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Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Canada

Transport Canada has been planning on implementing a change which would lower Canadian bumper safety standards from the current 8 km/h standard to 4 km/h. This halving of the standard would bring the Canadian testing in line with the regulations of both Europe and the U.S. Apparently, Transport Canada believes that vehicles would be cheaper to import while maintaining automobile safety. In fact, Canadian officials believe that the new standard could actually improve pedestrian safety. Or not, according to the IIHS, which has sent a letter to Transport Canada urging them to reconsider making the change. The IIHS response is pretty scathing, Using words and phrases like “unsubstantiated, incorrect assumptions, ill-informed and misleading,” but the response could seemingly be summed up this way: Yo hosers, what were you thinking, eh? Thanks for the tip, Karen!

[Source: Auto North]

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Filed under: Safety

The view above your left knee in the 2009 Infiniti FX.

In the last 24 hours, we’ve been accosted with more high-tech, in-car wizardry than we’ve ever asked for. And while you’ll have to wait until next week to read our review of the new Infiniti FX, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has weighed in on the top five new safety technologies that may, or may not, have an effect on crash rates.

The IIHS studied the effectiveness of blind-spot detection systems, adaptive headlamps, lane-departure warning systems, forward-collision warning systems with automatic braking and emergency brake assist, and found that despite the hype, some of them may not be as useful as automakers make them out to be.

Of the 2.3 million frontal crashes that take place annually, 7,200 result in a fatality. The proliferation of systems that can detect an imminent frontal collision, sound a warning and if the drive doesn’t react, preload all the safety systems and begin applying the brakes may prove useful. The same goes for lane departure warning systems, which notify the driver with a tone if they begin veering out of their lane. Others, like blind-spot detection systems won’t have as much affect on road fatalities since they don’t account for a substantial amount of fatal crashes, but they’ll certainly make people more aware of their surroundings.

The IIHS also noted that adaptive headlamps, which turn in conjunction with the wheel to illuminate around a curve, might cause drivers to increase their speed, making a crash more probable. While we don’t buy that last one, it highlights the point that’s often left out of these studies: driver error is the number one cause of collisions. Fix that and all this added technology is superfluous.

[Source: IIHS via Detroit News]

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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Safety

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety just wrapped up its latest battery of batterings and most of the tested contenders in the mid-size segment faired well. The Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring, along with the Infiniti G35, Nissan Altima, Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn Aura, Mitsubishi Galant and Kia Optima all received a grade of “Good” for front and side impacts, with the exception of the Optima, which ranked “Acceptable” during the side impact evaluation. However, problems arose in the rear crash test, where the G35, Altima, Malibu, and Aura were all rated as “Marginal,” while the Avenger/Sebring received an “Average” score and the Optima walked away with a gold star and a “Good” rating. The only vehicle that received a “Poor” rating on any of the tests was the Mitsubishi Galant, which didn’t hold up as well during the rear-impact test.

All the details from the IIHS are available in the press release after the jump.

Continue reading IIHS midsize smack down: Side impact ratings better, rear crashes, not so much

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