Road traffic safety

Small SUV ‘Crash Avoidance’ Tech Does Not Avoid Crashes

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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tested 10 of the most popular small crossovers on the market and found that just one of them earned a “good” rating when it comes to vehicle-to-vehicle crash prevention. That is, uh, less than ideal — especially for folks who ride motorcycles and those of us who generally do … Read more

Cell Phone Use Is ‘Significantly Underreported’ In Car Crashes

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The prevalence of collisions caused by distracted driving has increased at an alarming rate, leading traffic fatalities to spike in the last few years. NHTSA says that traffic deaths reached a 16-year high of nearly 43,000 in 2021 (the most recent year detailed data is available) but less than one percent were linked to cell … Read more

A 4-Inch Taller Hood Makes Your Car 22 Percent More Likely To Kill: Study

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Vehicles in America are novelty oversized, like a universal TV remote from a store in the weird corner of the mall. We’ve known this for years, and the problem has only kept getting worse. Now, though, new data suggests — once again — that the bigger cars are deadlier. The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R … Read more

Los Angeles Made A Plan To Stop Traffic Deaths By 2025, But They’ve Doubled Instead

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More people were killed in traffic collisions on the streets of Los Angeles in 2023 than were murdered. The city pledged in 2015 to end driving and pedestrian deaths before 2025, and after nine years of doing basically nothing, the city just keeps setting new fatality records year after year. An astonishing 337 Los Angelinos … Read more

Previously Unseen Videos Show Shocking Carnage In Early Development Of The IIHS’ Small-Overlap Crash Test

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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has been slamming cars into barriers in the name of science for nearly 30 years, and modern cars are much safer thanks to its efforts. I have been watching IIHS crash test videos on YouTube since I was a little kid, and before you ask, yes, my parents … Read more

There Are 16,500 Car Crashes A Day In The U.S. And The Deadly Problem Is Only Getting Worse

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Photo: Theodore Parisienne for NY Daily News (Getty Images) Since 2020, the number of road deaths in the United States has been rising at a truly staggering rate. There isn’t a singular cause behind this drastic shift. Instances of drunk driving and speeding are both up. Seatbelt use is down. But why? The New York … Read more

Going Fast Is Fun, But Watch What Happens When It All Goes Wrong

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We all love driving fast, but watching the cold hard reality imposed on us all by The Laws Of Physics might make you think twice before speeding. Forget Autonomy, Drivers Still Want Control The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or IIHS is an independent agency that holds automakers publicly accountable for the safety of their … Read more

Bicyclists Seek Solution To Deadly ‘Dooring’ Crashes In LA

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white bicycle, or ghost bike, with a sign saying rest in peace locked to a pole on a New York City street is a memorial at the site where a cyclist was killed by a crash motor vehicle. Image: Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group (Getty Images) Biking ain’t easy; in fact it can be straight up … Read more

These Hand-Painted Traffic Signs Reduced Japan’s Traffic Accidents

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Tucked next to roads running through school zones in Japan are some hand-painted mascots known as “Tobita-kun, or more formally, “Tobidashi Bōya,” which means “running boy.” These signs are reminders for local drivers to slow down, and according to Atlas Obscura, they helped in Japan’s so-called Traffic War. Forget Autonomy, Drivers Still Want Control The … Read more