Late last year, a longtime crusader for motoring safety died at the age of 72. His name was Clarence Ditlow III - not well known outside the US, however he was an important campaigner alongside Ralph Nader. He was born in 1944 in Georgia, in the southern States of the US. Ditlow was the son of a service manager at a Chevrolet dealer, so he was born into the industry. He … [Read more...]
Takata Airbag Update #7
I have written several articles about the issues with the airbags from the Japanese firm, Takata, over the last few years: 28th December 2014 - Airbag Recall 12th January 2015 - Airbag Recall, Update on Progress for Resolution 24th February 2015 - Takata Airbag failure - February Update 3rd June 2015 - Takata Airbag Recall, Update #4 23rd July 2015 - Airbag Recall, … [Read more...]
Crash Test Ratings
The majority of countries in the world will not allow a new car from an established manufacturer to be sold if they have not passed certain crash tests and these are rated by several Government agencies - albeit with similar tests and ratings. Crash tests are typically destructive - i.e. they are testing against design and Government standards and based on the results, the … [Read more...]
Corporate Average Fuel Economy Goals
This is going to be an abridged view of the policy known as CAFE. It is abridged simply because like many Government sourced policies, it can twist and turn based on where the votes are - and get changed through its life! The policy was born out of the 1973 Fuel Crisis when OPEC (the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) announced an embargo on countries who … [Read more...]
Air Bags
This week for a technical article I am going to talk about a passive safety device that is now on all cars - the airbag - and like diesel has now become enemy #1 for the media who love to write negative stories. With respect to airbags, one company, Takata, who had manufacturing issues that affected millions of units has caused all the negative press. So bad was the problem … [Read more...]
