Safety

Another week, another high-powered V8 joins a highway patrol unit, ostensibly to help keep our roads safer.

You might think that overloading your vehicle is only going to add some extra dollars to your fuel bill. However, more serious consequences can result from this common oversight.

We have a Mini Cooper S. I like the car but dislike the road noise and harshness of the run-flat tyres but we knew about that before we bought it, so no complaints. However, we got a nail in a rear tyre and, not having time to get it fixed on the day, thought it would be OK to leave it for a couple of days. Two days later, when I drove it a few kilometres to the tyre shop, it drove and sounded like a car with a normal flat tyre. It was a slightly wet day, crossing tram lines was like ice skating in gumboots. I felt unsafe at 50km/h. I think run flats are a dangerous fraud that should be banned under the Australian Design Rules but I guess that's not going to happen.

 

I took your advice and recently updated my Honda Accord V6L with a new Kia Sorento Platinum diesel. It’s a great vehicle and I love driving it. My wife and I have also recently been for a test drive of the new Kia Sportage Platinum 2.4 petrol and are very serious about ordering one but I have been holding off for the ANCAP test result. Can you advise if this has taken place and, if so, the result?

When a car maker asks you to try to damage a vehicle, they're asking for trouble.

Here’s proof that autonomous car technology still has a long way to go. We nearly crash at 100km/h testing an automatic overtaking system.Less than a week after an autonomous Google car crashed into a municipal bus in California, we got a frightening reminder why cars that can drive themselves are a long way from replacing humans.I nearly put a brand-new $100,000 Mercedes E Class into a concrete barrier at 100km/h while testing the car's new automatic overtaking function in Europe this week, before it goes on sale in Australia later this year.It was a stark reminder about the difference between “autonomous driving” and what the car industry is now trying to back-pedal and rename “driver assistance technology”.The demonstration was supposed to be simple. Pull the cruise control stalk, indicate to change lanes, and then watch as the car magically steers itself gently into the next lane.But as we learned the hard way, it does not work in all conditions. The car’s onboard cameras must be able to see line markings and, ideally, there will not be a sharp curve.One of our first tests of the technology happened to be on a gentle curve on a crest. It should have worked. We were driving in perfect daylight and the road markings were clear.But it didn’t. Although the video shows the wheel moving slightly left and then slightly right, the steering was not moving quickly enough to avoid a crash into the barrier.Fortunately, I grabbed the steering wheel just in time, and disaster was avoided. Mercedes got its car back in one piece.For the record, we tested the technology several times before and afterwards and it worked perfectly.Afterwards, we showed the chief engineer of this technology the video of our near miss and he said it was not clear if the assistance function was active (our video camera view did not show the symbol which indicates whether it was on or off).I believe it was on, because the steering moved left and then slightly right before I grabbed the wheel. The engineer was not convinced.Either way, it’s a warning to us all that “driver assistance” technology is not a party trick. And that truly autonomous driving still has a very long way to go.In the US this week, Ford week filed a patent for an in-car movie screen to be used in an autonomous car of the future.How about we wait for the industry to get the autonomous car right first? Right now, I’m not convinced.The next time you read something about an autonomous car, just remember we are witnessing the gradual automation of the automobile.Driving from Brisbane to Sydney to Melbourne and beyond while being able to read a newspaper or watch a movie is still decades away. If, indeed, it will ever happen.Can you imagine trusting a car to steer itself for you? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Hidden radar warns that a bicycle is approaching as the driver opens the door.Could this car finally bridge the gap between cyclists and motorists?The new Audi A4 is the first car in the world with technology that warns drivers a cyclist is approaching -- before getting out of the vehicle.It is designed to prevent “dooring”, which can have fatal consequences -- two reported deaths in the past five years in Victoria alone.Despite the recent overhauls of bicycle-related fines, only Victoria, NSW and Queensland have a specific offence for “dooring” a cyclist.In Victoria, it carries a minimum $379 on-the-spot ticket, or a fine of up to $1476 if imposed by a court.In NSW the fine for “causing a hazard to a person or vehicle while opening a car door” is $319.In Queensland, the penalty for the same offence is $117.

Let's take a look at the driver assistance systems available now. Some work brilliantly because they can forgive inevitable human error and prevent tragedy.

Now that car makers are adding "daytime running lights", why don't they have them illuminate the tail-lights as an added safety feature?

I bought a brand new Hyundai Elantra in April 2015. I was very happy with it until the cold weather when it was difficult to start and it would shake and blow black smoke from the exhaust and fumes would enter in the car. It was very frightening. My car has been back into the dealer, but they don't know how to fix this problem. I am dreading this coming winter. Could you please help me to fix this problem?