Even as the design of cars become increasingly safety focused and even automated, speed, texting, and driving while under the influence contribute to a rising number of deaths from motor vehicle crashes, particularly in the United States. Asian car manufacturers nearly swept the 2016 motor vehicle safety rankings by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), securing nine of the top 10 spots. Only Daimler's (Germany) Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class joined Toyota, Hyundai, Subaru, and Honda in the top 10. The IIHS testing of new cars in the North American market covered three safety components:
This year’s crashworthiness tests were distinctive from years past because of new, more stringent regulations related to vehicles’ front optics performance. The IIHS test is the world's first official rating of reliability and quality of the front headlights based on how well a particular vehicle illuminates the road at night and the degree to which short-range headlights "blind" oncoming drivers.
Car safety features and overall design along with traffic speed and the use of seatbelts are considered central factors in the number of traffic deaths worldwide. According to a 2008 estimate from the World Health Organization, 1.2 million people died globally in motor vehicle crashes. North America, Western Europe, and Australia have the safest roads, with the total number of traffic deaths ranging from 2.7 to 12 deaths per 100,000 people.
Methodology note: IIHS simplified its estimation methodology to more clearly distinguish among the tested vehicles on the basis of numerical values, replacing letter grades, and to shift to a numerical overall rating. The Institute now uses a 4-point grading scale—poor (1), marginal (2), acceptable (3), and good (4)—for crashworthiness, crash avoidance and mitigation, and child seat anchors. To appraise front crash prevention, the Institute uses a 3-level scale: basic (1-2), advanced (2-3), and superior (4-6). A car receives a crash prevention score of zero if a feature is not available for testing.
Electric cars constitute less than 0.1 percent of the vehicle market today, but market and regulatory forces all but ensure electric vehicles will be the future of the auto industry. According to the 2016 Global Electric Vehicle Outlook from the International Energy Agency, the global electric car stock has grown rapidly since 2010, from about 2,000 cars in 2005 to nearly 1.3 million in 2015. The boom in the electric car industry is usually attributed to three factors:The increasing recovery cost globally for fossil fuels used in conventional vehicles;The environmentally-friendly potential of electric vehicles, which produce fewer CO2...
Steady improvement in the global macroeconomic conditions, rising world GDP, and subsequent rise in consumer demand have contributed positively to the global automotive industry in general and the passenger car market in particular. Global sales of passenger cars are projected to reach 79.7 million units by 2020. The article provides an overview of the major players in the global passenger car market, the geographical distribution of its sales and production, and the recent trends in global passenger car market.The global passenger car market, which is part of the automotive industry, offers small, medium, large, and premium segments. Car...
Any motorcycle has a convenient means of transportation status. Due to its size motorcycle allows to not sit in traffic jams, as well as allows to make the trip effortless and refreshing, which is important for warm regions with high atmospherical temperature. Such regions are the US states located in the South and West parts of the country - California, Texas, Florida. The following charts present the number of motorcycles and their ownership by states.
How will automobiles evolve? Certainly, there is no single, simple answer. Although in the not so distant future motor vehicles may become very different from what we are familiar with today, the fact is that they move people—and not just in a physical sense. They create exciting possibilities and offer continuous opportunity. In their future evolution, automobiles will be able to move much more than just people and objects: they will be able to move society forward, transcending previous limitations to provide even greater possibilities. That’s why the Tokyo Motor Show will look beyond motor vehicles themselves and transform itself...