News

Government figures for traffic fatalities show a higher number in the first half of 2022 than in 2021, but that’s not the whole story.After seven quarters of continued growth, traffic fatalities dropped in the second quarter of 2022.To bring about Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s call to prevent as many deaths as possible, NHTSA has been updating—or will update—rules around safety features in new cars as well as considering factors outside the car, such as bikers and pedestrians.Last year, 2021, experts recorded the most traffic fatalities in the U.S. in 16 years. The 42,915 people who died last year might represent a new high-water mark if the predicted trend for 2022 proves itself out and continues.Stay Safe Out ThereThis month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that its early estimates of traffic fatalities for the first half of 2022 were up a tiny bit, around 0.5 percent. Compared to the first half of 2021, when an estimated 20,070 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes, the first half of 2022 saw a projected 20,175 fatalities. That’s obviously an increase, but NHTSA found good news hiding in that higher number: the second quarter of 2022 represents the first decline in deaths in almost two years. The number had been steadily climbing since the third quarter of 2020, or for seven straight quarters.”These deaths are preventable, not inevitable, and we should act accordingly,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. He added that even with the decline, NHTSA still has work to do—and is doing it—to protect all road users. How to Make Streets Safer?For example, Secretary Buttigieg unveiled a National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) in January. The NRSS states that almost 95 percent of the transportation deaths that occur in America happen on streets, roads, and highways, compared to traveling by things like trains or planes. To reduce the number of road fatalities, NHTSA is helping states develop a “complete streets” project and is also considering making changes to new-car rules to make them even safer than today’s models.So far this year, NHTSA has also taken steps to improve child safety seat test standards and increase underride protection on semi-truck trailers. The agency also found that to combat the greater risk to women in crashes, it helps to make crash test dummies that are more accurately represent both male and female bodies.Understanding the ProcessMore Driver-Assist Tech?NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program might also be updated by adding four more recommended advanced driver assistance system technologies: blind-spot detection, blind spot intervention, lane-keeping assistance, and pedestrian automated emergency braking. NHTSA said it will update the NCAP over the next 10 years and will “potentially incorporate consideration of the vehicle’s safety features for people walking or biking around the car.”Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said all new vehicles should come with alcohol impairment detection systems. The NTSB recommended to NHTSA that it require passive alcohol impairment detection systems, better driver monitoring systems, or some combination of both in order to stop inebriated people from driving.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

The Wall Street Journal reports that Ford expects to be sitting on 40,000 to 45,000 trucks at the end of the third quarter because it doesn’t have enough badges to put on them.The problem might not be related to the supply-chain disruptions caused by the pandemic. Instead, the cause might be a chemical spill in Michigan last month by Tribar, a company that has supplied badges to Ford in the past and needed to limit operations temporarily.Ford reportedly considered using 3D printing technology to provide short-term replacement badges but didn’t think the quality would be good enough.When someone in Springfield pranked Superintendent Chalmers by removing the hood emblem from his 1979 Honda Accord, he complained, “That’s how people know it’s a Honda.” Good for a laugh on The Simpsons, but it’s unlikely that anybody will fail to recognize the bestselling vehicle in the U.S. for decades if it doesn’t say “Ford.” Still, the automaker is holding back tens of thousands of new F-series pickup trucks because the automaker doesn’t have enough badges.Ford’s Good NamePeople familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal that the shortage applies to the famous blue oval Ford badges as well as those that identify the model. A Ford spokesperson told the Journal that some vehicle shipments are still happening as planned and that it is retrofitting vehicles that don’t have the correct badges before delivering them to dealers. Ford said it expects to have between 40,000 and 45,000 pickups waiting for badges at the end of the third quarter. Ford reportedly considered 3D printing to make temporary badges but dismissed the idea because it could not guarantee the short-term replacements would look as good. The company declined to comment on the 3D printing proposal to the paper. We have asked Ford for more details about these issues.Ford, and other automakers, had previously held back shipments of numerous models because of a lack of silicon semiconductor chips, which have been difficult for some automakers to obtain for their products since 2020 because of the pandemic. But the lack of badges might not be directly tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Journal noted that one of Ford’s badge suppliers is Tribar Technologies. That name likely rings a bell for readers in mid-Michigan, because that’s where Tribar “released several thousand gallons of a liquid containing 5 percent hexavalent chromium into the sewer system” in August, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Hexavalent chromium is a form of the metallic element chromium and has been shown to “cause a number of adverse health effects through ingestion, skin contact, or inhalation,” the MDEGLE said.As part of the chemical cleanup, Tribar was forced to “limit operations” in August, the Journal said. This might have caused a drop in the supply of new badges. Both Ford and Tribar confirmed their badge-supplying relationship, but neither would talk to the paper about the current situation. This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

The Brabus P 900 Rocket Edition is a heavily revised Mercedes-AMG G63 featuring a pickup truck bed and a very angry front fascia.900 horsepower and 922 pound-feet of torque are shot out of the twin-turbo 4.5-liter V-8 through a nine-speed automatic, with this brick able to hit 62 mph in a claimed 3.7 seconds.The interior features Rocket Red accents and plenty of black leather with a “Seashell Diamond” quilting pattern.What do you buy if all of your friends own Ford Raptor Rs and Ram 1500 TRXs and you want to stand out? The latest creation from German aftermarket tuning company Brabus would be a great choice—along with its over-the-top styling and a prodigious power output, the P 900 Rocket Edition will also be limited to a production run of just ten units. The P 900 Rocket Edition is based on Brabus’s XLP pickup truck conversion of the Mercedes-AMG G63, with a large, boxy four-door cabin and a stubby bed. Powering this beast is a twin-turbocharged 4.5-liter V-8 blasting out 900 horsepower and 922 pound-feet of torque, routing that through a nine-speed automatic. That’s enough oomph to fire this Rocket to 62 mph in claimed 3.7 seconds and on to a 174 mph top speed.The P 900 Rocket Edition has one mean-looking mug, with blocky vents in the bumper and a carbon-fiber front splitter with red end plates. The carbon grille also includes red-accented strakes and is even backlit red at night, creating an ominous, bloodthirsty appearance. The aggressive front end is topped off with the “PowerView” hood, fashioned yet again from carbon fiber. The fender flares have also been redesigned with protruding vents sporting a carbon weave, and lo and behold, there is more carbon fiber adorning the tailgate, which sits above a small rear diffuser.More Bonkers Brabus G-wagensThe side-exit valve-controlled exhaust—decked out in carbon fiber with red ambient lighting—is said to deliver “earth-shattering sounds.” Owners might want to be careful with their right foot if they find themselves in one of the six California cities with camera-automated exhaust noise enforcement, or at least set the adjustable sound management to the “Coming Home” mode. The P 900 pickup rides on ginormous 24-inch Monoblock Z “Aero-Disc” wheels, which are hooked up to an aluminum coilover suspension that can adjust the ride height by 1.8 inches.The interior is just as crazy as the exterior, with oodles of black leather sporting a so-called “seashell diamond” quilting pattern, which even spreads to the footwells. “Rocket Red” accents appear on more than 206 interior components, such as the A/C vents, seat adjustment controls, and gas and brake pedals. The cabin also, of course, features its fair share of carbon fiber. There’s no word on price for Brabus’s monstrous creation, but we would expect it to cost well over $500,000.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.When it comes to cars, the only thing stranger than French exterior design is French intake runners. That’s what the crew found out this week with a challenge to find something from the land of brie for la somme généreuse of $50,000. They went everywhere but France to do it.Road & Track senior editor John Pearley Huffman headed to Belgium for a chunk of French history: a Panhard Dyna Z rarer than a truffle and no more pleasant to look at. Panhard was an innovator, creating some of the earliest clutch pedals and steering wheels, building the first series production car, and inventing us the Panhard Rod. This Dyna Z was avant garde all over until it opened its hood. Then it was a Hungry Hungry Hippo, a look that has no French translation. Senior editor Joey Capparella, who used this show to reveal he has a degree in French, opted for beauty and another hemisphere over innovation. His Peugeot 406 Coupé located in Argentina could be considered the least French car of the lot, designed as it was by Pininfarina without a weird line on it. It could also be considered the most French car of the lot in that it’s gorgeous, comfortable, and underpowered. Contributor Jonathon Ramsey alighted on a Peugeot 505 Turbo sedan pulled out of a barn in Vermont. The 505 was the standard bearer of Peugeot’s misadventure in North America, but panelists were more interested in peculiarities like the hub bolt pattern, the umbrella in the back seat, and the startling fact that Pug set up assembly operations in 14 countries.Executive editor K.C. Colwell went to that most French of American cities, Phoenix, Arizona, to cruise the boulevards in a Paris icon, the Citroen XM Berline. A set of anonymous 1990 aftermarket wheels couldn’t hide the ultimate Frenchness of Syd Mead sci-fi lines, a pneumatic suspension, and an ashtray half as large as the radio. The manual transmission might make it tough to enjoy a café au lait on the morning commute through Scottsdale, though.Editor-in-chief Tony Quiroga swung by Portugal for a French legend, the Peugeot 205. The rally maestro was almost everything you’d want from a hot hatch named “GTI,” including a (more) reasonable price. Shame about the ride quality, but Quiroga set a new benchmark for accessory shopping to allay that. Cue up the latest weekly episode for diversions into Michelin, European versus U.S. headlights, Capparella’s French translations, and how long it takes air in a 205 engine to travel from the intake to the manifold. No Le Cars were hurt in the making of this video. Although they were insulted.More Window ShoppingThis content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More