Autoblog

Immense amounts of money, research, effort, time, and science have gone into making cars safer. Your economy car is so safe now that you'll survive an accident with a larger vehicle. But it's also so safe now that the traditional blades, jaws, and saws that fire departments would use to extricate you are no longer strong enough to get through the car's metal.

There are also myriad other features lurking in a car's bodywork that can do more damage than the accident. Rescuers need to make sure they don't cut the pressurized gas canisters that would inflate an airbag, or the battery cables in a hybrid. Once in the car, they need to make sure they don't do something that will make the airbag suddenly go off if it hasn't already. It has meant that rescuers first need to peel back the car's shell to see what's beneath before they begin digging out the passengers.

All this has added time to the rescue effort, which might mean the difference between staying here or checking out the hereafter. It's also ballooned budgets, as crews need to buy the equipment they need to get the job done. Maybe carmakers should start making the tools necessary to break their cars open in an accident. The Jaguar Jaws of Life, anyone? Thanks for the tip, JaysonAych!

[Source: AP]

Tiger, you should be ashamed pushing that beastly Buick Rendezvous on an unsuspecting public. Not only was it little more than a warmed-over minivan trying to look hip, Forbes says it's possibly the most dangerous new vehicle for sale today. Luckily for all the uninformed car shoppers out there, the Rendezvous and several others, like the Ford Ranger, on the list won't be on sale much longer.

Forbes took many factors into consideration when deciding what constituted a dangerous vehicle. Instead of using only crash test data or fatality statistics, the magazine also looked at safety equipment and Consumer Reports' accident avoidance ratings.

Lots of weight was given to standard safety equipment which is what damned vaunted nameplates like Toyota's Matrix, Chrysler's PT Cruiser and Ford's Focus. But at least those cars have optional side air bags, Suzuki's Reno and Forenza don't even offer them as optional equipment.

There were some surprises, though. Forbes praises the Honda S2000 for having admirable crash test results and superior handling that could help in crash avoidance, but puts it on the list anyway for not having standard side air bags.

Check out the story and entire list here.

[Source: Forbes]

This is the kind of black box we want in our cars... GizMag brought to our attention a physical security device (read: safe) that prevents opportunistic smash-and-grab theft that occurs sometimes when thieves see so much as a PDA cable or cell phone charger. The AutoSafe hooks into your vehicle via a wire rope cable that can attach to a chassis-mounted seat base, seat hinges or baby seat fixing points so you don't have to run and get your drill. AutoSafe comes in various sizes, from smaller ones that fit an MP3 player, PDA or pharmaceuticals to larger ones that can fit an entire laptop bag.

The safes span in price from $100 to $300 depending upon their size.

[Source: AutoSafe via GizMag]