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Monday, April 1, 2013

Some cars will read texts and e-mails or take dictation

Automakers are racing to make driving less distracting for those who want to stay.

Automakers including Chrysler, BMW and General Motors are racing to make driving less distracting for those who want to text, e-mail and even check social media behind the wheel.
"Integrating certain apps into a vehicle limits eyes off the road and will remove the temptation to hold, look and manipulate the phone," says Tom Baloga, the recently retired engineering VP at BMW.
TEXTING IN TRAFFIC: Adults worse than teens
Among automakers' text/voice initiatives:
Several Chrysler models, including the Dodge Dart, can turn text to voice or allow drivers to read messages on dashboard screens. Drivers can respond with a few select responses, such as "I'm on my way," says spokesman Eric Mayne. Some vehicles with higher end radios, including the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, can send more "free form cloud-based text messages," Mayne says.
GM announced last month that 2013 Chevrolet Sonic and Spark vehicles with the Chevrolet MyLink communications system can translate voice to text and text to voice for drivers with compatible iPhones with iOS 6. The company also plans to add 4G LTE WiFi in some 2015 models but hasn't announced what commands will be voice-enabled.
When phones are paired with BMWs, drivers can get e-mail messages on dashboard screens that are limited to three lines. Text-to-speech will read the whole e-mail back. BMW's 7-series has a dictation function that turns speech into text that can be forwarded by e-mail or text.
Audi, which uses voice recognition for "points of interest" and full street addresses, is working on voice-enabled features that will allow drivers to send or receive text messages or use social networks in the car "without having to handle a device," says Anupam Malhotra, Audi of America's manager of connected cars.
Focus group research by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers late last year found that 90% of drivers with smartphones keep them in their hand, lap, cup holder or on the passenger seat.
"So, clearly, having access is really important to them," says Alliance spokesman Wade Newton.
Nearly three quarters of respondents also said the government shouldn't ban the use of hands-free, voice activated phone systems. If the government did ban these systems, almost half of those with smartphones said they'd use their phone or GPS device instead.
"Voice operation can allow them to do it in a way that's safer than it would be to have them behind the wheel fumbling around with something they bought at an electronics store; and was never even designed to be used in a car," Newton says.
Baloga agrees: "Lack of cup holders doesn't separate drivers from their coffee. Expecting all drivers to endure smartphone withdrawal is unrealistic."
But some safety advocates warn that the new technology may not solve the problem.
The safety benefits — or detriments — of these technologies are still largely unknown, says David Strayer, a University of Utah psychology professor who has studied in-car technology and distraction for about a decade. AAA and Strayer are working on new research due in June that measures how mentally distracting in-vehicle communication use is while driving.
"We've seen there is all this functionality put into vehicles, but what we don't know is if it is an activity that is or isn't safe," says Strayer. "There hasn't really been any formal analysis of the efficacy of these kinds of technologies."
Clay Skelton, inventor of a system that won't allow a car to be started unless cell phones are in a docking station, cites a study by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute researchers that concluded the riskiest behaviors with cell phones are "texting, typing, reading, dialing and reaching for a phone." Technology such as his OrigoSafe and voice to text "takes away the dangerous visual and manual" distractions, Skelton says.

Source: USA Today

Friday, March 22, 2013

Feds offer car safety app for recalls, ratings

By: Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY

The new auto safety app can tell you about car crash test ratings and recalls.(Photo: Mark Humphrey, AP)

Federal regulators released a mobile app Thursday with car safety information including vehicle safety ratings, searchable recalls and complaints and help with child seat installation.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's iOS SaferCar app for iPhones and the iPod Touch will also let users file a vehicle safety complaint and subscribe to automatic notices about vehicle recalls. It also provides directions to the nearest child seat installation location.
"Timely, accurate, and accessible safety data is the lifeblood of our agency's work," said NHTSA chief David Strickland. "The new SaferCar app literally puts the latest in vehicle safety information directly in the hands of consumers so they can make the appropriate purchasing and other decisions for themselves and their families."
The announcement is the first phase for the SaferCar app, which can be downloaded from Apple's iTunes Store. The agency is still working on an Android version of the app. Earlier this year, NHTSA updated its www.SaferCar.gov website to allow consumers to quickly locate information on safety defect investigations, complaints and vehicle recalls.
The app launch coincides with the release of NHTSA's Application Programming Interface (API), which will provide software developers with better access to safety data for analysis and integration into consumer-friendly web and mobile apps.
NHTSA also plans to release an online course to teach developers how to use the APIs.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Volkswagen to Unveil 261 M.P.G.e. Production Car

By JERRY GARRETT

VW/European Pressphoto Agency Volkswagen XL1 two-seater sports car.

Volkswagen says it plans to unveil its 261-miles-per-gallon XL1 plug-in hybrid, a two-seat sports machine that it will begin offering for sale this year, at the Geneva auto show on March 5.
The automaker, since at least 2002, has been experimenting with the idea of a vehicle capable of using only one liter or less of fuel to travel 100 kilometers. That would be the fuel economy equivalent of about 235 m.p.g., the company said; in tests, the XL1 has managed to achieve even better numbers than the original goals.
“The 261 m.p.g. fuel consumption figure is a record that has not been achieved by any other vehicle to date,” the company announced in press materials on Thursday, “showing that Volkswagen is redefining what is technically feasible in the automotive industry.”
Concept versions of the car, called the L1, have been shown in the last decade as a tandem two-seater. With the XL1, a concept version of which appeared in 2011, the cockpit has been widened to allow driver and passenger to sit more or less side by side.
The production version, Volkswagen says, still is able to achieve a low 0.189 drag coefficient, despite its wider body. Other aerodynamic aids include fully covered rear wheels and rearview mirrors that are integrated into the door panels. It has a curb weight of 1,753 pounds. The body is made principally of plastic, with an underlying aluminum frame.
Its powertrain is comprised of an 800-cc 2-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, with an output of 47 horsepower, which works with a 27-horsepower electric motor and a lithium-ion battery. The vehicle can travel up to 31 miles on electric power. Under full power, VW says the XL1 will accelerate to 60 m.p.h. in about 12.7 seconds and can achieve a top speed of 99 m.p.h.
VW says it will hand build the XL1 at its plant in Osnabrück, Germany, where the Porsche Boxster and VW Golf convertible are also built. After an initial production run of 50 vehicles, VW says it will adjust further production plans according to demand.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Kelley Blue Book Ranks Top 25 Used Cars Based on Traffic to Their Information Pages at KBB.com

Posted on Auto Remarketing by Editor Joe Overby

The Honda Accord has continued its reign as the used car pulling in the most online traffic for Kelley Blue Book, and though there were some moves on the list, much of the 25 most-researched used vehicles on KBB.com this month held steady from December.

Same as last month, the Honda Accord and Honda Civic took spots one and two, respectively, and were followed by the Toyota Camry (No. 3), Ford F-150 (No.4) and Toyota Corolla (No. 5).

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500, which was No. 8 in December, moved up to sixth this month. It switched places with the Nissan Altima. Placing seventh again was the BMW 3 Series.

Also swapping spots were the Ford F-250/F-350/F-450 Super Duty (moving from No. 10 to No. 9) and the Ford Mustang.

These were two of the eight Ford models on the list; no other automaker had more.

Honda was represented by four vehicles, while Chevrolet and Toyota each had three. Jeep and Dodge combined for three spots.

There were two Nissan models to make the list; Volkswagen and a BMW each had one.

The complete top 25 is as follows:

Friday, January 4, 2013

China starts ticketing motorists running yellow lights

First installed in London by a railway engineer in 1868, traffic lights are used in just about every city on the planet today. In the most basic sense, drivers have learned that red means stop, green light means go and that yellow indicates that caution is due as the signal is in the process of change. Even an elementary school child understands that traffic flows through a green and yellow light, but running a red light is not only dangerous, but it is against the law.

Yet China has now rewritten the rules.

On January 1, 2013, it became illegal to drive through both red and yellow lights in the Asian country. Those cited more than once will likely lose their driving privileges. The aggressive rule follows a crackdown by Chinese authorities aimed at reducing the estimated 250,000 road traffic fatalities the country experiences each year – a figure that makes road accidents the leading cause of death among residents between the ages of 15 and 44, says the World Health Organization.

The physics behind the law are flawed, as many in China have already criticized, as it is impossible to legally stop for a light without knowing when the signal is going to change. Many argue that the new regulation will grind traffic to a halt, as drivers are scared to proceed through even green lights. Despite the controversy, China's Ministry of Public Security continues to defend its odd ruling.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Text-to-911: Harnessing Technology to Keep Americans Safer

Text-to-911: Harnessing Technology to Keep Americans Safer

Imagine you are witnessing a crime or facing a life-threatening situation where making a voice call to 911 could further endanger your safety. You need to reach 911 emergency responders, but an audible call could alert a would-be assailant. What can you do to summon help fast?

You reach for your cell phone and send an instant – and silent – text message to 911 responders who quickly arrive to help you and remove you from harm’s way.

This scenario will soon become a more common reality. Limited tests of text-to-911 in Iowa, North Carolina and Vermont have seen lives saved, an attempted suicide averted and domestic abuse prevented.

And, by May 15, 2014 —following actions by the Federal Communications Commission and the wireless industry this week —text-to-911 will become much more widely available to millions of Americans.

In most cases, 911 cannot be reached today by sending a text message, and text-to-911 will be a complement to, not a substitute for, voice calls to 911 services. Consumers should always make a voice call to 911 during an emergency if they can.

However, the rollout of such a service will greatly widen the accessibility of 911 for all Americans, including millions with disabilities. And today, the FCC has taken an unprecedented step toward making text-to-911 available across America.

For the first time, we are proposing specific requirements and timeframes that will add text capability to the 911 system. This marks the first major milestone in the country’s migration towards Next-Generation 911.

The actions build on months of Commission work, as well as efforts initiated by industry and the public safety community, such as the voluntary agreement approved this past week.

Under its terms, the nation’s four largest wireless carriers - AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile - have agreed to accelerate the availability of text-to-911 to local 911 call centers (known as Public Safety Answering Points or PSAPs) that request service. Major deployments are expected in 2013, and the agreement includes a commitment to provide nationwide availability by May 15, 2014.

The agreement will accelerate progress and ensure that over 90 percent of the nation’s wireless consumers, including consumers with hearing or speech disabilities, will be able to access emergency services by sending a text message to 911, where local 911 call centers are also prepared to receive the texts.

To help eliminate consumer confusion while this capability is being phased-in, the carriers have committed to provide an automatic “bounce back” text message to notify consumers if their attempt to reach 911 via text message fails because the service is not available in their area.

If approved, the actions we have taken would require all wireless carriers, as well as providers of certain Internet-based text messaging applications - those that send messages to telephone numbers, but not, for example, messages within games and social media - to enable their customers to send text messages to 911 where PSAPs are prepared to receive such messages.

We will also take additional steps to address other aspects of Next Generation 911 in the coming year - such as enabling transmission of photos and videos to 911 centers - to ensure we meet the nation’s public safety needs.

For further information and updates on text-to-911, please see www.fcc.gov/text-to-911.

By Julius Genachowski

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

White House Wants Black Boxes in All Future Cars

The Detroit Bureau

The famed "black boxes" aren't actually black. But they may soon be attached to every car.

The White House has given its OK to a plan that would require all future cars and trucks be equipped with event data records – most commonly referred to as “black boxes.”
The majority of vehicles produced today already have such devices onboard and they have aided in recent investigations into such safety issues as the so-called unintended acceleration scare at Toyota. But the use of the technology has also raised some concerns with privacy advocates.

Congress failed to pass legislation that would have required the use of event data recorders, or EDRs, in 2010. That prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to consider its own mandate. A review was completed this week by the White House Office of Management and Budget and final regulations will likely follow early next year.

The proposal was originally expected by late 2011 but the process was delayed without explanation. Nonetheless, NHTSA has listed the use of black boxes as a “priority,” a spokesperson insisting such devices are critical to “continued improvements in vehicle safety.”
Automotive EDRs are similar, though not nearly as sophisticated, as the black boxes used in commercial airliners – and which are routinely used to provide critical information about crashes and other aircraft incidents. They are already installed in nearly 92% of today’s vehicles, according to industry officials, and also provide important information for industry engineers and, under some circumstances, law enforcement authorities.

During several investigations looking into claims that Toyota products would unexpectedly begin to accelerate without driver input, researchers used such recorders to see what actually happened, often discovering the issue was, in fact, the result of driver error, such as the application of the throttle rather than the brake.
The industry trade group, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, or AIM, has endorsed the use of black boxes – but has also warned that any new rules must consider privacy issues.
“We need to make sure we preserve privacy,” spokesperson Gloria Bergquist told the Detroit News. “Automakers do not access EDR data without consumer permission, and any government requirements to install EDRs on all vehicles must include steps to protect consumer privacy.”
One concern is that new mandates for such devices might make it easy for authorities to see if a motorist were speeding or otherwise violating the law.

Rules vary by state but in much of the country a law enforcement official – or a plaintiff in a legal case – must get court approval before a vehicle’s black box can today be accessed without the permission of the owner.
As with an airliner’s black box, the current technology records and stores only a limited amount of data – though that is considered enough to piece together a snapshot of what might have led up to a crash, such as whether the driver was applying the brakes or throttle, and if seatbelts were being used. Unlike the aerospace industry, the new regulations are not expected to require taping of conversations in a vehicle’s passenger compartment.
NHTSA already has stepped into the issue requiring that as of the start of the 2013 model-year all EDR data be commonized while simplifying access. The use of proprietary formats complicated the Toyota unintended acceleration investigations.

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