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Restraining “Road Rage”

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Road rage is something most motorists experience at some point or another, but something very few people act on. When the phrase was coined in the 1980’s, it referred to rampant shootings on Interstate 405 in California. And while many of us are never likely to experience that level of roadside aggression, we may encounter aggressive drivers that use rude words and gestures in a futile attempt to move traffic forward.

Aggressive driving tactics are dangerous to the driver and other motorists on any roadway, as it puts everyone at higher risk for collision and injury as well as property damage. And while there is no clearly defined law against aggressive driving, people experiencing road rage and engaging in aggressive driving often break traffic laws by speeding, not using their blinker, running stoplights, or not giving other motorists right of way. This kind of driving poses a huge risk to others on the average commute.

Dealing with road rage however, is relatively easy and has the possibility to improve commuting for everyone. But first we have to recognize when road rage is occurring.

Signs that you or someone near you is experiencing road rage:

  1. The driver is expressing anger through gestures, yelling, or honking their horn repeatedly.
  2. The driver is flashing their headlights incessantly to distract or get the attention of other motorists.
  3. The vehicle is changing lanes frequently and quickly.
  4. The driver behind you is “tailgating” or driving significantly close to your bumper.
  5. (In traffic) a driver has exited their vehicle in order to confront another driver.
  6. A driver intentionally collides with another vehicle
  7. A driver produces a weapon or other firearm.

If you are experiencing road rage and are engaging in any of these actions, there are plenty of ways to re-direct this aggression and get to a calmer state.

The first thing you should do is pull off the road if you can, find a parking lot or side-street and take a few minutes to calm down. Get out of your car and breathe some fresh air if you think that would help. A common technique for calming is breathing exercises: inhaling for four seconds, and exhaling for seven or eight. If this fails to make you more relaxed after a few minutes then you may consider calling a friend to vent your frustrations verbally.

Stress is the prime contributor to road rage, whether you find that stress on the road, or bring it with you from work or home is irrelevant. Finding peace and relieving stress can positively affect your driving style, and your daily outlook.

If you have to stay in the car, it may be helpful to keep a stress-ball in your glove compartment, and squeeze it repeatedly to relieve stress. If this is also not an option, switching your radio station to a calmer channel can help as well. If you listen to more aggressive or active music, studies show that  music can affect your mood in many situations, therefore switching to a calmer station may help calm your current emotions of rage.

If you notice another driver engaging in dangerous, reckless, or aggressive behavior the easiest way to avoid collision r injury is to avoid the other motorist. Keep a safe distance and do not engage with the other driver. If you feel threatened or in danger call 911 and let them know of your emergency. Do not try to calm down a raging driver, just keep your distance and try to remain calm yourself.

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2015 FORD F-150 SUPERCREW EARNS 5-STAR TOP GOVERNMENT CRASH RATINGS

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f150-frame-and-body

  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awards 2015 Ford F-150 SuperCrew with its five-star Overall Vehicle Score in New Car Assessment Program, the highest possible rating, making it the safest F-150 ever
  • All-new F-150 safety features include an advanced restraint system with dual-stage airbags, Curve Control to help drivers stay on their intended path, and available inflatable rear safety belts in SuperCrew models – a segment-first innovation
  • 2015 F-150 – the toughest, smartest, most capable and efficient F-150 ever – includes the highest EPA-estimated fuel economy ratings of any full-sized gasoline pickup on the market, plus best-in-class towing and payload ratings

The all-new Ford F-150 SuperCrew has earned the government’s highest possible crash safety rating –  adding to the F-150’s strengths as the toughest, smartest, most capable F-150 ever.

Thanks to 31 new safety-related innovations developed by the Ford truck team, the 2015 F-150 SuperCrew has earned a five-star Overall Vehicle Score in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s New Car Assessment Program.

“The five-star safety rating is a terrific example of One Ford collaboration and innovation,” said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development. “Our truck team worked together for years to deliver this accomplishment, using an unprecedented combination of advanced materials throughout the all-new F-150. The 2015 model is engineered to be the safest F-150 ever, which matters to customers who depend on this truck to not only get the job done, but also get them safely home.”

F-150’s improved performance is enabled by up to a 700-pound weight savings through the use of high-strength steel in the frame; high-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloy in the body; and smart engineering.

A cross-functional group comprised of Ford truck product development veterans and researchers worked to precisely optimize vehicle weight savings and manufacturing design to deliver improved durability, capability, fuel economy and crashworthiness. The team created and patented new structures, materials and joining methods that were tested virtually with supercomputer simulations, then retested in Ford’s advanced laboratories to engineer the safest F-150 ever.

Supercomputers for safety
The F-150 team started engineering the truck with supercomputers before the first units were ever even crash-tested in a lab.

Engineers developed digital safety models with nearly 1.4 million separate elements to examine how even the smallest parts of the truck would perform in a crash situation.

Safety starts with the frame
frame_R02Safety starts with the truck’s signature, fully boxed frame – the backbone of the all-new F-150.

Engineers added an extra crossmember and increased the use of high-strength steel to improve stiffness, durability and safety – while also helping reduce the frame’s weight by up to 60 pounds.

“The team had to invent new ways to manage crash energy, because advanced materials like high-strength steel behave differently,” said Matt Niesluchowski, Ford truck safety manager. “We found that changing certain shapes led to a weight reduction, while also improving crash performance.”

Safety engineers developed a patented 12-corner front crush horn to dissipate more energy in a front impact. The uniquely shaped structure helps manage crash forces so the frame buckles predictably to keep those forces away from occupants in the cabin. This is just one of the 31 new safety-related innovations the team developed to make the truck safer in the event of a crash.

Safety improvements to the aluminum-alloy body
Ford’s advanced research and safety teams worked together to engineer F-150’s high-strength, military-grade, aluminum-alloy body structure to manage what happens to the body in the event of a crash.

The truck’s cab features hydroformed roof rails that constitute a cage-like structure around the doors, extruded roof bows to provide lateral strength across the top of the cab, and extruded rocker rails near the bottom to reinforce lower body strength.

How various parts of the truck were joined also yielded safety improvements. In many cases, welding was not the most effective way to join parts, so the team developed and patented methods to connect parts using high-strength adhesives. This resulted in structural strength equal to or greater than traditional welds.

Additional safety features
New to F-150 is an advanced restraint system that includes an adaptive steering column that adjusts energy management depending on occupant size and safety belt usage. The system includes dual-stage airbags and side-curtain airbags.

The all-new F-150 offers the following safety features:

  • Safety belt pretensioners added to the belt anchor side that further tighten the lap belt around front seat occupants, keeping them in a more secure spot early in the event of a crash
  • Curve Control, a technology that will slow the vehicle when it senses the truck is going too fast for a particular curve
  • Available inflatable rear safety belts for SuperCrew – a segment-first feature

Driver-assist features
The 2015 F-150 introduces all-new driver-assist and semi-autonomous technologies, including several class-exclusive features such as adaptive cruise control and active park assist.

Adaptive cruise control and collision warning with brake support use radar in the front of the truck to measure the distance and speed of vehicles ahead. Using this information, F-150 can automatically slow to keep a consistent following distance set by the driver. Collision warning triggers visual and audio alerts if the system detects the following distance is diminishing too quickly and a collision may occur. It also pre-charges the brakes if the driver needs to stop suddenly.

Active park assist uses two ultrasonic sensors and electric power-assisted steering to help drivers parallel park. The sensors measure the gap between two vehicles to determine if there is enough room for the truck. After confirming the F-150 can fit, active park assist automatically steers the truck into the space, while the driver operates the accelerator and brake pedals.

Lane-keeping system is designed to help prevent a driver from drifting out of the intended driving lane. The system detects the left- or right-hand road lane markings using a camera mounted between the windshield and interior rearview mirror. A warning vibration in the steering wheel is used to alert the driver that the vehicle is drifting out of the lines. Semi-autonomous lane-keeping aid then can provide steering torque to help guide the vehicle back into the lane if needed.

Toughest, smartest, most capable and efficient F-150 ever
2015-ford-f-150-13F-150’s advanced materials and weight savings lead to customer benefits regardless of model configuration or engine choice. The innovative new truck can tow up to 1,100 more pounds and haul up to 530 more pounds than the 2014 model, and it has the highest EPA-estimated fuel economy ratings of any full-sized gasoline pickup on the market.

When equipped with the available 2.7-liter EcoBoost® engine, the all-new F-150 4×2 returns EPA-estimated fuel economy ratings of 19 mpg city, 26 mpg highway and 22 mpg combined. Actual mileage will vary.

Source: Ford.com

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Five Fast Tips for Springtime Car Maintenance

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red-255110_1280Your car works hard to keep you warm and safe in the dead of winter, and in spring it’s time for us to do our part by performing scheduled maintenance and inspections. These simple tips will ensure your car is perfectly prepared for the road ahead.

1. Start with a much-needed wash and wax. Not only will the springtime air feel invigorating for you, a thorough wash and wax will help stave off some of the corrosion from prolonged exposure to road salt and ice. Make sure to carefully consider the undercarriage and wheel-wells (where road salt can easily go unnoticed.)

2. Check your tire pressure. Cold air during the winter months can change the air pressure in most tires. As the weather heats up make sure that all your tires are properly inflated and balanced. You can easily check inside your car door to find out what the proper air pressure should be. (Be sure to check the spare tire as well.)

3. After the snow melts, be sure to have your brake system inspected. This is the most important part of your car aside from the engine itself, and keeping it maintained (including hoses, lines, brake pads and fluid) should be a top priority.

4. Your batteries, plugs and wires provide the energy to start your car and work harder than in the winter. Winter stress can compromise their performance up to 60 percent. Testing and replacing weak batteries or electrical components at least every three years can help you avoid a costly tow down the road.

5. For a certainly-smooth road ahead, have your suspension and wheel alignment inspected. Potholes can severely damage shocks and struts. Having your car inspected and corrected early could prevent costly repairs and replacements in the future.

If you’d like to an inspection or service performed for your vehicle, you can schedule an appointment with a service advisor here.

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Could Your Vehicle Seat Predict a Heart Attack?

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seatWhen it comes to dangers on the road, we’re going to guess you immediately think of people who aren’t paying attention because they are texting while driving, distracted by who knows what or the like. What probably doesn’t come to mind at first is that the driver next to you could suddenly suffer a heart attack. You’re welcome for that ray of sunshine today.

But there is indeed a bright spot: Engineers at Ford have developed a prototype car seat that uses electrocardiograph (ECG) technology to monitor the heart’s electrical impulses and detect signs of irregularity, resulting in an early warning that a driver should seek medical assistance, such as for a heart attack, high blood pressure, electrolyte imbalances or other cardiovascular issue.

Now, don’t imagine having to add 15 minutes to your commute in order to attach metal electrodes all over your skin before you can start the engine. Rather, this ECG seat has six built-in sensors that can detect heart activity through clothing. The sensors pick up the electrical impulses generated by the heart, turning them into signals that can be analyzed by medical experts or computer software.

Engineers from the Ford European Research Center in Aachen, Germany, working closely since 2009 with Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule, Aachen University, which developed contactless ECG technology, embarked on the project to address this often overlooked traffic safety issue – accidents triggered by drivers who experience heart problems.

Research by the Impaired Motorists, Methods of Roadside Testing and Assessment for Licensing project, a three-year European Union research program, found that drivers suffering from cardiovascular disease were, on average, 23 percent more likely to be involved in an accident. For drivers who suffered from angina, this figure grew to 52 percent.

Yet you’re probably thinking, when you’ve seen people in a movie having a heart episode, they’re not exactly calm, cool or collected, so you figure in the real world, a driver wouldn’t put on a turn signal, check for traffic and maneuver gracefully to the side of the road. Here’s where things get even more interesting: Ford is also testing the prototype seat to understand how it could work with other advanced systems within Ford vehicles to warn a driver to pull over and seek medical attention, possibly mitigating the consequences of a driver losing control, or even send out an alert to emergency medical workers if necessary. Connected to a system such as Ford SYNC® with MyFord Touch™, the seat potentially could use the driver’s mobile phone to send a message to medical centers, alerting doctors to irregular heart activity. The seat also could be linked through SYNC to inform emergency response teams of the driver’s heart condition before, during and after an accident.

Engineers also are studying how the seat might be used to observe heart patients and allow doctors to maintain a record of heart activity that could be transmitted to medical professionals and reduce the need for visits to the hospital.

In early tests, the heart-monitoring seat has recorded accurate readings during 98 percent of driving time for 95 percent of drivers. Ford research engineers are continuing to study how sensors can be made to record signals through a greater number of materials including those that interrupt readings with their own electrical activity. The technology could initially be of most benefit to drivers known to have heart conditions, primarily those in more mature age groups.

Source: Ford.com 

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5 Reasons to Use Authentic Ford Parts

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new Ford steering system1. Your vehicle’s safety systems could be affected. Counterfeit and aftermarket parts are sometimes made with flimsier materials—plastic instead of steel, for example—which not only can damage the structural integrity of your vehicle but can have a dangerous effect on your carefully calibrated airbags. Why take a gamble? Ford Original Equipment collision replacement parts protect you by working seamlessly with your vehicle’s safety systems, which means less hassle and fewer worries.

2. Aftermarket parts may require more repairs. It only makes sense that Ford vehicles would work best with the parts tailor-made for them. And the truth is, cars with aftermarket parts sometimes need more maintenance after collisions than those with Ford Original Equipment. Watch side-by-side comparisons, computer simulations and actual Ford crash tests here.

3. You could pay extra in the long run. More repairs, of course, could translate into more money thrown away. Also, the fit, design and performance of aftermarket and counterfeit parts can differ so wildly that you may have to replace parts more frequently even if you never get into an accident. And don’t forget: Damage to your vehicle caused by the failure of aftermarket, salvage or reconditioned parts may not be covered by your Ford new-vehicle warranty.

4. Counterfeit parts may be untested. There’s no getting around it: Counterfeit auto parts are made illegally. Which means you don’t know for sure where they’re from, what they’re made of or whether they adhere to any safety standards. In 2012 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration went so far as to issue an alert warning drivers to stay away from counterfeit air bags, because tests showed “consistent malfunctioning ranging from non-deployment of the air bag to the expulsion of metal shrapnel during deployment.” Yikes.

5. You could be without your Ford longer. Repair time may increase when it comes to aftermarket, counterfeit or salvage parts, because they can require modifications or work-arounds to make them fit. And you could have to wait longer just for parts to be shipped in from far-off locations. Don’t be left in the lurch: Beach Ford service centers use genuine Ford parts which means you’re back in action that much faster. For more info about Ford Collision parts, check out takeagoodlook.com.