Spring is around the corner, and it won’t be long before it’s prom and graduation seasons for many high schoolers. Rites of passage for many, these are times for teens to celebrate, but can also be times of poor decision-making, especially when vehicles are involved. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 2,524 teen drivers and passengers were killed and 177,000 were injured in 2013. Twenty-seven percent of these fatalities occurred between April and June, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
“The statistics are staggering, especially when you consider that most of these accidents and fatalities are preventable,” said Randy Petro, Mercury Insurance’s chief claims officer. “We don’t want any families to suffer through the loss of a child, so Mercury is taking action with the launch of the ‘Mercury Insurance Drive Safe Challenge.’”
The Mercury Insurance Drive Safe Challenge kicked off with a free defensive driving program, which included hands-on driving skills training and classroom material. An interactive website provides teens with detailed instruction, as well as gives parents the tools to shape responsible driving behavior.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7772251-mercury-teen-drive-safe-challenge/
The Toyota Prius v is the only midsize car out of 31 evaluated to earn a good rating in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s first-ever headlight ratings.
The best available headlights on 11 cars earn an acceptable rating, while nine only reach a marginal rating. Ten of the vehicles can’t be purchased with anything other than poor-rated headlights.
A vehicle’s price tag is no guarantee of decent headlights. Many of the poor-rated headlights belong to luxury vehicles.
The ability to see the road ahead, along with any pedestrians, bicyclists or obstacles, is an obvious essential for drivers. However, government standards for headlights, based on laboratory tests, allow huge variation in the amount of illumination that headlights provide in actual on-road driving. With about half of traffic deaths occurring either in the dark or in dawn or dusk conditions, improved headlights have the potential to bring about substantial reductions in fatalities.
Not a single small SUV out of 21 tested earns a good rating in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s headlight evaluations, and only four are available with acceptable-rated headlights.
Among the 21 vehicles, there are 47 different headlight combinations available. More than two-thirds of them are rated poor, making this group of vehicles even more deficient when it comes to lighting than the midsize cars that were the first to be rated earlier this year.
Headlight performance in today’s vehicles varies widely. Government standards are based on laboratory tests, which don’t accurately gauge performance in real-world driving. The issue merits attention because about half of traffic deaths occur either in the dark or around dawn or dusk.
As with midsize cars, the IIHS evaluations of small SUVs showed that a vehicle’s price tag doesn’t correspond to the quality of headlights. More modern lighting types, including high-intensity discharge (HID) and LED lamps, and curve-adaptive systems, which swivel in the direction of steering, also are no guarantee of good performance.
What if you could buy a car that produces zero emissions and where the fuel, the parking and the driving are basically free? There is such a country: Norway, the electric car capital of the world. Mark Phillips drove around Oslo as part of his series, “The Climate Diaries.”
Esurance caused a bit of a scene. The home and auto insurer staged a fender bender to encourage safe driving, an important message to address the recent series of car accidents caused by people playing mobile games while driving.
The scene on Chicago’s popular Magnificent Mile featured a car’s run-in with a hot dog cart, all caused by a fictional distracted driver and Esurance mobile game-inspired creature that causes fender benders, the Fenderbendix. As visitors walked past the jarring scene, they discovered that nobody was hurt. And they learned an important message about safe driving, smart people #DontCatchAndDrive.
“We’re always looking for unexpected, relatable ways to connect with people. Staging this scene allowed us to capture people’s attention and send an important message about safe driving,” said Alan Gellman, chief marketing officer at Esurance. “We understand the appeal of exciting modern technology like augmented reality gaming, but we want people to be smart about how they use it.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7910451-esurance-don%E2%80%99t-catch-and-drive/
Drivers of late-model pickup trucks are likely to find themselves squinting into the darkness or temporarily blinding other drivers, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's latest headlight ratings show.
All four small pickups evaluated are available only with headlights that earn a poor rating. The same goes for 3 out of 7 large pickups. Only one large pickup, the Honda Ridgeline, is available with good-rated headlights, though all but the most expensive trim levels come with poor ones.
Pickups are the third vehicle category to be put through the IIHS headlight evaluations. Midsize cars were the first in March, followed by small SUVs in July.
IIHS launched its headlight ratings after finding that government standards based on laboratory tests allow for huge variation in the amount of illumination headlights provide in on-road driving. In the Institute's evaluations, engineers measure how far light is projected from a vehicle's low beams and high beams as the vehicle travels straight and on curves. Glare from low beams for oncoming drivers also is measured.
Tostitos tortilla chips and dips bring people together and are an essential part of most big football watch parties. These gatherings usually feature a spread of food and beverages and, many times, alcohol, leading to an increase in alcohol-related traffic crashes.
Recognizing this, Tostitos created the “Party Safe” bag – a bag of Tostitos chips featuring an alcohol sensor that acts as a reminder for people to not drink and drive after the party so everyone gets home safely. For those not lucky enough to get their hands on one of the limited-edition bags, Tostitos also partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to offer party-goers $10 off an Uber ride on Sunday, February 5 by using the barcode on the back of nearly every bag of Tostitos chips. This offer applies to both new and existing customers of Uber, but will be limited to the first 25,000 users who enter the code.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/8020151-tostitos-super-bowl-madd-party-safe-bag/
Renault ZOE is the first car to be designed as an all-electric model. A city car ideal for everyday use, it boasts the latest technology. Renault ZOE ships with six world firsts, designed to make it an easy-to-drive connected car with significant range. Revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in 2012, Renault ZOE will be available in three versions (Life, Zen and Intens) at end-2012.
Driving Renault ZOE is a new and enjoyable automotive experience. The wound rotor synchronous electric motor develops 65 kW with maximum torque of 220 Nm delivered instantly. ZOE combines strong acceleration and pick-up from the lowest engine speeds with a range of 210 km over an NEDC cycle.
// Renault ZOE est la première voiture conçue pour être 100 % électrique et idéale pour les usages quotidiens. Cette citadine intègre la technologie la plus avancée à travers six premières mondiales au service de la simplicité d'utilisation, de l'autonomie et de la connectivité. Révélée au salon de Genève 2012, Renault ZOE sera commercialisée dans trois versions différentes (Life, Zen et Intens) fin 2012.
Conduire Renault ZOE est une nouvelle expérience automobile, source de plaisirs. Le moteur électrique synchrone à rotor bobiné d'une puissance de 65 kW délivre instantanément un couple maximum de 220 Nm. Les accélérations et les reprises sont franches dès les bas régimes. Elle affiche par ailleurs, une autonomie de 210 km en cycle NEDC.
2017 Renault Zoe
Renault has introduced a new Z.E. 40 battery for ZOE. At the same, ZOE owners can benefit from a range of new connected services and equipment upgrades. Order books for the new ZOE line-up are open. The new ZOEs fitted with the new Z.E. 40 battery are made at Renault's Flins plant in France and will be available for delivery before the end of 2016.
Double the range for even longer journeys
As the pioneer of all-electric mobility and Europe's number one seller of electric vehicles, Renault has stepped up its innovation programme and the deployment of its Zero Emissions strategy.
Fitted with the new Z.E. 40 battery, the Renault ZOE now delivers a record NEDC driving range of 400km, which is twice the distance delivered by the model at the time of its original launch.
The new Z.E. 40 battery has a real-world range of 300 kilometres in urban or suburban areas, for example.
The range permitted today by the ZOE is the longest of any mainstream all-electric vehicle and motorists can take advantage of this step forward now.
The ZOE is the best-selling electric vehicle in Europe and provides a real alternative to internal combustion-engine cars, since average daily commuting distances are well within the ZOE's capabilities.
The new battery removes the final psychological barrier that stands in the way of buying an electric car since ZOE users can now travel further and enjoy a wider variety of driving situations without worry about charging. This makes weekend trips a real possibility.
The Z.E. 40 battery's charging rate is similar to that of the standard battery, so 'topping up' doesn't take long at all. For example, just 30 minutes are required on average to charge the battery for an extra 80 kilometres of driving range when plugged into one of the many public charging points in operation in Europe. The ZOE continues to be equipped with the Quick Charge function to take full advantage of the maximum capacity of fast charging points located predominantly along motorway corridors.
An innovation that doubles battery capacity with no increase in size
The ZOE's new Z.E. 40 battery boasts 41kWh of useful energy, equivalent to almost double the storage capacity of the ZOE's standard battery (22kWh of useful energy).
Developed in close partnership with LG Chem, the battery uses high-energy density lithium-ion technology.
Renault and LG engineers have succeeded in increasing storage capacity without making the battery any bigger or a lot heavier. It was optimised by working on the chemistry of the cells in order to increase their energy density, rather than stacking additional battery modules, a commonly used technique.
This major new technology has been developed while ensuring the battery's reliability or safety.
The battery's large storage capacity ensures longer range for the ZOE thanks to the meticulous work that went into integrating the battery in the vehicle. The electronic management system of the battery optimises the ZOE's energy use on the move, while the new air circulation system maintains the temperature of the ZOE's battery at a constant level, making the car economical to run in very hot or very cold weather.
Mercedes-AMG schickt den neuen S 63 AMG ins Rennen: Die stärkste High-Performance-Limousine im Luxus-Segment setzt neue Akzente bei Fahrdynamik, Leichtbau und Effizienz. Garant für souveräne Fahrleistungen ist der AMG 5,5-Liter-V8-Biturbomotor mit 430 kW (585 PS) sowie 900 Newtonmetern Drehmoment – das stärkste Mitglied der BlueDIRECT Motorenfamilie. Durch intelligenten Leichtbau nach der Philosophie „AMG Lightweight Performance“ bringt der S 63 AMG bis zu 100 Kilogramm weniger auf die Waage als der Vorgänger. Die Kombination aus effizientem Antrieb und Absenkung des Fahrzeuggewichts führt zu einem Kraftstoffverbrauch von 10,1 bis 10,3 Litern je 100 Kilometer nach NEFZ gesamt. Auf Wunsch ist der S 63 AMG erstmals auch mit dem Performance-orientierten AMG Allradantrieb 4MATIC lieferbar. Damit ist nicht nur eine Verbesserung der Traktion verbunden – der S 63 AMG ist in seinem Segment in puncto Fahrdynamik eine neue Dimension. Bei Design und Ausstattung erfüllt der S 63 AMG höchste Ansprüche hinsichtlich Wertanmutung, Qualität und Perfektion. Die konsequente Umsetzung der Strategie AMG Lightweight Performance reduziert das Gewicht des S 63 AMG gegenüber dem Vorgängermodell um bis zu 100 Kilogramm. Erzielt wurden die Einsparungen vor allem durch den Einsatz einer leichten Lithium-Ionen Batterie, von AMG Leichtmetallrädern in Schmiedetechnologie sowie einer gewichtsoptimierten AMG Hochleistungs- Verbundbremsanlage. Zudem bestehen die komplette Außenhaut der S-Klasse einschließlich des Dachs sowie der Karosserie-Vorbau aus Aluminium. Der Einsatz einer Ersatzradmulde aus dem Formel-1-Werkstoff Carbon spart weitere vier Kilogramm. Auch beim Leistungsgewicht markiert der S 63 AMG mit 3,37 kg/PS die Spitze. Aus diesem Wert resultieren souveräne Fahrleistungen: Die Beschleunigung von null auf 100 km/h ist je nach Modellvariante in 4,0 bis 4,4 Sekunden erreicht; die Höchstgeschwindigkeit liegt bei 250 km/h (elektronisch begrenzt)
