Safety

Holden is recalling almost 3000 of its Captiva family SUVs because the car could lurch forward by itself if the keys are left in the ignition of certain models.The car maker is attempting to contact 2951 owners of Captiva 5 and Captiva 7 vehicles made between 22 February 2007 and 25 November 2010.The engine may crank over and the car may move forward half a metre or soThe recall affects only models with manual transmission, the bulletin says."If the key is left in the ignition and the car is still in gear … there is a chance the engine can crank and cause the car to lurch forward," said Holden spokeswoman Kate Lonsdale."The car won't drive off but the engine may crank over and the car may move forward half a metre or so."Holden says it has had seven reported incidents in Australia but no accidents and injuries occurred as a result of the fault.The recall is similar to one on the Holden Barina and Trax models late last year where a faulty ignition led to the same fault.However, the Captiva was not recalled at the same time because the faulty part was made by a different supplier.Holden says the latest ignition recall issue in Australia is unrelated to recalls in the US last year for ignition faults that affected more than 2.6 million vehicles and was linked to 84 deaths.Holden has had three recalls so far this year, the same number as Jeep.Last year both Holden and Jeep set a new record with 14 recalls each in a calendar year.

The car world really has flipped its lid: a humble ute has just earned a higher safety score than a luxury car.A new BMW has been slammed by safety experts in the latest round of crash tests after it was awarded a lower score than a workhorse ute made in Thailand.The new Mitsubishi Triton pick-up due in showrooms next month scored five stars for safety while the BMW 2 Series hatchback scored just four stars after earning a poor result in the frontal crash test.BMW's score is one of the lowest from a prestige marque in recent yearsThe result is remarkable given that it is more difficult for larger and heavier vehicles such as four-wheel-drive utes to score well in barrier tests.The BMW earned just 11.34 points out of 16 after crashing into a barrier at 64km/h, while the Mitsubishi tradesman ute earned an impressive score of 15.22 points in the same test by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).The technology required to get a higher score is well known to the car industryThe BMW's score is one of the lowest from a prestige marque in recent years."It's a disappointing result for any car maker let alone a luxury brand," said NRMA safety expert Jack Haley."The technology required to get a higher score is well known to the car industry … it's a surprising result."Meanwhile, BMW's sister brand Mini also scored a four-star rating after not achieving enough points in the side impact test.The massive improvement in the safety of utes has been welcomed by experts given that trade vehicles are over-represented in crashes, one of the reasons they have higher insurance premiums."It is pleasing to see an increasing number of commercial vehicles scoring the top rating", said Mr Haley."Many commercial vehicle drivers travel much greater distances than private drivers as part of their job, so they should be able to purchase a vehicle that provides the best protection."BMW Australia spokeswoman Lenore Fletcher told News Corp Australia: "We are seeking clarification from our head office in Munich regarding these results"."It's not a bad result, the passenger compartment held its shape well in the frontal offset test. The (BMW) vehicle did score five stars in Europe."However, European safety authorities have been criticised for relaxing the requirements for a five-star rating, making it easier for less safe cars to earn top marks.

As part of a statewide rollout, all Victoria Police highway patrol units in the eastern suburbs are now mobile drug testing units, a capability previously exclusive to state highway patrol units or booze and drug buses.A 39-year-old Rowville man was pulled over on Stud Rd, Scoresby, for unlicensed driving on March 24.A preliminary drug test on the driver was positive for ice.Drugs could be detected in the system up to 28 days after useHe will be charged on summons.The oral fluid test can detect drivers under the influence of cannabis or amphetamines.Maroondah Police highway patrol acting Sergeant Andrew Sands said drugs could be detected in the system up to 28 days after use. Motorists who fail the test for the first time will be fined $443 and have their licence suspended for three months.

Police Commissioner Gary Burns fired a salvo at the state's motorists by claiming they were rude and impatient. His comments were made in response to an article in The Advertiser this week revealing more than 3200 drivers had been caught by police last year for the dangerous practice of tailgating.The Commissioner said tailgating was "a pretty good example of impatient drivers''."I've driven in the US, UK, Europe (and) the rest of Australia and I think South Australia is right up there with the worst, particularly when it comes to being impatient (and) lacking in courtesy," Mr Burns said. "I think SA drivers really need to wake up to themselves" and become "far more polite and courteous".Mr Burns' comments were made when he was asked during a regular guest appearance on ABC radio about the tailgating story.Using hand held mobile while driving - 12,143Driving wrong way down a one-way street - 187Failing to keep left (unless overtaking) - 177Driving with an animal/ passenger on lap - 132Fail to keep safe distance while overtaking - 68Entering a blocked intersection - 68Failing to give way when merging - 43Failure to give way to emergency/police vehicle - 39Leading an animal while driving vehicle/riding bike - 10Increasing speed while being overtaken - 2Source SA Police expiation notice data

Improvements to vehicle safety technology have been the focus of the 2015 Canstar Blue Innovation Awards - Automotive Industry.The inaugural awards for innovation have been judged by a panel of experts. Previously, Canstar Blue has bestowed awards on manufacturers in areas such as value and customer satisfaction, based off surveys of car buyers.Eight joint winners were announced today, with five directly improve the safety of both vehicle occupants as well as pedestrians.Ford's MyKey technology uses multiple keys to allow parents to set speed restrictions and limit radio volume when their children borrow the car.EyeSight - available in a number of Subaru vehicles - integrates a number of safety features including autonomous emergency braking and adaptive cruise control by using multiple cameras to map out the road ahead of the vehicle and warn the driver of approaching obstructions.IntellisSafe Pedestrian Detection works in a similar manner, and has been devleoped by Swedish carmaker Volvo.Nuviz, based out of San Diego in the US, has developed what they claim to be first heads-up display for motorcycle riders. The Ride:HUD can be retrofitted to most existing motorcycle helmets and allows riders to use GPS and monitor bike telemetry without having to take their eyes off the road. Riders control the Ride:HUD using controls mounted on the bike's handlebars.Looking to help curtail the number of deaths and injuries that occur in driveways, electronics company Bosch developed Back Over Avoidance (BoA). BoA works in must the same way as AEB does, using sensors and radars to monitor the area directly behind the car, and automatically apply the brakes if it detects if it detects an obstruction.Hyundai's iCare capped price servicing program also picked up an award for providing transparency about servicing costs to consumers.Other award winners included Mercedes-Benz's Touchpad - which allows drivers to control the Comand multimedia system in the same way they would a typical smart phone - and the Tesla Model S electric car.Canstar Blue General Manager, Megan Doyle, said their research has found that 55 per cent of insurance claims involve an accident with two or more cars and that "anything that car manufacturers can do to improve the safety of our roads and driveways should be applauded"."The aim of these awards is to bring the latest and greatest innovations to the attention of consumers, and we have been hugely surprised and impressed by what we have found," she said.

And the RAA has praised police for cracking down on tailgaters, saying it represented justice for those motorists who deliberately and aggressively drive too close and put all road users safety at risk.Police said the closer a driver is to the car in front the more likely they could be involved in crash with potential serious or fatal consequences.Officers last month targeted tailgating in the southern suburbs and latest police figures show almost 3200 drivers were either fined $360 or cautioned for tailgating last year.RAA road safety manager Charles Mountain said drivers tailgated for different reasons."Unfortunately you see people who do it deliberately - they may see a green light up ahead and want the car in front to go faster to catch the lights," Mr Mountain said."Others will think they can force someone to go faster." In such circumstances Mr Mountain advises drivers "if at all possible to get out the way" so they don't feel pressured by the tailgater to exceed the speed limit and "compromise their safety".Drivers who bunch up in congested traffic can also find themselves unintentionally tailgating but potentially involved in a pile up, Mr Mountain said.A driver needs to allow sufficient distance to allow for reacting to a situation and sufficient braking distanceSA Traffic Support Branch officer-in-charge Superintendent Bob Fauser warned tailgating decreases a driver's ability "to see the road ahead and react in the event of the need to brake suddenly"."A driver needs to allow sufficient distance to allow for reacting to a situation and sufficient braking distance," he said.Supt Fauser said drivers should use the "three-second rule" to measure a safe distance from the vehicle in front."Choose a fixed point aligned with the car in front of you and ensure a three-second gap between your vehicle and the one in front as you pass the fixed point," he said.But the decision of what is a "safe distance" between vehicles is up to the police, based on varying factors."These include weather conditions, general visibility, road conditions, speed and type of vehicle which all affect braking distances," Supt Fauser said.Almost 90 per cent of rear-end crashes occurred in the metro area"A police officer is required to estimate from their observations whether the rear vehicle is travelling too close and if necessary justify the estimations in court." Police crash data shows 31 per cent of reported prangs causing more than $3000 damage or injury involved a rear-end collision.The crash data also shows that almost 90 per cent of rear-end crashes occurred in the metro area, and just over half occurred at intersections.

The top barrister who is challenging Queensland's speed-camera law says the government may be forced to refund thousands of registered car owners.

As the Abbott government prepares to release a regulatory impact statement into changes to the Motor Vehicle Standards Act, specialist car importers are urging it to resist pressure from the powerful automotive lobby and relax regulations on vehicles entering Australia.Slamming current restrictions as complicated, expensive and outdated, specialist car importers say consumers will benefit if the government frees up imports of second-hand vehicles while introducing new safety regulations.The call comes amid a government review of the act and after last week's Harper report into competition policy supported progressively relaxing restrictions on vehicle imports.A shake-up of the current regulatory environment would slightly increase the volume of used vehicles from other right-hand-drive marketsNuwan Piyatissa, chairman of RAWS - the Registered Automotive Workshop Scheme, which imports specialist vehicles - said the government was under immense pressure from the established "cartel" of vehicle dealers to protect the existing market.RAWS wants the act changed to allow imports of vehicles less than six years old for models not imported new by the original manufacturer."The existing arrangements of an established cartel which allows high-volume vehicle wholesalers and retailers to dictate pricing, control supply and predetermine the type and specification of vehicles imported to Australia need an urgent overhaul," Mr Piyatissa told News Corp Australia.He said a shake-up of the current regulatory environment would slightly increase the volume of used vehicles from other right-hand-drive markets and this would stimulate competition."These used imports, many of them built on the same production lines and to the same strict standards applied to models already sold here, would compete with Australia's traditional car yard, generating competition and fairer pricing," he said.He gave the example of a 1998 Ferrari 355 imported from Britain, which would be on the road for less than $100,000, a saving of about $50,000 compared to one bought in the Australian market.Holden, Ford and Toyota have warned of potential safety concernsChanges to the act to allow consumers access to cheaper vehicles have also been supported by the Productivity Commission in its review of the act last year, the peak national motoring consumer group, the Australian Automobile Association, and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. But auto industry groups and carmakers have been pushing back against the potential change since the government released a policy options paper in September.The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has argued there is "no compelling public policy case" for reducing the barriers to personal importation of new vehicles, while Holden, Ford and Toyota have warned of potential safety concerns. Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Jamie Briggs is assessing submissions into the act's review and is expected to release a regulatory impact statement next month.Last year, Mr Briggs said "fearmongering" from industry did not mean change to vehicle imports was impossible, but said the government would not allow Australia "to become the dumping ground for other countries' second-hand lemons".

Seven fatalities occurred in Queensland alone, after the death of a four-year-old boy struck while riding his scooter in Logan yesterday afternoon.Every one of our fatals at the present moment was avoidableThe figure was a "sad indictment" on the state's road users, Queensland Road Policing Command inspector Ivan Sikorsky said at a press conference yesterday. "Every one of our fatals at the present moment was avoidable," he said, citing alcohol, driver behaviour and speeding as contributing factors.Despite NSW police ramping up their social media campaign #sharetosurvive, and appeals for slower driving speeds in wet and windy conditions, three people have been killed on the state's roads since Thursday.An eight-year-old girl was killed and her nine-year-old brother was left fighting for his life after a crash in wet conditions on the NSW central coast on Saturday night. "We have a family that has been torn apart," said NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol commander, Assistant Commissioner John Hartley.The family, including the mother of the children and their grandmother, who was driving, were reportedly returning from a day trip to the Royal Easter Show in Sydney. The Holden Astra the children were travelling in spun out of control in heavy rain at Doyalson, colliding with a ute.196 people were charged with drink driving - a "disgusting statistic"The girl died in Westmead Children's Hospital yesterday morning, and her brother is in a critical condition; a third child, a 12-year-old boy, is stable.More than 14,000 speeding tickets were issued in Queensland from Thursday to Saturday and 196 people were charged with drink driving - a "disgusting statistic", Inspector Sikorsky said.Elsewhere, two people were killed in separate incidents in Western Australia. A person died after their car burst into flames after a crash in Perth, and a 33-year-old man died in when the car in which he was a passenger rolled.In South Australia, a two-year-old girl was killed when the ute she was in rolled, and a motorcyclist in Victoria was killed when he ran into a tree.The national death toll over the entire Easter break last year reached 12, with three from Queensland.

An automotive journalist's road test report these days includes a description of the driver and vehicle aids which have proliferated in recent times. But some require significant driver inputs followed by the monitoring of the resulting outputs when these options are utilised. Maybe today's drivers need a timely reminder of the cardinal rule for airline pilots: don't be consumed with instrument readings to the point of causing detriment to the flying of the aircraft.