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China overhauls EV regulations with tough mandatory fire safety standards

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 08:38:59 +0000

There’s a major shift on the automotive horizon as China introduces tough new safety regulations for electric cars. Starting July 1, 2026, two mandatory national standards will officially take effect across the country. The new rules target both the vehicle and the battery systems inside it. Government bodies like the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the State Administration for Market Regulation, will enforce strict requirements to protect buyers and emergency workers. With ownership climbing to 44 million vehicles in China by the end of last year, regulators decided that voluntary guidelines are not enough to manage public safety.

The unstoppable growth of the Chinese market highlights the need for updated safety rules. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers revealed that production and sales recovered strongly in May 2026. Local automakers produced 1.554 million cars and sold 1.496 million new energy vehicles in that one month alone.

One of the most important vehicle-level updates comes from the new safety standard named GB18384-2025. This regulation introduces a mandatory, physical “one-touch power-off” mechanism inside the cabin. In the past, automakers relied on software programs to shut down high-voltage electrical circuits during emergencies – because everyone knows software never crashes or freezes during a serious accident… The new physical switch allows drivers or rescue workers to cut off the main energy storage system manually with a single movement, increasing efficiency during emergency operations.

The second piece of legislation, referred to as GB38031-2025, completely upgrades battery-level safety requirements. The biggest change involves how the system handles thermal runaway (when a battery cell overheats and triggers a chain reaction). Until now, regulations required a battery pack to send a warning signal at least five minutes ahead of a fire or explosion, which sounds almost unbelievable. Thankfully, the updated standard shifts the requirement completely: the battery pack has to remain free of any fire or explosion. The system must still sound an alarm to alert the driver, but the physical pack itself must prevent fires entirely, and smoke must not harm vehicle occupants.

In addition to thermal protection, the updated battery regulations introduce tough physical testing methods to simulate real-world accidents. A new bottom-impact test forces manufacturers to evaluate how well a battery pack resists collisions underneath the vehicle, such as striking debris on the highway. This test ensures that the protective casing shields the internal cells from puncture. The legislation also addresses battery degradation over time by requiring a safety test after 300 fast-charging cycles. Following the fast-charging cycles, the pack must successfully withstand external short-circuit tests without catching fire or exploding.

Automotive experts believe the new safety benchmarks will change the market landscape. By forcing all companies to meet strict legal rules, the regulations will likely accelerate industry consolidation. Manufacturers that rely on low-quality components and low-price strategies to win customers will struggle to survive. This shift should stop unfair competition based on cheap, unsafe items. Clearer safety regulations will help the financial and automotive industries as well – Dr. Han Guangshuai from Tongji University noted that the clear standards will give the insurance industry better data, which could resolve the high premiums and insurance difficulties affecting used EVs.

Major battery manufacturers and vehicle brands have already prepared for the transition to the new safety levels. CATL, the largest global producer of batteries for electric cars, reported that its full line of mass-produced passenger and commercial vehicle battery products successfully passed the national testing procedures back in May 2025. BYD confirmed that its second-generation Blade Battery passed the new standards and even exceeded the minimum legal safety numbers. These early preparations show that top companies saw the regulatory changes coming and adjusted their engineering early.

According to Wu Kai, a well-known scientist from CATL and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the full implementation of the new rules will change safety expectations completely. He explained at the 2026 Equipment Power Forum that once these rules are active, the spontaneous combustion rate of Chinese EVs should drop to a level that is an order of magnitude lower than that of traditional gasoline cars. Chinese regulators continue to work on additional rules. The government recently published another safety standard called Fire Detectors for Vehicles (GB47497-2026) to improve early warnings for thermal events.

The long-term benefits of the new laws look great for consumer trust, but the rules might create some short-term challenges for vehicle prices. Industry analysts expect the strict testing and updated battery structures to put some pressure on manufacturing costs, and these higher expenses could influence the retail prices of EVs launched after July.

Via

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How to Read IIHS Safety Rankings for Family-Friendly Cars

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 04:44:25 +0000

My daughters have both outgrown car seats, but I’d installed and uninstalled our seats in more than 300 vehicles before they graduated to boosters and, eventually, the front seat. Unless you’re an automotive journalist, you likely won’t have the unique pleasure of switching car seats to a new vehicle every week, but the experience taught me the importance of an easy-to-use LATCH anchor system.

Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) systems include two metal anchors in the rear seats. The two lower anchors are almost always located in the crease between the seat back and lower cushion, but some automakers have found creative ways to make them more noticeable and accessible. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) includes LATCH ease-of-use scores in many vehicles’ overall safety rankings. Let’s look at how they can help you choose a car with easier car seat installation.

IIHS LATCH Scores

First, it’s important to break down what the car seat ratings actually mean. They aren’t a measure of a vehicle’s LATCH system safety. Instead, the IIHS rates vehicles’ car seat anchors for their ease of use, assessing factors such as how deeply they are located under the seat cushion and how easy they are to confuse with other seat hardware. For each seat with an anchor point, the IIHS assigns a rating of Poor, Marginal, Acceptable, or Good. Those scores are then tallied to create the vehicle’s overall rating.

When viewed in combination with other interior specifications, such as second-row legroom and hip room, these ratings can give you a good idea of the difficulty involved with installing car seats.

LATCH vs. Seat Belts

LATCH anchors became federally mandated in the United States in the early 2000s, though many automakers had already been installing them voluntarily. While there were other solutions available prior to then, including ISOFIX in Europe, seat belts were the primary method for securing car seats. While you can still use seat belts to anchor car seats today, LATCH anchors are generally considered easier to use. Here are some differences between LATCH and seat belts for anchoring car seats.

LATCH vs. Seat Belt: Car Seat Installation Infographic

Quick answer: install with one method at a time. For most families, that means lower anchors (LATCH) or the vehicle seat belt, not both together.

Can You Use Both Together?

Usually, no. Car seats are generally designed and crash-tested with one installation method at a time. Use lower anchors or a locked seat belt to secure the seat.

Is One Method Safer?

Not by default. When installed correctly, LATCH and seat belt installations are both secure. Choose the method that gives you the tightest, most correct fit in that seating position.

Child and Seat Weight

Lower anchors have limits. When your child plus car seat reaches the allowed threshold, switch to seat belt installation.

Ease in Your Vehicle

Whichever method lets you get a firm install in your specific vehicle wins, especially with tight back-seat layouts.

Anchor Availability

Not every seating position has lower anchors. Seat belts work in more positions and in older vehicles.

LATCH Weight Limit Snapshot

A common rule is a 65-lb combined cap for child plus car seat when using lower anchors. The exact limit depends on your seat and vehicle manuals.

Maximum child weight for lower anchors = 65 lb – car seat weight

Fast Safety Checklist

Install with one method: LATCH or seat belt.
Use the top tether for forward-facing seats when allowed.
If using seat belt, lock it according to your vehicle instructions.
At the belt path, the seat should move less than 1 inch side-to-side or front-to-back.

Read about how rear-seat dimensions affect car seat fit. Visit our Safety hub page for curated articles and insights to help you drive with confidence.

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Big Trucks Like the Ford Super Duty and Ram HD Eluded Safety Evaluations, Until Now

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 14:33:53 +0000

Heavy-duty pickup trucks from brands like Ford, Chevrolet, and Ram aren’t considered passenger vehicles under federal regulations. So while an F-150 or Ram 1500 has to meet fuel-economy and crash-safety standards, a Super Duty or Ram HD doesn’t. But the feds aren’t the only ones conducting crash tests.

Because it’s backed by the insurance industry, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has an incentive to be tough on automakers when it comes to crash performance. Its safety evaluations for light-duty passenger vehicles—encompassing crash tests and performance evaluations of related features like headlights and crash-avoidance tech—already go above and beyond the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regimen. Now it’s also casting a wider net by testing heavy-duty pickups and other commercial vehicles.

General Motors

To get things started, the IIHS evaluated the performance of seatbelt reminders and seatbelt pre-tensioners in three Class 3 pickups (signifying a GVWR between 10,001 and 14,000 pounds) and six cargo vans, as well as confirming that seatbelt force limiters and front and side driver airbags are standard equipment. This may seem basic, but federal regulations don’t require any of these features.

The test group included one HD pickup from each of the Detroit Three: a 2026 Chevy Silverado 3500HD, 2025 Ford F-350 SuperCrew, and 2025 Ram 3500. The vans tested (all 2025 models) covered pretty much everything currently available, including a Chevy Express 2500, Ford Transit T250, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500, and Ram ProMaster 2500, along with an electric Rivian Delivery 500 and Chevy BrightDrop 400, even though the latter has been discontinued.

No crash tests were performed, but test drives were conducted to see if seatbelt reminders actually did their jobs. To pass, vehicles needed to have a visible warning light and an audible tone that could be heard over background noise. The IIHS requires warnings to continue for at least 90 seconds, compared to the federal standard of four to eight seconds. This is especially important in commercial vehicles because drivers are likely unbuckling frequently when making stops, the IIHS notes, adding that one of its studies showed that persistent reminders increased seatbelt use by 30%.

Stellantis

The Ram 3500, Ford Transit, Mercedes Sprinter, Chevy Express, and Rivian all failed the seatbelt reminder test. The ancient Express also lacked effective seatbelt force limiters. Everything else was a pass, though. Not a bad start.

The IIHS plans to expand testing to cover other features such as headlights and automatic emergency braking, as well as larger Class 4-6 trucks, helping to close the safety gap with passenger cars and reduce injuries and fatalities. In 2023, 6,535 people were killed in crashes involving medium- and heavy-duty trucks or light vans, accounting for 16% of U.S. road fatalities that year, according to the IIHS. So the insurance-backed nonprofit’s testing program arrives not a moment too soon.

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Commercial van safety technology steps up

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:17:30 +0000

KIA’S newly introduced PV5 Cargo electric van has joined Volkswagen’s latest generation Transporter in earning a Platinum safety grading under ANCAP Safety’s Commercial Van Safety comparison program.

The independent assessment program evaluates the availability and performance of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) fitted to commercial vans, providing fleet operators and private buyers with a safety benchmark beyond traditional crash-testing results.

The light commercial van comparison focuses on active safety technologies designed to help prevent crashes before they occur unlike ANCAP’s passenger vehicle star ratings.

The generation seven Volkswagen Transporter achieved an overall score of 93 per cent, matching the related Ford Transit Custom, and securing a Platinum grading.

ANCAP said the Transporter’s strong result demonstrated consistently high performance across autonomous emergency braking, lane support, speed assistance and driver monitoring systems.

Kia’s market fresh all-electric PV5 Cargo was close behind achieving a Platinum grading with a score of 91 per cent.

It is a strong debut for Kia’s first dedicated commercial EV with testing showing high levels of performance across most autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and speed assistance scenarios.

The PV5 missed additional points due to the absence of reverse autonomous emergency braking, a feature increasingly valued in urban delivery and fleet applications.

The latest assessments were conducted under ANCAP’s 2023-2025 Commercial Van Safety Comparison criteria, which evaluate a range of advanced safety technologies including autonomous emergency braking, emergency lane keeping, blind spot monitoring, speed assistance systems, and driver monitoring functions.

ANCAP chief executive Carla Hoorweg said active safety systems continue to play an increasingly important role in reducing crashes involving commercial vehicles.

“Commercial vans spend much of their time operating in busy urban environments where advanced safety technologies can make a meaningful difference in helping drivers avoid collisions,” she said.

Also receiving ANCAP commercial van gradings were the Fiat Scudo and the twin Peugeot Boxer and Fiat Ducato large vans.

The Fiat Scudo earned a Gold grading with an overall score of 67 per cent.

While equipped with a comprehensive suite of driver assistance technologies, ANCAP found the vehicle’s performance across several testing scenarios was less capable than the highest-ranked competitors.

The Peugeot Boxer and Fiat Ducato shared a stronger Gold result, each achieving 77 per cent.

A common theme across the latest round of assessments was the absence of reverse emergency braking systems.

Four of the five newly assessed vans lacked the technology, which is designed to help prevent low-speed reversing collisions in crowded loading zones, warehouses, and urban delivery environments.

The latest results reinforce the growing importance of advanced driver assistance technologies in the commercial vehicle sector, where fleet operators are increasingly considering safety performance alongside payload, operating costs and efficiency.

The latest assessments bring the number of current-model commercial vans rated under ANCAP’s specialised safety comparison program to 20.

2026 ANCAP Safety Commercial Van Safety Comparison rankings:

Make/Model	Grading	Score
Volkswagen Transporter	Platinum	93%
Ford Transit Custom	Platinum	93%
Kia PV5 Cargo	Platinum	91%
Toyota HiAce	Gold	90%
Hyundai Staria	Gold	90%
Mercedes-Benz Vito/eVito	Gold	90%
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter/eSprinter	Gold	89%
LDV Deliver 7	Gold	86%
Farizon SV	Gold	84%
Volkswagen ID. Buzz Cargo	Gold	80%
Peugeot Boxer / Fiat Ducato	Gold	77%
Fiat Scudo	Gold	67%

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Car Safety Features 101: Everything You Need To Know

admin — Fri, 29 May 2026 16:02:02 +0000

Key Reminders About Vehicle Safety Features:

Virtually any driver assistance technology also qualifies as safety technology. For example, rear cross-traffic alert is standard or available on nearly every new car, truck, and SUV. It warns the driver when another vehicle is approaching from the side while the driver is reversing. Not only does this feature make the driver’s job easier, but it also makes the occupants both vehicles safer. It’s both a driver aid and a safety feature.
Some safety features will rely on driver input and some do not. Car safety features can be passive, such as seat belts and airbags, or active, such as stability control and automatic emergency braking.
Safety technology is always evolving. Because of the steady introduction of AI features, new technologies, and the relentless evolution of current ones, a 100% comprehensive list of safety features is a unicorn you probably won’t be able to find. This guide will give you a solid foundation.
Some optional safety features will eventually be federally mandated. Some advanced safety features might feel like bells and whistles, but you can expect many of them to become mandatory at some point. For example, regulations are already in place making automatic emergency braking required equipment on all passenger vehicles by the 2029 model year.

A car safety feature is any feature that helps minimize the risk of an accident or reduce the effects of a collision on the vehicle’s occupants. It encompasses everything from crumple zones to antilock brakes to adaptive cruise control with full braking. A recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and a coalition of carmakers concludes that advanced safety features, such as forward collision alert and automatic emergency braking, reduce the risk of a serious crash by 49% while lowering the risk of injury by 53%.

Our car safety features guide walks you through modern automotive safety tech. If you’re looking to buy a new or used car, safety may be top of mind. Fun fact: For many decades, automakers fiercely resisted prominently marketing safety features to the public. For example, seat belts came into being in the 1930s but didn’t move to the forefront of safety design until the early 1960s. Carmakers refused to include them for years, fearing the negative safety message that installing seat belts would send. Today, however, car companies are just as likely to advertise their safety features as they do fuel economy, technology, or performance.

If you’re in the market for a vehicle, or just want to learn more about what’s available, browse our features groupings below, which will walk you through the many aspects and applications of modern car safety features.

Passive and Structural Protection Features

For the most part, the government mandates standard safety features. It’s a long list of devices and attributes, many of which are commonly known. That’s because the government creates safety standards for everything from a car’s structural framework to its tires. The government’s best-known auto safety arm is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA. The not-for-profit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is the other best-known North American arbiter of car safety. These are the most common passive and structural features that help protect drivers and passengers without requiring driver input.

Graphic by Lauren Swift

Although front-seat head restraints have been mandatory in passenger cars since 1969, active head restraints are not. Not every head restraint is an active head restraint. Saab pioneered the widespread use of active head restraints in 1998, with Volvo close behind.

Different methods can achieve the action of an active head restraint, but essentially, it moves the head restraint up and forward during a rear-end collision. The action helps prevent the head from snapping back, reducing the risk of whiplash.

Mandatory in 1999 for all passenger cars, light trucks, and vans (front seat).

Today, most new cars and SUVs offer at least six airbags. Some boast a lot more. For instance, the Toyota Camry comes with 10 airbags.

The federal mandate for airbags only extends to the front seats. However, carmakers continue developing additional airbags. Some cars have front knee airbags, center airbags that deploy between occupants in the same row, and even panoramic-roof airbags.

They aren’t perfect, but airbags do much more good than harm. The IIHS found that front airbags reduce driver fatalities in frontal crashes by 29% and reduce fatalities among front-seat passengers aged 13 and older by 32%.

Airbags inflate during a frontal crash to prevent a person from coming into contact with a vehicle’s hard surfaces. Sensors at the front of a vehicle measure and respond to frontal collisions.

If the crash force is sufficient to warrant airbag deployment, the sensors transmit a signal to the igniter in the airbag inflator. This signal triggers a chemical reaction, producing a gas, usually a mixture of helium and argon, that rapidly inflates the airbag.

The inflation of an airbag works like a controlled explosion; the gas fills the bag in less than one-twentieth of a second at a force of up to 200 mph. Such force can even affect a healthy adult, let alone a child or an older adult. Consequently, government safety experts say a person needs to create at least 10 inches of space between themself and a frontal airbag. So, for safety reasons, the back seat is the best place for younger children.

However, many newer vehicles now offer technology to detect the presence of occupants and measure their weight and position in the seat. Such systems can then reduce the force of airbag deployment to minimize injury.

Side-curtain airbags protect the head and neck during rollovers and side impacts, while torso-protecting side-impact airbags round out the six airbags found in most new cars.

Mandatory in 2002 for all passenger cars.

Mandating LATCH compatibility in cars was a giant leap forward in automobile child safety. As a result, LATCH is the standard by which all child safety seats are installed.

A lower bar built into the car’s bottom seat cushion provides an anchor for clips on the bottom of the safety seat. Tethers located at the top of the safety seat then clip onto tether anchors built into the car’s seatback or some other location.

Not only does LATCH create a more secure platform for child safety seats, but its user-friendly installation also encourages their more widespread use. However, in most vehicles, not every rear seating position has a full latch setup, with fewer than 20 vehicles offering 3-across seating in the same row.

Mandatory in 1968 for all passenger cars.

Mandating seat belts in cars required decades of effort and even a United States Supreme Court ruling. But today, we have seat belts in every seating position of every passenger vehicle. Many tout the three-point seat belt as the single most effective safety measure ever. NHTSA claims wearing a seat belt in the front seat of a car or truck cuts your risk of a fatal injury nearly in half.

Incredibly, only one in 10 drivers wore a seat belt as recently as 2004, saying they were cumbersome and uncomfortable. Not so today. We can credit seat belt pretensioners for making safety belts more comfortable. These gadgets allow the seat belt to give us space as we naturally move but instantly cinch tight in a frontal impact. Adjustable anchors on the vehicle’s B-pillar, often located at the front seat positions, allow the height to be adjusted. These are a real benefit for shorter drivers, who used to deal with the shoulder belt cutting across their neck. Although most newer cars provide a safety-belt warning that alerts front-seat occupants of unbuckled seat belts, the government mandate for such alerts applies only to the driver’s seat.

Beginning in 2026, all seating positions must have safety-belt alerts.

With the expectation of saving 50 lives per year and preventing countless injuries, NHTSA has finalized a regulation mandating safety-belt warning alerts beyond just the driver’s seat, extending them to all seating positions in 2026.

Foundation Active Safety and Vehicle Control Features

Modern mainstream vehicles come equipped with different baseline systems that help the car maneuver safely. These features affect how a vehicle stops, stabilizes, and maintains traction, as well as alerting drivers to important maintenance needs, such as tire pressure issues.

Graphic by Lauren Swift

Mandatory in 2000 for all new passenger cars.

Sensors placed in each wheel act as monitors that report speed, grip, and other performance factors. They constantly send updates to your car’s computer. Each sensor also communicates with and controls the brake device on each wheel. This is the foundation for your car’s antilock braking system (ABS).

There is a misconception that ABS increases braking force, leading some to believe it helps a vehicle stop more quickly. Although somewhat shorter stops are a byproduct of ABS, it’s engineered to help a driver maintain steering control during emergency braking.

When braking for an emergency, such as a pedestrian stepping in front of you or the vehicle ahead coming to an abrupt, unexpected stop, our knee-jerk reaction is to push the brake pedal to the floor. When this happens without ABS, the brakes lock up, your wheels stop rotating, and you begin to slide.

Newton’s first law of motion is that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. That is, even with its brakes fully locked, your vehicle will continue in the direction it was moving. Depending on the vehicle’s weight and speed, it might continue to slide forward for 100 feet or more.

Moreover, your steering control is zero when your brakes are locked, and the wheels are no longer rotating. Turning the steering wheel in one direction or the other will not alter the direction of the slide. In this instance, your only hope is that the slide will peter out before you strike the object you are trying to avoid.

Advanced driving schools once taught the technique of rapidly pumping the brakes during an emergency stop. This would still eventually stop the vehicle, but the pumping motion also allowed some wheel rotation, providing enough steering control to avoid the object you were trying to avoid.

Antilock brakes electronically pump the brakes for you during emergency braking. With the brake pedal depressed to the floor, you can feel the shudder of the ABS working through the brake pedal.

The pumping motion of antilock brakes will help you stop somewhat more quickly. However, the most significant benefit is retaining steering control. Here’s the best part: Your vehicle’s computer can pump the brakes more quickly and effectively than you can. Therefore, on cars with antilock brakes, push the brake pedal with all your might and concentrate on steering yourself out of trouble.

Antilock brakes are a crucial component of traction control and electronic stability control, detailed below.

Brake assist was around before the push for semi-autonomous cars. Nonetheless, it’s still a valuable safety feature.

Drivers are human, so their reactions to emergencies vary. Brake assist is engineered to provide extra braking in emergencies when the driver fails to apply the brakes fully. In such instances, the brake-assist system initiates emergency braking and maintains it until the driver releases the brake pedal.

Some brake-assist systems measure the time it takes a driver to switch from the accelerator to the brake to determine whether to engage. Radar or camera-based systems anticipate emergency braking situations, initiating braking a split second before the driver’s foot reaches the brake pedal.

Sadly, the human factor again comes into play if the driver panics and releases the brake pedal prematurely.

Mandatory in 2012 on all passenger cars.

Also utilizing the ABS sensors and independent four-wheel braking, electronic stability control’s task is to keep the vehicle traveling in the direction you are steering. More complex than either ABS or traction control, stability control relies on both to help achieve its mission.

Your stability control system employs more sensors than those borrowed from the ABS. These extra sensors measure yaw (sideways motion) and steering angle. The stability control system is functional as long as the vehicle follows your steering inputs, such as turning right when you turn right, and turning left when you turn left.

Suppose the vehicle isn’t heading in the direction the front wheels are pointed. The stability control system can use every tool ABS and traction control offer to return the car to its intended course. This may involve applying the brakes to specific wheels and even reducing or modulating engine speed.

This system isn’t foolproof. It can’t overcome physics. You know, that whole law of motion thing. However, it can help keep your vehicle on the straight and narrow under normal conditions.

Mandatory in 2007 for all passenger cars, light trucks, and vans.

Using a sensor inside each tire to monitor air pressure, TPMS warns you when a tire is low on pressure. Some systems constantly display the current pressure in each tire as a function of the driver information display.

Mandatory in 2011 on all passenger cars.

Traction control is just what it sounds like: a system that helps maintain traction between your drive wheels and the surface beneath them. It is particularly helpful in slippery conditions.

Think of traction control not as increasing traction, but as regulating it to prevent the drive wheels from spinning at different rates. Using ABS sensors on each wheel, the traction-control computer reduces power (torque) to a particular drive wheel if it’s spinning faster than the others. In modern systems, applying braking pressure to the spinning wheel reduces torque.

Such wheel spin typically occurs on slippery surfaces, particularly in corners or when accelerating. At times, you will feel a little kick to the right or left as the system self-corrects.

Collision Warning and Automatic Avoidance Features

Cutting-edge technologies thrive in collision avoidance. Everyone wants to be safe and avoid accidents. Many of the driver aids listed here result from the race to develop fully self-driving vehicles. While we may still be decades away from cars without steering wheels and pedals zipping around on accident-free streets, we continue to reap the rewards of ever-changing safety technology as carmakers work toward that goal.

Graphic by Lauren Swift

Will be mandatory in 2029 on all passenger cars, light trucks, and vans.

Automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems detect an object in a car’s path and brake to try to avoid an accident. Earlier versions of the technology helped drivers avoid hitting a stopped car. Newer versions are designed to detect smaller objects. Though most new cars already offer automatic emergency braking, the federal government mandates that this safety feature in every new vehicle by 2029. NHTSA, the government agency most responsible for regulating cars, estimates that automatic emergency braking systems “will save at least 360 lives a year and prevent at least 24,000 injuries annually.”

However great the technology, it often doesn’t live up to its marketing. It works best at low speeds, and an insurance industry lab recently found in testing that systems can disappoint when drivers go above 25 mph. Other tests found the systems work less effectively at night. The new mandate will require these systems to work more effectively to help keep drivers safe.

“The new standard requires all cars to be able to stop and avoid contact with a vehicle in front of them up to 62 mph,” NHTSA says. Cars must also “detect pedestrians in both daylight and darkness. In addition, the standard requires that the system apply the brakes automatically up to 90 mph when a collision with a lead vehicle is imminent and up to 45 mph when a pedestrian is detected.”

BSM takes some of the adventure and danger out of changing lanes.

To track approaching vehicles in neighboring lanes, a basic BSM system relies on radar or ultrasonic sensors, typically located on both sides of the rear bumper. Some more advanced systems pair the sensors with side-mounted cameras.

BSM alerts you to vehicles entering your vehicle’s rear-quarter blind spots. These alerts can take the form of warning lights on your vehicle’s A-pillars, outboard mirrors, or, if your car is so equipped, the head-up display. The warning may also be tactile if your car has a haptic steering wheel or driver’s seat.

We are reasonably sure forward collision warning will be one of the current advanced safety technologies mandated by the government. Having already found its way into several mainstream vehicles as standard equipment, it is gaining ground as a must-have driver-assist/safety technology. Moreover, its popular companion technology, automatic emergency braking, is mandated for the 2029 model year.

Employing cameras, radar, lasers, or some combination of the three, FCW detects cars or other objects in front of your vehicle. More sophisticated FCW systems can also detect pedestrians, cyclists, and even animals.

As an FCW-equipped vehicle approaches a detected object and senses a potential collision, the system issues a warning. That warning may be visual, audible, tactile, or some combination of the three.

Many of the newer FCW systems also include automatic emergency braking, see below.

This system, which combines FCW and automatic emergency braking, examines intersections for potential collisions. For example, it can detect vehicles, pedestrians, or cyclists crossing your path. It will also alert you to the approach of a vehicle in the opposite direction as you initiate a left-hand turn. It provides both warnings and automatic braking if the driver doesn’t react.

A more sensitive version of forward collision warning or rear cross traffic warning, pedestrian detection can identify a pedestrian in the vehicle’s path. Because pedestrian detection is more sophisticated than FCW, it usually, but not always, includes automatic emergency braking. Many of today’s FCW systems can also detect cyclists and, in some cases, even animals.

This feature automatically brakes when it senses a collision while the vehicle is in reverse. RAEB may also have a pedestrian-detection function.

RCTW activates when you are reversing out of a parking spot, driveway, or otherwise backing into the path of crossing traffic. It alerts you to vehicles approaching from either side on that path. The warning can be audible, visual, or tactile.

Some RCTW systems include automatic full braking, preventing you from backing into trouble.

Lane, Speed, and Road Management Features

While drivers need to be alert and aware of what’s happening around them on the road at all times, several technologies and safety features provide added assistance with driving instances such as managing following distance, responding to road information, and helping the vehicle stay positioned properly.

Graphic by Lauren Swift

Adaptive cruise control is to regular cruise control what your smartphone is to two tin cans and a string.

Standard cruise control is designed to maintain a preset speed, regardless of the behavior of surrounding traffic. The driver can apply the brake to disengage it or push the “Resume” button to re-engage it. Adjusting the speed setting to reflect changing speed limits also falls to the driver.

However, adaptive cruise control can think for itself and, in certain situations, act on its own. Once engaged by the driver, adaptive cruise control uses cameras, radar, and lasers to monitor the surrounding traffic. Yes, the driver must still physically engage the system, but most adaptive cruise control systems can take it from there.

Some ACC systems reduce speed to match the vehicle ahead and, if necessary, come to a complete stop to maintain a safe distance. The driver may have to tap the accelerator to put the vehicle back in motion. However, other systems will resume on their own.

More sophisticated ACC systems can tie into the vehicle’s GPS mapping. Consequently, they are aware of upcoming curves and can even automatically slow the car accordingly. Moreover, you can program some ACC systems to recognize new speed zones and adjust the vehicle’s speed accordingly.

Regardless of how advanced a particular adaptive cruise control system is, its core function is adapting to surrounding traffic. Most of today’s more sophisticated steering driver aids require adaptive cruise control engagement to function.

LCA is a more advanced form of lane-keeping assist. It takes a more active role in keeping your vehicle centered in its lane. It also uses a forward-facing camera to monitor lane boundaries. Very often, LCA uses some form of steering assist to steer around curves.

Note: LCA may only function when adaptive cruise control is engaged.

LDW is a reasonably common technology that uses a front-mounted camera to monitor your vehicle relative to lane markers, including center and side stripes. When it sees the car veering close to the lane markers on either side, it issues a warning, signaling you to steer back into your lane. That warning may be visual, audible, tactile, or some combination of the three.

More advanced LDW systems will subtly nudge you back into your lane.

Note: If you fail to use your turn signal when changing lanes, LDW will usually issue a warning.

LKA is a more sophisticated version of lane-departure warning. Some carmakers marry the two and call the feature lane-departure warning with steering assist.

Here again, a forward-facing camera keeps track of your vehicle relative to the lane markings. LKA is a bit more intrusive than the nudge of some LDW systems. It uses the steering system to steer the vehicle back into its lane. Some systems use the independent-braking capability of ABS to gently brake the wheel as it approaches the line.

Making a lane change without engaging the turn signal will cause LKA to gently steer against your steering wheel input to keep you in the current lane. The force isn’t enough to overpower or even challenge your steering input, but it will grab your attention.

LTA also helps drivers stay centered in the appropriate lane by taking lane centering assistance up a notch or two. However, when lane markers are not apparent or consistent, LTA will trace the vehicle’s path ahead.

Here again, it works in conjunction with the vehicle’s adaptive cruise control.

Semi-autonomous driving is a blend of many individual advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS). It allows a vehicle to perform many driver tasks with the driver at the wheel. It’s an eyes-on-the-road, hands-on-the-wheel level of autonomous driving.

In more advanced systems, these systems can accelerate, steer, brake, and even change lanes on their own under certain conditions. When properly equipped, the vehicle can even park itself. The experts identify this as Level 2 autonomy on a scale ranging from Level 0 (no autonomy) to Level 5 (full autonomy).

Several carmakers, such as General Motors with its Super Cruise, have perfected their ADAS to allow hands-free operation on designated highways.

As a driver aid, TSR is functional but passive. It simply uses a forward-facing camera to identify road signs. Its program includes a catalog of road signs that warrant a driver’s attention. These include signs for speed limit, stop, slow, and yield. Also prioritized are warning signs, such as pedestrian crossings, school zones, railroad crossings, curve ahead, and so forth.

The forward-facing camera captures images of upcoming road signs, processes them, identifies the important ones, and projects them on the touchscreen, head-up display, or another designated screen.

TSR is useful because it acts as a backup for the driver who might otherwise miss a critical sign.

Visibility, Awareness, and External Alerts

Visibility is crucial to safe driving. Safety features in this area help improve what the driver can see and detect, and how noticeable the vehicle is to others. Advancements in driving at night have gone beyond LED and projector-beam headlight technologies, and features like head-up displays (HUDs) help keep drivers’ eyes off screens and on the road

Graphic by Lauren Swift

For the most part, traditional headlights are fixed. That is, they are pointed straight ahead. Some vehicles have a self-leveling feature that compensates for heavy loads that weigh down the rear end. However, they still point straight ahead.

Adaptive headlights, however, can swivel to some degree in response to the direction the steering wheel is turning during cornering. Consequently, these headlights can illuminate the area to your right or left as you turn.

Also called high-beam assist, this technology uses a forward-facing camera or photosensor to detect the headlights of approaching vehicles. It is also programmed to react to taillights that become visible as you close the distance to cars ahead of you.

A driver must initially turn the system on, though automatic high beams will then become the default setting. The high beams remain engaged unless the system detects headlights or taillights ahead at a set distance. The system will then disengage the high beams. When no headlights or taillights are detected, the high beams will reengage.

The system’s ability to disengage and engage the high beams means one less thing for the driver to do manually.

Designed to reduce the time a driver’s eyes leave the road to check vehicle speed or other vital information, a head-up display helps keep your eyes on the road ahead. A projector on the dashboard at the base of the windshield displays critical driver information just below the driver’s line of sight.

Some HUD systems allow a driver to choose which information to display. This information can include turn-signal repeaters, vehicle speed, next-turn navigation instructions, and so forth. Studies show that using a head-up display can lead to faster reaction times in certain instances and improve driving performance.

Lighting up the night can involve more than just headlights. Night vision is gaining popularity in cars. There are two types: passive and active.

Passive systems use a thermographic camera that detects heat. They can see and display the heat coming off a person, an animal, or any object that’s radiating more heat than the air around it. The camera translates what it sees into a black-and-white image on a monitor.

An active system uses infrared light sources that illuminate the road ahead. Because infrared is outside a human’s visible spectrum, it doesn’t affect oncoming drivers. A special infrared camera gathers the data, displaying images on a monitor.

A passive system has trouble seeing inanimate objects that don’t emit heat. Active systems can fail when infrared light is blocked by fog, snow, or rain.

When the rain-sensing wiper system senses moisture on the windshield, it automatically engages the wipers. The driver doesn’t need to change the wiper speed as rain volume changes, since the system automatically adjusts.

Mandatory in 2018 on all passenger cars, light trucks, and vans.

Sometimes called a backup camera, this rear-facing camera is usually located near a vehicle’s rear bumper, license plate, or the latch for the trunk lid or tailgate.

These cameras are designed for backup safety and are automatically activated when shifting into reverse. Although very effective when backing into or out of a parking spot, rearview cameras are invaluable for spotting pedestrians or other objects behind your vehicle.

Rearview cameras on newer vehicles provide parallel guidelines, marking the vehicle’s width as you back into a parking spot. More advanced versions also display bending guidelines, providing a visual image of your vehicle’s path as you steer into a parking space. Some systems are high-definition. Graphic guidelines often display graduated colors indicating your vehicle’s proximity to the end of the parking space or an object.

Mandatory in 2022 for all electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs).

Quiet is wonderful until a pedestrian, biker, or another vehicle moves unknowingly into an EV’s path because it’s operating with a silent electric motor. The regulation sets minimum sound levels for electric-only vehicles and specifies when such sound must be generated.

Driver, Occupant, and Convenience Safety Features

Features such as rear occupant detection and safe exit provide additional layers of protection for drivers and passengers. At the same time, other systems help monitor driver or occupant conditions and can assist with low-speed maneuvers, such as parking.

Image courtesy of Lauren Swift

Using a sensor-equipped camera with LED detectors, a driver-attention monitor or drowsiness detection system tracks a driver’s alertness through eye movements, head position, eyelid activity, and so forth. Some more sophisticated versions tie other advanced driver aids into the monitoring to track steering behavior and more.

When the system determines that a driver’s alertness is waning, it issues visual or audible warnings.

Parking assist systems utilize a variety of automated systems designed to eliminate at least some of the guesswork and stress of parking your car.

These systems offer different levels of automation. Once a space is found, some systems will steer the vehicle into the parking space while the driver operates the pedals. Others will find the spot and then fully park the car. Others will allow the driver to pull up to a diagonal parking spot, step out, and then use the key fob to pull the vehicle into the parking spot.

Other systems allow the driver to summon a parked car to their location.

Mandatory in 2025 for all passenger cars.

Several manufacturers install rear-seat reminders to minimize the chance of a child or pet being left in the rear seat. By the end of 2025, expect all passenger cars and SUVs to have this safety technology. Seat sensors, motion detectors, and rear-door monitoring detect a person or object in the rear seat when the ignition is disengaged. If this is the case, a warning sounds.

Common in Hyundai models and other makes, Safe Exit uses rear-mounted sensors to detect vehicles in a neighboring lane approaching from behind. The system sounds a warning and prevents the doors on that side of the car from opening. Once the danger has passed, the doors will function.

When you hear the word telematics, think of the telephone — it’s your car’s way of making emergency calls to outside providers and, like a smartphone, provides many convenience features that improve your life.

Telematics is the marriage of communications and computer data. In vehicles, it involves GPS tracking, cell-phone service, and the vehicle’s computer system. It allows a direct connection between your smartphone, car, and telematics provider. With permission, insurance companies may use telematics to collect data on mileage, speed, and braking for usage-based policies.

Telematics can automatically summon first responders in the event of a crash, remotely unlock your car, locate your vehicle, provide a weather report, or provide turn-by-turn directions. In its more sophisticated forms, telematics may require a subscription.

Editor’s Note: We have updated this article since its initial publication. Russ Heaps contributed to this report.

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One-Pedal Driving Isn’t A Safety Issue: Feds

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:20:08 +0000

NHTSA has closed an investigation into Tesla’s one-pedal driving.
A defect investigation from 2023 claimed that the feature was responsible for unintended acceleration.
The feds say that the feature is not unique to Tesla and isn’t actually a defect.

When moving from an ICE-powered car to an EV, one of the first things to get used to is one-pedal driving. Thanks to the magic of magnets (and regenerative braking), the wasted power normally turned into heat by the friction of brake pads is diverted back into the car’s battery pack, allowing many EVs to stop without you having to hit the brake pedal at all. Unfortunately, it does have a bit of a learning curve for folks who have never used it before.

Tesla, which is just one of the many automakers that employ one-pedal driving, had a run-in with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the feature. After a careful review, NHTSA has finally sided with Tesla and closed out its investigation, saving the automaker from potentially needing to issue a recall for more than 2 million cars sold all the way back to 2013. Here’s what happened.

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

The original concern leading up to the investigation was centered around “pedal misapplication,” which is a polite way of saying that drivers could accidentally confuse the gas pedal with the brake function and yeet themselves into a storefront or stop sign.

This wasn’t a new theory at all. Prior to the defect petition, owners have been theorizing unintended acceleration was due to pedal misapplication for nearly a decade. But the formal petition, which was submitted to the agency three years ago in March 2023, is now closed with a message that officially takes the blame off of Tesla.

According to NHTSA, there are only a handful of crashes potentially liked to the issue. And in those cases, the vehicle logs show that the cars responded correctly to driver inputs—meaning, they went “go” when the pedal was depressed by the driver.

The feds also issued a crucial reminder that one-pedal driving is not unique to Tesla:

The use of regenerative braking controlled by the accelerator pedal, or one-pedal driving, is common across most light vehicle manufacturers of electric vehicles and Tesla vehicles are not unique in this respect.

A denial of the petition means that NHTSA found no evidence in the defect and will end its investigation. And accordingly, it will not move forward with any of the proposed safeguards in the petition, like requiring drivers to actually press the brake pedal to require the car to come to a complete stop.

Chock it up to a win for Tesla. Or, at least a non-loss—Tesla still has 10 NHTSA investigations open into issues like its door controls, steering wheels detaching, unexpected braking, and a separate unintended acceleration issue.

But really, this is a win for EV owners as a whole. One-pedal driving is a fairly popular feature and, in many cars, can be toggled on or off. Keeping a safe, efficient, and optional control in a vehicle should be seen across the industry as a win for consumer choice. As long as it doesn’t suck, that is.

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40 Years Since Sebring Win, Hans-Joachim Stuck Still Believes Speed and Safety Go Hand-in-Hand

admin — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 01:02:35 +0000

“Sebring always was an adventure to me, because it had the unexpected,” Hans-Joachim Stuck recalls.

The German sports car racing maestro they call “Strietzel” won the 12-hour race twice overall and claimed a class victory in 1993—each time in Porsche machinery. This year marks the 40th anniversary of his first Sebring victory in 1986 behind the wheel of a Porsche 962 he shared with late teammates Jo Gartner and Bob Akin.

Reflecting on his achievements there ahead of this year’s running, Stuck still considers Sebring a “real” racetrack. “It was an old airfield, which still, up to now, [has] the same concrete,” he said. “And it requires a lot of experience, a lot of braveness to drive fast there.” He credits his Porsche engineers for making his experiences on the infamously bumpy circuit not only successful, but safe. The way Stuck sees it, those two facets are intrinsically linked.

The Coke-liveried Porsche 962 of Hans-Joachim Stuck, Jo Gartner, and Bob Akin. Porsche

“With the Porsche [962], we always had to make—thanks to [engineers] Norbert Singer and Roland Kussmaul and the other guys—a very special setup for Sebring,” he said. “And the cars, being a Porsche there, it was not only fantastic, but it was also insurance, because Norbert Singer, who built those cars and created those cars, for him, driver safety was number one.

“So it could be safe that no wheels are falling off, like other cars I drove in my career—wings were falling off, things like this. Here, sitting in a Porsche was kind of insurance, and you could really concentrate on the high-speed racing that was fantastic for a driver. Otherwise, you’re feeling anxious about losing this or that, or that breaks. You could really go 100% with the car and not think about these funny things.”

Stuck recalls a similar feeling at Le Mans, which may lack Sebring’s spine-shattering concrete, but, of course, makes up for that with terrifying long-distance speed. And remember—he was there before they put chicanes on the Mulsanne.

“Le Mans is sort of a normal road, and any other race car I drove there, I always had to concentrate in a straight line,” Stuck said. “In the Porsche, you could take the hands off the wheel and it went, because Norbert Singer created a special suspension with track and toe for Le Mans, that the driver could really concentrate on driving.”

From left, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Al Holbert, and Derek Bell celebrate on the podium after winning the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans, the second consecutive Le Mans victory for this driver team and the Porsche 962. AFP via Getty Images

Stuck ultimately won both the 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans overall for the first time in 1986. He remembers the Sebring victory especially fondly because of who he shared it with.

“I must say, the [1986] one with Jo Gartner and Bob Akin was really fantastic because, you know, Jo Gartner, we had a special friendship, and the more I regret when he was killed at Le Mans,” Stuck said. “Jo wasn’t only a good friend—he was a very good driver. He was a driver that also listened to others. He learned, he wanted to know what to do, and he obeyed rules that we made, especially for Sebring: Be careful with the overtaking, with the lapping, it’s a long race. Jo was fantastic.”

Just weeks after that Sebring triumph, Gartner was tragically killed in a crash partway through the 24 Hours of Le Mans, competing with Stuck in a different team’s 962.

“When you see how many drivers and friends we lost in the days of Group C, because of all kinds of things that happened—I mean, imagine, we had aluminum chassis, you know?” Stuck said. “Now you have carbon-fiber chassis, which is always a life insurance. But you had to adapt yourself to what you had and take your chances and decide yourself how many percent out of 100 you wanted to go. And this is always a personal thing, and it depends also on the race situation.”

Stuck said he was able to simply “switch off and go” when he was suited up and in the car. Only afterwards would he actually consider the close calls and brushes with danger.

“When the race is over, you sit and talk to the guys and go, ‘Jesus Christ, I was totally crazy, but it worked,’ you know, and I’m lucky I was one of the guys that survived,” Stuck said. As awful as some of his crashes were, he also notes that they could’ve been worse.

“When I had an accident, I was lucky not to hit something with the front; it was mostly with the rear,” Stuck said. “It could’ve been the other way, and I wouldn’t be here.”

Stuck tested and raced a variety of Porsches over the years, from 956 and 962 prototypes to a 911 Turbo 3.6 in the IMSA Supercar series, pictured at top left. Porsche

Sports car racing began to change in the mid-’90s, as Group C dissolved and the GT1 class entered the spotlight. Stuck turned the bulk of the laps at Porsche’s test track to help dial in the 962, playing an instrumental role in shaping it into the titan that it became. He returned to Weissach to create its successor, though the process was different.

“GT1 was a completely different story because, when we started, the first GT1 was a 911 body, then it was cut off behind the seats, and a 962 engine was put in there. Did lots of testing and development there. I mean, it was not always easy, but very interesting.”

Hearing Stuck reflect on his long experience across multiple eras and all the development work he undertook for Porsche, it’s his attitude that impresses me more than anything else. Here’s a veteran driver who knows the rigors of racing firsthand. If anyone is in a position to decry how motorsport has transformed over five decades, this is the guy. And how many of us could argue with him?

But Stuck is open to all of it—alternative fuels, electrification, the lot, at least where it makes sense. He’d prefer new racetracks cool it with their “hundred-meter run-off areas,” provided they’re still safe, of course. “When you talk to drivers, why do most drivers love Monaco?” Stuck asked. “It’s because it’s road car driving. You have to be 100% precise.”

But he’s definitely not one to oppose change. Hell—Strietzel has been itching to have a go in the Porsche 963, the brand’s current IMSA GTP competitor that claimed Porsche’s first Sebring victory in 17 years last season. There’s only one thing stopping him, and at 75 years young, it’s not what you’re probably assuming.

“I couldn’t fit into the car—I was too tall, so this was out of any consideration,” Stuck said. “I think I would love to drive one of these cars nowadays! It must be fantastic, to be able to rely on all these fantastic [technologies].”

Hans-Joachim Stuck poses with the Porsche 962 he drove during the ADAC Supercup. Porsche

And, on the flip side, Stuck reckons that a 963 driver jumping into a 962 for the first time would be “positively shocked” by what the gladiators of 40 years ago achieved in their machines.

“When I was a child, my dad was teaching me how to race. He said, ‘Hey, my friend, there are a few number of races, and at least you have to win one of them: It’s Le Mans, the Monaco Grand Prix, Sebring, and Indianapolis,” Stuck said. “So I can be proud to say, ‘OK, I won Sebring, and I won Le Mans.’”

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Hyundai Elexio scores 5 stars for safety, despite risk to pedestrians from SUVs

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 20:58:23 +0000

Hyundai’s Elexio SUV has scored an average 84 per cent in its ANCAP safety rating, falling down in its safety for pedestrians.

It beat 11 of the medium-sized 20 battery electric SUVs currently rated by ANCAP, all of which have five-star ratings,

That list includes the Ionic 5, which scored slightly higher on child safety and road assist, but much lower on vulnerable road user protection.

The Elexio received an 88 per cent rating for adult protection, scoring well if the car has a head on crash but losing points for not automatically calling emergency services in the event of a crash.

It scored 86 per cent for child safety – ANCAP frowned on it not having child presence detection technology – and 85 per cent for safety assist, dragged down by poorer performance of lane-keeping assistant technology.

The lowest score was for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, where the 77 per cent score reflected the dangers for other road users from SUVs.

While it offered “adequate” head protection for adults, that fell to “weak” and “poor” on the sides of the bonnet.

The risk of fatalities for pedestrians and cyclists is 1.7 times higher for other SUVs than for sedans and hatches, according to this study in 2022.

Children are eight times more likely to die when struck by a SUV compared to children struck by a passenger car.

The dangers posed by upsizing cars has been raised by The Driven in the past.

Of the 20 medium-sized battery SUVs rated by ANCAP, only six scored higher that 80 per cent with Tesla’s Model Y the highest at 86 per cent.

Two cars performed so badly in tests around road user safety their ratings were in the 60s — the Ionic 5 and the Genesis GV70.

Scoring lower on safety of other road users did not prevent any of these vehicles gaining a five star ratings, however.

ANCAP said the car “delivered strong protection for other road users, recording solid performance across autonomous emergency braking scenarios involving other vehicles, including motorcycles.”

“Consumers are expecting increasingly comprehensive safety performance from new vehicles in the market regardless of powertrain,” ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said in a statement.

“These five-star results demonstrate solid occupant protection combined with advanced crash avoidance technology, providing confidence for families and fleet buyers alike.”

The Elexio is one of Hyundai’s China-made models, with a 160kW / 310Nm battery and a range that the manufacturer says is up to 546km.

Earlier this month, the South Korean carmaker landed $60 million from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to provide cheaper finance for electric vehicles priced below the luxury car tax threshold.

The deal would see buyers save 0.5-1 per cent on their car loan interest rate.

Hyundai offers a range of EVs in the Australian market, including the Ioniq 5, the Ioniq 6, the Ioniq 9, the Inster, the Kona, and the soon to be released Elexio. Its sister company Kia sells the Niro, the EV3, the EV5, the EV6, the EV9, and the newly released EV4.

Rachel Williamson is a science and business journalist, who focuses on climate change-related health and environmental issues.

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The Tesla Robotaxis Roaming Austin ‘Without Safety Monitors’ Are Accompanied by Cars Full of Safety Monitors

admin — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 17:27:21 +0000

Elon Musk took to X earlier this week to announce that Tesla is now operating robotaxis in Austin, Texas, without safety monitors in the car. While we’re happy to call Musk out on a fib, it appears he was being quite literal about the whole situation. Tesla is indeed operating robotaxis in Austin without safety monitors inside those taxis, but that doesn’t mean they’re absent. Instead, they’re accompanying them from the confines of a separate chase car—or chase cars, as video from a robotaxi user demonstrates.

While Tesla’s launch of the supposedly unmonitored vehicles made big headlines this week, the presence of spotters was not widely reported. It came to our attention by way of Electrek, which reported on the story Thursday.

Recent updates to Tesla’s so-called “Full Self-Driving” suite have finally enabled users to see the sort of reliability Musk promised nearly a decade ago, as Alex Roy and his merry band of autonomy geeks demonstrated yesterday by pulling off a drive from Los Angeles to New York with zero interventions. FSD was far from flawless, and weather and human error conspired to stretch it hours longer than previous attempts, but the car completed the journey without human takeover nonetheless.

My first unsupervised @robotaxi ride here in Austin! Come along with me on this 1st experience of driving around Austin with just me in the car and in the back seat!

Congrats to the @Tesla_AI team! pic.twitter.com/YVJ19zp2qZ

— Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer) January 22, 2026

The secret sauce that enabled this transition was introduced in a recent build of FSD, which is now in revision 14.2.2.3 as of the time of publication. Now, when FSD encounters an error that would have previously resulted in an immediate hand-off to the driver, rather than shutting down entirely while awaiting manual input, the software will continuously attempt to recover on its own. It’s known as TOI (“Take Over Immediately”) Recovery, or as I’ve already taken to calling it, “Try, Try Again” mode.

The end result is fewer FSD disengagements, which is likely why Tesla’s confidence level has improved so much. Roy told us that he saw the feature trigger twice on his trip, both times resulting in successful recoveries by the software. In other words, without TOI Recovery, Musk’s promised Los Angeles to New York trip would still be a hypothetical—nine years after he promised it.

But even with TOI Recovery, there are still limits to what FSD can do without human intervention. As long as that remains true, we expect the safety monitors to remain in tow. Sounds expensive, but if anybody can afford it, it’s Tesla.

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Car industry Safety | News

admin — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:14:10 +0000

IN A tranche of recent ANCAP testing Chinese brands Chery, MG and MG sub-brand IM Motor all achieved the maximum five-star rating from the independent car safety assessment body.

The Tiggo 7 Medium segment SUV and Tiggo 8 Large segment SUV achieved the top rating across both ICE and Super Hybrid variants of the range.

Drilling deeper into the crash testing data we find both vehicles were scored by ANCAP at 82 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection, 86 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 80 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection and 82 per cent for Safety Assist features.

“The availability of safe alternate-powered SUVs continues to expand, with testing confirming all Chery Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid variants hold five-star ANCAP safety ratings, alongside their petrol counterparts,” said ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg.

“With these ratings, Chery has demonstrated high levels of vehicle safety performance, regardless of powertrain.”

Responding for Chery, chief operating officer Lucas Harris said, “We are delighted to receive the prestigious five star ANCAP safety rating for the 2025 Tiggo 7 and 8 models.”

“This acknowledgement highlights our steadfast dedication to delivering vehicles that adhere to the most stringent safety standards, offering assurance and peace of mind to our customers,” he added.

Moving to Chinese competitor MG we find a similar ANCAP five-star outcome for both the Small SUV segment MGS5 EV and IM 5 Medium segment sedan (assessed as a large sedan in ANCAP’s ratings) each recognised as ANCAP Safety Top Performers for 2025 which deliver “best-in-class protection for Australian drivers, passengers and road users”.

The accolade anoints ANCAP’s leading safety performers for 2025, representing the safest new vehicles across each segment in Australia.

Each year, ANCAP identifies the strongest-performing vehicles based on their results across Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist categories.

“Recognition of these MG models as ANCAP Safety Top Performers is another proof point for Australian drivers, reinforcing our dedication to safety, quality and innovation,” said MG Motor Australia head of product Meng Chen.

“These accolades were previously the preserve of expensive European vehicles, and it’s our commitment to consistent improvement that means with MG you can trust you’re getting truly world class safety, along with unbeatable value without compromising on technology, performance or style.”

The ANCAP top performer results reflect the increasing demand for high levels of safety performance across the most popular vehicle types and set the benchmark for safety performance in Australia for 2025, showing consumers and fleets the safest options on local roads.

In hard data, the IM 5 scored 89 per cent for Adult Occupant protection (90 per cent for the MG S5 EV), 91 per cent for Child Occupant Protection (86 per cent for the MG S5 EV), 85 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection (82 per cent for the MG S5 EV) and 79 per cent for Safety Assist features (79 per cent for MG S5 EV).

ANCAP five-star-rated MGs now include the ZS, HS, QS, U9, MG 7, and the MG 4.

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