Ford Motor Company claims that it is unclear whether its cruise control switches are the fault for over 560 reported fires and explosions in Ford vehicles. Many of these fires broke out when the vehicles were parked in family garages, destroying homes and lives. In cases like this the numbers reported are only a fraction of what has actually occurred, but Ford claims to be doing its best to determine the cause of the fires and refuses to declare the cruise control switch at fault. Here are the facts:
More than 16 million Ford vehicles have rolled out of the lots installed with a cruise control switch that is designed not to switch off. This switch remains hot and powered, even when the car is parked. Only a thin metal sheet separates the switch from the brake fluid line, and only a little extra heat can cause the switch to combust, dripping flaming fluid over all the plastic components, resulting in a full-blown hood fire that is very difficult to extinguish. Many owners have reported explosions, both while driving Ford vehicles and after parking them.
Cyclists are amongst the most vulnerable road users. A combination of factors means that cyclists are exposed to dangers that most motorists don’t even have to consider. For example being less visible to drivers and being completely without the protection of a tonne of metal means that your average cyclist is pretty likely to be badly injured if they come head to head with a car. In fact there were 114 cyclists killed in 2003 and 2,297 seriously injured. Although a cyclist has the advantage of being able to stop quickly if they encounter an obstacle a car driver is less likely to see a bike until the last minute.
The first and most obvious safety pointer that applies to everybody who takes to the road on a push bike is to wear a helmet. Cycle helmets are only designed and tested to withstand an impact equivalent to an average weight rider travelling at a speed of 12 mph falling on to a kerb from a height of 1 metre. Because of this riders shouldn’t become complacent and rely on their helmet to save their life in an accident. The best way to avoid serious personal injury is to try and avoid being hit by a car in the first place.
While on a trip, or even close to home, we all want to keep driving for as long as possible. Yet nobody, in their right mind, wants to be a threat to ourselves (or others) because we’re too sleepy to operate our motor vehicle. Self-awareness of our sleepiness is always the key to driving safely!
In a report dated just last year 2004, the National Safety Council wrote that traffic death rates are 3 times greater at night - - than during the day!
Every driver should always have the 5 following items in their vehicle at all times!
A paper and pen to take down notes in the event of an accident.
At the moment, the legal system in Britain forces all personal injury claims to go through the courts and be judged on an individual basis. Many of these claims crawl through the courts at a leisurely pace, the result being expensive court costs. Even worse, for every 0„51 that is paid out in compensation, it has been estimated that the legal profession receives 40p for their legal work. This amounts to the British legal profession receiving an estimated 0„52 billion a year just from personal injury claims ¨C unbelievable isn¡¯t it!
The insurance companies have to cover these costs, and it¡¯s costing them so much that it has been estimated that for every car insurance premium, around 0„5200 of it will be going towards paying these personal injury claim legal costs.
Over the past few weeks the weather has taken a turn. The sky is grey more often than it is blue and there is a damp chill in the air. The seasons are changing and the UK is on the verge of yet another dreary winter, in fact this winter is predicted to be exceptionally long and cold. We’re all used to it by now, but unfortunately our resignation and acceptance of wet winters doesn’t mean that we adjust to the changes in driving conditions quite as easily. There are 6,393 more accidents involving cars on the UK’s roads in winter than there are during the summer months. A frightening statistic which clearly shows why we all need to buckle up and drive more carefully when it’s cold out.
We all know how unpredictable the British weather can be. One minute the sun will be shining and the birds singing, the next minute you’ll be struggling to see out of the car window because of freezing fog or driving rain. Situations like this are precarious as icy and wet roads make it difficult to stop quickly and low visibility results in collisions. It is recommended that you stay at home and avoid unnecessary car journeys when the weather conditions take a nose dive. However, many people simply cannot avoid leaving home for whatever reason. If this applies to you there are some vital safety measures that you should take to avoid being involved in a car accident.
Posted in Vehicles | Also tagged car accident |
Britain’s roads can be treacherous; every journey, even popping to the shops, requires drivers to concentrate hard and take in hundreds of facts, processing them instantly to avoid accidents. Every obstacle and danger must be registered by the brain so that action can be taken instantaneously. From the motorbike approaching from the right at a roundabout, to the bus that looks like it’s about to pull out without signalling, the human brain needs to be on top form and your vehicle needs to be roadworthy and responsive in order to avoid major calamity.
There are literally millions of vehicles lining our highways every day, around 22 million to be more precise. More than 151 billion vehicle kilometres of journeys take place every year on England’s road network alone and there are a whopping 4,818 miles of road to be covered. It’s hardly surprising then that accidents happen quite frequently. Just one momentary lack of concentration can lead to a serious accident involving loss of life and serious personal injury. In fact there are a some roads notorious for their danger factor. Number one on the list is the A989 near Dalwhinnie in Perth and Kinross, number two is the A537 between Macclesfield, Cheshire and Buxton in Derbyshire and the number three is the A12 near Romford in Essex. We may rate our roads as the safest in the world, carrying a third of all traffic we only see one eigth of all accidents, but we still endure massive loss of life every year. The UK statistic for death and serious injury on our roads in 2001 was 34,764.
Toyota Tundra models have serious break problems, many of which Toyota is refusing to take responsibility for. Toyota recently issued a recall notice for its 2004-2005 model Toyota Tundras equipped with dual exhaust because one of the exhaust pipes was found to rub against the brake line. Toyota states that this will “possibly cause brake fluid leakage and raise the risk of a crash”. To put it honestly, the friction will cause break fluid to leak and the brakes will fail. Whether the car crashes or not depends on how fast you are going, whether you are driving downhill, and the behavior of vehicles surrounding you.
Toyota has recently been grievously irresponsible about issuing warnings and recall notices on its Toyota Tundra trucks. There is little question that a design flaw in the Tundra causes front rotors to warp very quickly, causing the truck to shudder during braking. Toyota even issued a technical service bulletin, but Toyota dealers have not alerted consumers to the problem. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Toyota owners have been told there isn’t a problem or blamed for “driving too hard”, that is until their 36,000 mile warranty expires. At this point the Toyota dealerships acknowledge the brake problem and offer assistance –- at full price.
A wide scale recall is the last resort for a car company to take with a problematic vehicle, and most automotive problems do not even make it to recall stage. Toyota has been known to avoid issuing recalls at all cost, preferring to issue safety warnings and avoid covering repair costs on vehicles that are beyond warranty. This should put this year’s massive Toyota truck recall into perspective.
This May, Toyota Motor Corp issued one of its largest safety recalls in history. Toyota is recalling more than 750,000 pickup trucks and SUV’s because of problems with the front suspension that could make the vehicles difficult to steer. The recall covers 775,000 vehicles in the United States alone, including 2001-2004 model years of the Toyota Tacoma, the 2001-2002 models of Toyota 4Runner and the 2002-2004 model Tundra and Sequoia.
In the year 2002 nonfatal accidents affected 23.7 million individuals who were forced to obtain medical attention for an injury. That comes to 1 in 12!
In 2002 Motor-vehicle crashes were the most costly workmen’s compensation claims. Insured‘s “Reported” crashes of a motor vehicle (when American’s were on-the-job and driving while working) caused 27,558 injuries.