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Have we hit ‘Peak Travel’? A new study seems to think so…

Filed under: Etc.

Traffic Jam in India

For many city dwellers, the daily commute is usually filled with the same tasks… gas-honk-brake, gas-brake-honk, honk-honk-punch, gas-gas-gas. America’s roads are filled and it’s hard to imagine them being clogged with an ever-increasing supply of vehicles and drivers. Going against the International Energy Agency, a team of researchers from California thinks we might have already hit “Peak Travel.”

Looking at data from 1970 up to 2008, Lee Schipper and Adam Millard-Ball believe that passenger travel peaked back in 2003. While the IEA predicts a passenger growth rate of 1.5 percent through 2030, that also means they have estimated fuel consumption and emissions based on a growing number of drivers on the road. Shipper and Millard-Ball believe we may be able to lower those estimates based on their initial findings. They also admit that more research is needed, but feel it’s a promising sign for the future.

The two examined data from six countries; the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia and Sweden. If you’ve been paying attention to global trends for the last decade, you will notice two very big data points not on that list; India (shown in the photo above) and China. While it’s promising that we may not see more cars on the road, this study clearly doesn’t factor in the rapid changes taking place in these exponentially expanding markets. Thanks to all for the tips.

[Source: Wired | Image: Manish Swarup/AP]

Have we hit ‘Peak Travel’? A new study seems to think so… originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Making roads safer has led to bored, risk-taking drivers

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Australia

Bored driver in traffic

A new study from researchers in Australia may have dug up one of the reasons why drivers exceed the speed limit on their way to work. According to the Toronto Sun, a new study has found that drivers who are bored behind the wheel are more likely to put the right pedal to the floor. Researchers at Newcastle University asked drivers to answer a few questions about their driving habits and found that 31 percent of those behind the wheel are inattentive and dangerous. More surprisingly, 35 percent of those polled were classified as enthusiastic and attentive. These are the motorists that enjoy driving, but go faster when their stimulus levels decrease. The study also found that 21 percent of those polled dislike driving and move slower, while members of the smallest group, just 13 percent of the total respondents, were branded slow and safe.

Interestingly, researchers concluded that the influx of devices designed to make driving easier has led to the impression that operating a vehicle is akin to a chore. Rather than making drivers safer, the gadgets have actually led to increased inattentiveness. Basically, the perception of safety has increased the likelihood of risk taking.

Sounds like it’s high time that vehicles made drivers fear for their lives once again. In all seriousness, the researchers have apparently recommended adding more turns to roads and incorporating shared space to force drivers to pay attention, among other actions.

[Source: The Toronto Sun | Image: Alexander F. Yuan/AP]

Study: Making roads safer has led to bored, risk-taking drivers originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: More new car shoppers avoiding Toyota, but brand still near top of consideration lists

Filed under: Car Buying, Toyota

According to Automotive News, new car shoppers are beginning to shy away from Toyota thanks to the company’s less-than spotless quality and safety reputation as of late. A new study by J.D. Power and Associates has revealed that around 19 percent of new car buyers surveyed said that they had steered clear of Toyota because of the company’s sullied reputation. Last year, that number was a mere 3 percent. Even worse for the Japanese manufacturer, around 15 percent of those in the study said that they’d personally had a bad experience with the automaker and another 15 percent said that they were concerned about the future of Toyota. Those numbers mark a 12 and an 11 percent increase over last year’s figures, respectively.

Even so, according to the J.D. Power and Associates study, Toyota is still the third most considered automaker out there, falling just behind BMW and Honda. In a separate study, Kelley Blue Book found that Toyota is still the number-one most considered automaker, even in spite of the company’s rash of recalls and safety woes.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Study: More new car shoppers avoiding Toyota, but brand still near top of consideration lists originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New study says road deaths drop precipitously – but why?

Filed under: Etc., Safety

Toyota Rollover accident

Automotive fatalities continue to drop year-over-year, which is perhaps not surprising in and of itself. What is surprising, however, is a study that notes a massive falloff in the number of motoring deaths. According to The Wall Street Journal, the total number of road fatalities in 2009 was 33,963 compared to 43,510 in 2005 – a 22 percent decline. That is the steepest rate of decline since automobiles entered mass production in the beginning part of the 20th century. So what gives?

According to a new study by a pair of University of Michigan researchers, it’s certainly not the invasion of handheld technology, which the story says has created a rise in fatalities due to inattentive driving. Keeping our eyes on an incoming text message or email has resulted in a 42 percent rise in distracted-driving fatalities from 2005 to 2008. However, those accidents only account for a small portion of the total number of fatalities, and it’s likely that with increased awareness that more deaths are being classified in this way.

Safety technology continues to improve, and new technologies continue to filtering down into more affordable vehicles. Deaths from side-impact crashes have declined more quickly than the decline rate for overall deaths, meaning that more people are surviving these types of accidents.

Another, more interesting, statistic is the drop in fatal accidents during rush hour driving periods. Why has that number fallen in recent years compared to 2005? According to the WSJ’s theorizing, it’s the economy. More folks out of work means fewer people on the road during rush hour. You just might not notice it when you are stuck in traffic screaming at the car in front of you that just cut you off to make its exit.

Regardless of why overall traffic fatalities are down, it’s great to hear that this number is falling. However, as the economy picks back up, it’s expected that traffic fatalities will as well.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal | Image:Chip Somodevilla/Getty]

New study says road deaths drop precipitously – but why? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Over 13% of motorists drove drunk last year; Wisconsin, North Dakota worst

The holiday season is in full swing, and that means holiday parties are in no short supply, filled with people wearing horrible sweaters. It also means booze is readily available, and the opportunity to drive after having too much to drink is at fever pitch. According to a study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 30 million folks will drive drunk in an average year while another 10 million get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs. Approximately 13.2 percent of Americans over the age of 16 drove under the influence of alcohol this past year, and in some states, the amount of drunk drivers in the past year is well into the 20-percent range. A bit higher numbers than the eight percent of people who actually admit to boozing before turning the ignition key.

f you hit the road in Wisconsin, keep a sharp eye on the cars around you because 23.7 percent of drivers drove drunk this year. The same can be said for North Dakota where 22.4 percent of the driving population should have taken a cab. Rhode Island and Vermont are high on the list of states that prefer drugs to alcohol with 7.8 and 6.6 percent of drivers impaired by illicit drugs, respectively.

On the other end of the scale sit states like Utah and Mississippi that see just 7.4 and 8.7 percent of alcohol-impaired folks getting behind the wheel. New Jersey and Iowa, at 2.9 and 3.2 percent respectively, have the lowest rate of drivers operating an automobile while under the influence of drugs. It’s not all bad news however because the nationwide figure of 13.2 percent has declined from 14.6 percent of people driving while drunk. The number of folks driving while on drugs has also fallen with a previous average of 4.8 percent to this past years nationwide average of 4.3 percent.

[Source: SAMHSA | Image: Corbis]

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Study: Over 13% of motorists drove drunk last year; Wisconsin, North Dakota worst originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Rental car companies increase customer satisfaction, Enterprise tops

Filed under: Etc.

Enterprise Rent-a-Car

Economists and talking heads argue endlessly about our economy on a daily basis. “It’s back!,” “It’s almost back!” and “It’s never coming back!” seem to be the leaders among the varied viewpoints we hear and read about. One sector that has apparently begun to rebound is the car rental business. Not necessarily in financial terms, but from the standpoint of customer satisfaction, America’s rental car companies are returning to to a position last seen in the pre-recession days.

J.D. Power has released its annual North American Rental Car Satisfaction Study, and the results are positive for every company included in the survey. Now in its 15th year, this J.D. Power study examines customer satisfaction with the airport car rental process, and it looks at six specific factors: Costs & Fees, Pick-Up Process, Rental Car, Return Process, Reservation Process, and Shuttle Bus/Van. The highest score possible is 1,000 points and, for the 2010 study, the average Overall Satisfaction score is 750. This is up from 733 in 2009 and 734 in 2008. Every company in the survey has improved year-over-year in the survey.

This year’s big winner, however, is Enterprise, which received the industry’s highest rankings in customer satisfaction. Enterprise is no stranger to this award, and getting the nod in 2010 makes it seven years in a row for the rental car company. Following behind Enterprise, Hertz and National also performed quite well in the survey while Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Dollar and Thrifty rounded out the results. You can see how each one performed over at the J.D. Power results page.

[Source: J.D. Power]

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Study: Rental car companies increase customer satisfaction, Enterprise tops originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: BMW drivers are UK’s angriest motorists

Filed under: Audi, BMW, Ford, Land Rover, UK

Great Britain is a relatively small island with a lot of people and therefore a lot of cars. So it’s fairly important that motorists on crowded roads are as civilized as possible… Naturally, though, not all Brits are pleasant drivers. Gocompare.com decided to poll 3,000 motorists to see, by vehicle make, which drivers are the meanest of the bunch.

In the UK there is a phenomenon called “white van drivers,” which consists of mostly self-employed males who use vans for everything from delivery to carpentry work – pretty much how Americans use pickup trucks. In short, the Brits can’t stand these drivers because they’re always in a hurry and don’t want anyone in their way. The “white van” finished second overall, showing just how despised number one really is. That distinction goes to BMW owners, who were deemed the most likely to tailgate, speed or flip the bird on public roads, lending some credence to Audi’s hillarious “Meet the Beckers” commercials of a while back. Of course Audi drivers didn’t fare much better, landing at number three on the list of ticked off drivers. Ford managed a number four ranking, followed by Land Rover owners.

Other fascinating data from the survey includes the fact that nearly one in 10 British drivers claim that they’ve had an accident as a result of road rage. And of all the bad driving habits of others, the thing Brits hate most is tailgating, as 58 percent call the practice frightening. 37 percent find the practice of flashing one’s lights as a gesture for the driver in front of them to get out of the way offensive, and 32 percent have been flipped the bird. For more on the survey, including the rest of the makes that managed to make the top 10, head over to the Telegraph.

[Source: Telegraph]

Study: BMW drivers are UK’s angriest motorists originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: The Toyota Prius has a dirty side after all – manufacturing

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Japan, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

2010 Toyota Prius

2010 Toyota Prius – Click above for high-res image gallery

There are plenty of revelations in the annual sustainability report recently released by Toyota. By and large, the company is as ecologically-minded as a multi-national corporation can be, but as we’ve touched on before, not everything is as squeaky clean as it could be. The Toyota Prius has earned itself as one of the greenest vehicles on the road – a perception that the company’s report confirmed by detailing the fact that over its lifetime, the Prius is likely to emit much less carbon dioxide than other comparable vehicles.

Unfortunately, that truth is offset a bit by the fact that the vehicle performs marginally worse than average when it comes to the emissions generated to build hybrid. Specifically, Toyota cranks out extra nonmethane hydrocarbons and particulate matter, thanks specifically to the manufacturing of the car’s electric motor and battery pack. Those two pieces require larger amounts of energy and materials, snagging the Prius lower than average ratings across all five manufacturing emissions categories.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Toyota Prius

Study: The Toyota Prius has a dirty side after all – manufacturing originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: What vehicles get the most speeding tickets? You’ll be surprised…

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

Motorcycle cop with radar gun

Quality Planning has just released its findings on which vehicles are more likely to snag their drivers a speeding ticket and who’s likely to be behind the wheel when the blue lights come on. Surprisingly enough, the auto insurance analyst’s list isn’t dominated by hot-blooded young men with high-powered sports cars. Instead, the study found that of the top 10 vehicles most likely to be ticketed, each carried an average driver age of over 30 years old with the fair majority falling over the 40-year-old mark. Even more surprising, on average, seven of the top 10 vehicles were more likely to be ticketed with a female driver behind the wheel.

So which vehicles took the top honors? The Mercedes-Benz SL-Class took the gold as the most ticketed vehicle, walking away with four times more tickets than the national average. In second place, the Toyota Camry Solara came in with 3.5 times the national average. Interestingly enough, Scion walked away with two spots in the top five, with the tC taking number three and the xB snagging the fifth spot. That mark was only bested by the Silver Arrow, which took three spots in the top 10. Hit the jump for a look at the full press release, but only after checking out our gallery of the unlikely offenders below.

Gallery: Top 10 Most Ticketed Vehicles

[Source: Quality Planning | Main image: Corbis/Getty]

Continue reading Study: What vehicles get the most speeding tickets? You’ll be surprised…

Study: What vehicles get the most speeding tickets? You’ll be surprised… originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Teens don’t think texting while driving is as dangerous as DUI

Filed under: Safety

Texting and Driving

Despite plenty of academic research demonstrating that texting while driving can be just as dangerous as drinking and driving, a new poll shows that most teens simply don’t think that’s the case. State Farm recently sponsored a poll conducted by Harris Interactive in which 14-to-17 year-olds were asked whether they thought they would die one day if they regularly text and drive. Only 35 percent of those asked strongly agreed with that statement. Compare that figure with the 55 percent of teens who think that drinking and driving could prove deadly, and you begin to see the disparity.

Likewise, those polled believed that their chances of getting into an accident are higher while drinking and driving versus texting and driving. The auto insurance giant says that it’s up to parents to underscore the dangers of both activities for their children. We couldn’t agree more – especially after seeing that only a little more than half of the teens surveyed appear to adequately understand the potential consequences of drinking and driving. With public safety groups and parents having already spent decades reminding young people of the dangers of driving under the influence, it looks like it’s going to take at least that long to reach them about the perils of distracted driving. Hit the jump for the press release.

[Source: State Farm | Image: Getty]

Continue reading Study: Teens don’t think texting while driving is as dangerous as DUI

Study: Teens don’t think texting while driving is as dangerous as DUI originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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