Keeping aging parents safe on the road

THEY FED YA, WIPED YA AND WHIPPED YA WHEN YA NEEDED IT—SO LET’S KEEP ‘EM SAFE OUT THERE.

AG's mom, on her 80th birthday.

It’s not easy watching parents age, and worrying about their driving compounds it. But there are steps to make driving as easy as possible for seniors. The American Automobile Association, with the assistance of the Gainsville, Fla.-based National Older Driver Research & Training Center at the University of Florida, offers the following features children of aging parents or the seniors themselves should look for on a car.

*Adjustable steering wheel

You should try and position the driver so he or she is at least 10 inches away from the steering wheel airbag as it’s the optimal position to relieve back, shoulder and neck pain. If possible, the car should have an electronic adjuster rather than a manual.

*Large dashboard controls

BMWs, for example, feature tiny buttons, while Volvo and Honda in particular make controls you can find easily and work without mistakenly pressing another button.

*Power-operated seats

These don’t require as much agility or strength to operate, and should be at least 6-way; forward and backward, up and down and seatback forward or backward. Electrically powered is preferable to non-powered seats.

*Four doors, not two

Even if a parent drives alone most of the time, it’s easier to deposit and retrieve packages from the rear if there’s a door rather than requiring the front seats to be moved forward to access the area.

*Buy a sedan

A sports car may be Dad’s idea of living it up, but you also have to squeeze in and out of them. Consider a sedan, which more or less provides even entry and exit, rather than a crossover or SUV which requires a step up.

*Keyless entry

Operated via a button on a key fob, this allows arthritic hands to lock and unlock the car without having to twist a lock.

*Dual-stage/dual-threshold airbags

These bags vary based on driver and passenger’s weight, how far they’re sitting away from the bags and the severity of the crash. All of this is important for frail older adults who risk injury from bags that deploy with too much force.

•A stability control system

This helps maintain the car’s equilibrium while turning, especially important in snow or rain. It will also automatically make quick corrections to the vehicle to keep it stable, a plus for some older drivers whose reaction times are slower. “A car should fit you like your shoes and clothes,” says Desiree Lanford, occupational therapist/certified driving-rehabilitation specialist at the University of Florida and evaluator in AAA’s senior project.  “It should be comfortable enough that you can ‘wear’ it for extended periods of time. Too often, people pick out a vehicle based on looks or other features and don’t realize until too late that it’s not a good fit for them.”

-Josh Max/AutoGigolo.com

Precious cargo.

Your car’s way safer now—but best not to crash it in the first place, yes?

IIHS SMASHES ’59 CHEVY BEL AIR TO PROVE POINT

There isn’t any doubt that car crashes aren’t as fatal as they were in the 50s, when seatbelts weren’t mandatory and an airbag might refer to one’s employer or spouse.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety demonstrated this by conducting a test crash Sept. 9, using a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. In a real-world collision similar to this test, occupants of the new model would fare much better than in the vintage Chevy.  Watch the video by clicking here.

“It was night and day, the difference in occupant protection,” says Institute president Adrian Lund. “What this test shows is that automakers don’t build cars like they used to. They build them better.”

The crash test was conducted at an event to celebrate the contributions of auto insurers to highway safety progress over 50 years. Beginning with the Institute’s 1959 founding, insurers have maintained the resolve, articulated in the 1950s, to “conduct, sponsor, and encourage programs designed to aid in the conservation and preservation of life and property from the hazards of highway accidents.”

I think we could have absorbed this information without smashing the crap out of a sweet-looking vintage car, though.

And, as we’ve spewed in this column in the past, “Best not to hit s–t in the first place.”

“Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel.” J. Morrison

- Josh Max, Auto Gigolo

1959 Chevy Bel Air

Drive-in movies persevere

People tell me I have a fun job—and I do.

-Josh Max, Auto Gigolo

Overlook screen; I superimposed a still from "The Incredible Melting Man" over it.

Enormous horizontal film spool

Gazonga film projector - most drive-ins still don't use digital media.

Auto Gigolo’s plans are flattened.

A FLAT IN A SMALL TOWN LEADS TO A 20-HOUR VACATION FOR AUTO GIGOLO

Slow down? Us? Forget it!

EXPERTS: U.S.A. FULL OF LEADFOOT CHARLIES DESPITE HIGH GAS PRICES

We’ve had two years of extreme belt-tightening, and gas prices continue to hover at around $3.00 a gallon nationally.

But are we using a socked foot instead on the gas pedal instead of lead?

Not on your life, according to Department of Energy, who say aggressive highway behavior such as speeding, rapid acceleration and braking can lower gas mileage by a whopping 33% at highway speeds, and 5% around town.

Also, are you shocked and appalled at pump prices? You pay more more if you’re Speed Racer out there, according to The Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) who say drivers can assume each 5 MPH they drive above 60 MPH hikes the price they pay for the flammable red stuff.  ”It’s like paying an additional 20 cents a gallon for gas, ”  said a spokesperson.

Auto Gigolo, not slowing down, at Poconos Raceway

According to a GHSA survey of state highway safety agencies, just one state—Wisconsin—has reported a noticeable level of slower vehicle speeds stemming from recent price hikes. Officials there say traffic volume is down slightly, but speeds are also down, which may account for the fewer and less serious traffic crashes across the whole state.

“I try to remember to slow down,” says Eduardo Rodriguez of upper Manhattan. “But today, it’s always hurry, hurry, hurry everywhere you go. Everybody’s gotta be there yesterday.”

Commercial vehicles are slowing slightly, state troopers report, with many traveling at or below the speed limit. A handful of other states note the reduced speed of commercial vehicles, likely resulting from more trucking companies setting policies that require their drivers to stay below a set speed, such as 67 mph. In addition to helping fight the cost of record-high gas prices, slowing down also increases the likelihood of surviving a crash.

But slowing down isn’t just about saving money, or gas. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in a high-speed crash, a passenger vehicle is subjected to forces so severe that the vehicle structure cannot withstand the impact of the crash and maintain survival space in the occupant compartment. Further evidence comes from a 2005 study that showed even a small reduction in speed can have a big impact on lives saved.

In the report, published in the Transportation Research Record, author Rune Elvik found that a 1 percent decrease in travel speed reduces injury crashes by about 2 percent, serious injury crashes by about 3 percent and fatal crashes by about 4 percent. These reductions are critically needed, experts say, as speeding remains a serious highway safety problem. Nearly 13,500 people died in speed-related crashes in 2006.

GHSA Chairman Christopher J. Murphy says, “Nationally, GHSA members report that we are not seeing any noticeable decreases in travel speeds by passenger vehicles. However, given the extremely high gas prices and life-saving benefits of slowing down, we urge the public to ease off the accelerator.”

- Josh Max, Auto Gigolo

Bentley recalls 596 vehicles due to possible safety issue

WHAT HAPPENED TO “DON’T HIT STUFF IN THE FIRST PLACE!?”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported today that luxury automaker Bentley will recall 596 vehicles with the iconic “Flying V” hood ornament due to a rust issue possibly causing the ornament to fail to retract in a crash.  The affected vehicles are the 2007-9 Arnage R, Arnage T, Arnage RL, Brooklands and Azure, all of which Auto Gigolo has tested at one point or another.

Photo courtesy of Bentley

“On vehicles affected there is the potential for the retractable ‘B’ mechanism to become corroded,” said an announcement from the NHTSA. “In extreme cases, this may lead to flying ‘B’ mascot not retracting when struck. Such a defect may result in additional injury in the event of a pedestrian impact.”

The recall is a voluntary one, said a Bentley spokesperson.

Hood ornaments have been decreasing in popularity in the 21st century, data experts say, due to lack of consumer demand.  Me? I love hood ornaments, even though a sumbitch on the Upper East Side clipped the one on my test Jaguar XJ a couple of years ago while I dashed into a store.

In 2002, I tested an Oldsmobile Alero and was polishing ‘er up on a beautiful spring day when the hood ornament came off in my hand. It had been glued on with some kind of crap adhesive that obviously couldn’t hold up in the face of warm, soapy water.  I glued it back on, but purposely crooked, in protest.

I  don’t know about you, but when I’m driving a Bentley, I don’t, like,  hit people with it.

Following Bentley’s recall, however, we may all breathe a little easier knowing that if we’re crossing the street, daydreaming, looking at someone’s butt, listening to a portable audio device, texting or otherwise making our way in public with our head up our —, we’ll be less severely injured if a Bentley driver is doing the same and plows us.   As we lay prone, pancaked, we may gasp, “At least the hood ormanent…cough…retracted…arg.”

- Josh Max, Auto Gigolo

Modern Electric Car Era Begins November at the LA Auto Show

PLETHORA OF CHOICES – CONSUMERS LIKELY 2 B SHOCKED, JK

LOS ANGELES - September 21, 2010 – A new era of modern, electric drive transportation begins at the Los Angeles Auto Show this November. Worldwide, nearly all major automakers have announced plans for an electric car in the next few years, and Los Angeles will receive the first arrivals in the next several months.

Auto manufacturers are looking to Los Angeles to lead the way in early electric vehicle adoption, much as Los Angeles continues to lead in hybrid vehicles sales. Since Los Angeles is recognized as a trendsetter for the automotive industry, it makes sense that at least a half-dozen electric vehicles will make news during the LA Auto Show Press Days, Nov. 17 and 18.

The first electric cars to kick-off this new era are:

Chevrolet Volt

Ya volt! Chevy Volt, that is.

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

These two are expected to arrive in November and December of this year, respectively.

Several other electric vehicles will debut at the LA Auto Show, too,  including the North American, production version of Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV, which those finks promised to Auto Gigolo and then reneged a few days before delivery—

and Toyota’s RAV4 EV concept.

Expected to be one of the next electric vehicles to hit dealerships, the i-MiEV model debuting at the LA Show will be wider and will also include an upgraded list of standard and optional interior features to make it more attractive to the U.S. buyer. Toyota’s RAV4 EV will use Tesla’s lithium-ion battery packs, which will be modified to become more aerodynamic. Toyota has been testing prototypes of the car, which is scheduled to hit the market in 2012.

This drive toward the electrification of the automobile has also spawned new manufacturers focused exclusively on the electric vehicle market. Expected to reveal important news are at least two leaders in this category, including Santa Monica, California-based Coda Automotive and luxury electric car maker, Fisker Automotive. Both manufacturers are expected to make customer deliveries in 2011.

“After years of anticipation, electric vehicles are finally here,” said Andy Fuzesi, LA Auto Show general manager. “It may take years for electric vehicles to be accepted broadly, but it’s undeniable that an electric era has officially begun.”

For the first time ever, too, the coveted Green Car of the Year award nominees will feature electric vehicles.

Significant announcements about infrastructure are also expected at the show. Specifically, one of the region’s major utility providers, Southern California Edison, will address important questions about the costs of operating this new generation of plug-in vehicle. Also, PEP charging stations will be on hand to demonstrate what is required for both in-home and commercial charging of electric vehicles.

As L.A. and NYC do, so do the fly-over states.  Let’s see if any of these new vehicles deliver a charge, ha.

- Josh Max, Auto Gigolo

2011 Mazda 2 review

CHEAPO CAR DELIVERS STYLE, OK MILEAGE

Looks and style, and a price to make you smile.

“Is that a hybrid?” a nice lady asked me as I was loading groceries at the 125th street Fairway into the back seat of my grasshopper-green Mazda 2.

“No, ma’am,” I cheerfully answered. “Everyone thinks every tiny, funny-looking car painted green is a hybrid.”

What do you expect for a starting price of $14,730?

The car weighs but 2,306 pounds—that’s two Honda Gold Wing motorcycles plus a couple of beefy riders—and it’s 100 pounds lighter than a Honda Fit and 200 pounds lighter than a Ford Fiesta. (It also shares its basic design with the Fiesta due to Ford’s and Mazda’s partnership.)  The result is a good, solid economy car worth the (relative) couch change they’re asking  for it.

Mazda slimmed the 2 even more by making its unibody lighter, using high-strength steel, a smaller radiator, electric (not hydraulic) power steering and a lighter air intake. It’s a 4-door hatchback with lot of rearseat room, though I’d hate to attempt a hill with the gang packed there. A 1.5 litre, 4-cylinder, 100 horsepower engine with five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic are your two choices, and you can pick from the base Sport or Touring trims.

Dig that graduated trim line from the lower rear door to front.

Mileage, surprisingly, isn’t especially wonderful at 28 city, 35 highway. Though those aren’t absurdly low numbers, I would expect the car’s weight and horsepower would add up to something like 40 MPG on the highway.

Its ride is relatively cushy despite the car’s tiny tires. Steering and shifting are particularly smooth, making parallel parking in the city a snap. Tight turns, while obviously throwing no scare into Porsche, felt sure and safe, without much body roll, and the ride didn’t jar anybody’s spine though it had every right to, for this price.

Now for the bad news – the sound system, if it can be called that, is one of the cheapest, most treble-and-bass challenged pieces of junk I’ve ever encountered. FM radio—there is no Satellite option—sounded like AM quality-wise. I ended up just leaving it off rather than trying to coax anything aurally decent from it.

Glowing red lights and a smart layout enhance your driving experience. Skip the awful sound system, though.

The base model includes air conditioning, power windows and mirrors, and locks; remote keyless entry; a four-speaker single-CD stereo system with MP3 input; tilt steering wheel; 60/40-split folding rear seat; and rear-window washer and wiper. Wheels are 15-inch steel with wheel covers.

The Touring model includes 15-inch alloy wheels, red piping on upgraded cloth upholstery, fog lights, roof spoiler, chrome exhaust tip, leather-wrapped steeringwheel with audio controls, a trip computer, and the aforementioned six-speaker “stereo system.”

As my week’s test came to a close and I had traveled far and wide over city streets and winding suburban roads, I decided the Mazda2 was a hybrid after all—equal parts blow dryer and riding lawnmower. I haven’t, in recent memory, had a test vehicle whose engine complained so loudly at speeds upward of 40 MPH, and who simply refused to pass any other vehicle no matter how hard or long I stepped on the accelerator. This car’s a turtle, my friends, but as long as you don’t expect a Gazelle, you’ll be fine.

- Josh Max, Auto Gigolo

For more information about the Mazda 2, click me!

We’re pissed and getting pissier on the road.

Kevin Ransom, a fellow AOL Autos correspondent, has a pretty good essay on aggressive driving titled “Three Things Drivers Do To Make Us Mad.”

His three pet peeves are:

1. Jackrabbit starts
2. Highway courtesy (as in, there ain’t none, he sez.)
3.  Blocking the road

Here are some of mine:

4. People who blow the horn the second the light turns green.

5. People who blow the horn when they’re at the tail end of a line of cars as though the person in front of them will pass it on, or the slowpoke at the front of the line will be able to hear it.

6. People who blow horns in retaliation—”No, YOU’RE an idiot!”

7. Car service drivers who blow the horn to let one person in the building know they’re downstairs.

8. People who blow the horn.

Horns are fascinating to me for a few reasons, the biggest one being that many of them are deliberately tuned so their notes clash—sharps and flats right next to each other, creating the maximum “Ow!” Someone, maybe even a musician, thought that up.

If horns blew into the cockpit of a car with the same volume as outside the car, we’d see a lot less horn-blowing. Also, if each blast cost the driver $10, you’d never hear a horn. We’d go back to loudmouths.

Those are my biggest peeves.

But I also find that my mental state has everything to do with how I am treated on the road. If I am relaxed, at ease, at one with the traffic, it goes much more smoothly. If I’m rushed, if I’m angry, then everyone’s an idiot.

Finally, as Ransom points out, there are just too many damned people in the world, and that means traffic jams, more stress, more rude behavior, and more crashes.

What I want to know is—if the highest speed limit in the USA is 75 MPH, in Colorado and other wide open spaces—why do our cars’ speedometers go up to 120 and beyond? Isn’t it kind of foolish not to require a governor limited a car’s top speed to 65 so people can’t drunkenly race home from a party at 4:30 AM?

We’re not serious about making a nation of better drivers.

We put up with 43,000 deaths on the highway each year, not to mention devastating injuries to the elderly, infants, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives.

That’s not going to change. We beef about it, we pass laws, we fine people, but nobody says, “You know what? We’re going to make getting a driver’s license a serious, tough thing. We’re not going to turn aggressive morons loose on our roads anymore. We’re going to require a road test every 5 years, we’re going to require drivers to attend a mandatory safety course every 2 years, and we’re going to bring those death numbers down, now.”

If I see that in my lifetime, I will be surprised.

- Josh Max, Auto Gigolo

2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe R Spec review

HYUNDAI’S GENESIS DENTS UPSCALE SEDAN MARKET

The all-new Genesis, launched in 2008, was the ultimate culmination of Hyundai’s quest to up their quality. They have now successfully branded themselves far, far from their 90s nadir, when Alec Baldwin famously put down Ed Harris in “Glenn Garry, Glenn Ross” with, “Because you drove a HYUN-dai to get here; I drove an $80,000 BMW.”  The company continues to succeed in a tough economy, and they deserve to.

Now comes the Coupe R Spec, starting at a base price of $24,500. Scott Margason of Hyundai says:

“The interior upgrades, our hot new 3.8 R-Spec model, and revised lineup of six focused models show that Hyundai is meeting the demands of our customers. The upgraded interior is a great illustration of how Hyundai continually raises its own high benchmarks for quality.”

Margason and I concur on the “hot new 3.8 R-Spec” part. I absolutely loved the exterior of my test ride—big slabs o’ metal, authoritative stance, twin exhaust—nothing wrong there.

Looks good goin', too.

The inside, though, is straight-to-rental. It’s boring and bland, with Mattel appointments here and there and a sound system seemingly designed by the same guy who thought up waterboarding.  More on that later.

My test drive took me about 500 miles over 7 days, through the most glorious, sun-drenched end-of-summer weather to the ballistic fog and vicious rain on the New Jersey Turnpike last night.  The ride has plenty of cojones and its steering and handling are more than satisfactory, particularly in this price range.

It was a pleasurable test, but the car has been gone from my garage now for a day and it’s already fading in memory, unlike similarly styled brands I’ve tested this year.  What I will remember, though, for years, is the following, which I don’t say out of meanness or snark.  When something SUCKS, it needs to be pointed out.  Here goes:

It’s not uncommon to come across an automakers whose sound systems are a mess; witness BMW’s iDrive, which still is a piece of crap left over from the Inquisition.  But even the iDrive is capable, eventually of being figured out.  It sucks, but you can figure it out.

The R-Spec’s iPod hookup is incomprehensible, even with the owner’s manual in hand.  The cheap-looking audio system features 4 toggle switches, none of which were able to direct me to ARTIST followed by the ability to scroll through the alphabet to find what I was looking for.

Ten minutes after pulling the Genesis over and consulting the owner’s manual, I still did not have my tunes on my sound system and gave up.   SOUND SYSTEM FAIL.

Run screaming from this system.

-Josh Max, Auto Gigolo

More info, from press kit:

The 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe R-Spec comes with all-aluminum 3.8 liter V6 engine delivering 306 horsepower and 360 foot-pounds of torque. The sprint from 0 to 60 mph is covered in 5.5 seconds. The amazing results are achieved by number of technologies like DCVVT and a new Variable Intake System (VIS) that helps cylinders breathe more efficiently at both low and high RPM. The better-breathing results in outstanding off-the-line acceleration, passing performance and remarkable fuel efficiency. The V6 engine uses an alloy block and cylinder heads for lighter weight and thermal efficiency and features durable timing chains with no scheduled maintenance.

The sports coupe features  MacPherson® strut dual-link front suspension and a five-link independent rear suspension setup to deliver better handling and additional comfort.  The engine is fitted with a standard six-speed manual gearbox and as an option there is a ZF^® six-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC to handle the additional torque.

13.4-inch ventilated front brake rotors and 13-inch ventilated rear rotors stop you quickly and easily.

More information available here: Click me!