Safety

Shine Lawyers have been contacted by five people who have reported airbags exploding with "excessive force" in a crash, leaving them with facial scars and bruising.Some spent weeks in hospital and others have been unable to return to work. Along with these claims, serious concerns have emerged about the effectiveness of Australia's recall process.The number of suspect cars rose to 168,000 last year, then 400,000 last month and now 850,000Toyota has only managed to examine and, where needed fix, just 29 per cent of 1700 Corollas and Avensis Versos red-flagged in April, 2013, when the number of cars considered at risk was 12,000 and there was no parts shortage.The number of suspect cars rose to 168,000 last year, then 400,000 last month and now 850,000 across major brands.Around the world, 54 million vehicles are affected and the airbag maker, Takata, can no longer produce replacements quickly enough.By Christmas, Toyota hopes to have one-third of the stock needed for recently recalled Yaris models.And the Takata airbag recall is not alone in failing to gain traction. Samsung triggered an official alert on 145,000 potentially deadly washing machines in 2013 but is yet to see more than 80,000 of them.Manufacturers should be treating this as a consumer safety emergencyA Toyota spokeswoman blamed customers for the response to the 2013 recall. It and other manufacturers sent letters to addresses believed to link to at-risk vehicles. "We are relying on customers to book in their cars (for checks)," she said.Car makers needed to do more to get customers into safer vehicles, either by forcing Takata to work faster or by providing loan cars, said Shine partner Rebecca Jancauskas and Senator Nick Xenophon, who has a record of campaigning for greater product safety and owns a recalled 2006 Toyota Yaris."Manufacturers should be treating this as a consumer safety emergency," Senator Xenophon said."Would car company executives want their family members to be driving in cars when there is a real chance of injury or death? That's the pub test."Shine's Ms Jancauskas said questions need to be asked about the testing of products before they hit the Australian market. Relying on information from car makers, the Department of Infrastructure, which includes transport, said there has been no report of injury due to defective airbags.A class action would likely target Takata and car makers.

Owners of luxury European models and are up to four times as likely to be caught breaking the law compared to Japanese or Korean makes.Analysis of SAPOL and Transport Department figures shows Mercedes drivers are by far the worst in the state, recording 0.824 fines per vehicle in 2014/15.This compares to the least-fined of the large manufacturers, Isuzu with only 0.186 fines per car.Experts at a loss to explain the bias against luxury cars, and police have denied they give the drivers special treatment.Some of the more expensive vehicles are capable of extremely rapid accelerationIt is the first time the figures have become available because of a Weatherill Government reform called "open data", in which government departments are forced to release large amounts of information on their websites.RAA Senior Manager Road Safety, Charles Mountain said the nature of luxury cars, rather than driver behaviour may be to blame."Modern vehicles, particularly some of the more expensive vehicles are capable of extremely rapid acceleration and insulate the driver to such an extent that it may mask a driver's perception of speed," he said."Irrespective of the vehicle being driven, whether it be a luxury import or a reasonably priced runabout, it is important for their safety and that of other road users that they drive to the conditions and abide by the prevailing speed limits on the roads on which they are travelling."The type of vehicle doesn't determine if police take action, it is based on the nature of the offendingWhen asked a series of questions about the issue, SAPOL issued a one line response: "The type of vehicle doesn't determine if police take action, it is based on the nature of the offending".While Holden drivers amassed the most fines in 2014/15 with 72,847 there are 239,804 Holdens on the road.In comparison, Mercedes drivers were hit 13,157 times for only 15,959 registered vehicles.Only two non-luxury brands were in the top ten and six in the top 20 fined-per-registered-car for 2014/15.Other than Holden, which was the eighth most fined vehicle on the road, none of the large-volume, inexpensive makes is in the top 25 of most fined vehicles.There are some exceptions however, with the low-volume Dodge and Proton makes ranking second and third, Ferrari ranking thirty fourth and Jaguar thirty eighth.One of the cheapest vehicles on the road, the Chinese Great Wall is ranked highly at sixteenth.(Make - fines per car - total fines)1 Mercedes - 0.824 - 13,157 2 Dodge - 0.377 - 3183 Proton - 0.356 - 2684 Renault - 0.350 - 11495 Saab - 0.346 - 3886 Range Rover - 0.345 - 3517 Audi - 0.326 - 20748 Holden - 0.316 - 72,8479 Mini - 0.313 - 33110 Fiat - 0.309 - 31011 Daewoo - 0.305 - 147512 Jeep - 0.313 - 227013 Lexus - 0.293 - 95114 SsangYong - 0.289 - 21415 BMW - 0.284 - 503216 Great Wall - 0.284 - 290

History is about to roll over the top of the dimmer switch.

Perfume, toothpaste and even hand sanitiser can lead to a positive breath test.

Thousand of Victorians found boozed-up behind the wheel will have their cars impounded as police roll out harsh new drink-driving penalties.

The latest police figures show four in every five South Australian motorists caught driving under the influence of drugs or drink is a male.

The Queensland Road Drug Testing Unit caught 499 drivers with traces of cannabis, speed or ecstasy last month and officers expect to see that rate increase."Once we implement the entire (drug testing) program, we could expect to catch around 700 people a month," Sergeant Bruce McJannett said."We caught more than 300 people who tested positive in our unit alone."Despite the high number of drug drivers caught, police said that the number of drunk drivers caught was decreasing.Inspector Allan Hales of the Road Policing Command said that he had seen an increase in the number of drug drivers on Queensland's roads."A lot of people do take risks," Insp Hales said."If you're driving impaired you're going to respond slower, or you might make poor decisions because you're influenced by that drug."Five people have died on Queensland's roads over the three-day Queen's Birthday weekend.A 54-year-old man was killed when the truck he was driving rolled over and caught fire on the Bruce Highway, north of Gin Gin, on Sunday afternoon.A 50-year-old man whose vehicle left the road at Laidley in the state's south, injuring a 12-year-old girl, also died about 4pm on Friday.Last night Queensland's road toll stood at 107 for the yearShortly after midnight on Saturday a 17-year-old driver was killed when his car hit a tree at Keperra in Brisbane's northwest after he failed to stop for police.The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating and the Ethical Standards Command have been advised.A man aged in his 50s also died when his car rolled at Nerimbera, near Rockhampton, then plunged down a steep embankment before hitting a fence at about 4.30am on Saturday.Nationwide, 11 people died and 10 were seriously injured on the roads. The most recent death was a woman in her 30s who died in a collision at Beaufort, north of Adelaide, about 11am yesterday.Victoria recorded three deaths, NSW two and Tasmania a single fatality. Last night Queensland's road toll stood at 107 for the year, up from 88 deaths at the same time last year.

Roadside memorials in Victoria will not be permitted on freeways, power poles, close to homes, will have height restrictions and photos of those killed in crashes will also be banned.

The number of vehicles caught up in the world's biggest recall over potentially deadly airbags has ballooned to more than 660,000 in Australia, after more cars were added to the list overnight.Despite the increase in numbers, car safety experts have warned motorists of affected vehicles not to disable the airbags in their cars, even if they are worried they may explode shrapnel when deployed in a crash -- because it may make the cars less safe and unroadworthy.Honda is recalling 18,210 Accords made from 2001 to 2006 and added 3030 MDX family SUVs made from 2003 to 2006 to the list of more than 20 popular makes and models.Meanwhile Chrysler has also increased the number of 300C sedans to be recalled locally, from 4500 to 5500.The executive director of the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce, Geoff Gwilym, told News Corp Australia motorists should not "attempt to disable, deactivate or remove airbags".Mr Gwilym said disabling an airbag is "more likely to contribute to the damage caused by an accident, in the same way that you are at greater risk if you do not wear a seatbelt"."Airbags should never be tampered with by motorists or unqualified people," said Mr Gwilym.Follow the advice of their relevant car company and return the vehicle to the dealer when the replacement part becomes available"Airbags are not a discretionary item of equipment and cannot be simply turned off and on again. The mechanism is technically sophisticated and forms an important part of the vehicle's engineering."If the airbags in a car were deliberately tampered with, the car would be deemed unroadworthy, he said, and any mechanic who carried out the work could be liable."In addition to the legal implications, a professional vehicle technician will not deactivate airbags as they are aware of the risks to the vehicle occupants," said Mr Gwilym."While the recent global airbag recall is a concern, we advise affected vehicle owners to follow the advice of their relevant car company and return the vehicle to the dealer when the replacement part becomes available."The VACC also warned that buyers considering the purchase of a used car should check to see if it subject to a vehicle recall notice by visiting recalls.gov.au.The majority of motorists have no option other to wait up to a year before the airbags are replaced — because the supplier at the centre of the crisis can't build them fast enough.It became the biggest recall in the world after Japanese manufacturer Takata — which supplies 20 per cent of the car industry's airbags — admitted in a US hearing this week the problem was more widespread than it had claimed for years.The faulty airbags, which can explode shrapnel if deployed in a crash, have so far claimed six lives overseas. No deaths or injuries have been reported in Australia.Authorities in the US and Australia have not ordered the recalled cars off the roadLegal experts say motorists have little choice but to endure the painstaking wait for the replacements, and they can't sue the car companies unless someone dies or is seriously injured from the defective airbags.The crisis has left drivers with the unenviable task of taking the risk and driving their cars or — if they can afford it — park their recalled car until new airbags become available.So far, authorities in the US and Australia have not ordered the recalled cars off the road.The odds of being killed are difficult to calculate. Not all of the airbags in the 53 million cars are defective.But internal testing by Takata over the past six months found 265 of 30,000 recalled airbags had ruptured — or less than 1 per cent.That may sound like good odds, until you realise it still leaves 530,000 cars around the world — and at least 6000 in Australia — with airbags that can kill.Chrysler 300C sedan 2005 to 2007BMW 3 Series 1997 to 2006Honda Jazz 2004 to 2009Honda Accord 2001 to 2006Honda Accord Euro 2004 to 2007Honda CR-V 2002 to 2008Honda Civic 2004 to 2005Honda MDX 2003 to 2006Lexus SC430 2001 to 2003Mercedes-Benz SL and SLK 2014Nissan N16 Pulsar 2000 to 2006Nissan D22 Navara 1997 to 2004Nissan Y61 Patrol 1997 to 2010Nissan T30 X-TRAIL 2001 to 2007Nissan A33 Maxima 1999 to 2003Subaru Impreza 2004 to 2007Toyota Echo 2003 to 2005Toyota RAV4 2003 to 2005Toyota Corolla 2003 to 2007Toyota Yaris 2005 to 2007Toyota Avensis 2003 to 2007

Australian crash safety authority, ANCAP, has awarded the maximum five-star crash safety rating to the third-generation Kia Sorento SUV, which launches in Australia this week.The large-SUV's performance in the physical crash tests (conducted by EuroNCAP) as well as its inclusion of required safety technology combined to deliver the Sorento the full five stars for safety.Achieving a five-star rating from ANCAP means the new Sorento matches its key rivals - including the Ford Territory, Toyota Kluger, Hyundai Santa Fe and Nissan Pathfinder - in having the maximum safety level. The Sorento's result is also a boost for the Korean car maker after the third-generation Carnival people mover, with which the Sorento shares some of its underpinnings, only managed a four-star rating earlier this year.