Timely repairs
It turns out your address might determine how quickly your car will be repaired. According to data released by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, residents of North Dakota and several nearby states get the fastest repair service. Enterprise’s data is a product of the Automated Rental Management System (ARMS®), which tracks the length of time a replacement vehicle is rented to collision center customers. According to ARMS data, the states with the lowest collision repair times are:
- North Dakota (eight days)
- Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota (8.1 days)
- Iowa (8.3 days)
- Utah (8.8 days)
- Idaho, Maine, Vermont (8.9 days)
ARMS data is designed to help collision repair centers increase operating efficiencies and streamline communications with insurance companies and customers, as well as track, measure and forecast labor needs.
Sharing the road with cyclists
It’s simple, according to Los Angeles, Calif.-based attorney Cameron Yadidi Brock, of the Law Offices of Burg & Brock. In California, regulations require drivers to stay at least three feet from cyclists while passing – a step in the right direction, according to some. As a follow-up, Brock has outlined three steps – which may be applied to any city – to ensure responsible and safe driving:
- Drive reasonably and prudently. In cases where traffic is too heavy to change lanes, or if conditions make a three-foot buffer impossible, drivers should slow to a reasonable and prudent speed until the cyclist has safely passed. (In California, this is required by law.)
- Manage uncertainty on the road. Whenever possible, auto drivers should give more space than necessary to cyclists, who are usually in a far riskier position than traditional drivers.
- Be aware of rules of the road for cyclists. Many bicycle collisions occur because drivers focus on other drivers rather than cyclists. By familiarizing themselves with the rules of the road for cyclists, drivers will be keep them in mind when driving through the city.
What’s new?
Looking to get a jump on new cars offered in the coming year? Subaru suggests you look at the 2015 Impreza®, which features style and safety updates. Upgrades include:
- EyeSight® driver assist technology.
- Revised front styling with new headlights, grille and bumper.
- Rear vision camera standard across line.
- Lineartronic® CVT (now standard on 2.0i Premium).
- Quieter cabin.
- Infotainment systems and features.
- Upgraded interior trim.
- Improved mileage (28 mpg city / 37 mpg highway / 31 mpg combined).
Subaru produces a full line of all-wheel drive sedans, crossovers and SUVs, along with the rear-wheel drive BRZ sports car.
Hyundai makes the list
The North American Car of the Year recently made its short list, and among the 10 vehicles named, Hyundai Motor America was the only brand with two vehicles included. The short list will be narrowed down to three finalists by the end of the year, and the winner of the 2015 Car of the Year will be announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. In recent years, Hyundai won Car of the Year in 2012 (the Elantra) and 2009 (the Genesis). The complete short list in alphabetical order includes:
- Acura TLX
- Audi A3
- Chrysler 200
- Ford Mustang
- Honda Fit
- Hyundai Genesis
- Hyundai Sonata
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class
- Toyota Camry
- Volkswagen Golf/GTI
Why pay?
TrueCar, Inc., the negotiation-free car buying and selling platform, now has more than 9,000 active dealer partners in the TrueCar certified dealer network, including more than 8,000 new car franchise dealers and nearly 1,000 independent dealers. In fact, over 25 percent of franchise dealers in the U.S. are reportedly TrueCar Certified Dealers. TrueCar selectively partners with committed dealers and requires them to maintain high performance standards, adopt specific customer service criteria and undergo periodic training to maintain their certified status. The company actively monitors the performance of its certified dealers, as well. At press time, 78 dealers had lost their TrueCar certification for not meeting customer service requirements. TrueCar, Inc. enables negotiation-free car buying by giving buyers transparent insight into what others actually paid (price confidence), upfront pricing information (price discovery), and access to a network of TrueCar Certified Dealers said to provide guaranteed savings certificates and seamlessly complete the car purchase.
Big wheels keep turning – but a little more efficiently
Rice husk waste once headed for landfills is now coveted by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company to help produce fuel-efficient tires. Goodyear recently announced it will utilize ash left over from the burning of rice husks to produce electricity as an environmentally friendly source of silica for use in its tires. The company has tested silica derived from rice husk ash over the past two years at its Innovation Center and discovered its impact on tire performance is equal to traditional sources. Since then, the company has been negotiating with potential suppliers to purchase rice husk ash silica for use in its tires. Each year, more than 700 million tons of rice is harvested worldwide, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Disposing of the rice husks is an environmental challenge. As a result, husks often are burned to generate electricity and reduce the amount of waste shipped to landfills. Silica is mixed with rubber in tire treads to increase the rubber’s strength and help reduce rolling resistance, which improves fuel economy. It also can have a positive impact on a tire’s traction on wet surfaces.
Connected cars
Delphi Automotive PLC, a company that will supply GM with connectivity technology to let cars communicate with one another and provide drivers with critical safety information, is expected to be available to consumers within the next two years, according to Cohda Wireless, which supplies the safety applications software for the vehicles. General Motors has reported that Cadillac will build GM’s first V2V-equipped car in the 2017 Cadillac CTS. The global car industry reportedly is embracing both vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) implementations of connected car technology, which are collectively referred to as V2X. A recent U.S. Department of Transportation report notes that V2V safety applications, such as Left Turn Assist (LTA) and Intersection Movement Assist (IMA), could prevent as many as 592,000 crashes and save 1,083 lives per year.