The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a ban under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) on most uses of methylene chloride (CH2Cl2). Methylene chloride, also known as dichloromethane and DCM, is a volatile chemical used in a wide range of industrial, commercial, and consumer applications such as adhesives,... Read more →

Toyota’s #32 ORC ROOKIE GR Corolla H2 Concept (hydrogen-powered Corolla) (earlier post), which was scheduled to participate in the ENEOS Super Taikyu Series 2023 Powered by Hankook Round 1 Suzuka to be held on 18 and 19 March 2023, will not be racing. During a private test run at Fuji... Read more →

The US Coast Guard has issued a Marine Safety Alert (01-23) recommending that shippers avoid loading EVs with Li-ion batteries that have been damaged by saltwater. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), residual salt within the battery or battery components can form conductive “bridges” that can lead... Read more →

A team from University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany examined the various aspects of e-scooter associated injuries using one of the largest cohorts to date, and reported their findings and recommendations in an open-access paper in Scientific Reports. E-scooter rentals became widely available in Hamburg starting in June 2019;... Read more →

During a keynote speech to the Transportation Research Board annual meeting Wednesday, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy questioned the safety impact of electric vehicles. I’m concerned about the increased risk of severe injury and death for all road users from heavier curb weights and increasing size, power,... Read more →

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has been awarded a two-year, $650,000-contract from the US Department of Transportation to study the risks posed by gases dissolved in hazardous liquids during transport. The federal government has well-defined quantitative criteria and regulations for distinguishing hazardous liquids and gases as well as how and in... Read more →

Derq, an MIT spin-off and provider of real-time artificial intelligence (AI) analytics solutions for intelligent roads and connected vehicles, released at the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) 102nd Annual Meeting an industry-first Automated Safety Performance Monitoring solution to help agencies with safety scoring and prioritization across various road networks in the... Read more →

The US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its latest statistical projections for traffic fatalities in 2022, estimating that 31,785 people died in traffic crashes in the first nine months of the year. This represents a marginal 0.2% decrease as compared to the 31,850 estimated... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk determinations for n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) and 1-bromopropane (1-BP). The EPA determined that NMP and 1-BP, as whole chemical substances, present an unreasonable risk of injury to human health when evaluated under their conditions of use.... Read more →

TTTech Auto, the Vienna-based provider of automotive safety software, is expanding its operations with a dedicated subsidiary in China. The new TTTech Auto branch in Shanghai will bring its expertise and the series proven safe vehicle software platform, MotionWise, to car manufacturers, Tier 1 suppliers and partners to the rapidly... Read more →

Honeywell is expanding its strategic alliance with Nexceris, developer of Li-ion Tamer lithium-ion gas detection solutions, to help make electric vehicles (EVs) safer. Honeywell and Nexceris will co-develop sensor-based solutions to help prevent conditions leading to thermal runaway in EV batteries. Global sales of EVs doubled in 2021 from the... Read more →

KULR Technology Group has achieved operational readiness for its Fractional Thermal Runaway Calorimeter (FTRC) within its suite of battery safety and thermal management solutions after finalizing a commercial licensing agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the agency’s patent-pending FTRC solution. Originally developed by NASA and refined... Read more →

Honda plans to expand the capabilities of its previously announced Honda Sensing 360 and Honda Sensing Elite advanced safety and driver assistive systems. The improved Honda Sensing 360 system will begin rolling out in the second half of the decade and will be standard on all new Honda and Acura... Read more →

Gig-economy workers are four times as likely as other drivers to use smartphone apps regularly while driving, according to a new survey from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Parents are also nearly 50% more prone to routinely making video calls, checking weather reports and other types of smartphone-enabled... Read more →

Researchers from the Senseable City Laboratory at MIT report that crowdsourced data from the smartphones of vehicle passengers crossing bridges may help monitor bridge structural integrity. An open-access paper on their demonstration is published in the Nature journal Communications Engineering. Monitoring and managing the structural health of bridges requires expensive... Read more →

Ascend Performance Materials has developed two materials for electric vehicles that improve safety and passenger comfort. The company’s Starflam X-Protect and Vydyne AVS tackle two unique challenges automakers face when developing their EV platforms. Starflam X-Protect is a flame-retardant nylon 66 that withstands exposure to 1,100 °C direct flame for... Read more →

Audi recently held demonstrations of Connected Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) technology in Oceanside, California. The demonstrations showcased a variety of C-V2X use cases which offer the potential to reduce the likelihood of collisions between vehicles and cyclists. C-V2X is the use of cellular communications technology between a vehicle and its... Read more →

A new research report released by the Transportation Research Board (TRB), E-scooter Safety: Issues and Solutions, finds that amid a rapid rise in the use and prevalence of electric scooters (e-scooters) on US roads and sidewalks, more must be done to address regulatory, infrastructure and educational deficiencies that are putting... Read more →

​​​ An investigation into a California crash that killed nine—including seven children—has led the National Transportation Safety Board to call for alcohol detection systems to be included in all new vehicles, according to new recommendations released Tuesday. The crash, on New Year’s Day 2021 in Avenal, California, was caused by... Read more →

Ford Motor Company is researching new smartphone-based communications technology that could potentially help warn drivers of pedestrians, bicyclists and more—even those approaching a vehicle’s path but blocked from a driver’s view. The concept smartphone app, which would run on a pedestrian’s phone, uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) messaging to communicate... Read more →

Power management company Eaton’s eMobility business has introduced a single-stage vent valve for electrified vehicle (EV) batteries. The valve acts as an overpressure relief for the vehicle’s battery pack. As the electrified vehicle market continues to grow, battery packs are becoming progressively more powerful and create more heat. OEMs are... Read more →

Electric vehicles are booming, with more than a million on German roads as of this year. This, in turn, means that an increasing number of alternative-fueled vehicles are transported on roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ferries. However, there are particular conditions associated with traveling at sea, such as the sea state, salt levels... Read more →

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is introducing a nighttime test of pedestrian automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems to address the high percentage of pedestrian crashes that occur on dark roads. Four of the first 23 midsize cars, midsize SUVs and small pickups tested earn the highest rating of... Read more →

Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) announced four additional research projects are being added to the next phase of its pioneering automotive safety research. The projects include a study of human diversity in injury biomechanics; a look at technologies that can help prevent impaired drivers from endangering themselves or others;... Read more →

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 9,560 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the first quarter of 2022. This is an increase of about 7% as compared to the 8,935 fatalities projected for the same quarter in 2021. This would be the highest number of... Read more →

UL Solutions announced the Battery Enclosure Thermal Runaway (BETR) evaluation, the first material screening test method at UL Solutions to evaluate electric vehicle (EV) battery enclosure material. The offering is based on UL 2596, Test Method for Thermal and Mechanical Performance of Battery Enclosure Materials. Battery performance has continually presented... Read more →

At the end of Q2, Aurora Innovation, Inc. delivered its Beta 3.0 product update and demonstrated its Fault Management System—specifically the Aurora Driver’s ability to detect system issues and respond by safely pulling over to the side of the road without any human involvement. A reliable Fault Management System is... Read more →

Bosch eBike Systems is presenting eBike innovations for model year 2023 at Eurobike (13 - 17 July in Frankfurt), including a new antilock braking system (ABS). Incorrect braking is one of the main causes of cycling accidents. The front wheel brake on a bicycle is crucial for a short braking... Read more →

CARIAD, the Volkswagen Group’s software company, has selected BlackBerry QNX technology as one component of its software platform VW.OS. Announced as part of Volkswagen Group’s NEW AUTO strategy, CARIAD is developing a unified software platform that consists of VW.OS, the Volkswagen Cloud VW.AC and a scalable, unified end-to-end electronic architecture.... Read more →

GM is expanding its efforts to educate public safety, fire and emergency service providers throughout the United States and Canada as EV sales grow. The company’s latest EV First Responder Training program will focus primarily on personnel in fire services, providing instruction and sharing of best practices on how to... Read more →

Improving road safety by adopting proven interventions targeting four key risk factors for road injuries (speeding, drunk driving, lack of helmet, and seatbelt use) in 185 countries could save between 347,000 and 540,000 lives worldwide every year, and offers enormous potential to improve the health and development of individuals and... Read more →

Leclanché reports a significant breakthrough in the safety of its lithium-ion batteries without compromising cell performance. By adding a special fire-retardant additive to its electrolyte formula composition, Leclanché has lowered the risk of a thermal event by close to 80%. The achievement has been validated by Intertek Germany, a third-party... Read more →

Toyota is conducting a safety recall of 2023 model year bZ4X EVs. Approximately 2,700 units of the EV are affected globally, with 2,200 in Europe, 260 vehicles in the US, 10 for Canada and 110 for Japan, the company said. Toyota began selling the EV, co-developed with Subaru, earlier this... Read more →

BlackBerry Limited announced that Strategy Analytics, a leading independent research firm, has determined BlackBerry QNX software is now embedded in more than 215 million vehicles worldwide, an increase of 20 million from the year before. BlackBerry provides safety-certified embedded software for automotive OEMs and Tier 1s including BMW, Bosch, Continental,... Read more →

Memory solutions company Micron has received the first International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 26262 Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) D certification of memory for its low-power double data rate 5 (LPDDR5) DRAM, which is based on its first-to-market 1α (1-alpha) process node. With next-generation advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) applications requiring... Read more →

Ford is recalling certain 2021-2022 Mustang Mach-E vehicles because the high voltage battery main contactors may overheat, causing the vehicle to lose drive power. The defect affects 48,294 vehicles. In the defective vehicles, DC fast charging and repeated wide-open pedal events can cause the high voltage battery main contactors to... Read more →

Toyota Connected North America (TCNA), an independent software and innovation center of excellence, has introduced its Cabin Awareness concept technology that uses millimeter-wave, high-resolution 4D imaging radar to help detect occupants (including certain pets) in cars and has the potential to detect them if ever they’re left behind. The Cabin... Read more →

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have found that autonomous vehicles can be tricked into an abrupt halt or other undesired driving behavior by the placement of an ordinary object on the side of the road. The team recently A box, bicycle or traffic cone may “scare” a driverless... Read more →

Continental is launching two new sensors for electrified vehicles: the Current Sensor Module (CSM) and the Battery Impact Detection (BID) system. Both new solutions focus on protecting the battery and/or on battery parameter retention. The high-voltage Current Sensor Module (CSM), which will move into production this year, measures the current... Read more →

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released its early estimate of traffic fatalities for 2021. NHTSA projects that an estimated 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes last year—a 10.5% increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020. The projection is the highest number of fatalities since 2005 and... Read more →

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that the application process is now open for communities of all sizes to apply (DOT-SS4A-FY22-01) for $1 billion in Fiscal Year 2022 funding to help them ensure safe streets and roads for all and address the national roadway safety crisis. The Safe Streets... Read more →

General Motors and INRIX, a leader in mobility analytics and connected car services, are collaborating to develop safety solutions to help transportation and planning agencies achieve road safety goals. Available first in the US, Safety View by GM Future Roads & INRIX is a cloud-based application that provides transportation officials... Read more →

Paris transport operator RATP has temporarily withdrawn Bolloré brand electric buses from operation after two separate bus fires. On Friday, 29 April, a fire broke out on a bus on line 71, towards the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand stop (Paris, 13th arrondissement). The bus driver immediately evacuated the passengers. There are... Read more →

Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) introduced nine new projects being launched as part of the next phase of its automotive safety research, backed by the new five-year, $30-million commitment announced last year. The new research projects, announced during a virtual CSRC media event showcasing safer mobility, will examine the... Read more →

ZF is set to launch a Collision Mitigation System (CMS) for city buses. Offering active braking to help avoid frontal collisions with other road users, including vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, the system also helps counter the adverse impact of braking momentum on passengers. Helping reduce the risk of accidents and... Read more →

Nissan announced a new driver-assistance technology, which is currently in-development, that utilizes highly accurate, real-time information about the vehicle’s surrounding environment to enhance collision avoidance significantly. At a Nissan facility in Yokohama, a test vehicle demonstrated how this technology can automatically perform collision-avoidance maneuvers. ProPILOT Concept Zero test vehicle Nissan’s... Read more →

Magna is expanding its ADAS and electrification footprint with the opening of a new plant in Kechnec, Slovakia. The brownfield facility will support two European automakers and new global entrant. Covering an area of approximately 22,000 square meters, the facility is expected to begin operations in the fourth quarter of... Read more →

Seeing Machines, an advanced computer vision technology company that designs AI-powered operator monitoring systems, is collaborating with Magna on a demonstrator that features a fully integrated Driver Monitoring System (DMS) combining camera, electronics, and interior mirror technology. The demonstrator combines Magna’s industry leading mirror technology, camera design, integration, and packaging... Read more →

Audi and Navistar have partnered to develop further and demonstrate potential safety-enhancing C-V2X technology in Navistar emergency vehicles and school buses. The partnership allows for both companies to develop use cases and safety enhancing demonstrations in close collaboration as members of the Volkswagen Group. First deployments are expected to begin... Read more →

>Metis Engineering revealed the beta version of its Production Battery Safety Sensor, designed to monitor the health of a lithium-ion battery pack and detect cell venting, an early sign of catastrophic battery failure. Metis Engineering Managing Director Joe Holdsworth said that the team plans to make one or two minor... Read more →