General Motors recently announced that it has strengthened the casing and improve the cooling system surrounding the Chevrolet Volt’s battery in efforts to calm the nerves of consumers concerned about the vehicle’s safety.

Back in 2011, the battery of a test Volt caught fire in June after a crash test. A follow-up test in November triggered yet another fire, raising a red flag among consumers and safety officials alike.

Since then, the automaker along with federal officials have been probing fire risks associated with the electric/gas-powered hybrid. GM officials hoped that the upgrade of the battery casing and cooling system would be enough to quell governmental doubts about the Volt’s safety.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration even said as much, according to a statement posted on its site. Though the probe is still open, NHTSA announced that GM’s efforts should be enough to satisfy the agency’s concerns.

There are no plans for the car or the battery to be recalled but GM has still urged all Volt owners to take their vehicles to their dealerships for safety check-ups.

“We are choosing to go the extra mile to ensure our customers’ peace of mind,” Mary Barra, a G.M. senior vice president told The New York Times.

The carmaker also assured reporters that the upgraded cooling system and reinforced battery successfully endured four recent NHTSA crash tests, including one exactly the same as the one that triggered the original fire.

“The results of that crash test showed no intrusion into the vehicle’s battery compartment, and no coolant leakage was apparent,” NHTSA said the press statement. “The preliminary results of the crash test indicate the remedy proposed by General Motors today should address the issue of battery intrusion.”

Modern-day passenger vehicle models are leaps and bounds better than what was available through U.S. and international automakers in the 20th century and before.

However, they aren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Improvements in some areas have yielded slight problems in others. It’s all depends on what you find important.

For certain, newer model-year vehicles are safer as a whole. No doubt about that but you can’t take those safety innovations for granted. There are still risks associated with modern cars.

First of all, SUVs still possess the tendency to flip over compared to their smaller brethren. The increased number of these larger vehicles on the roads has most definitely contributed to a rise in roll-over accidents.

New laws requiring greater consideration of driver and passenger safety protection has led to carmakers increasing the amount of materials used toward the rear of vehicles to protect vehicle occupants, which tends to expand a driver’s blind spot and increase the likelihood of accidents.

The last matter of concern with modern car models is that they can accelerate quickly to high rates of speed, which can cause accidents. While they are great in some respect, these more recent cars should be used with caution in order to reduce accidents and bring about meaningful improvements to protect drivers and passengers.

The American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety found a major disconnect between Americans’ best intentions and actual driving behavior.

In its fourth annual Traffic Safety Culture Index for 2011, the group found that while the drivers surveyed found certain driving habits unacceptable, some confessed to engaging in them recently.

Despite recent U.S. Department of Transportation statistics showing the lowest level of traffic fatalities in 60 years, the AAA Foundation contends that even one road or highway fatality is too much.

Key findings include:

1. More than three quarters of drivers contend that drivers under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs are serious threats to other motorists and nearly 100 percent find driving while drunk unacceptable. But nearly 15 percent conceded that they had driven in the past year with a blood alcohol level that was close to or may have exceeded legal limits.

2. A majority (94 percent) of drivers surveyed considered texting while operating a vehicle a serious threat but more than one in three (35 percent) admitted to reading texts or emails in the past 30 days and more than one-fourth said they had messaged someone on their cell phone while driving. Furthermore, 68 percent confessed to talking on their cells while driving, with nearly one in three of drivers surveyed claiming to do so on a regular basis.

3. Nearly three-quarters of motorists consider it unacceptable to drive more than 15 miles per hour over the highway speed limit but 52 percent conceded to speeding on the interstate recently. Nearly all (94 percent) did not agree with driving 15 miles per hour over a residential street speed limit but more than one-quarter confessed to doing so.

4. More than nine in ten drivers considered driving through a traffic light that turned red wrong if they could have stopped safely but 37 percent confessed to running a red one recently.

5. Nearly all motorists polled considered driving while drowsy a serious safety threat but almost one-third admitted to driving drowsy in the past month.

6. Almost one-quarter of drivers surveyed said they had driven without using their seat beats in the past month, and nearly one in five did so more than once.

For more information on the report, see: www.aaafoundation.org.

The American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety wants U.S. drivers to resolve to adopt safer driving habits in 2012, according to a recent press release.

The group wants all Americans who get behind the wheel to make a resolution to rid their lives of potentially deadly driving behaviors for once and for all this year.

Despite recent U.S. Department of Transportation statistics showing the lowest level of traffic fatalities in 60 years, the AAA Foundation contends that even one American dying in a car crash is too much.

“Even one death on our roads is unacceptable,” said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger in a press release. “Something is terribly amiss in our traffic safety culture when, in the safest year since 1949, on average there is still one needless death every 16 minutes in motor vehicle crashes. To reach zero deaths each driver must take a moment to assess his driving habits and ask, when it comes to safe driving, am I part of the problem or part of the solution?”

Kissinger’s foundation recently produced its fourth annual Traffic Safety Culture Index that gauges drivers’ attitudes. Across the board, the nonprofit found that a culture of hypocrisy where respondents would frown upon a wide range of driving behaviors but still engage in them when on the road.

In the fourth consecutive year the group found that 86 percent of drivers considered seat-beat use necessary even though one in four drove without wearing their seat belts.

In addition, a significant percentage of drivers said they didn’t find it acceptable to drive over 10 miles per hour above the speed limit on residential streets but had done so in the past month.

The lower rate of road and highway deaths has lulled drivers into a false sense of security, AAA Foundation argues, that could easily undo all the progress that has been achieved in recent years.

“This ‘do as I say, not as I do’ attitude that persists among drivers needs to change before we can experience a traffic safety culture where safe driving is the key,” Kissinger noted.

The foundation’s president further observed that the nation as a whole is “moving in the right direction” regarding efforts to improve safety but government can only do so much. Ultimately, that responsibility lies on individual drivers.
“Changing driver behaviors is not rocket science … it’s harder. Take the first step and make a personal goal to be a safe driver in 2012,” Kissinger said.

The majority of U.S. drivers will answer their cell phone on the road, according to a recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study of roughly 6,000 Americans between the ages of 18 to 34.

Two-thirds of respondents said they’d pick up calls while driving, while only nine percent said they would pull over to answer them and the same percentage said they would pass it to a passenger in the vehicle.

In addition to answering the phone, nearly half (45 percent) of those polled responded that they would hold the phone in their hand and talk while driving. Only 17 percent used hands-free cell phones while answering a call.

When it comes to outgoing calls, up to 26 percent said they would make them on some driving trips. Five percent, however, said they’d make them on all driving trips, and 10 percent on most.

Why did they use their cell phones while driving? Mostly for personal reasons. Their decisions to take calls hinged on the importance they attached to the caller and the potential subject of the call. When picking up their calls, those respondents who accepted phone calls rarely thought about traffic, personal safety or state laws banning driving while using a cell phone or texting.

Most passengers had a different view of the use of cell phones while driving. Roughly 88 percent to 90 percent of women felt “very unsafe” in a car where a driver was either sending or reading emails and/or text messages. That compares to 84 percent to 86 percent of men.

Those who felt unsafe were more likely to be older than younger. Only 62 percent of younger passengers felt their safety was threatened, compared to 96 percent of adults over 65.

Interestingly enough, 90 percent of those polled supported state bans on texting while driving, while 60 percent supported similar prohibitions on cell phone use.

When asked to list situations where they would never pick up their cells, more than half or 54 percent pointed to bad weather.A quarter said the fast-moving or bumper-to-bumper traffic would prevent them from taking calls or texting.

As for how cell phone use impacts their driving, one-fourth said it made no difference but 31 percent said they tended to drive at slower speeds when texting or calling. For more on the report, go to NHTSA’s website at nhtsa.gov.

If you’ve got a problem texting and driving and want to get rid of your vehicle, donate it to Heritage for the Blind and help the blind.

The incidence of drunk driving in Michigan over the past decade has fallen significantly, and officials cannot point to a single reason for the downward trend, according to a recent Detroit News report.

Car crashes associated with alcohol use fell 38 percent from 6,485 in 2001 to 4,007 in 2010. Drunk-driving fatalities dropped a similar percentage from 419 in 2001 to 264 in 2010.

There were many factors at work in forcing the driving under the influence numbers down. It’s a combination of improved decision-making on behalf of drivers, cars with better safety equipment and improved roadways.

Overall, the state experienced substantial decreases in road and highway deaths and accidents. Overall, 937 Michiganders died on the state’s roads, down nearly 30 percent from 2001 levels, according to the Detroit News, citing a state report from last May.

The state’s findings reflect those found nationwide. With the New Year’s Eve holiday around the corner, however, law enforcement authorities in Michigan and elsewhere brace for a seasonal increase in drunk driving incidents on roads and highways.

A new law enacted last October is likely to take the incidence of drunk driving even lower with harsher penalties for more egregious intoxicated drivers whose blood alcohol content exceeds 0.17 percent.

Greater awareness of the legal consequences of drunk driving is also credited with bringing about the decrease in alcohol-related car crashes and fatalities.

“Losing your license or getting a restriction on it for 90 days and having it on your record for the rest of your life — all of it makes an impression and could impact your livelihood,” Gail Peterson, executive director of the Traffic Safety Association of Macomb County, told the Detroit News.

In Wisconsin, they mean business when it comes to persistent drunk driving.

A Superior, Wisconsin man finally felt the full impact of the strong arm of the law after his 9th drunk-driving arrest and subsequent conviction.

A judge in Douglas County slapped him with a 10-year prison sentence — the maximum penalty for such a conviction, according to a recent Superior Telegram report.

Back in September, 41-year-old David Fredrick McMeekin had been found guilty of operating a vehicle while under the influence after a hit-and-run crash earlier in the year in which his blood alcohol was found to be almost 400 percent the legal limit.

The man’s attorney argued before the court for the minimum sentence of six years to no avail. Judge George Glonek handed down the maximum allowed that includes five years of guaranteed confinement and five years of extended supervision.

To stay out of jail the last five years of his sentence, McMeekin would have to be completely sober, pay felony court costs, go without his driver’s license for at least three years and have an ignition interlock that prevents him from driving when his blood content is over the legal limit installed in his car.

In addition, he must submit to periodic mental health and chemical dependency tests and pay victims of the hit-and-run he caused at least $1,249.

The judge also sentenced McMeekin to six months jail time, running concurrently with the his prison sentence, for a misdemeanor hit-and-run count, which the 8-time repeat offender had pleaded no contest to.

If you’ve got a problem with drunk driving, consider donating your car to Heritage for the Blind and help the visually impaired.

With the holiday season near its end, there’s still no time like the present to get your favorite driver the perfect present — the gift of safety. It’s the gift that is perfect throughout the year.

From tire pressure gauges to ice scrapers to emergency roadside kits to windshield wipers, there is a wide range of gifts to say you care about your loved ones’ driving lives. Sure, it’s not romantic or sexy. Not a lot of people consider giving windshield wipers as a holiday present but it’s the thought the ultimately counts.

If you care about your loved ones’ safety and well-being, you should care about the little things that make life easier and better lived, according to the Car Care Council.

“These small and relatively inexpensive items play a big role in vehicle safety and reliability especially during winter driving when road conditions can be hazardous and unpredictable,” said Rich White, the group’s executive director in a press release. “They’re a perfect stocking stuffer or holiday gift that shows the drivers on your list that you truly care about them this holiday season.”

During the National Car Care Month check-up campaign this past year, the Car Care Council found that tire pressure and windshield wipers ranked among the top six items with the highest failure rate. New wiper blades should be installed every six months at least, and tire pressure should be checked once a month because it’s vital to car handling and traction.

Emergency roadside kits, either purchased or created from scratch, should include: bottled water and dry food snacks, candles with matches, an ice scraper with snowbrush, jumper cables, flashlight, flares and a blanket.

Keeping your car clean also improves its safety. Mother Nature can cause all kind of havoc upon a vehicle’s finish but also lead to the rusting of brake and fuel lines.
So, why not give your loved one a gift certificate from a professional car wash?

Other possible gifts include: headlight restoration kits, portable navigation systems, portable battery jump starters and roadside assistance memberships.

For more inventive gift ideas, visit carcare.org.

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer has taken up the issue of rental car safety in light of a 2004 crash that killed two sisters from Santa Cruz, California, the Santa Cruz Sentinel recently reported.

The California Democrat brought up the problem at a recent U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing regarding the reauthorization of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Sisters Rachel and Jacqueling Hourk, both in their early 20s, died after their rental vehicle’s steering fluid ignited, causing it to crash into a tractor-trailer. The car had parts that were being recalled at the time of the crash.
In 2010, Enterprise and its parent company conceded that their negligence led to the sisters’ deaths, which resulted in a $15 million award for their parents.

Boxer, during the recent hearing, said she has prepared an amendment to legislation reauthorizing the NHTSA requiring rental car companies to take vehicles that are under safety recalls out of service until repaired. She didn’t offer it at the committee meeting but encouraged panel chair Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., to give her his commitment that he would include such a measure in the larger bill when it goes to the Senate floor. He agreed wholeheartedly.

Boxer’s reply? “This, for me, is a no-brainer and I hope we can resolve it,” she said, according to a recent report by the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Automobile dealers are required to pull vehicles that are under safety recalls until the issues are resolved but rental car companies aren’t required to do so, thanks to a loophole in current law.

The companies who rent cars do not believe such a provision needs to be enacted, arguing the industry has already made the necessary adjustments in dealing with safety recalls.

“Manufacturers issue hundreds of recalls every year affecting hundreds of thousands of our vehicles, and we work very hard to manage and respond to them as quickly as possible,” said Enterprise spokeswoman Laura Bryant to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Do you have broken-down vehicle littering up your backyard? Want to get rid of them. Why not donate them to car donation program run by nonprofits such as Heritage for the Blind?

You will not only clear your backyard of unwanted junk but also help those in need. It is better to give unused vehicles to nonprofit groups as opposed to for-profit car donation programs because they devote most of the proceeds to programs that assist Americans less fortunate than you.

Parents can prevent their teenaged children, who are more likely to get into wrecks than older drivers, from getting into accidents by donating their cars to charity. By unloading their vehicles, parents gain greater peace of mind that their kids are safe as well as tax benefits.

Charities have varying goals and help a wide range of groups. Some charities help those who are blind or at great risk for visual impairment. Some assist abused children, and others aid families hit by international calamities in various countries. Whatever their missions, most of these organizations have one similar goal — to support and offer help to as many people possible. So, always remember that when you donate a car, you are making a difference in many lives.

Not only do charities and their beneficiaries benefit from car donation programs, but you do as a donor. Your karma benefits. You don’t need to worry about how to get your car to the charity. Once you fill out the forms via the website or in their office, the charity will pick up your vehicle.

Car donation programs offer free towing, making participation hassle-free. Second, donating a car is tax deductible. Charities will get you the highest tax deduction possible. They will also provide you with a certification of car donation, proof required to claim a tax deduction.

Play a part in changing the lives of others through car donation.