Car driving accident hazard during Autumn and Fall

As the days get shorter, the accident rate soars. Some of the most frequent causes of accident are little or no safety distance on wet roads, reduced concentration and, most importantly, fog-hampered visibility. A lot can be done, though, to considerably reduce the risk of an accident. We have compiled a few tips for dealing with foggy weather: 

• Adapt your driving speed to visibility in other words, if visibility is poor let up on the gas pedal.
• The safety distance to the vehicle in front of you should inversely correlate to your visibility range, more or less. This is the only way to make sure you’ll have enough time to react if the car up ahead brakes suddenly.
• Switch on your dimmed headlights as soon as you notice a reduction in visibility. If a conspicuously large number of vehicles approaching you in the opposite lane have their lights on, it probably means that visibility is very likely worse up ahead.
• Use fog tail lights only for visibility under fifty meters. They tend to blind traffic behind you.
• Also use fog lights if visibility is poor.
• Concentrate on driving. Talking on the phone is a major distraction and should thus be avoided. 
• Treat yourself to a break, even if you’re in a hurry. It will help you concentrate better, especially when doing long hauls in foggy conditions. 

 2. Rear fog lights most deserving of your attention

Unlike front fog lights, which should be turned on as soon as visibility gets poorer, use of the rear fog lights is permitted only when visibility has been reduced to less than fifty meters. This is because the luminosity of the rear fog lights is thirty times more intense than that of the rear lights. For visibility greater than fifty meters, the rear fog lights are very likely to blind motorists following along behind. The reflective guide poles along the motorway are a big help in estimating the visibility range. They are positioned at intervals of fifty meters. Nowadays rear fog lights are mandatory equipment on all vehicles. The lights themselves have been around since 1967. As late as 1970, 3000 accidents were due to poor visibility on account of fog. Twenty years later a federal agency for highway registered only 1457 such accidents.
3. Bright fashions keep kids safe in fall  Getting to school should be no more treacherous in fall than in summer. Autumn weather may, however, make it harder for motorists to see school kids. And if the children are wearing drab colors, it could very well be too late before motorists even notice them. A few tips to help kids heighten their road visibility: Bright colors are easier to see on the road (up to 150 meters). White, yellow and orange and neon fabrics show up especially well in the dark. Small fry are smart to wear reflecting figures, either around their necks or sewn on to their outerwear. Outerwears with reflective strips that pick up headlight beams are particularly practical. Kids on bikes should also make sure that their bikes lights are in good functioning order both front and rear; the wheels should be equipped with spoke reflectors. Children are also less likely to be overlooked if they wear wrap-around Velcro reflecting bands on the legs of their jeans or trousers. Being clearly visible is not enough, of course. A lot depends on correct behavior in traffic. Vehicles cannot stop as quickly on rain-slicked, leaf-covered roads. Children should play it safe and stick to marked crossovers. In no case should they dart into the street in front of or behind parked cars. 4. Wet leaves and rain Accident hazards in the fall. Many tree leaves are still clinging to the branches along the traffic routes, but with the first change in weather, foliage can turn into a major hazard on wet and slippery roads. Wet leaves and poor visibility during rainy weather are some of the most common causes of accidents. So the first rule is to maintain a greater distance to the vehicle ahead. The rule of thumb "distance one half of speedometer reading" no longer applies for such weather conditions. If the vehicle is not equipped with ABS, extra care is required when applying the brake pedal. Should the wheels lock, release the brake briefly so that you can steer once again. Caution on the road is advisable not only in the country but also in the city, where the car can start to skid when braking due to wet leaves that collect in the gutter. It is never too early to switch to winter tires when the weather turns messy.

Driving Pleasure with Fuel Savings for Future Cars

Never before have drivers had to pay as much for fuel in most develop countries as now, and there is no end to the price spiral for gasoline and diesel in sight. At present, the greatest potential for saving fuel is currently the foot on the gas pedal. Driving in an energy-saving manner helps to counter the record prices. Owners of vehicles with hybrid technology can count themselves lucky. For instance, fuel consumption can be cut by up to 25 percent. The technology behind the systems is a combination of regenerative braking and an intelligent start-stop function.

When braking, the system uses the engine as a generator, converting up to 90 percent of the vehicle's momentum into electric energy. The next time the car starts up or accelerates, it feeds this energy back into the powertrain, thus lessening the load on the combustion engine. Depending on the system capacity, it is even possible to drive using electricity for a limited time. The hybrid drive improves fuel consumption especially in the city driving cycle, when a car drives off and brakes often. The driver "refuels" each time he brakes. As soon as the car comes to a standstill, the start-stop function switches off the engine. When the gas pedal is depressed, the hybrid drive brings the combustion engine back to idling speed within 0.2 seconds – roughly ten times faster than a conventional starter and absolutely silently. With their low fuel consumption, hybrid vehicles do not just save natural resources and go easy on the pocketbook; the fun factor for the driver is enhanced as well. If the driver wants, an electric engine can react in a lively manner, spontaneously providing high power even at a low RPM. The hybrid drive supports the combustion engine with up to 400 Newton meters of additional torque or more, noticeably enhancing the vehicle's temperament and providing a generous, balanced power characteristic for turbo engines in particular. The creed of the German automotive industry is no longer bigger, faster, and more powerful. The concept for the future combines driving pleasure with fuel savings. The best approach for this is hybrid technology.