Day: August 9, 2014

Filed under: Government/Legal, Bentley, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, GMC, Luxury

The stiff punishments are part of broader transportation legislation, but clearly McCaskill has automakers in her sights.

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill threw down the gauntlet this week, proposing a bill that could send auto executives to prison for life if they were found to have delayed a recall. She also wants to eliminate the limit for fines for auto safety violations, which are currently capped at $35 million.

The stiff punishments are part of broader transportation legislation, but clearly McCaskill has automakers in her sights. "Painful recent examples at Toyota and GM have shown us we also must make it easier to hold accountable those who jeopardize consumers’ safety," she said in a statement announcing the bill.

The legislation, if passed, would give more teeth to federal laws and strengthen prosecutors’ ability to pursue offenders. McCaskill, a second-term Democrat, noted that the current law’s criminal provision has never been used by prosecutors. Even Toyota – which was slapped with a record $1.2 billion fine in March in its unintended acceleration case – was technically prosecuted for wire fraud, which allowed for a higher financial penalty than an auto safety violation. The possible life sentence for an executive could come into play if a company delayed a recall for a problem that caused a fatal accident.

Continue reading Weekly Recap: Auto execs face life in prison for recall delays under proposed legislation

Weekly Recap: Auto execs face life in prison for recall delays under proposed legislation originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 09 Aug 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

from Autoblog http://ift.tt/1kRqOjX
via IFTTT

The spinning top is one of the oldest and seemingly simplest toys devised in human history, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve it. Disney Research has come up with a new algorithm that allows it to design a stable spinning toy out of almost any…

from Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/Vad3jP
via IFTTT

Filed under: Safety

It was a terrible stretch for aviation.

In an eight-day span last month, three commercial plane crashes killed 462 people. By now the flight numbers and grim circumstances are familiar: Malaysia Airlines flight 17, downed by a missile over the Ukraine. TransAsia 222, crashed on approach to an island off Taiwan. One day later, Air Algerie 5017, lost during a dust storm in Mali.

In an eight-day span last month, three commercial plane crashes killed 462 people.

But it was a worse stretch for automobiles, and not that many noticed.

Over the same eight-day period that claimed hundreds in those high-profile air disasters, an estimated 735 people perished in traffic accidents in the United States alone. Across the globe, cars killed an estimated 28,493 over the same eight days and injured thousands more.

The air crashes brought the usual fear-of-flying tropes from the news media. Aside from the à-la-carte headlines in local news outlets, the traffic deaths generated their usual silence. Maybe it’s time we pay more attention.

"Unless you’re a skydiver or someone who feeds sharks, getting in a car is the single most dangerous thing you do," said Bruce Schneier, a security expert, policy analyst and essayist. "The same number of people who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks die every month in car crashes, but it’s just so normalized, we don’t talk about it or think about it. But it’s crazy how dangerous it is."

Continue reading Think air travel is risky? Try driving a car

Think air travel is risky? Try driving a car originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 07 Aug 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

from Autoblog http://ift.tt/1ounh5M
via IFTTT

Filed under: Technology, Audi

An electric turbo system boosts efficiency between 15 and 20 percent, according to Audi.

Turbochargers, like acoustic guitars, use moving air to create magic. And electric turbochargers, like electric guitars, provide the ability to amp up that magic to amazing new levels.

Electric guitars make cool sounds, and do so with a lot more volume than acoustics. Electric turbochargers will make quantifiable gains in both efficiency and power, in addition to harder-to-quantify gains in drivability compared to conventional turbochargers.

An electric turbo system, which includes an energy recovery system to provide power for the electric turbo, boosts efficiency between 15 and 20 percent, according to Audi. It also effectively eliminates turbo lag, the time it takes for turbo boost to build power to levels requested by the driver’s right foot. Audi says its electric turbo needs only a quarter of a second to reach full boost.

The company recently demonstrated electric turbo-equipped RS5 and A6 prototypes at an event, where Volkswagen Group technical head Ulrich Hackenberg told Autocar magazine that Audi will release an SQ7 equipped with electric turbocharger technology in 2016.

That would make the SQ7 the world’s first production vehicle equipped with an electric turbo, and surely the first of many to come.

Continue reading Electric turbos promise big performance and efficiency gains in the near future

Electric turbos promise big performance and efficiency gains in the near future originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 08 Aug 2014 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

from Autoblog http://ift.tt/1r6FgSL
via IFTTT

Filed under: Etc., Europe, Videos, Electric, Off-Road

That wild looking vehicle that you see above is called Der Ziesel. It’s hardly the first wheelchair designed to go off road, but it has to be one of the coolest. This product of Austria is basically a tracked ATV that lets disabled people go anywhere, or it could just be a wild personal mobility device, if that’s what you need.

The company behind it, Mattro Mobility Revolutions, offers the Ziesel in three levels of power. There’s a basic version with a 6.3-kilowatt-hour battery and 16-horsepower-peak electric motor, a mid-range unit with a 7.9-kWh pack and 18.7 hp and finally the Pro model with a 10.8-kWh battery and 24 hp. Top speeds are as high as 21.7 miles per hour.

That electricity spins two big tracks, and it’s all controlled by a joystick. The company claims that this wheelchair tank can take a 60 percent grade in any direction. In case things get hairy, there’s a four-point harnesses holding the driver in place and a roll bar extending over the top for added safety.

Of course, there has to be a downside to something that looks this fun. In the case of the Ziesel, the company doesn’t currently list a US distributor on its website. Also, these wheelchairs aren’t exactly cheap. The basic model starts at 19,980 euros and prices range up to 23,890 euros for the top version. You have to admit that you at least want to try one, though.

Continue reading A wheelchair with tank treads is a wheelchair that can go anywhere

A wheelchair with tank treads is a wheelchair that can go anywhere originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

from Autoblog http://ift.tt/1oq88Y5
via IFTTT