According to Federal studies, cars with amber turn signals are around 28% more effective at avoiding crashes than cars with red lights, in cases where the turn signal can be an issue. Overall, cars with amber turn signals are 5.3% less likely to be hit from behind than cars with red turn signals. (In contrast, third brake lights — a considerably more expensive solution — were mandated in 1986, based on an estimated 4.3% crash avoidance rate). Lighting expert Daniel Stern tells about the issues in this week’s new feature on preventing crashes by using amber turn signals – which the U.S. government’s own research indicates are considerably more effective than third brake lights — and provides some information on converting to amber signals.
Author Archives: Dave
Penske’s sons arrested
Two of Roger Penske’s sons were arrested by police, for allegedly breaking into the Nantucket Yacht Club and assaulting two women.
Billionaire Roger Penske started racing in 1958; he later built the truck leasing business which bears his name, and owns numerous car dealerships along with Indy and NASCAR teams. The sons who were arrested are Jay Penske, CEO of digital media company PMC and owner of Dragon Racing, and Mark Penske, 35.
Two women contacted the police and said they had been assaulted by two men in the parking lot; they identified the men as the Penske brothers. The assault was defined as urinating on one of the woman’s boots, then grabbing her and pushing her.
According to the police, Jay Penske was found trying to run away from the club, and Mark Penske was at the employee apartment; he had fallen down the staircase.
The women did not press charges. The brothers were jailed overnight, and were arraigned in the morning on charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor. (Via Yahoo Sports / thanks, MoparBob.)
Mantic Clutch gets US distributor
Australian performance clutch manufacturer Mantic Engineering has chosen Competition Clutch, of Conyers, Georgia, to distribute its products in North America. Mantic has made clutches for over 60 yeras in Australia, and sold its products in the US for 18 months before getting a local distributor. Competition Clutch will hold and distribute Mantic through authorized distributors.
Chevy gets three top ratings in APEAL
Chevrolet garnered the largest number of top ratings in J.D. Power’s 2012 APEAL study, which goes beyond their “initial quality” study by asking buyers to rate their new vehicle on over 80 attributes. This year, the study found that 27% of buyers went down to a smaller size vehicle, while 13% went to a larger one; and ratings of small cars are higher than in the past.
Chevrolet, though it was ranked below average overall, had the most segment leaders in the study (three), including compact car (Volt) and subcompact car (Chevrolet Sonic).
Chrysler and Ford each won in two segments. Fiat took second place in its segment. Overall, the study showed a marked improvement for Chrysler brands, with Ram beating all other truck-heavy brands (Ford, GMC, Toyota, and Chevrolet, declining order of satisfaction). However, the Jeep brand — like the Fiat brand — was rated well below average, along with exclusively-small-car brands Scion and smart. The top brands were generally the most expensive, with Porsche at the top, followed by Jaguar, BMW, and other luxury marques; not until Mini, at #12, does a brand with “regular priced” cars appear.
GM idles plant in Brazil, invests in Canada
General Motors’ Brazilian subsidiary has temporarily closed all eight of its plants, claiming that it feared action by the union. The company also announced that it would invest $833 million in Canada through 2016, including both research and development and production. GM had committed to do so when it took aid from the Canadian government.