Study: One-third of drivers don't know what this dashboard light means

Chris Shunk — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:31:00 EST

Filed under: Safety, Ford

Remember the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire debacle from a decade ago? Thousands of the 'utes rolled-over and much of the blame fell on insufficiently inflated tires, costing the Blue Oval billions of dollars to replace the tires on just about every Explorer still left on the road. The other fallout from Explorer-gate (or Firestone-gate) was institution of the Tire Pressure Monitoring System that's now a legal standard on every car and truck built since 2008.

TPMS sensors constantly measure the pressure in all four tires, and when one or more tires is more than 25 percent below the recommended amount, a light illuminates on the gauge cluster. Most of us know the light (on right) and if you do, you're among the 54 percent of drivers who know what it means. But more importantly, less than half of the population doesn't.

TPMS maker Schrader recently surveyed drivers to see if there were knowledgeable about all things TPMS, and the results had to be a bit disappointing. First, the good news: 96 percent of all drivers surveyed felt that under-inflated tires were a serious safety problem. Now the bad news: Only 44 percent of drivers polled regularly check their tire pressure. Furthermore, one third of drivers surveyed didn't know what TPMS was or what it was used for. Another 44 percent were unaware what the symbol was supposed to represent, while still another 14 percent thought the symbol identified a problem of the non-tire variety.

In order to combat some of the ignorance among motorists about one of its main products, Schrader has introduced its TPMS Made Simple website. While it's not exactly riveting stuff, the site is chock full of information about TPMS, including what to do when that (apparently) inscrutable warning light in your gauge cluster illuminates (Hint: check your tires) and the economic benefit of properly inflated rubber, including improved fuel economy and longer lasting tires. Head over to the site to become a TPMS expert.

[Sources: USA Today | TPMS Made Simple]

Study: One-third of drivers don't know what this dashboard light means originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz E-Class commercial features malfunctioning car

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:57:00 EST

Filed under: Maintenance, Sedan, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes ~~wardrobe~~ commercial malfunction -- Click above to watch video

The voiceover for Mercedes' "Ignite" commercial for the new E-Class starts with "It is, quite simply, the most advanced automobile we have every created." However, during the start-up sequence before that voiceover, the actual commercial begins with a warning light: when the driver turns the car on, the message "Front Right SRS Malfunction Service Required" appears in the dash - not the type of message you expect to see when your car fires up and does its system check. Still, knowing how these things work, we suspect this commercial was probably filmed early on in a pre-production prototype with an inactive airbag - a common enough occurrence with these sorts of vehicles.

In any case, to watch the commercial and check out Mercedes' official response to the flub, hit the jump. Hat tip to Wai.

UPDATE: Mercedes-Benz USA blocked access to video of the commercial on YouTube, but they didn't get rid of all the copies. Follow the jump for a salvaged excerpt of the commercial.

Gallery: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

[Source: YouTube, Mercedes-Benz]

Continue reading VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz E-Class commercial features malfunctioning car

VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz E-Class commercial features malfunctioning car originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments