Many drivers still ignore warnings about texting, cellphone use

Let’s start with the good news: Only 1 percent of drivers older than 75 say they text while behind the wheel. Now the bad: It gets a whole lot worse from there.

More than 40 percent of people between 19 and 39 years old say they text while they drive, and 10 percent of them say they do it regularly. More than half of those in a new survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety say they talk on their cellphones while driving.

Using your phone while driving may seem safe, but it roughly quadruples your risk of being in a crash, according to previous research, said Jake Nelson, AAA director of traffic safety advocacy and research. None of us is immune from the dangers of distracted driving. The best advice is to hang up and drive.

The number of roadway deaths linked to distracted driving in 2012 dropped slightly to 3,328, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That’s 32 fewer than in 2011, when NHTSA said distracted driving was to blame for 10 percent of all crashes and 387,000 injuries.

It has been estimated that 660,000 Americans use electronic devices while driving at any moment during daylight hours, and most people say they recognize the risk posed by distracted driving. It’s an irony borne out by many surveys: Drivers think they’re able to use their phones safely but wish others wouldn’t.

The AAA foundation survey builds on the group’s earlier work, a comprehensive study by researchers at the University of Utah. Released this past summer, the report found that the more complicated and absorbing a task becomes such as text messaging or a phone conversation the greater the distraction. And the longer any such task takes, the more absorbing it becomes.

The study described a problem called inattention blindness. A driver might see something that should trigger caution, but the realization doesn’t register in time for the driver to react by braking or swerving to safety.

The study also found that voice-activated devices that allow drivers to listen to or send text messages without touching their mobile device are not effective in reducing distraction.

When compared with other diversions inside the car, interacting with the speech-to-text system was the most cognitively distracting, the report said. This clearly suggests that the adoption of voice-based systems in the vehicle may have unintended consequences that adversely affect traffic safety.

Concern, studies and new laws about distracted driving have ballooned since then-U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood embraced the issue almost five years ago. Although LaHood’s efforts and observations by average drivers of scary distracted behavior on the road have increased awareness of the risk, the new AAA survey of 2,325 drivers suggests that hasn’t translated into reduced use of mobile devices.

Overall, the survey found that 26 percent of drivers said they text and 6 percent said they did so frequently. Sixty-seven percent said they talk on their phones while driving, 28 percent of them regularly.

Surprisingly, given that they may be the most tech-savvy, the youngest drivers said they text and talk less often than do older drivers. The 16- to 18-year-old group talked less on their phones while behind the wheel than any group younger than 60 and were less likely to text than drivers between ages 19 and 39.

Teens may be absorbing the constant safety messages related to distracted driving, and therefore are choosing to use their cellphone less often while driving, said John Townsend of the AAA. On the other hand, younger adult drivers may have a false sense of confidence when using their phones.

Don't judge the Honda CR-V by the size of the engine

The door of the Fiesta swings open, pushed by a woman’s bare foot. Laughter comes from inside the darkened car. She steps out then leans in to say something which causes more hilarity. As she talks she steps into her shoes and wriggles her wrinkled skirt down over her bottom. She rebuttons her blouse, runs her hands through her hair and hops back in. The door slams and the engine starts…

I’d been walking my dog (honestly), and I wondered if the couple had been having sex. Think about it: laughter, darkness, a secluded lay-by, that rumpled skirt and the clincher a Fiesta. According to a recent poll by BBA Reman of more than 2,000 drivers, the car most people have had sex in is a Ford Fiesta. Does this tell us more about Fiestas or the people who tend to own Fiestas? I’m not sure.

I pondered this as I loaded the dog into the back of the palatial Honda CR-V I was test-driving. The boot is colossal there’s 1,669 litres of loadspace (odd how manufacturers measure space in litres, but what else would you use? A quick Wiki yields 94 different units of volume, including firkins, rundlets and hogsheads). If you fold down the back seat, which you can do in seconds by pulling a single easy-grip handle, there’s room in the back of the CR-V for, oh, six and a bit hogsheads. Certainly there’d be room for a copulating couple. They’d be more than comfortable and the little sidelights would be quite romantic…

To be fair, despite selling more than five million vehicles since it was first launched in 1995, the CR-V is not known for setting your pulse racing. It’s a quietly sedate, brilliantly functional soft roader. But still waters run deep and this new model has something to boast about. Honda has put the ultrafrugal, superlight, downsized diesel engine it developed for its Civic into the SUV. This new engine is named Earth Dreams; it is 1,598cc and only powers the front wheels, so this 4Ã4 is only really a 2Ã4. But that saving means this CR-V is more economical and eco-friendly than almost any other family off-roader on the, er, road. The loss of full green-lane capability is more than offset by the fact that fuel economy reaches unscaled heights for such a large car. Honda claims a coquettishly optimistic figure of 62.8mpg maybe, if you’re driving on the moon. But in mixed conditions and with a loaded car I still did average a none-too-shabby 54mpg. The remarkable engines will be built at Honda’s UK manufacturing base in Swindon and they will churn out up to 500 units a day.

Does a small engine in a big car work? Thanks to a raft of technologies and weight-saving strategies, the answer is yes, incredibly well. The car flows nicely on the motorway and never feels underpowered, yet the diesel still sounds agricultural enough to convince you that you’re at the wheel of something fruitier at low speeds.

Inside, the CR-V is comfortable, conservative, rewarding, grown-up. Nothing is showy, yet there is no sense of being short-changed either.

It doesn’t feel like a car people will have sex in. But if they do, I’m sure it will be comfortable, conservative, rewarding and grown-up.

Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

Many drivers still ignore warnings about texting, cellphone use

Let’s start with the good news: Only 1 percent of drivers older than 75 say they text while behind the wheel. Now the bad: It gets a whole lot worse from there.

More than 40 percent of people between 19 and 39 years old say they text while they drive, and 10 percent of them say they do it regularly. More than half of those in a new survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety say they talk on their cellphones while driving.

Using your phone while driving may seem safe, but it roughly quadruples your risk of being in a crash, according to previous research, said Jake Nelson, AAA director of traffic safety advocacy and research. None of us is immune from the dangers of distracted driving. The best advice is to hang up and drive.

The number of roadway deaths linked to distracted driving in 2012 dropped slightly to 3,328, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That’s 32 fewer than in 2011, when NHTSA said distracted driving was to blame for 10 percent of all crashes and 387,000 injuries.

It has been estimated that 660,000 Americans use electronic devices while driving at any moment during daylight hours, and most people say they recognize the risk posed by distracted driving. It’s an irony borne out by many surveys: Drivers think they’re able to use their phones safely but wish others wouldn’t.

The AAA foundation survey builds on the group’s earlier work, a comprehensive study by researchers at the University of Utah. Released this past summer, the report found that the more complicated and absorbing a task becomes such as text messaging or a phone conversation the greater the distraction. And the longer any such task takes, the more absorbing it becomes.

The study described a problem called inattention blindness. A driver might see something that should trigger caution, but the realization doesn’t register in time for the driver to react by braking or swerving to safety.

The study also found that voice-activated devices that allow drivers to listen to or send text messages without touching their mobile device are not effective in reducing distraction.

When compared with other diversions inside the car, interacting with the speech-to-text system was the most cognitively distracting, the report said. This clearly suggests that the adoption of voice-based systems in the vehicle may have unintended consequences that adversely affect traffic safety.

Concern, studies and new laws about distracted driving have ballooned since then-U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood embraced the issue almost five years ago. Although LaHood’s efforts and observations by average drivers of scary distracted behavior on the road have increased awareness of the risk, the new AAA survey of 2,325 drivers suggests that hasn’t translated into reduced use of mobile devices.

Overall, the survey found that 26 percent of drivers said they text and 6 percent said they did so frequently. Sixty-seven percent said they talk on their phones while driving, 28 percent of them regularly.

Surprisingly, given that they may be the most tech-savvy, the youngest drivers said they text and talk less often than do older drivers. The 16- to 18-year-old group talked less on their phones while behind the wheel than any group younger than 60 and were less likely to text than drivers between ages 19 and 39.

Teens may be absorbing the constant safety messages related to distracted driving, and therefore are choosing to use their cellphone less often while driving, said John Townsend of the AAA. On the other hand, younger adult drivers may have a false sense of confidence when using their phones.

2013 and the year of the hybrid hypercar

From McLaren to Ferrari, supercar builders have been turning to electric motors to reduce environmental impact of their vehicles but without denting top speed or performance, a trend that’s set to accelerate in 2014.

The exception

There’s a good reason why Lamborghini called its latest concept hypercar the ‘Egoista’. During its official unveiling in Sant’Agata Bolognese in May, its creator, Volkswagen’s head of design, Walter De Silva, said: This is a car made for one person only, to allow them to have fun and express their personality to the maximum. It is designed purely for hyper-sophisticated people who want only the most extreme and special things in the world. It represents hedonism taken to the extreme, it is a car without compromises, in a word: egoista. Or, when translated into English, ‘selfish’. But, with the notable exception of Lamborghini, which believes the gasoline-powered, V12 supercar is a work of art, an endangered species that should get the same protected status as the panda or orangutan, 2013 will be remembered by many in the motoring industry as the year that supercar selfishness turned into benevolence.

Before its time: the Jaguar C-X75 concept

A growing number of Lamborghini’s peers are adopting hybrid gasoline/electric powertrains that cut cars’ CO2 production and increase fuel efficiency in line with growing environmentally focused EU and US legislation, but without eroding performance, exhilaration or, critically, desirability. Making the change is anything but simple, it’s a huge feat of engineering as Jaguar’s Rob Atkin explained. Our challenge was monumental: we needed to achieve the performance of a Veyron; the range of a Volt; and the CO2 of a Prius, he said of the company’s 2011 C-X75 concept.

The McLaren P1 sold out

Ironically, when Jaguar examined the feasibility of putting its 850bhp hybrid hypercar into production, it decided that global economic uncertainty would stop potential owners from taking a chance on the car, and so shelved manufacturing plans in 2012. UK competitor McLaren has had no such problem. Its first hybrid hypercar, the P1, made its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March and within seven months had sold all 375 examples of the 903bhp twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8/electric hybrid, despite its $1,350,000 price tag. Still for that money, delighted owners got an environmentally friendly car somehow capable of going from 0-100km/h in 2.8 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 350km/h.

The LaFerrari: making hybrid power desirable

Ferrari has also gone for an electric motor, albeit mated to a V12 and the result, the LaFerrari, boasts equally impressive statistics. Like the McLaren, it debuted in Geneva in March and it too is sold out, but unlike the P1, each of the 499 production examples were spoken for in a matter of minutes, such is the allure of the prancing horse.

Setting a new standard, the Porsche 918 Spyder

Porsche has been openly tinkering with electric motors for some time and this year grabbed headlines with its equally environmentally friendly 918 Sypder, not least because the car capable of a 0-100km/h time of 2.8 seconds and a better fuel economy than a Toyota Prius just broke the lap record at the Nurburgring. With a time of six minutes and 57 seconds, it is currently the fastest ever road-legal production car to lap the 20.8km circuit.

Economic and exciting, the BMW i8

The 918 Spyder will officially go on sale in 2014 and it will be joined by the BMW i8. Not as powerful as its Italian or British peers, it uses a 131bhp electric motor to drive the front wheels and a three-cylinder 231hp engine that sends power to the rear for a combined 360bhp. And because the car is extremely light, this horsepower will translate to a 0-100km/h time of 4.5 seconds and a fuel economy of 2.5 litres/100km (94 mpg).

Is Audi’s Sport Quattro concept heading for production?

And, where BMW goes, Audi tends to follow. At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, the company unveiled the Sport Quattro concept, a reimagining of its legendary Quattro coupe but updated for the 21st century with a hybrid V8/electric powertrain. There’s every likelihood that a production version is in the works.

Will the Honda Acura NSX be Japan’s first hybrid supercar?

The same is true of Honda, which has been touting its NSX concept for several years now. Although it is not expected to go into full production until 2015, a finished version, compete with electric motor to complement its V6 engine, is expected to make its official debut as soon as January at the Detroit Auto Show.

All-electric, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive

Jaguar has signaled that it is reconsidering its decision regarding the production of its C-X75 concept and Mercedes is continuing its research into all-electric supercars, following the warm reception its SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive has so far received. Although it has seriously limited range, due to being battery-powered only, it offers better acceleration and handling than the gas-powered equivalent thanks to an electric motor independently powering each wheel.

The end of the line?

All of which could leave Lamborghini as the only supercar builder still focused on squeezing as much power as possible out of a V12 engine, regardless of environmental impact. However, the company has just ceased production of the Gallardo and a replacement is expected to be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March. So, don’t be surprised if it comes with a battery as well as a fuel tank.

Ford demos driverless Fusion hybrid

The American manufacturer has just unveiled an autonomous version of its hybrid car, built for research purposes. Equipped with cameras and numerous sensors, this version of the Fusion glides down the road with no one in the driver’s seat.

This automated version of the Ford Fusion hybrid, which can analyze its environment and detect obstacles without human intervention, will be used to develop and enhance various automated driving technologies. Ford aims to position itself among the leaders in this field, and it has demonstrated cars that can park themselves, follow voice commands, detect driving hazards and trigger emergency braking when necessary.

In a partnership with the University of Michigan and State Farm, Ford developed the research vehicle as part of its vast Blueprint for Mobility program, which it says envisions a future of autonomous functionality and advanced technologies after 2025.

The company estimates that in the mid-term, vehicle-to-vehicle communications enabling certain autopilot functions will become commonplace. Further in the future, Ford predicts that vehicles will be able to navigate almost entirely on their own, improving safety on the road and reducing traffic congestion.

Earlier this year, at its test center in Lommel, Belgium, Ford demonstrated a number of advanced autonomous functions including the ability to park itself and avoid accidents on a version of the Focus.

Ford is not the only manufacturer actively working to develop an entirely autonomous vehicle. Volvo recently made headlines with the announcement of a new pilot project, in which 100 autonomous cars will make their way along public roads around the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. Nissan plans to market an entirely autonomous vehicle by 2020, and last September the brand announced that it had equipped a Leaf with a number of automatic driving technologies, enabling it to legally travel along Japanese roads without a driver. This was not the first time an autonomous car has been approved to take to the open roads: Google is already testing its driverless cars in California and Nevada.

Tesla plans to debut cheaper model in 2015

Tesla’s move into mainstream motoring is just one year away. Visitors to the 2014 North American International Auto Show will have to make do with the debut of the company’s first SUV instead.

Called the Model X, the all-electric SUV has been displayed in concept and pre-production form at a number of motoring events over the past year or so but, according to the company’s head of design, Franz von Holzhausen, it is now ready getting ready for the road.

In an interview with German publication AutoBild, von Holzhausen also confirmed that Tesla’s car for the masses will be called the Model E and will not simply be a smaller version of the current Model S.

Although the two cars will share some design language, they will look different. Holzhausen doesn’t want Tesla to follow the design approach of companies like Audi, where all of the cars seem to look the same from the front and rear, with just the length differing.

In the interview, he is also asked what he thinks of BMW’s i3 electric car and the answer is, not much, from a design perspective anyway. He compares it to a piece of IKEA furniture although he praises the car’s underlying technology and the materials used in construction.

The Tesla Model S currently retails for $60,000 in the US, pushing it into the same category as the Mercedes E Class, BMW 5 Series and Audi A5. The Model E is expected to cost around $30,000 when it launches, meaning that it will be competing with most Ford and GM mass market vehicles.

The Mercedes C-Class flexes its tech muscle

Not only has the car had a serious external makeover, inside the cabin and underneath the hood the all-new C-Class has more in common with the top of the line S-Class luxury sedan than with any of its competitors in the compact executive segment.

Bigger, more comfortable, lighter and bursting at the seams in terms of features, technologies and toys that aren’t usually standard on cars three times as expensive, Mercedes-Benz is flexing some serious automotive muscle with the new C-Class. The company says the new car sets new standards in the premium mid-range class.

Externally the designers have channeled the spirit of the wonderful CLS the company’s curvaceous yet aggressive coupe/sedan. The result is a car that really stands out visually, especially when parked among BMWs and Audis, yet it does so with sufficient grace and subtlety to never be considered ostentatious.

Helping the car stand out is the fact that it is 90cm longer than the outgoing C-Class and 40cm wider to accommodate the fact that people are getting taller and to ensure rear passengers aren’t cramped. The trunk is also bigger, making it a great potential tourer.

But the car is also lighter by some 100kg to improve handling and fuel economy the latter in particular being a key feature of the initial models coming to market that offer smaller gas, diesel and hybrid powertrains (don’t worry, bigger and more potent engines are on their way).

Inside, the car is full of state-of-the-art features that were only being showcased on the company’s flagship executive car, the S-Class several months ago. These include a satellite-controlled air conditioning and filtration system that automatically closes exterior filtering flaps when the car enters a tunnel. Then there’s the integrated armrest trackpad that allows the driver to swipe, tap and even write numbers and letters with a finger in order to enter information into the car’s infotainment center.

Or the strangely named Distronic Plus system, which offers semi-automatic traffic jam driving. When the car is traveling at less than 37mph (60km/h) it can follow the car in front, maintaining a safe distance and can also automatically stop and start in response to traffic conditions. Then there’s the heads up display that provides the car’s current speed, the current speed limit, navigation instructions and even messages from the Distronic Plus system on the windshield within the driver’s field of vision.

The C-Class can also monitor a driver’s alertness and prompt him or her to take a break (it automatically shows cafés, restaurants and rest stops on the satellite navigation system) and can step in in the event of a potential collision. If the driver fails to respond, the C-Class can break autonomously even at speeds of up to 125mph to prevent a crash.

At slower speeds, the system can bring the car to a halt or to a safe speed in such a manner that the car behind also has sufficient time to break, avoiding rear-end shunts too.

To top it all off is active park assist which will do all of the hard work of parallel parking, including the braking and steering.

In terms of safety, the car is packed with airbags too. It is the first car in its class to have window airbags, pelvis air bags and a knee-height airbag to protect the driver. It also has sensors in all of passenger seats which tell the car when a child seat has been installed and automatically deactivates any nearby airbags.

All in all the C-Class will get potential customers running to Mercedes-Benz showrooms and the company’s competitors running to their drawing boards. Mercedes will publish regional specifications and price lists early in 2014.