1 1. What’s New in Automotive Safety? Automobile safety technology advanced by great strides throughout the 20th century, from the first appearance of speedometers and electric headlamps, to the development of seat belts and safety glass, to the emergence of anti-lock brakes and airbags. As consumers demand safety, more and more automobile manufacturers are providing sophisticated technology, f...

Modern automobiles frequently come equipped with Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) systems. Stock RKE systems are frequently subject to severe range limitations. This project presents a design for a device which extends the range of existing RKE systems without requiring modification to the automobile. The device functions as a single frequency “Parrot” repeater. The repeater receives and decodes the ...

BACKGROUND Motor-vehicle crashes (MVCs) are a leading cause of death of young Americans and Canadians. Aggressive driving and driving at high speed are frequently cited as contributing to crashes. Consumer and safety associations have raised concern that driving behaviour portrayed in automobile commercials may influence consumer-driving behaviour. However, the prevalence of aggressive driving ...

Since the first Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line, the regulation of automobile safety systems (“safety systems”) has changed drastically. While the regulation of safety systems was nonexistent at the birth of the Model T, the practice is abundant today. Modern automobile safety regulation saw its beginning in the late 1960s with the advent of seat belt laws, vehicle crashworthiness tes...

Guido Calabresi’s book, THE COSTS OF ACCIDENTS, gives two contrasting examples which together prove that efficient decisions about car safety devices must be guided by individual costs. Part I of this essay reviews Calabresi’s demonstration that, if charged accurate insurance costs, Taney would invest in improved brakes and Marshall would not. To show why this demonstration fails to inform deba...