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The facts are well known: teenagers have the highest crash rate of any age group in the United States, and the most dangerous time is when they drive on their own after being licensed.
But there has been little research conducted as they transition from supervised to unsupervised driving, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a nonprofit research and educational organization.
The foundation released two new studies on Friday in conjunction with National Teen Driver Safety Week (October 16-22) that provide insight into teenage driving behavior and their crashes during this critical period.
Teen drivers are about 50 percent more likely to crash in the first month of unsupervised driving than they are after a full year of experience driving on their own, and they are nearly twice as likely to crash in their first month as they are after two full years of experience, according to Measuring Changes in Teenage Driver Crash Characteristics During the Early Months of Driving.
“We know that young drivers’ crash rates decrease quickly as they gain experience,” Peter Kissinger, president and chief executive of the foundation, said in a statement. What the study tells us, he said, “is that there are a few specific abilities that we could do a better job of helping teens develop before they begin driving independently.”
Researchers analyzed the crashes of new drivers in North Carolina and found three common mistakes: failure to reduce speed, inattention, and failure to yield. These three behaviors accounted for 57 percent of all the crashes in which teens were at least partially responsible during their first month of licensed driving. Additionally, when researchers looked at specific types of crashes in relation to how long the driver had been licensed, they found that some types of crashes occurred at relatively high rates at first then declined quickly with experience. Crash types that declined more slowly appeared to result not from lack of understanding, but from failure to master certain driving skills.
A second report, Transition to Unsupervised Driving, studied 38 families with teenage drivers in North Carolina by collecting data using in-vehicle cameras. A total of nearly 6,000 video clips were analyzed. The study followed the teens during the first six months of licensed driving without their parents in the car. (An earlier phase of the study collected data from cameras during the period when the teens were learning to drive under their parents’ supervision.)
While the vast majority of driving caught on camera was uneventful and only a small number of deliberate risk-taking behaviors were observed, the study did reflect that the teens’ behavior shifted when their parents were not present. For example, the vast majority of “close calls” involved judgment errors that seemed to indicate inexperience and failure to anticipate changes in the traffic environment.
“This research serves as a great reminder for parents to stay involved in the learning process even after the law allows teens to drive without a parent in the car,” Kissinger added.
The Foundation commissioned the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center to conduct both studies.
For more information and to view the video footage and the two reports, visit: www.AAAFoundation.org
08/15/11 You can buy almost anything over the Internet—including clothes, a pizza, music, a hotel room, even a car. And while most transactions are conducted lawfully and securely, there are instances when criminals insert themselves into the marketplace, hoping to trick potential victims into falling for one of their scams. Today, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued an alert about a specific type of cyber scam that targets consumers looking to buy vehicles online. How the scam works. While there are variations, here’s a basic description: consumers find a vehicle they like—often at a below-market price—on a legitimate website. The buyer contacts the seller, usually through an e-mail address in the ad, to indicate their interest. The seller responds via e-mail, often with a hard-luck story about why they want to sell the vehicle and at such a good price. In the e-mail, the seller asks the buyer to move the transaction to the website of another online company….for security reasons….and then offers a buyer protection plan in the name of a major Internet company (e.g., eBay). Through the new website, the buyer receives an invoice and is instructed to wire the funds for the vehicle to an account somewhere. In a new twist, sometimes the criminals pose as company representatives in a live chat to answer questions from buyers. Once the funds are wired, the buyer may be asked by the seller to fax a receipt to show that the transaction has taken place. And then the seller and buyer agree upon a time for the delivery of the vehicle. What actually happens: The ad the consumer sees is either completely phony or was hijacked from another website. The buyer is asked to move from a legitimate website to a spoofed website, where it’s easier for the criminal to conduct business. The buyer protection plan offered as part of the deal is bogus. And the buyer is asked to fax the seller proof of the transaction so the crooks know when the funds are available for stealing. And by the time buyers realize they’ve been scammed, the criminals—and the money—are long gone. Red flags for consumers:
Cars are advertised at too-good-to-be true prices;
Sellers want to move transactions from the original website to another site;
Sellers claim that a buyer protection program offered by a major Internet company covers an auto transaction conducted outside that company’s website;
Sellers refuse to meet in person or allow potential buyers to inspect the car ahead of time;
Sellers who say they want to sell the car because they’re in the U.S. military about to be deployed, are moving, the car belonged to someone who recently died, or a similar story;
Sellers who ask for funds to be wired ahead of time.
Number of complaints. From 2008 through 2010, IC3 has received nearly 14,000 complaints from consumers who have been victimized, or at least targeted, by these scams. Of the victims who actually lost money, the total dollar amount is staggering: nearly $44.5 million. If you think you’ve been victimized by an online auto scam, file a complaint with IC3. Once complaints are received and analyzed, IC3 forwards them as appropriate to a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency. Resources:
- Press release
- Internet Crime Complaint Center
When a vehicle eclipses the flesh-and-bone actors and becomes the superstar of a film—that's when it's a great movie car. There are dozens of memorable cars in film, but to crack the top 10, a vehicle must influence a generation, inspire car culture, and become the stuff of every kid's dreams. These are our favorites, in no particular order.
1964 Aston Martin DB5, Goldfinger
James Bond's legacy of famous cars and far-out gadgets can be traced back from one car — the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 007 driven in Goldfinger and Thunderball. Without any Bond spy modifications, the Aston Martin DB5 is a work of art. But it's the special effects that have made this car quite possibly the most beloved movie car of all time. The long list of cool tricks included ram bumper, machine guns, ejector seat, smoke screen, oil-slick sprayer and more. Looking back on the Aston from today's perspective, the most interesting feature may be the map screen in Bond's car, which foreshadowed today's navigation systems.
So just how influential and significant is the original Bond car? One of the few Astons used in those movies sold last year for a whopping $4.6 million.
Batmobile/Tumbler, Batman Begins Like Bond cars, Batmobiles, in all their permutations, have transcended generations and remain cool. But the tough, militaristic Batmobile Tumbler that has appeared in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and The Dark Knight is the most visually and technically significant Batmobile since the George Barris-designed 1960s version. A beefy 350-cid Chevy V-8 powers the tank-like Tumbler to 60 mph in around 5 seconds, even with 37-inch off-road tires, according to the filmmakers. The front tires are mounted to an independent front suspension with around 30 inches of suspension travel. And the body is said to be made of more then 65 carbon-fiber panels.
What makes the Tumbler cooler than most movie props these days is, simply, that it's a real thing, not a computer-animated fantasy. We certainly dig that.
1977 Pontiac Trans Am, Smokey and the Bandit
When Smokey and the Bandit director Hal Needham, chose a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am to star in his movie alongside Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, he couldn't have predicted the impact that car would have on America.
The Trans Am actually looked more or less the same for more than a half decade before the film debuted. But that didn't matter. When audiences saw that Trans Am slide around corners, leap over broken bridges and evade Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) for hundreds of miles, they wanted a black and gold T/A in their garage. After the movie debuted, sales leapt by about 30,000 cars from 1977 to 1978 and by another 24,000 for 1979. Americans went nuts for the Starlight Black Special Edition paint job, the T-Top roof, and the fact that the car was quicker and better handling than the Corvette of the same generation. It was probably a combination of all three — plus a heaping dollop of Burt's star appeal — that made the Trans Am a legend.
1976 Lotus Esprit Series I, The Spy Who Loved Me One more Bond car, because it's a classic. By the 1970s the voluptuous shapes of sports cars from the 1950s and1960s gave way to distinctive and futuristic wedge designs. Pointy cars like the Lancia Stratos and Lamborghini Countach changed the automotive landscape. But neither one of them were ever driven by James Bond.
In The Spy Who Loved Me, the secret agent drove the white Series I Lotus Esprit hard. Yet the moment that sticks in everyone's mind is when the car transforms into a submarine after Bond jumps the car into the water. The Lotus sprouts stabilizer fins and props, and later, it drives up onto the beach as it morphs back into a car — with beachgoers staring slack-jawed.
'32 Ford Coupe, American Graffiti A few years before Star Wars, George Lucas shot American Graffiti, a reflection of his memories of the car culture in California in the 1960s. Besides a cast that included future mega-stars such as Ron Howard, Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfus, the movie had some great hot rods. But only one has become the most recognized Deuce Coupe in the world.
The brash Canary yellow '32 Ford highboy is powered by a Chevy 327 V8, and sits a little tall in the rear for some seriously cool rake. The climatic drag race on Paradise Road pits Paul Le Mat (John Milner) in the '32 Ford against an equally tough-looking '55 Chevy driven by Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford). The '32 Ford smokes the Chevy off the line, and halfway down the road the Chevy flies off the road, flips and blows. It's an amazing special effects scene, but in reality the same '55 Chevys in this movie would appear (painted flat gray) in another car movie classic, Two Lane Blacktop.
1981 DeLorean DMC-12, Back to the Future
Visually, John DeLorean's DMC-12 was a stainless steel stunner designed by the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro. Under the hood, though the DeLorean wasn't quite the supercar that flashy bodywork promised, carrying a pokey 130-hp 2.9-liter V6. No matter. Its futuristic looks combined with a bit of movie magic gave the DeLorean legendary status, and because it was a time machine in the film, the real-life specs didn't really matter, with one exception: Reportedly, the prop staff replaced that sluggish V6 with a V8 from the Porsche 928, which went a long way toward helping Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) hit 88 mph, fire up the Flux Capacitor and shoot back to 1955.
Despite its movie celebrity, the DeLorean flopped on the market in the 1980s. But the car's unique, retro-futurist design has earned it a cult following today. There's even a new DeLorean Motor Company restoring and improving the cars.
1968 Mustang GT 390, Bullitt
Any vehicle driven, ridden or even stood next to by Steve McQueen was instantly made cooler. But the Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 didn't need much help. The movie's chase scenes on the streets of San Francisco, tailing a 1968 Dodge Charger, are some of the best ever recorded on film. And the stripped-down look of the movie Mustangs made them subtly meaner-looking than regular production 'Stangs. The original magnesium American Racing Torque Thrust wheels give McQueen's car its aggressive stance.
You know that a car has transcended its cult movie status and become an icon when a car company makes a limited edition version twice, as Ford has with the Bullitt Mustang.
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, Vanishing Point
The 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T — especially the Hemi model — was one of the most impressive pony cars to come out of the muscle boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s. And its reputation was cemented with the film Vanishing Point (though the R/Ts in the film were 440-powered). The plot is simple: Kowalski (Barry Newman) bets that he can drive from Denver to San Francisco in less than 15 hours (which would require an average speed of over 80 mph). As you can imagine, there are plenty of great stunts, which were put together by the same team that worked on Bullitt. Kowalski dusts off a Jaguar XKE, launches the Challenger over a gully and does all kinds of other crazy driving.
However, there is one glaring error: In the final crash that destroys the car, the filmmakers used a '67 Camaro rather than a Challenger. In 1997 the movie was remade as a TV movie, starring Viggo Mortensen (clip shown below)
1973 XB GT Ford Falcon, Mad Max
When it comes to cars, Australians are historically just as power-hungry as Americans. So in the 1960s and 1970s, the Australian arms of American car companies created some fairly brutal muscle machines—cars we never saw in the States.
One of them was the Ford Falcon. In its third generation, the Falcon XB GT got its power from a 351-cid V8. But for the movie Mad Max, the filmmakers transformed the already cool Falcon into the "Pursuit Special" or "Interceptor." The crew plastered a new nose on the front end, emblazoned the body with huge flares and tucked seriously fat tires underneath them. The centerpiece was under the hood—or, more precisely, sticking out of it. In the movie, the switch-activated supercharger boosts the power of the interceptor any time Max needed to skedaddle. But, alas, it was only a movie and that supercharger was a fake.
1970 Dodge Charger, The Fast and the Furious
The classic 1968–70 Dodge Charger is a TV and movie superstar. The most famous of all was the '69 Charger "General Lee" from the The Dukes of Hazzard TV show. Another Charger starred in the 1970s cult hit Dirty Mary Crazy Larry. But in 2000, the venerable Charger took to the screen again, this time built as a menacing black street racing machine for Vin Diesel. With a wicked stance, giant rear tires and a humongous engine and supercharger sticking out of the hood, the Charger was insanely cool.
It was the climactic action scene of the movie that made this car so memorable. As Vin Diesel's character Dominic lines up against Paul Walker's character, who's driving a Supra, he floors the throttle and the Charger does a sick wheelstand and burnout at the same time. Movie magic for sure, but still fun to watch. Later in that same race, the two cars jump a set of train tracks just as a locomotive passes, and a heartbeat later Diesel flips the Charger in a spectacular finish to the chase scene.
By: Joseph Lichterman, Automotive News on 8/04/2011
Americans have difficulty paying for costly vehicle repairs and are driving older cars longer, according to a survey released by AAA.
One quarter of American drivers said they would be unable to pay for repairs to their vehicle of more than $2,000, and one in eight said they would be unable to pay for repairs of more than $1,000, the survey said.
More than half of drivers said they are still driving an older vehicle “because they do not want the financial burden of a new one,” the survey said. And 25 percent of drivers said they have put off repairs in the past year because the repairs would cost too much.
By neglecting repairs, drivers increase the odds that they will need a costly repair, Marshall Doney, AAA vice president of automotive and financial services, said in a statement.
“Economic conditions have taken their toll on many Americans resulting in them neglecting their cars and leaving them at increased risk for very expensive repair bills,” Doney said. “Many Americans rely on their cars for their livelihood, and losing access to them could be financially devastating during an already troubling economic time.”
This is the first time AAA has commissioned such a survey, spokeswoman Christie Hyde said.
A recent J.D. Power and Associates study showed that consumers are spending less on repairs.
In 2005, the average driver spent $181 on maintenance and repairs. This year, the total has dropped to $169.
And while drivers are spending less, they're driving more, auto service consultant Lloyd Schiller said. In late 2008, cars going to dealership service departments had an average of 61,000 miles on the odometer. Early this year, the average climbed to 78,000 miles.
Still, it's important for drivers to have a plan in case they need to pay for emergency vehicle repairs, Doney said.
Thirty-eight percent of the AAA survey respondents said they would pay for $2,000 in repairs with money from their savings account, but 20 percent said they would pay with a credit card.
Another 11 percent said they would have to borrow money to pay for a $2,000 bill, according to the survey.
The figures were somewhat higher for a hypothetical $1,000 repair bill: 46 percent of Americans would pay with savings, 22 percent with a credit card and 14 percent said they would need to take out a loan.
Typically, according to AAA, transmission repairs can cost between $2,000 and $4,000, engine repairs are likely to top $5,000 and the cost to fix a set of brakes can be between $350 and $1,000
UPDATE: OnStar has issued a video clarifying the TOS. It's embedded below.
Every day, it seems the world gets a little smaller, and like a slowly shrinking dormitory, it becomes harder to get any privacy. Sadly, the latest Terms of Service agreement from OnStar isn't making things easier for subscribers -- or non-subscribers, for that matter.
OnStar's new TOS will roll out this December, and to OnStar's credit, it's doing the necessary due diligence by notifying consumers in advance. However, in this case there's a fine line between upgrading the terms of service and completely changing the rules of the game.
For most consumers, the biggest stumbling block with the new TOS is the fact that OnStar now has the right to record your location, speed, safety belt usage, whether the car is running or not, and other factors as it sees fit -- and it can share that data with "any third party, provided the information is anonymized". (Read the full PDF here.) By "third party" we assume OnStar means advertisers, app developers, and anyone else who's willing to pay for the data.
The second stumbling block is that OnStar gives owners the opportunity to deactivate the service -- but only if they contact OnStar and opt out.
And the third stumbling block is that OnStar will continue collecting all the aforementioned information, even if owners cancel their subscriptions. That's frustrating for everyone but GM, which can keep making money off of inactive hardware. The good and the bad
In a way, the resistance that many folks feel to these Terms of Service is the same resistance that consumers experienced when telephones became widespread in the early part of the 20th century, or when mobile phones became commonplace 80 years later. Do these things represent an invasion of privacy? Sure, but they're also just another sign of our changing world -- and change isn't all bad.
For example, as OnStar tracks the location and speed of vehicles, it can share that data with traffic services that can, in turn, make our travels simpler and more enjoyable. This sort of data collection also enables partnerships like the kind we saw the other day between Ford and location-based coupon service, Roximity. Not everyone will want to make use of such services now, but in the future, chances are good that we'll wonder how we ever got along without them. (Much like mobile phones.)
On the downside, this puts OnStar subscribers one step closer to fulfilling George Orwell's "Big Brother" fantasy. Yes, OnStar says that the data it collects is meant to be anonymous, but all it takes is a couple of clever hackers to change that. And even if the data remains anonymous, drivers must still contend with the creepy feeling of being watched.
The backlash against OnStar is muted at the moment, overwhelmed by the backlash against Netflix and Facebook (though Facebook is supposed to announce something big and mind-blowing later today that might change consumer sentiment). Still, OnStar's roll-out of these Terms of Service might've been smoother if the company had made data tracking opt-in. Just a suggestion for next time. UPDATE: Here's a video of Joanne Finnorn, vice president of OnStar's Subscriber Services, clarifying the new TOS (h/t Kurt):
DETROIT — The name alone might explain why they didn’t sell more.
The world’s oldest running automobile carries a name that would almost wrap around its tiny body. But expect that someone will be writing a check with nearly as long a price tag when an 1884 De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout goes on the RM Auction block next month in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
And it will get there under its own power. A total of just 20 of the tricycle-style De Dions were produced in 1884, of which only six are known to survive. And the one being auctioned off is the only copy that can still run under its own power.
At 127 years of age, the Runabout raises a question about who actually created the modern automobile. Mercedes-Benz, which is generally given credit, is just celebrating its 125th anniversary. But the German marque’s first offering introduced the idea of using petroleum to power an internal combustion engine. The De Dion was a steam-powered cruiser.
Nonetheless, it delivered impressive performance for its day, achieving a claimed top speed of 38 miles per hour with a range of 20 miles on a 40-gallon tank of water.
Nicknamed “La Marquise,” in honor of Count De Dion’s mother, the 9-foot-long steamer seats four, front and rear passengers sitting back-to-back, which is why it was known as a dos-a-dos. The Runabout uses a tiller-like spade handle for steering. The boiler is located under the seats. Using coke or coal it takes 45 minutes to build up the necessary head of steam to get it moving. Two independent engines are used, one for each of the front wheels.
It won what is claimed to have been the world’s first automobile race; and though it was the only entrant it nonetheless reached a top speed of 37 mph and averaging 18 mph over the 20-mile course.
The 1884 De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout has had only four owners, the last family holding onto it for 81 years.
RM estimates it will command a winning bid of anywhere from $2 million to $2.5 million.
General Motors' OnStar
