BUY LANEFX AND SAVE |
|
CONTENTS: LaneFX Wholesale Pricing Information for Mobile Electronic Retailers & Distributors |
Back-over Accidents
Moms Put ParkFX to the Test
There are no government statistics, but some estimate the family car killed as many as 500 children across the country last year. And the accidents happened in their own driveways.
While some may wonder what kind of parent could do that, Rachel Clemens said it could happen to just about anyone.
Two years ago, her daughter Adrianna wandered out of her Garland home.
That’s when Adrianna's father accidentally backed over the child with his SUV.
"He didn't see her," Clemens said. "That was the last day I saw my daughter alive."
So, how could you not see a child behind the family car?
Three Dallas moms agreed to take a safety test with the understanding that they would not know exactly what the tests were about.
While they were distracted filling out a questionnaire, Drivaware and Safe4Kids placed an orange cone about 8-feet behind their vehicles and the drivers were then asked to back up.
All three plowed right over the cone.
"Did I just run over something?" Adrienne Ludlow as said as she backed up.
"Oh, I hit the cone," said Amy Gordon.
"I figured it was a branch or something," said Merideth Manning.
Drivaware and Safe4Kids measured the blind spot behind each of their vehicles. The Honda Pilot had a blind spot over 30 feet, an Infiniti G35 about 18 feet and a Chevy Tahoe more than 35 feet.
The eye-opening experiment had all three women interested in the same thing, which was looking into safety equipment like ParkFX or a rear sensor that beeps faster the closer a driver gets to an object.
Safety cameras mounted on the rear of car are also available. The cameras relay a picture of the blind spot to a screen on the dashboard.
Both technologies are available on new cars with after-market installation costs less than $500.
"I would absolutely buy it, but wouldn't think of it until you came over and showed me how dangerous this could possibly be," Gordon said.
Attorney Windle Turley represents the Clemens family, which sued Nissan, the maker of the family's SUV. They claim the technology should have been standard equipment. The case is still pending.
"Manufacturers take off this needed safety equipment so they can market their vehicle a little bit lower in price than their competitors; and that's really wrong,” Turley said.
The trade group representing automakers says, "the best defense against back-over accidents is to check around the vehicle before you back up."
"That does not work and you're sending the wrong signal,” Clemens said.
Clemens, and several lawmakers in Washington, support legislation that would require automakers to put back-over safety equipment on all new cars.
Experts say it would add up to $200 to the price.
"To me, I think to anybody, any parent, the cost is nothing compared to a child's life," Clemens said.
There are no official numbers, but one safety group estimates that in Texas more than 90 children have been killed in or around parked vehicles in the last 15 years.
|
Double Lane Change Increases SUV Rollover Risk
Drivaware reports on a new double lane-change test that is designed to stimulate an emergency maneuver to determine SUV handling. The test is important because the more controllable and secure
a vehicle is when pushed to its handling limits the better chance the SUV occupants will avoid an accident. In situations where an obstacle is in the way, due to the compromising nature of SUVs
in general, steering around it can cause the vehicle to go out of control and result in an SUV rollover. Double lane-change SUV rollovers are more common than passenger cars because of the higher
center of gravity that makes SUVs more prone to rollover, especially if swerving abruptly.
The aspect of SUV safety has most often focused on risk of rollover. The National Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has said the rate of SUV rollover
is two to three times greater than a passenger car. Height of a SUV makes the vehicle more top heavy than one that sits lower, which is why consumers interested in purchasing a SUV are advised
to choose one lower to the ground if not needing a vehicle with high ground clearance.
Accident avoidance is an important aspect of vehicle safety and the ability to sharply swerve to avoid hitting an object or a person. In a SUV, the sudden cornering forces or double lane-change
can cause the SUV to tip onto two wheels and cause it to rollover. Especially after the Ford/Firestone SUV rollovers in 2000 left hundreds dead and even more injured, focus on SUV safety, like
double lane-change SUV rollover risk, greater.
When shopping for an SUV, check for the availability of a blind spot exposure system, such as LaneFX. In addition to rollover resistance technology and such a wide range
of vehicle options, becoming informed consumers can reduce safety risks. |
Gadget Gifts: The Must-Have Gadgets of 2006 Holida Season
Looking for great tech gear? Check out these magnificent seven.
Santa isn't the only one who's been making a list and checking it twice. Over the last year hundreds of gizmos have passed through Chez Freak, but only a handful inspire sincere gadget lust.
These devices all share certain traits: They serve a real need (read: not yet another iPod accessory). They're innovative. Most important, they're simple to use. Plug them in, turn them on, and
they work. The way it should be.
iRobot Dirt Dog
Meet man's new best friend. iRobot's Dirt Dog is a sweeper designed for use in basements and garages. Just push the "Clean" button
and stand back. It scuttles about picking up wood shavings, loose screws, and other weekend workshop detritus. The $130 price is worth howling about, too.
MusicGremlin
With the Wi-Fi-enabled MusicGremlin, you can download songs from any hotspot and then legally swap them with your buddies online.
Sure, navigating through songs could be easier, and $300 (plus $15 a month for the music service) is pricey for a device with only 8GB of storage. But being able to download virtually any song,
anytime, anywhere, is wicked cool.
Pure Digital Point and Shoot Camcorder
This pocket-size digital videocam lets you capture 30 minutes of decent-looking video in its 512MB of flash memory and then transfer the clips
to your PC via a clever USB "arm" that swings out from the base of the unit. The camera's built-in software allows you to manage videos, e-mail downsized clips to friends, or share
your masterpieces on Google Video with just a few clicks. The features are bare-bones--only 2X zoom, 640-by-480 clips, and minimal playback options on a 1.5-inch LCD--but then again, so is the
$130 price.
PowerSquid Surge3000 Calimari
Even I find it odd how excited I am about this $80 power strip. Yes, it really looks like a squid: Six tentaclelike plugs extend
to handle power bricks without blocking other sockets, and its surge protection (up to 3240 joules) keeps your pricey gear from getting fried. Two plugs even light up so you can find them in
the dark. It's ideal for geeks with too many gadgets and nowhere to plug them.
Sony Reader
This device redefines the electronic book. Sony's glare-free screen and E Ink technology are amazing, the unit is push-button easy to use, and its 7-by-5-inch size strikes the perfect
compromise between a PDA and a laptop. The $350 Reader can hold around 80 books in its 64MB of memory, and more when you add a Sony Memory
Stick or an SD Card. Sony launched with about 10,000 titles in its proprietary e-book format (the unit also reads text, Acrobat, and Word files). Pricing and availability of titles will vary,
but the gizmo itself is terrific. (For details, see our review.)
Zvox 325
One wire--that's all the Zvox 325 ($349) needs to produce booming audio from your TV, MP3 player, or DVD machine. Just plug in
this VCR-size speaker unit and connect it to the device's headphone jack. Two knobs let you control volume and switch from stereo to surprisingly good surround sound. It's simplicity itself.
PicoCricket
I got this robotics kit for my 7-year-old daughter, but soon I was fighting her for it. PicoCricket ($250) combines Lego pieces
and fuzzy pipe cleaners with sophisticated light, motion, and sound sensors. Kids build their own toys and then program them to respond to stimuli by dragging and dropping "PicoBlocks"--brightly
colored shapes that represent different chunks of object-oriented code. So, for example, you can build a flower that plays music when the sun rises, or a birthday cake that lights up when you
touch it. You'll need about 30 minutes with Pico's quick-start guide to master the basics, but far longer before you're willing to let your kids have at it.
A Merry Geekmas to all, and to all a good night.
|
Steering Wheels Get More and More Buttons
The steering wheel is quickly become the control center for the entire vehicle. Auto manufacturer's are using the steering wheel to add new buttons and controls for everything from controlling the radio
to switching gears. USA Today reports that many cars already have 10 to 15 different buttons on the steering wheel:
The fingertip frenzy isn't just about luxury cars, either. Sure, the $73,750 Range Rover SUV offers 10 buttons or toggles, not including the horn. And the $49,100 Acura RL sedan
has 16, in addition to two thumb paddles for manually changing gears. But Toyota's humble — albeit fully-loaded — $26,040 Prius gas-electric hybrid sedan includes 15 places to mash a thumb
into the steering wheel.
Automakers say the buttons help motorists keep their fingers on the wheel instead of having to fiddle with dials and knobs on the dashboard, making driving safer.
Many more steering wheel control buttons are expected in future vehicles. USA Today's article said the new Mercedes-Benz M-Class will "let drivers control the volume and play list of their Apple iPod
digital music players from the steering wheel." But voice commands are coming as well which may make these buttons less important. Why press a button when you can just say "Window Washers On.
Maximum Speed." Auto manufacturers will have to caution to keep these steering wheel buttons and voice commands from getting out of hand. |
More Great Gifts For Car Nuts
Car nuts are tough bunch to understand. Here's a great way to delight them this holiday season.
When they start talking about autos, technical terms such as “co-efficient of drag” and “horsepower per liter” come up. The conversation is spirited. Eyeballs roll. Girlfriends
leave the room. Allegiances are hotly debated. Are you a Porsche lover, or do you prefer Ferraris? New cars or classic cars? Ford trucks or Chevy trucks?
For people who don’t care about cars or don’t understand their loved ones’ obsessions with them, picking out gifts can be a daunting task. Case in point: Executives who love
cars are particularly hard to shop for, because their station demands a luxurious--but appropriate--gift. If you’re not sure what to get your car-obsessed dad, be warned: A new keychain or
an Exxon Mobil (nyse: XOM - news - people )
gift certificate is not going to thrill him.
To help you please even the pickiest auto enthusiast, we have compiled a list that includes such affordable items as the 30th-anniversary edition of Bruce
Springsteen’s Born to Run, as well as Porsche’s new, $120,000 911
Turbo supercar.
If you’ve got the cash, you can always give an actual car as a gift. Multimillionaire entrepreneurs who bleed 93-octane blood will be lusting after the Mercedes-Benz SLR
McLaren (not cheap at $450,000), but the Daimler Chrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people )
Maybach 62 sedan with handcrafted features such as customized leather interiors and monogramming is slightly more affordable at $390,000.
But there are plenty of just as fancy auto-related gifts that are more reasonably priced. Ferrari (nyse: FIA - news - people )
makes chronographs, BMW has a line of clothing and golf accessories and Aston Martin makes chessboards.
It’s also possible to properly indulge kids who love cars. Forget Matchbox. These days, you can buy your son or daughter an $875 toy
Ferrari--an electric car that drives and has a working horn--and give the kid a head start in developing proper cornering, braking and accelerating techniques.
Make no mistake: The world of the car nut can be a world of extravagance and privilege. You may not understand your loved one’s interested in motoring, but that shouldn’t stop you
from pampering him or her. |
Automakers are Designing New Car Gadgets Focused on Driver Safety and Awareness
Safer Lane Changes is Just One of the Latest Trends to Include Advanced Gadgets in New SUV Models
Every new car season brings with it a dazzling assortment of
high-tech gadgets and an equally formidable barrage of hype aimed at romancing you into this year's model.
What's hot and what's hype? We posed that question to Paul Duchene, a national automotive writer based in Portland, Ore.
"There are a lot of gizmos this year and some of them are good, too," he says. "One of the reasons is there are a lot of new models and a whole bunch of updates this year, including
the Nissan 350Z, Mazda's RX-8 and BMW's Z4 and 745i, the car some critics have informally dubbed 'the quarter to eight.'"
Let's put the pedal to the metal and cruise some of this year's hottest new gadgets:
Intelligent cruise control: This lends new dimension to the term "keeping up with the Joneses." Previously, cruise control was a simple proposition: You set your speed and your car
maintained it until you tapped the brake or manually turned it off. Infiniti's new wrinkle uses a laser beam to measure the distance between you and the vehicle ahead and maintains a preset distance
until you disengage it. The upside is you can't tailgate. The downside depends on the driving skills of the guy in front of you.
Directional stability: This is a little like having your mother-in-law in the back seat, only quieter. "You go into a corner too hard and the car basically figures out that it's about to
change direction from where you want it to go and will selectively apply, say, a rear brake on one side just to keep it going in the line that it senses it's pointed," says Duchene. And he
tested it. Hard. "It really works, way past the point that it makes sense."
Mouse control: It had to happen and finally does with BMW's 7 series. That dial-shaped gizmo where a stick shift would normally reside is called iDrive and it controls the heat, air, audio level
and other cabin-related functions. This gives you a sleek, button-free dashboard. Beginners, however, need to look at the in-dash display to use it.
Voice-recognition system: Sure, we all talk, even scream, at our cars on occasion. Now Infiniti presents one that finally listens. The Q45 voice recognition system allows you to change CDs, adjust
the temperature, access your GPS navigation system or make a hands-free cell phone call, all through voice command. The system understands 50,000 words in 150 dialects and even learns the sound
of your voice. Hal, is that you?
Run-flat tires: No matter how high-tech your ride, there are four things all cars have in common, and they still go flat from time to time. Run-flat tires don't prevent flats, but they will get
you to a repair shop. "When you run over a nail and the tire goes flat, if you keep it under 30 miles per hour, it will get you someplace where you can change it," Duchene explains. "Part
of the reason they can do it is that performance tires are much lower profile and deform much less, so you can make stiffer sidewalls."
Mobile entertainment: New minivans approximate all the comforts of home: Pop-down DVD screens, earphone ports, even a remote control to fight over. That takes care of the kids; now what about
Mom and Dad? How about coast-to-coast, commercial-free satellite radio? For the cost of a radio receiver ($300 and up) and service (less than $15 a month), you can receive 70 channels of commercial-free
music and 40 channels of news, talk, sports and entertainment programming from such providers as XM and Sirius.
It sure beats choruses of, "Are we there yet?"
Limp-home mode: How smart is the Cadillac Northstar engine? If you blow a radiator hose, the Northstar automatically reverts to limp-home mode, shutting the gas supply off in several cylinders
and turning the engine into a quasi-air cool system. You won't set any land speed records, but your engine will survive the damage you unwittingly might have done to it.
DVD navigation: Because of the limited data storage capacity of earlier onboard GPS satellite-navigation systems, you had to reinstall a different CD of map displays if you wanted to travel to
other parts of the country. With the new DVD-based systems, all of North America is now your oyster. Does it play movies, too? Duchene chuckles: "The Lexus system has the ability to play movie
DVDs on its screen, but it won't play if you're in gear, so you can't be watching a movie while you're driving down the road." We really didn't think so, but had to ask.
Automatic braking: Remember your mother-in-law in the back seat? Here's a feature that cleverly simulates the effect of her panicked stranglehold on you in a traffic crisis. "There are brake
systems now that have a brains-override thing where they figure you're not braking hard enough for what's going on and will actually add power to the brakes," Duchene says. Easier on the esophagus,
too.
Head restraint, side curtains and pre-tensioners: Luxury cars feature all the safety money can buy. In addition to standard forward and side airbags, many models now come with inflatable head-restraint
bands along the top of the windshield and inflatable side window curtains. The Lexus system automatically cinches up your seat belt with pre-tensioners just milliseconds before impact. Cadillac's
Escalade SUV uses sensors to analyze the size and weight of front-seat passengers and automatically deactivates the front air bag if it detects a child or rear-facing child seat riding shotgun. "Though
not yet on the market, the car companies are developing a 'catcher's mitt' seat that, if things go wrong, just kind of grabs you and holds you in place," says Duchene.
Back-up assistance: If parallel parking is not your strong suit, you'll be pleased to hear about a couple systems designed to give you a better look at your rear end. GM's Ultrasonic Rear Parking
Assistant uses four sensors to triangulate the position of objects behind you and guides you with both an audible chime and LED lights at the back window. Infiniti's RearView Monitor goes one step
further and actually displays on the dashboard monitor a full-color video from a rear-mounted mini-cam. Now all you've got to do is find a parking space.
Automatic accident reporting: In the event of an accident, your car can now phone for help, even if you can't. "Some of this stuff now, if you have a crash, the car calls home and 911 and
says, 'I've been hurt,'" Duchene says. "But that has its drawbacks. As one of my friends pointed out, sometimes when you make a mistake, you could use about 20 minutes to get away." |
|