Illness blights Spengler?s BMW debut

Bruno Spengler's maiden test for BMW at Monteblanco was shortened as he - and a number of team members - were struck down by illness. An acute gastro-intestinal disease swept through the BMW camp during the three-day test in Spain, forcing the Canadian ? who was allowed to test under a special dispensation from Mercedes (to whom he is still officially contracted) ? to sit out the second day of running

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Queens Civic Leader Killed Walking to Community Board Transpo Meeting

Queens community leader Patricia Dolan was killed last night as she walked to a transportation meeting at her community board. Photo: Times-Ledger/Christina Santucci Queens community leader Pat Dolan was killed by the driver of a Nissan sedan as she crossed the street last night. Dolan served on Queens Community Board 8, and she was walking to [...]

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Land Rover Bringing Slightly Altered DC100 Concepts to L.A. Auto Show

The two DC100 variants that Land Rover debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt auto show, a hardtop and the roofless Sport, mark the beginning of one of the company’s most difficult tasks yet: determining the shape of the next-generation Defender off-roader. Rover is bringing the two concepts to the L.A. auto show, but with a few [...]

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Cup Series Starting Lineup for Homestead-Miami Speedway: Edwards on pole

1 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 30.775 175.467 2 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 30.891 174.808 3 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 30.931 174.582 4 22 Kurt Busch Shell Pennzoil Dodge 30.942 174.520 5 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge 30.947 174.492 6 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford 30.950 174.475 [...]

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Next Jeep Liberty: More Carlike, Front-Drive Based, Fiat Engines, Coming in 2014

When Jeep’s next-generation Liberty arrives in 2014, it will be far more carlike and based on a front-wheel-drive platform, we’ve learned from an executive at the company. Both previous generations of the Liberty (the second-gen 2012 model is pictured above) utilized a carlike unibody with a reinforcing frame underneath; the company refers to this as [...]

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Earnhardt tops first practice

Dale Earnhardt Jr topped the first practice session of the weekend for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead, ahead of title contender Carl Edwards. Hendrick Motorsports driver Earnhardt set the fastest time of the 90-minute session on his first lap on Saturday, after all Cup on-track activities were cancelled on Friday due to rain. Earnhardt's best lap just edged Chase leader Edwards on a green track following Friday night's rain

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Study: Hybrid drivers are safer from injury in a crash

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honda civic hybrid crash

Hybrid models have the advantage of fuel economy over their gas-only siblings, but it appears that batteries and electric motors make them safer as well. The Highway Loss Data Institute studied 25 2003 to 2011 vehicles that featured both conventional and hybrid powertrains (example: Honda Civic and Honda Civic Hybrid). The Toyota Prius and Honda Insight were not included in the study since neither vehicle has a conventionally-powered counterpart.

The data shows that occupants are 27 percent less likely to be injured if they're in the hybrid version of the vehicle. There are several reasons why the hybrid is safer, but the biggest factor is weight. Heavier cars are safer than lighter vehicles, since the added mass means that the heavier vehicle will transfer force to the lighter vehicle. That's good for occupants and insurance companies, as the hybrids need 25 percent less personal injury protection than their conventional counterparts.

But while hybrids have proven to be safer than their non-hybrid counterparts, the story isn't as good for pedestrian crashes. HDLI finds that hybrid vehicles are 20 percent more likely to be involved in pedestrian crashes with injuries. The study claims that pedestrians might get involved in more accidents with hybrids because they can't hear the cars when they're in electric mode. We'd add that low rolling resistance tires often contribute to longer braking distances, and the heavier hybrids are also slower and less maneuverable than their non-hybrid counterparts.

Hit the jump to read over the details of the study.

Continue reading Hybrid drivers are safer from injury in a crash

Hybrid drivers are safer from injury in a crash originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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