Through the Healthystuff.org project, Jeff Gearhart, Research Director at the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is spearheading the effort to make green cars healthy and safe for both the environment and the people in them. While stronger government regulations on fuel efficiency, and tougher air pollution standards are helping to keep our environment clean, what about the air quality inside your car?

Gearhart says:

“Research shows that vehicle interiors contain a unique cocktail of hundreds of toxic chemicals that off-gas in small, confined spaces. Since these chemicals are not regulated, consumers have no way of knowing the dangers they face. Our testing is intended to expose those dangers and encourage manufacturers to use safer alternatives.”

After testing over 200 of the most popular models of 2011-2012 vehicles, the Ecology Center published a report naming the best and the worst vehicles. During the past several years, Honda and Toyota have worked hard to improve their indoor air quality and this year they are on the top of the list for healthier cars.

The top cars this year are: #1 – Honda Civic, #2 – Toyota Prius, and #3 – Honda CR-Z. The most toxic and lowest ranking cars are: #1 – Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, #2 – Chrysler 200 SC, and #3 – Kia Soul.

This year the Civic made it to the #1 spot by having no bromine-based flame retardants in any of their interior components and also having no PVC in the interior fabrics. These chemicals are known to cause many health problems, including allergies, birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity, and cancer.

Other automakers are making air quality an important issue and continue to improve their vehicles. The 3 automakers making the most improvements in average fleet ratings are: Volkswagen with a 42% improvement, Mitsubishi up 38%, and Ford increasing by 30%. These are improvements in average vehicle scores between the combined 2009-2010 models years and the combined 2011-2012 model years.

If you are shopping for a new car, check the data for not only fuel efficiency and safety features, but also indoor air quality. Use the chart below as a quick reference guide.

Chart from: < http://www.healthystuff.org/departments/cars/press.releases.php>

Keeping yourself and your family safe while driving is extremely important. Remember to always use seat belts and put children in child safety seats. To avoid a car accident, drive appropriately for weather and road conditions. When shopping for a new car, get all the facts and make informed decisions on all of the vehicle health and safety features.

We all know that our bodies and minds change as we age. While experience and wisdom comes with getting older, we must also remember that everyone ages differently. There is no specific time when changes in our physical or mental abilities will happen, or what they will be.

Getting older does not automatically mean losing abilities or independence. It also does not mean we have to stop driving. It does mean we have to watch for warning signs and take appropriate steps, adjusting to whatever changes we are experiencing. It does mean that we need to ensure we are doing everything we can to continue to drive safely.

If you or someone in your family is experiencing changes due to aging, watch for the warning signs which may affect safe driving.

A few examples may be:

• Vision-related problems, which are one of the primary reasons that people stop driving.
• Muscle stiffness and weakness, which may make it difficult to turn the steering wheel, or turn your head when scanning at an intersection.
• Diminished brain power. The roads are very busy with many vehicles, signs, lights, pedestrians and unlimited distractions.

Follow up to ensure safe driving:

• Have your eyes examined and hearing checked on a regular basis. Make sure to wear any corrective lenses or prescribed hearing aids.
• Stay active and exercise regularly to keep strong and able to move freely.
• Eat well and get enough rest to keep your mind active and strong as well.

It’s also important to maintain your car and your good driving habits:

• Keep the windows, mirrors and headlights clean.
• Buy a car with automatic transmission, power steering and power brakes.
• Keep the car radio and your cell phone turned off. Distractions are dangerous.
• Scan intersections carefully. Take extra time and check more than once. Intersections are one of the most dangerous areas when driving.
• Take a driving refresher course. Studies show great improvements with relearning good driving habits and improving driving skills.
• Don’t drive at night. Everyone has diminished vision in the dark. Accident rates are higher at night.
• Know your limits. If you are less confident at high speeds, stay off the freeway. If you are unsure when driving in rain or snow, don’t do it. Be smart and be safe.

It’s important to continue to drive safely at all stages of life. Getting older doesn’t have to mean that you have to stop driving. It does mean you have to stay on top of the changes in your self and in your driving situations.

Car safety seats are essential for keeping children safe, particularly if they are in an auto accident. Most parents are diligent about using the child safety seats when traveling with their infants and toddlers. However, as the kids grow older, sometimes we are not as careful.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have laws that require children to use child safety seats when traveling in cars. Although some states permit older children to use adult safety belts, the national recommendation is use of a child safety seats until a child is 5 7 inches tall.  While children usually reach this height when they are approximately 11 years old, most state laws require booster seats only to age eight.

A study done by the University of Michigan’s CS Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, surveyed 681 parents regarding use of child safety restraints in vehicles. Seventy six percent of the parents reported using child safety seats.

The research also found more than 30% of parents don’t always require use of booster seats when their kids are with another driver. Interestingly, 45% of parents don’t require their own children to use a booster when they are driving other children who don’t have booster seats. Dr. Michelle Macy, pediatrician and lead study author, said this is “disturbing because close to 70% of parents say they carpool children other than their own, and when they do, they’re often failing to use booster seats,”

It’s not clear why parents are less diligent about safety seat use when their kids are carpooling. Some of the reasons given to researchers were simple things such as: limited space in the vehicle, difficulty of making arrangements, and even peer pressure that some older children feel. Although these obstacles may be very real, it’s important to remember that risk of injury is reduced 50% when using safety seats rather than seat belts.

When children use adult seat belts before the shoulder or lap belt fits properly, it can be very dangerous and may not be life-saving. “Parents need to understand the importance of using a booster seat for every child who does not fit properly in an adult seat belt on every trip,” said Dr. Macy.

For more information on safe car travel with children: http://michigan-auto-accident.com/michigan-car-accident-legal-help-center/child-safety-in-cars.html

It makes no difference whether you are a driver or passenger, any auto accident is a frightening experience. A rollover accident, however, is one of the most dangerous. Why?  Let’s start with the statistics:

• In 2002, there were 11 million crashes involving a passenger car, SUV, or pickup truck, and only 3% of those involved a rollover.
• More than 10,000 people died in those crashes, for a fatality rate of is 33%. Most of those victims (72%) were not wearing safety belts.
• Vehicles with a higher center of gravity, like SUV’s, vans, or pickup trucks, were more prone to rollovers in single vehicle crashes.
• The majority of all fatal rollovers were at speeds higher than 55 MPH, and 40% of those accidents involved speeding.
• 85% of all fatalities from rollover accidents were single vehicle crashes.

So rollovers have a higher fatality rate than other kinds of crashes, and usually involve only one vehicle. How do these terrible accidents happen?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describes two causes for a rollover and divides them into 2 categories; tripped rollovers and un-tripped.  Here’s the difference between the two.

A Tripped Rollover is just what its title describes. The vehicle “trips” or “stumbles” over something and falls over itself. Almost all (95%) of single-vehicle rollovers are tripped. The vehicle may go off the road, slide sideways, and its tires hit something, causing it to stumble and roll. It can be something as simple as soft soil, a change in slope, or even a guard rail.

Sometimes, a vehicle traveling on a highway drifts into another lane, the driver quickly makes a steering correction and over corrects. Then the tires hit the soft soil on the shoulder and  the vehicle trips, causing it to rollover. It’s not just soft soil that can do this; it could be a guardrail, or curb, snow bank or just about any object.

Tripping also can happen on a steep slope. A vehicle may be going down a steep hill and start to pick up speed. The driver misjudges the steepness of the hill, and any turn or correction is too much at the traveling speed. The vehicle rolls over and tumbles down the hill.

An Untripped Rollover is much less common. These type of accidents occur less than 5% of the time, and happen most often in vehicles that are top-heavy. An untripped rollover usually happens when a driver is trying to avoid a crash, and over corrects. Often the vehicle is heavily loaded and the weight of the cargo causes the vehicle to be top heavy and rollover.

Rollovers are violent, tragic crashes. More often than other types of crashes, they are caused by driver behavior, road conditions, and environmental factors. Too often it’s a correction after a brief distraction. Now that you know how how fatal a single car rollover can be, use extra caution to avoid an accident.

For more information about protecting your legal rights in a rollover accident:
http://www.callsam.tv/car-accidents/how-can-you-protect-your-legal-rights-after-a-michigan-auto-accident.html

http://michigan-auto-accident.com/michigan-car-accident-legal-help-center/suv-rollover-accidents.html?task=view

Resources: http://www.safercar.gov

Air bags are an important safety device found in vehicles since 1987. They are only meant to be used with safety belts, to protect a person from hitting the dashboard, side of the car, or other parts of the vehicle’s interior during a crash.

Between 1987 and 2008, frontal air bags saved 25,782 people.  Both front and side-impact air bags are triggered in a moderate to severe crash.

How Do Air Bags Work?

When your vehicle is involved in a crash, a signal is sent  to the air bag module. This triggers a chemical reaction, which produces a harmless gas to inflate the air bag instantly — in less than 1/20th of a second.

Then the air bag quickly deflates, letting the gas out through vents in the fabric so it doesn’t smother anyone, or restrict their movement after a crash.

This entire process of air bag inflation and deflation is very quick and usually happens in less than a second.
In the event of a rollover crash, which lasts longer than an impact event, the side and front air bags are designed to provide rollover protection and remain inflated longer. Side-impact air bags inflate even more rapidly, because there is less space between the person and the interior side of the vehicle.

Air bags are designed to save lives, and they do. However, they deploy so rapidly and with such force that serious, sometimes fatal, injuries happen if the person is too close to the air bag when it begins to deploy.

The force of an inflating air bag can be especially dangerous for children and small adults. Here are a few precautions you should always take to ensure the air bags are saving lives, and not injuring you or your family:

• The back seat is the safest place for children. All children under 13 years always should be in the back seat.
• Read your owner’s manual for specific information about the air bags in your vehicle.
• If your vehicle has an air bag ON-OFF switch, check it whenever you have a passenger. One survey shows that 48% of these switches were incorrectly left ON for child passengers under age 13.
• Air bags are designed to be used only once. If they are deployed they cannot be reused. Used air bags should be replaced immediately, and only by an authorized repair center – before the vehicle is driven again.
• Sit as far back from the steering wheel or dashboard as possible and use seat belts to help keep you a safe distance from a front air bag.

Most newer vehicles have air bag fabrics with a silicone coating, or something similar, to allow the fabric to deploy very quickly. Older models used nontoxic cornstarch or talcum powder to lubricate the fabric. Unfortunately, the powder sometimes looked like it was smoke even though it was actually harmless.

Some heavily coated side curtain air bags developed for rollover crash protection may still be lubricated with talcum powder. Don’t be alarmed if you are in an auto accident and you see the cloud of dust that looks like smoke.

Now you know how air bags work and how to use them safely. Hopefully, you will never need them.

Passenger vans are used to transport people and cargo all over the country. Many organizations, from sports teams to churches, use the 15-passenger van. These vans are longer, higher, and wider, so they handle very differently from smaller passenger vehicles.

They require more space, consistent use of the side mirrors for changing lanes, and additional braking distances. A15-passenger van also has a higher risk of crashes and rollover accidents if not properly driven and maintained correctly.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research shows these vehicles have a greater risk of rollover due to:

• Inexperienced drivers
• Improperly sized and/or inflated tires
• Incorrectly loaded cargo and passengers that affect center of gravity

Tire maintenance is of the utmost importance to preventing tragedies, like rollover crashes.  Users of 15-passenger vans must ensure the vehicles have appropriately-sized tires that are properly inflated before every trip.

NHTSA safety tips for traveling in a 15-passenger van:

• Owners should make sure the vehicle is properly maintained.
• Drivers need to be properly licensed, fully trained and experienced in operating 15-passenger vans.
• 15-passenger vans are very sensitive to loading and should not be overloaded under any circumstances. Research shows overloading increases rollover risk and makes the vehicle more unstable in any handling maneuvers.
• Tires must be the proper size for the vehicle. Before every trip, drivers should check the tires for proper inflation, and make sure there are no signs of wear. Correct tire size and inflation pressure information can be found in the owner’s manual.
• If you are a passenger, buckle up for every trip. Unrestrained passengers  are 3 times more likely to die in a single car auto accident then those wearing safety belts.

Resources:  http://www.nhtsa.gov

Auto theft and vandalism are serious problems in many communities. Depending on where you live, the vehicle theft rate in your neighborhood can even affect your car insurance rates. There are a number of ways to help prevent auto theft.

Thieves become ever more clever in the ways they can quickly steal a car. Car makers and after-market companies have products to help deter auto theft, but even with the newest technology, preventing car theft depends on your efforts as well.

There are a number of common sense measures that you can take to help ensure you and your vehicle are not the victim of crime.

1. Remove your keys from the ignition. This is common sense, but we all get busy and sometimes forget even the simplest of things.  Keys in plain sight are just an open invitation to car thieves.
2. If you are parking in a driveway, lock the car and park facing the street so anyone tampering with the car is more noticeable. Put the emergency brake on and leave the transmission in “park.” Manual transmissions should be left in reverse.
3. Don’t leave spare keys in the car, in a hidden spot in the garage, or in a “hide-a-key” box. Experienced thieves know even the best hiding places.
4. Lock the car doors and close the windows.
5. Never leave your car running unattended, no matter how quick the errand.
6. Whenever possible, park in a garage and lock both the car and the garage. If you are parking in a commercial lot or garage, leave only the ignition key with the attendant. If street parking is your only choice, select safe, well-lit areas and park with the front wheels turned sharply to the curb. This makes it difficult for thieves to tow your car.
7. Lock personal property, especially valuable items like cell phones, cameras, or laptops, in the trunk or hide them where they’re not visible. If you lock items in the trunk, do so in a secluded area.
8. Keep a copy of your license plate number and vehicle information numbers (VIN) on a card and keep them with you. The police will need this information to take a report if your vehicle is stolen.
9. Keep your registration card in your wallet or purse instead of the glove compartment. Make photocopies to keep at home.
10. If your vehicle is stolen, report it to the police immediately.

Riding the school bus can often be a right of passage. A child is old enough and brave enough to climb up the steps, take a seat and join the other kids on their way to school without mom or dad. But what about the buses — are they a safe form of transportation for our children, at any age?

One of the responsibilities of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is establishing federal motor vehicle safety standards. The goal is to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from motor vehicle accidents, including crashes involving school buses.

NHTSA regulations and enforcement have helped to make school buses the safest way for children to travel to and from school. The federal agency now requires new school buses to meet the same safety standards as all other passenger motor vehicles.  These include improved emergency exits, roof structure, seating and fuel systems, and bus body joint integrity.  The newer buses are built with safety as one of their highest priorities and include strict standards for strength, cleanliness and maintenance. Even school bus drivers are required to undergo training in both security and emergency medical response. Drivers are routinely tested for drug and alcohol use to help ensure child safety.

So how safe are school buses compared to all other motor vehicles? School buses are one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States.  Here is what NHTSA reports:

• More than 42,000 people are killed in traffic accidents in the U.S. every year.
• There are approximately 450,000 public school buses on the road each year and they travel about 4.3 billion miles.
• School buses transport 23.5 million children to and from school and school-related activities annually.
• Each year, an average of 6 school age children who are school bus passengers die in school bus crashes throughout the U.S..
• Approximately 17 fatalities per year involve pedestrians, with about one-third of these resulting from drivers illegally passing a stopped school bus.
• Approximately 450 deaths of school age children are killed in auto accidents during normal school travel hours from teenager is drivers.
• Approximately 184 school age children are killed in auto accidents during normal school travel hours in auto accidents with adult drivers.

It seems clear that, with the improved safety and integrity of school buses and higher training and performance requirements for the school bus drivers, sending your children to school by bus is one of the safest choices.

When you are replacing the tires on your current car, it’s wise to learn about the different lines and features.  There are hundreds of makes and models of tires from which to choose. Just like when you are buying a car, you want to make an educated choice.  Deciding on the right car means reading the safety statistics, matching your needs to car features, comparing prices, etc.  It’s the same process for buying tires.  How much you drive, your vehicle, your style of driving, and the types of your passengers or cargo, will all determine the best tires for you. Tire performance is a key factor in car accident prevention.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is one source for getting useful information  NHTSA has rated more than 2,400 tires, including most styles used on passenger cars, minivans, SUVs and light pickup trucks.  The grading system it uses is the Uniform Tire Quality Grading System (UTQGS), and provides consumers with information based on three criteria.

1. Tire treadwear:  This measures a tire’s wear rate. A higher the treadwear number indicates it lasts longer. This is established by assigning a control tire a grade of 100. Test tires are compared to this control tire to see how long it takes for the tread to wear down.  So, for example, a tire with a grade of 200 should take twice as long to wear out as the control tire.
2. Traction performance:  This tests a tire’s ability to stop on wet pavement. A higher traction graded tire should allow a car to stop on wet roads in a shorter distance than a tire with a lower grade. Traction is graded from highest to lowest as “AA”, “A”, “B”, and “C”.
3. Temperature resistance:  This is a measure of a tire’s resistance to heat. When driving for long distance, or in hot weather, tires can increase in temperature, which can cause tread separation, blowouts and general deterioration. From highest to lowest, a tire’s resistance to heat is graded as “A”, “B”, or “C”.

For more information about tire safety and testing, or if you want to look up a specific brand or model of tire, go to http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Shoppers/Tires/Tires+Rating

Changing a tire is one of those basic things we learn to do when we get a drivers license. Most of us know how to do it, but it’s always a good idea to practice it at least once before you actually need to change a tire. It’s not difficult to do in your driveway, or in a parking lot, or even at the side of a quiet street. On a busy street or highway, or in a dangerous area, is quite a different story.

There are times when it really is best to call for assistance instead of trying to change a tire yourself.

When to call for help:

• If you have a flat tire and you are driving on a busy road with no safe place to stop.
• When the roads are icy or slippery.
• When it’s dark, rainy or foggy.
• If you are parked on a slope or a curve in the road.
• If you are in a dangerous area and do not feel comfortable.

All of these situations are examples of when it’s impossible for you to ensure your safety, the safety of your passengers, or the safety of other drivers. The best way to avoid an auto accident in these circumstances is to call for help.

While you are waiting for road assistance, stay calm and make sure your hazard lights are on. If you have any flares, it’s a good idea to put them on the road next to your car. Anything that helps other drivers see you and avoid a collision is a good thing!