Earlier in April, NHTSA announced an investigation into a possible fire risk on the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze after two vehicles had been completely destroyed.

The initial investigation covered 177,000 vehicles from the 2011 model year, but NHTSA is now expanding the investigation to include the 2012 model year raising the total figure to 370,000 vehicles under investigation.

The total number of fires reported still remains at two, both incidents where the vehicle caught on fire while being driven and resulted in total losses. Fortunately in both incidents the driver and its passengers were able to escape the vehicle without injury.

We have however received quite a bit of attention on a previous post about Chevy Cruze fires, with one commenter even posting a video of his Cruze burning. It looks as though this is a serious issue, which has many cases that have gone unreported.

NHTSA will continue to investigate before reporting its findings to the government. It may take up to six months before a recall is issued, if NHTSA believes the Cruze does have a defect.

Early estimates of 2011 traffic fatalities have the figure at 32,310 people, the lowest since 1949 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Even though it’s just a statistical projection, that suggests traffic fatalities have dropped 1.7 percent compared to 2010 which is also in line with the fact that Americans drove 1.2 percent fewer miles in 2011. Traffic fatalities as a whole have been on the decline over the last five years, with much of it being attributed to enhance safety features on today’s vehicles. It peaked in 2005 at 43,510.

NHTSA also broke its study down by regions with the Northeastern seeing a 7.2-percent decline in traffic fatalities from 2010 to 2011. California, Arizona, and Hawaii saw a rise of 3.3 percent, but those were the only regions that increased over the year.

Total vehicles miles traveled by Americans in 2011 clocked in at around 35.7 billion miles with 1.09 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled.

[Source: NHTSA]

To further use technology to make our roadways safer, it was reported back in February that NHTSA wished to mandate vehicle-to-vehicle communication that could help reduce about 80 percent of today’s automotive-related crashes.

While speaking at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress, David Strickland said NHTSA is currently working with automakers and other government agencies to expedite the use of vehicle-to-vehicle communication in hopes that more vehicles on the road will be equipped with the technology in the near future.

Over at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor, an ongoing study is testing the technology to help guide NHTSA’s next steps. Its focus is to find the right interface for vehicles to communicate through in order to keep them non-distracting so drivers can keep their eyes on the road.

“The next North Star is keeping the crash from ever happening in the first place,” Strickland said. “We are hard at work from a research standpoint at figuring out the systems that have promise … so that one day we may see deeper penetration in the fleet.”

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

A series of very public Li-ion defect related incidents have caused the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) decision to hold a meeting with automakers and battery suppliers with regards to the safety of the new technology.

“The purpose of this symposium is to bring together relevant stakeholders to share information on the status of safety activities related to the use of Li-ion batteries in vehicles designed for on-road use,” NHTSA explained.

Public concerns were raised last year when a Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle had ignited following a NHTSA crash test. Then, the reliability of battery packs were put into question when a brand-new Fisker Karma EV had inexplicably stopped working during testing with Consumer Reports. In more recent news, a prototype battery extreme testing related explosion occurred at the Warren, Michigan GM Technical Center laboratory, injuring five employees.

Investigations on the Volt have found that GM’s electric vehicle is no more of a fire risk than cars with conventional gasoline engines. The Fisker defect was caused by faulty calibration of battery supplier A123′s battery welding process. Finally, the GM Tech Center incident was caused by a prototype and certainly not intended for production. None of these incidents indicate that Li-ion batteries are particularly unsafe, but amid the negative publicity, the public and the administration are struggling to understand the nature of the technology.

What’s more, supporters of the electric vehicle blame the safety issues surrounding Li-ion batteries as the cause of the lackluster sales numbers of electric cars. Both the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf missed the 10,000 unit sales target last year.

NHTSA is looking to clear the air when it conducts the safety meeting on May 18 in Washington, D.C.

A new study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finds that most car accidents that occur because a driver mistakenly hits the gas pedal instead of the brakes involve older female drivers in parking lots.

Apparently, almost two-thirds of drivers involved in this type of accident were female, and occurred more frequently with drivers over the age of 76 and under the age of 20. But guys, you aren’t off the hook – when looking at all types of crashes, 60 percent of drivers involved are male.

The study was based on an analysis of 2,400 gas pedal accidents stored in a North Carolina state crash database and 900 news reports. When examining the database accidents, researchers found that accidents were just as likely involve drivers under 20 as over 76. The news reports told another story – about 40 percent of accidents involved elderly drivers. Most of these incidents took place in parking lots, parking garages and driveways rather than on roads.

So why would someone hit the gas pedal instead of the brake? There are a few reasons, but it’s most likely that the area of the brain that is needed to drive safely isn’t as strong in teenage and elderly drivers. This area of the brain, which is responsible for planning, attention and organizing, doesn’t reach full maturity until early adulthood. For seniors, these functions start to slide as they get older.

[Source: Boston Herald]

Following the rash of alleged self-accelerating cars, U.S. regulators are calling for all automakers to make throttle override mechanisms standard equipment in every light vehicle.

This issue came to light after Toyota’s unintended acceleration case, which spurred NHTSA to begin looking into override technology in 2010.

Essentially, the required system would ensure that the brake will overpower the gas pedal when the two are applied simultaneously and bring the car to a stop. A 60-day comment period will be held to gauge public reaction, at the end of which NHTSA will review the proposal again.

The new mechanisms will help drivers feel safer behind the wheel, which is of course one of consumers top concerns. ”America’s drivers should feel confident that anytime they get behind the wheel they can easily maintain control of their vehicles — especially in the event of an emergency,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Although many automakers have already taken a preemptive step and made this type of system available, the law would make it mandatory.

“By updating our safety standards, we’re helping give drivers peace of mind that their brakes will work even if the gas pedal is stuck down while the driver is trying to brake,” LaHood said.

You can see the full NHTSA proposal here.

Nothing is certain but death and taxes. The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study which consisted of researcher Dr. Donald Redelmeier and colleague Christopher Yanell of the University of Toronto comparing the number of fatalities during each tax deadline day to the number of fatalities occurring on regular days. The statistics show that the number of fatal crashes taking place during tax deadline day was 6 percent higher than the control days.

Dr. Redelmeier says, “Tax Day is one of the few opportunities to study societal stress on a widespread basis because it’s synchronized and it’s recurrent throughout an enormously large community.”

A total of 19,541 individuals were killed in crashes during the 30 tax days and 60 control days. Sorting the numbers, Redelmeier’s study revealed that the 30 tax days accounted for 6,783 deaths, or an average of 226 fatalities per day. In comparison, the 60 control days accounted for 12,758 deaths, averaging 213 fatalities a day. Spread over 3 decades, fatalities on tax deadline day account for an additional 404 fatalities.

These study results are similar to the increases seen during Superbowl Sundays. While alcohol is a less likely culprit during tax day than it is during an intense football game, Dr. Redelmeier explains that, “stressful situations can distract drivers and thereby increase the risk of a serious road crash.” Possible contributors include sleep deprivation, less tolerance to aggravation, more driving around, and an increased use of alcohol.

Redelmeier also insists that while the study is based on data within the United States due to its better statistical data on road safety, the fundamental idea and the risk of driving under stress is a universal danger.

The IRS Tax filing deadline is April 17, 2012, while Canada’s Tax deadline is April 30th. If stress from filing taxes has gotten the best of you, performing your filing online may be a safer option for you and the fellow drivers on the road.

Last month, NHTSA issued guidelines to establish criteria for reducing distraction from electronic devices installed by manufacturers while the vehicle is in motion, but those rules come with some surprising stipulations.

One of those strange recommendations said “dynamic, continuously moving maps are not recommended.” In other words, the navigation display that updates in real-time to show where you are, would just be static. NHTSA recommends that static or near-static maps for the purpose of driving directions are acceptable. But in a way, that essentially eliminates the usefulness of having an in-car sat nav. Imagine driving along using your navigation and not having an idea of how close or far away your turn is.

Another odd statement from NHTSA was that drivers cannot comprehend more than 30 characters of text at a quick glance. Therefore, its recommendation is that infotainment systems should display no more than 30 characters of text at any given time. Scrolling text is also unacceptable. To put that into perspective, it’s difficult to squeeze an entire song and artist title into 30 characters on a single screen display.

Now obviously we acknowledge in today’s world there are a lot more distractions in our vehicles that could hinder our ability to drive. But wouldn’t educating drivers more effectively be a smarter way of resolving the issues?

[Source: CNet]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it closed the investigations surrounding possible fires on the Volkswagen Passat and cracked cooling fans on various GM trucks without issuing a recall or fines to either automaker.

Originally the 2002-03 model year Passats were under investigation for possible ignition coil fires in July 2010 but things didn’t stop there. In January 2011, the investigation was upgraded to include 2001-07 VW Passat models with the four-cylinder, turbocharged engine. There were 135 unique fire engine reports attributed to the coil-on plugs, but after a thorough investigation there was no safety-related defect identified, so the investigation closed.

Unfortunately the investigation closure alone doesn’t ensure the absence of a defect. NHTSA will continue to monitor the issue to see if further action needs to be taken. None of the fires reached beyond the engine bay and no reports of crashes or injury were related to the 135 incidents.

GM on the other hand, got a thumbs-up after NHTSA looked into the cracked cooling fans on GMT-560 series of trucks. Those trucks span models from Chevrolet, GMC and Isuzu including the 4500 and 5000 medium-duty trucks. Even though NHTSA said that it “remains concerned about the potential for injury,” at the current time it can’t find the cause for the issue and that the complaints are “small and diminishing.”

Not exactly comforting, but we also know NHTSA would issue a recall if the organization saw fit to do so.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated a preliminary investigation regarding approximately 360,000 units of Ford Taurus produced from 2005 through 2006.

According to 14 Taurus owners, the Ford Taurus has experienced incidents of stuck throttle due to cruise control cable detachment.

NHTSA revealed that most complaints described that the Taurus would experience, “engine speeds as high as approximately 4,000rpm after shifting into Park or Neutral”. Drivers noted that a shift into neutral or an engine shut off was necessary to effectively slow the vehicle down.

Although there are no reported accidents or injuries, one incident involved a Ford Taurus driver who allegedly went through a red light, partially crossing the intersection before he could stop the vehicle. “This is an extremely dangerous situation,” the driver wrote. “There needs to be something done about this before it becomes fatal.”

According to NHTSA, “A Preliminary Evaluation has been opened to assess the scope, frequency, and safety-related consequences of the alleged defect.” Interestingly, Ford Taurus mechanical twin Mercury Sable is not a part of the investigation.

More information and details from Ford and the NHTSA will be available as the investigation continues.

GALLERY: 2005 Ford Taurus

Nissan has just announced that it is recalling 2,983 2012 Murano and Rogue models that were manufactured from November 23, 2011 through to January 11, 2012.

During the assembly of these 2012 Murano and Rogue vehicles, the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) was not activated. As a result, the system is unable to warn the driver of an underinflated tire. This could lead to a tire overloading and overheating, resulting in a blowout and possible car accident.

The 2012 Murano and Rouge models that are affected by this recall are still in dealer inventory and dealers will be activating all of the tire pressure monitoring systems.

If you have any questions, please contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153) or visit http://www.safercar.gov/.

After multiple recalls issued out by several different automakers, NHTSA is expanding their investigation into what is causing these potentially faulty side airbags. It appears that the impacted makes and models contain airbags that may have been manufactured with an ineffective mix of inflation gasses.

Vehicles that have already been recalled for this exact issue include the Honda Accord and Crosstour, the 2012 Subary Legacy and Outback, and the 2011 Toyota RAV4, just to name a few. Up until now, only a total of 2,700 vehicles have been recalled but that number could grow exponentially.

The manufacturer of the faulty airbags are from Swedish supplier Autoliv. Apparently a total shipment of 10,500 faulty inflators were sent out to automakers in addition to two other airbag manufacturers. We could be looking at some recalls for Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Kia, and Suzuki models in the near future as all those automakers purchased faulty airbags from Autoliv. Unfortunately as of right now, which models are equipped with the faulty side air bags is unknown, but hopefully NHTSA clears it up soon.

The American automakers Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors have already said that their airbag inflators work differently than their foreign counterparts and they all have not seen any failures in their testing.

[Source: The Detroit News]