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Continue reading 5 classic trucks and their polarizing modern revivals
5 classic trucks and their polarizing modern revivals originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 3 Mar 2024 06:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Car crashes that result in fatalities and pedestrian deaths have been on the rise the last couple of years, with no indication of a slowdown. Forbes Advisor sifted through NHTSA and U.S. Census Bureau data on the 50 most populous cities in the country to find out which have the worst drivers — the ones contributing more than their share to the nationwide stats. The equation took five metrics into account and weighted them, all based on the number and kinds of fatal accidents per 100,000 residents: The overall number (per 100,000) (24%); how many involved drunk drivers (0.08 BAC or above) (19%); how many involved distracted drivers (19%); how many involved speeding (19%); and how many people were killed (19%).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool is considered weak on distracted-driving reporting, lacking rigorous controls for reporting and a definition. Even so, Albuquerque took the award for the highest number of fatal accidents that involve people focused on something other than driving. Beyond that, it didn’t score higher than third in any other category, taking bronze for the overall number of fatal accidents and the number of people killed.
Memphis followed just 1.5 points behind despite winning three categories: Memphis drivers rang up the highest total number, the highest number involving a drunk driver, and the highest number of people killed. The city was saved from the headline spot by being eighth for distracted driving and 40th in fatal accidents involving speeding. That last one is an unexpected take, considering what we’ve seen on Memphis highways.
Detroit almost swept second place in every metric, only missing out by coming 22nd in the distracted driving category.
Out of all the cities, Kansas City, Mo., had the highest number of fatal accidents involving speeding.
California led the overall rankings of 50 cities with the greatest number of cities in the bad-driver ranks, at nine, but none ranked higher than 22nd. Texas followed with six, but the Lone Stars put three cities in the top 15.
Before you purchase an all-electric vehicle, where you live could impact your decision. A study from iSeeCars.com showed the worst cities and states to own an EV, particularly if you can’t charge at home — these are the areas with the fewest public chargers across the U.S. The absolute fewest were in Louisville, Kentucky. That city only has 412 chargers. Rounding out the worst three are Birmingham, Alabama, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The report also lists the best states for owning an EV.
While Midwest and Southeast cities stood out for least EV chargers in terms of raw numbers, they also making the list for least EV-friendly metro areas — a slightly different calculation determined by the ratio of residents to chargers.
The trend continues as iSeeCars.com ranked overall states as least EV-friendly. Mississippi, Louisiana and Alaska made the top (or the bottom, depending on how you look at it) three for this list.
To read the full report, check out iSeeCars.com.
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Continue reading Buick shows off Wildcat EV in gold, debuts new brand tagline
Buick shows off Wildcat EV in gold, debuts new brand tagline originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Feb 2024 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Before parenthood, it’s near impossible to fully understand just how much a child takes over your once-freewheeling life. Sometimes you can’t even get a moment of peace when you’re driving. That’s where Nissan’s Iruyo, a fuzzy doll that can entertain a baby, comes in.
When your humble scribe was growing up, kids just rode seatbelt-less and moved freely around the car, station wagon cargo area, or pickup bed. Then some genius decided to install airbags everywhere so that babies have to be strapped into the back seat facing the rear of the car. Yes, this is the safest option, but it doesn’t change the fact that it makes it nearly impossible for a lone parent to see what the kid is up to without perfectly angling a bunch of mirrors like you’re trying to bounce lasers.
Trying to soothe an upset baby while driving can be a major distraction. For a whole year and a half, they can’t even talk to indicate what’s wrong. According to Nissan’s research, more than 80% of parents driving solo with a child said they couldn’t comfort their babies when they cried.
To solve this problem, Nissan developed Iruyo, a plushie that resembles that red haired monster from Bugs Bunny. Described as an “Intelligent Puppet,” it’s strapped to the car in view of the baby and works with a smaller matching doll, called Baby Iruyo, that rides up front with mom or dad.
The Baby Iruyo acts like a mic, picking up the parent driver’s words and transmitting them to the Iruyo riding in the back with the baby. The big Iruyo then moves in accordance with the parent’s voice, waving, doing a little dance in rhythm with the parent’s singing, or playing peek-a-boo.
Iruyo, which is Japanese for “I’m here,” also uses facial recognition tech to see when the baby is sleeping. When the kiddo closes their eyes, it transmits that back to the Baby Iruyo in front, which then closes its eyes to let the parent know junior is off to slumberland.
Nissan found that 90% of babies pay attention to Iruyo’s movements, and that the emotional state of more than half the babies in their study improved when interacting with the doll, even when strapped into the carseat.
Nissan developed a few variations of Iruyo as well. There’s one with white fur and one with pink. Each color Iruyo also gets three different looks — plain, wearing a beanie, or wearing glasses.
For now, Iruyo is still an experimental item, but Nissan says it will do some trials in Japan and take feedback from customers. Who knows, maybe you can have an Iruyo of your very own someday. Now if they could only figure out how to prevent food from getting all over the upholstery.
The overarching trend in the car world has been that the manual transmission is on the way out. People like automatics for the convenience, but they can be faster than manually shifting, and they’re frequently better at saving fuel. But the manual still has advantages. It’s small and light, it’s still sometimes more affordable than an equivalent automatic model, and, of course, it’s much more engaging than an automatic. For these reasons, automakers are still selling a variety of models with manuals. The list is certainly short compared to a couple decades ago, but the variety is impressive. Whether you’re looking for an extremely affordable commuter, a sports car or even an off-road oriented truck or SUV, there’s a manual-equipped car for you. And we’ve assembled the whole list of every single make and model of car with an available manual transmission for you three-pedal diehards.
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Continue reading GM hard at work on Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra PHEV pickups
GM hard at work on Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra PHEV pickups originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 21 Feb 2024 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading GM issues stop-sale order for 2024 Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon pickups
GM issues stop-sale order for 2024 Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon pickups originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Feb 2024 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
A new study has concluded that Vermont tops the list of states with the highest percentage of fatal car crashes in which someone tested positive for drug use. The study by the Jackman Law Firm of Tacoma analyzed data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
It showed that in Vermont, 62.7% of people — specifically, 153 out of 244 — in fatal crashes tested positive for drugs. Of that number, 81 were found to be under the influence of drugs that were not specified in the report, and 26 were positive for Delta 9 and 8 of benzoylecgonine, which is contained in cocaine.
A question mark over the data has to do with the fact it does not specify what “people” were under the influence. A spokeswoman for the law firm confirmed that they may have been drivers, passengers in a vehicle, pedestrians who may have been injured, or others. We can only assume that if law enforcement drug-tested someone in these crashes, it was typically the driver, but we can’t be sure.
In second place in the study was Massachusetts, with 57.75% of crashes involving a positive drug test. Out of the 1,451 people involved in a fatal accident in 2021, 838 tested positive for drugs. Among the most common drugs detected in Massachusetts were cannabinoids and Delta 9.
Hawaii was third, with 54.75% involved in a crash testing positive for drugs. In 2021, the NHTSA reported 292 people involved in the state, 159 of whom tested positive for one or more types of drugs. Methamphetamine, THC and Delta 9 were the three most common drugs detected.
North Dakota was reported fourth, and Oregon fifth.
On the opposite side of the report, North Carolina, Mississippi and Nebraska were the three states with the lowest number of people involved in drug-related incidents. Respectively, the states registered 1.7%, 4.35%, and 9.74% of people involved in a fatal crash.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the effects of marijuana on drivers include an increase in lane weaving, poor reaction time, and altered attention to the road. Some studies, the agency says, report that opioids can cause drowsiness and impair thinking and judgment. Other studies have found that being under the influence of opioids while driving can double your risk of having a crash.
Said Chris Jackson of the law firm, “The opioid epidemic has been particularly impactful, leading to increased overdose deaths and strains on public health resources in all 50 states. However,” he added, “as the data shows, in certain areas, the problem seems to be deeper and more concerning.”
A recent study of NHTSA data also listed the worst states for alcohol-related fatal car crashes.
A study of fatal crashes involving inexperienced drivers has revealed the most dangerous U.S. states for those just getting behind the wheel. It found that Kentucky leads the nation in traffic deaths involving learner’s permit holders — at 2.21% of total fatal crashes.
The study, conducted by law firm Bader Scott, looked at crash data from the National National Highway Traffic Safety Administration between 2017 and 2021. It defines “learner driver” as those holding a learner’s permit.
While Kentucky had the highest percentage, the actual number of new driver fatalities was 119 out of a total of 5,392 fatal crashes during the five-year span. Texas had the most fatal crashes of any state in that period, 27,392 total. Of those, 328 involved learner’s permit holding drivers. Percentage-wise, that’s 1.20%, putting the Lone Star State 10th on the list.
While the numbers of deaths on this list are in some cases in single digits, the fact that there are fatalities at all is sobering, given that a learner driver by law has an experienced driver at their elbow and is likely driving slowly and cautiously.
The study also found that the country roads of West Virginia were the safest, The Mountain State reported zero fatal crashes involving a learner’s permit holder. Next safest were South Carolina and Louisiana, which reported one fatality each. California followed in fourth place with nine new driver fatalities, despite the state’s high population and car-centric culture.
Overall traffic fatalities are down nationwide as of the first half of 2023, the most recent data the NHTSA has available. While individual states have seen a slight uptick, the general trend is moving in the right direction.
