auto safety News

New Crash Test Dummy Is a 3-Year Old

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a new crash test dummy. Known as the Q3s, the new crash test dummy represents a 3-year-old child and is the first child side impact dummy in federal regulations. Q3 was specifically designed …

Federal Auto Safety Agencies Face Scrutiny by Inspector General

The Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General said on Tuesday it would audit oversight of U.S. vehicle safety standards, noting that more than 36,000 Americans were killed in traffic accidents in 2019. The inspector general’s office said it was launching …

South Korea Investigates Suspected Safety Issues with Tesla Vehicles

South Korea said it is investigating suspected safety issues with vehicles made by U.S. automaker Tesla Inc, which is competing strongly with Hyundai Motor Co in the South Korean electric vehicle market. Braking and steering systems including the Autopilot function …

National Safety Agency Opens Probe Into Touchscreens on Tesla Model S Cars

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Tuesday it had opened an investigation into 63,000 Tesla Model S cars after reports of media-control unit failures that led to the loss of the use of touchscreens. The auto safety agency …

U.S. Tells Auto Makers They Don’t Have to Recall 56 Million Takata Air Bag Inflators

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday it will not require automakers to recall 56 million additional Takata air bag inflators, saying the devices do not pose a safety risk. Automakers in the United States have previously recalled …

How Car Makers Are Doing with Voluntary Accord to Install Automatic Braking Systems

Three years ahead of schedule, four vehicle manufacturers— Tesla, Volvo, Audi and Mercedes— have already met their voluntary commitment under an agreement to equip virtually all of their new passenger vehicles with low-speed automatic emergency braking systems that includes forward …

Auto Safety Advocates Oppose FCC Plan for Sharing Unused Spectrum With Wi-Fi

A little-used block of spectrum set aside for auto safety should be split to accommodate the rapidly growing number of wireless devices, the chairman of the U.S. telecoms regulator said on Wednesday, a plan that sets up a clash between …

U.K. Telematics Insurer Finds Motorists 32% More Likely to Crash on Friday the 13th

Analysis of almost five billion miles of driving data and associated claims in the U.K. shows that Friday is the most likely day for motorists to have a road traffic incident, and when it falls on the 13th of the …

Tesla Autopilot Design, Plus Driver Error, to Blame for 2018 Crash: Safety Board

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Wednesday cited driver errors and Tesla Inc.’s Autopilot design as the probable cause of a January 2018 crash of a Model S into a parked fire truck on a highway in California. The …

Tesla’s Autopilot System Confuses Drivers About Extent of Automation: Safety Report

Automakers including Tesla Inc. are stoking confusion among motorists by choosing names for their automated-driving systems that wrongly suggest they’re more capable than is actually the case, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Almost half of respondents to …