

9:26 am U.S. ET | Dec. 20, 2012
GM is recalling 145,628 mid-sized pickup trucks globally as the hood could open unexpectedly due to a possible missing latch. Of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups affected by the recall, 118,800 are in the United States, 15,264 are in Canada, 7,492 are in Mexico and the rest are exports, GM said today.... Read More »

 

Honda Accord, Suzuki Kizashi rate highest on new crash test; 2 Toyotas rated poor

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 20, 2012
Thirteen mid-sized cars have earned high marks on the insurance industry's newest frontal-crash test, but a pair of Toyota models tested fared worse than the rest. The IIHS gave a good rating to the four-door Honda Accord and the Suzuki Kizashi, and an acceptable rating to 11 more mid-sized cars.... Read More »

 

Hyundai recalls 2012 Veloster on potential of shattering sunroof

11:32 am U.S. ET | Dec. 19, 2012
Hyundai is recalling about 13,500 Velosters with sunroofs that may shatter while the car is moving, the company and federal safety regulators said. The optional “panoramic” sunroofs may have been weakened during the car's assembly process, which could cause the glass panel to break, Hyundai said in a filing submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.... Read More »

 

Toyota to alert customers about trunk-release defect

3:17 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 12, 2012
Toyota next month is expected to alert about 700,000 owners of three Lexus nameplates in the United States about a problem with the emergency trunk release, Consumer Reports magazine said today.... Read More »

 

Honda to recall 871,000 vehicles for roll-away issue

9:52 am U.S. ET | Dec. 12, 2012
Honda will recall 871,000 vehicles that could roll away after the ignition key has been removed, including 807,000 in the United States, the company said today.... Read More »

 

Autoliv to build airbag component plant in U.S.

Dec. 11, 2012 06:01 CET
Swedish supplier Autoliv will spend $13 million to build a plant in Promontory, Utah, to produce gas propellant for airbags. The company also is spending $5 million to build production lines in its plant in Tremonton, Utah, which produces airbag initiators. The new lines eventually will add up to 30 percent more production capacity.... Read More »

 

Autoliv to build airbag component plant in Utah

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 11, 2012
Autoliv Inc. will spend $13 million build a plant in Promontory, Utah, to produce gas propellant for airbags. The company also is spending $5 million to build production lines in its plant in Tremonton, Utah, which produces airbag initiators. The new lines eventually will add up to 30 percent more production capacity.... Read More »

 

Ford blames software glitch for Fusion, Escape recall

1:58 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 10, 2012
A defect that raised the risk of an engine fire in Ford's newly launched Escape and Fusion models was caused by a glitch in the software that monitors the vehicles' cooling systems, Ford said today. The automaker recalled almost 90,000 Escape crossovers and Fusion sedans on Nov. 30 for the problem, which affects models equipped with the turbocharged 1.6-liter engine.... Read More »

 

Back-up camera mandate could cover '14 models

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 10, 2012
Safety advocates and industry lobbyists say the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration could be a few weeks from mandating back-up cameras in light vehicles -- by perhaps as early as the 2014 model year.... Read More »

 

As tests get tougher, dummies get smarter

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 10, 2012
The suburban Detroit headquarters of Humanetics Innovative Solutions Inc. is part office, part plant and part medieval torture chamber. Humanetics builds and calibrates crash test dummies for several industries, mainly automotive, and is developing technologies to keep us all in one piece.... Read More »