Working in collaboration with Hyundai, TomTom, ANWB, Inrix and Be-Mobile, Kia is exploring the potential to warn drivers of approaching emergency service vehicles. With many drivers unsure of the direction of travel of such vehicles on hearing a siren, the new warning system will indicate the type of emergency service vehicle and the direction from which it is approaching. The new feature would initially work with ambulances before other types of emergency vehicles are added.

Kia is also looking to develop warnings that can alert drivers to additional everyday hazards, including unexpected and potentially dangerous situations. Drivers could be warned about approaching vehicles travelling the wrong way, closed lanes, and upcoming traffic jams that might be obscured. This would augment existing alerts available through the infotainment systems of Kia vehicles, such as for obstacles in the road, roadworks, accidents, and anticipated exceptional weather conditions.

While the exact criteria will be agreed in advance by the Dutch Government, Kia will aim to incorporate these additional warnings within its vehicles’ existing infotainment system to avoid unnecessary driver distractions, with audio, visual and haptic warnings enhancing awareness. The warnings won’t require any input, ensuring drivers can keep their hands on the steering wheel. Throughout the trial, Kia will provide feedback on the quality of the NDW data so that it can be improved where necessary.

The Safety Priority Services project will run for three years in preparation for an anticipated new obligation to share data related to warnings, which is expected to be enshrined in European regulations in 2025.

The rule updates the occupant protection Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to account for, and clarify certain safety aspects of, the development of fully autonomous vehicles that do not have the manual controls commonly featured in a passenger vehicle. Prior to the rule, occupant protection standards were written exclusively for passenger-driven vehicles with manual control features, such as steering wheels.

With the new rule, the NHTSA will work to establish a set of requirements for OEMs developing new automated vehicles. It works similarly to clarify that all ADS technologies continue to provide the same level of protection as current passenger vehicles. 

The NHTSA’s issuing of the final rule forms a key part of its efforts to keep public safety a top priority as vehicle autonomy continues to develop, and as fully-autonomous vehicles begin to roll out. It follows the NHTSA issuing a Standing General Order in 2021, which required OEMs to integrate crash and incident reporting for vehicles equipped with certain ADAS.

The proposed NCAP changes largely touch upon ADAS and driver-assistance technologies that are increasingly being integrated into new vehicles from OEMs around the world. For example, the body is proposing its own recommendation of four new driver-assistance technologies: lane-keeping support, pedestrian automatic emergency braking, blind spot detection, and blind spot intervention. The NHTSA is similarly advising OEMs to strengthen the testing procedures and performance criteria for the driver-assistance technologies already included in the program.

Likewise, while setting up a 10-year roadmap for future NCAP updates, the NHTSA will also request comment on ways to develop a meaningful ratings system for the ecosystem of driver-assistance technologies. Additionally outlined in the proposed changes is the consideration of adding emergency vehicle technologies related to driver distraction, alcohol detection, seat belt interlocks, intelligent speed assist, driver monitoring systems, and rear seat child reminder assist. Lastly, it hopes to discuss how automakers can provide a crash avoidance rating on the window sticker on new and used vehicles.

In issuing the changes, the NHTSA confirmed that the public would have 60 days to comment on them ahead of the proposal’s full release.

The agency has said that the final rule works to improve safety for other roads users – such as pedestrians and bicyclists – by making them more visible at night. Through the feature’s enhanced illumination capabilities, which better highlight animals and objects on and along the road, the rule also seeks to reduce the risk of on-road accidents.

ADB utilizes automatic headlight beam switching technology to shine less light on occupied areas of the road, and more light on unoccupied areas. The feature is useful for illuminating pedestrians, animals, and objects in the distance without reducing the visibility of drivers in other vehicles.

The final rule also amends Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 – lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment. The amendments adopted today are intended to allow manufacturers to offer this technology and establish performance requirements to ensure that these systems operate safely on the road.

This action will enable NHTSA to collect information necessary for the agency to play its role in keeping Americans safe on the roadways, even as the technology deployed on the nation’s roads continues to evolve.

NHTSA’s order requires covered entities to report crashes that occur on public roads in the United States based on the following:

• Within one day of learning of a crash, companies must report crashes involving a Level 2 ADAS or Levels 3-5 ADS-equipped vehicle that also involve a hospital-treated injury, a fatality, a vehicle tow-away, an air bag deployment, or a vulnerable road user such as a pedestrian or bicyclist. An updated report is due 10 days after learning of the crash. 
• Every month, companies must report all other crashes involving an ADS-equipped vehicle that involve an injury or property damage.
• Reports must be updated monthly with new or additional information.
• Reports must be submitted for any reportable crash, about which a company receives notice, beginning 10 days after the company is served with the order.
• Reports must be submitted to NHTSA electronically using a form that requires important information regarding the crash. NHTSA will use this information to identify crashes for follow-up.

The order requires vehicle and equipment (including software) manufacturers of Level 2 ADAS or Levels 3-5 ADS systems and vehicles and operators of ADS-equipped vehicles to report crashes where the Level 2 ADAS or Level 3-5 ADS system was engaged during or immediately before the crash. 
These data will help the agency identify potential safety issues and impacts resulting from the operation of advanced technologies on public roads and increase transparency. Access to ADS data may show whether there are common patterns in driverless vehicle crashes or systematic problems in operation.

Level 2 ADAS is an increasingly common feature on many new vehicles and provides driver assist functions that combine technologies, like lane centering assistance and adaptive cruise control, where the vehicle is able to control certain aspects of steering and speed. Drivers, though, must remain engaged and alert at all times when using these systems, as they are not designed and not able to perform critical operating components of the driving task. ADS-equipped vehicles, which are able to perform the complete driving task in limited circumstances, are not currently sold to consumers but are in limited use on public roads around the country for testing, ride sharing, and goods delivery.

NHTSA’s oversight is not limited to the specified crashes discussed in the order or the information submitted under its reporting obligations. NHTSA’s review and analysis will include all information and incidents relevant to any potential safety defects. Additionally, NHTSA may take further actions on any individual crash, including sending a Special Crash Investigations team and requiring the company to provide additional information. NHTSA may also open defect investigations, as warranted.

The rule will not change existing occupant protection requirements for traditional vehicles with manual driver controls.  
 
NHTSA’s final rule is one of a series of regulatory actions that NHTSA has taken to further modernize vehicle standards for new technologies.  

Today’s event featured remarks from Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy Finch Fulton, NHTSA Deputy Administrator James Owens, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Deputy Administrator Wiley Deck, Wyoming Department of Transportation Director K. Luke Reiner, and Ariel Wolf of the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets.

The information provided will help keep the public informed of the progress, advancement, and safety implications regarding the automated vehicles that participate in the program.  The portal is available on NHTSA’s website and will be updated as new information is submitted.

The announcement has been marked with the signing of a multi-party agreement (MPA) in which automobile manufacturers, automotive suppliers, road traffic authorities, EU member states and location technology providers commit to the long-term exchange of safety data in order to make roads safer.

The agreement, which has a duration of five years, defines the technical and organisational framework of how safety data from multiple brands and multiple countries can be made accessible and used within the SRTI eco-system in a fair and trustworthy manner. It also defines the roles and responsibilities along the SRTI value chain. The SRTI ecosystem is based on a reciprocity model – with safety data being offered in return for safety services.

Already now, many vehicles are equipped with the latest technologies that detect dangerous road conditions and warn drivers — for example, when roads are slippery. Road operators can detect potential danger areas with their comprehensive infrastructure. However, these warnings are beneficial to other drivers and road operators – and the Data for Road Safety members believe that, regardless of which car brand or navigation application is used, all drivers across Europe should have access to a consistent minimum set of safety information that can help them make better informed decisions, thereby saving many lives.

Between June 2019 and October 2020, members of the Data for Road Safety partnership took the first step towards a harmonised exchange of safety-related data by conducting a proof of concept (PoC) test of a decentralised data collaboration architecture. During the PoC, tens of millions of messages were provided to the ecosystem. Vehicles demonstrated that they are able to produce data for five of the eight SRTI categories of EU Regulation 886/2013 (unprotected accident area, broken down vehicle, temporary slippery road, reduced visibility and exceptional weather conditions).

Making this SRTI available has already had positive effect on road safety in Europe. For example, it helped accelerate the deployment of emergency services and vehicle-recovery companies by public authorities. Indeed, the exact location of vehicle crashes and broken-down vehicles was shared with service providers within seconds, who were then able to issue warnings to other road users.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) succeeds the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management as Chair of the initiative.

If Europe wants to significantly improve road safety for all road users, all players in the SRTI value chain need to get involved. Wide-scale participation is absolutely necessary to ensure there is the critical mass of safety data required to make comprehensive SRTI services a reality. Hence, Data for Road Safety is launching a call for more stakeholders to join the SRTI ecosystem and contribute to further improving road safety in Europe.

Membership is open to all willing and relevant actors in the SRTI domain and subject to the approval of the General Assembly chair. Prospective members can visit www.dataforroadsafety.eu for more details.

The tool is part of the Automated Vehicle Transparency and Engagement for Safe Testing (AV TEST) Initiative, which was announced in June by U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is overseeing the AV TEST Initiative.

Wednesday’s launch event featured remarks by U.S. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota) and U.S.  Representative Fred Upton (R-Michigan).  In addition, the agency held a panel discussion on “Automated Driving Systems and Rural Safety,” featuring Finch Fulton, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy.  Thursday’s panel, “AV TEST: A Foundational Resource for the First Responder Community,” will include a message from U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois). 

The tool is available at nhtsa.gov/avtest.

This online, public-facing platform will allow participants to share testing activities related to automated driving systems and other safety-related information with the public.  Online mapping tools may show testing locations at the local, state, and national levels, as well as testing activity data, which may include dates, frequency, vehicle counts, and routes.  Currently, the tool has data on on-road testing activities in 17 cities across the country, including Austin, Columbus (Ohio), Dallas, Denver, Jacksonville, Orlando, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. 

Ten companies and nine states have already signed on as participants in the voluntary web pilot.
    

The AV TEST Initiative’s online tracking tool will soon be open to all stakeholders involved in the safe development and testing of automated driving system vehicles.  At the state and local level, participants may include departments of motor vehicles, departments of transportation, highway safety offices, and city governments.  At the automotive industry level, participants may include developers, manufacturers, suppliers, operators, and testers.  

This initiative aligns with the Department’s leadership on automated driving system vehicles, including AV 4.0: Ensuring American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Technologies.

The AV TEST Initiative will include a series of public events across the country to improve transparency and safety in the development and testing of automated driving systems.
Participants can share information about their activities, which will help increase the public’s awareness of testing, centralize the Department’s role in promoting safety and innovation, and build stronger relationships among Federal, State, and local governments and stakeholders.  

Additionally, this voluntary initiative will provide an online, public-facing platform for sharing automated driving systems testing activities and other safety-related information with the public.  Online mapping tools may show testing locations at the local, State, and national levels, as well as testing activity data, which may include dates, frequency, vehicle counts, and routes.

The AV TEST Initiative will be open to all stakeholders involved in the safe development and testing of automated driving system vehicles.  At the State and local level, participants may include departments of motor vehicles, departments of transportation, highway safety offices, and city governments.  At the automotive industry level, participants may include developers, manufacturers, suppliers, operators, and testers.  

This initiative aligns with the Department’s leadership on automated driving system vehicles, including AV 4.0:  Ensuring American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Technologies.

For more about the AV Test Initiative, please visit nhtsa.gov/avtest. 

Conventional thinking has it that self-driving vehicles could one day make crashes a thing of the past. The reality is not that simple. According to a national survey of police-reported crashes, driver error is the final failure in the chain of events leading to more than 9 out of 10 crashes.

But the Institute’s analysis suggests that only about a third of those crashes were the result of mistakes that automated vehicles would be expected to avoid simply because they have more accurate perception than human drivers and aren’t vulnerable to incapacitation. To avoid the other two-thirds, they would need to be specifically programmed to prioritize safety over speed and convenience.

To estimate how many crashes might continue to occur if self-driving cars are designed to make the same decisions about risk that humans do, IIHS researchers examined more than 5,000 police-reported crashes from the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey. Collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this sample is representative of crashes across the U.S. in which at least one vehicle was towed away, and emergency medical services were called to the scene.

The IIHS team reviewed the case files and separated the driver-related factors that contributed to the crashes into five categories:

• “Sensing and perceiving” errors included things like driver distraction, impeded visibility and failing to recognize hazards before it was too late.
• “Predicting” errors occurred when drivers misjudged a gap in traffic, incorrectly estimated how fast another vehicle was going or made an incorrect assumption about what another road user was going to do.
• “Planning and deciding” errors included driving too fast or too slow for the road conditions, driving aggressively or leaving too little following distance from the vehicle ahead.
• “Execution and performance” errors included inadequate or incorrect evasive maneuvers, overcompensation and other mistakes in controlling the vehicle.
• “Incapacitation” involved impairment due to alcohol or drug use, medical problems or falling asleep at the wheel.

The researchers also determined that some crashes were unavoidable, such as those caused by a vehicle failure like a blowout or broken axle.

For the study, the researchers imagined a future in which all the vehicles on the road are self-driving. They assumed these future vehicles would prevent those crashes that were caused exclusively by perception errors or involved an incapacitated driver. That’s because cameras and sensors of fully autonomous vehicles could be expected to monitor the roadway and identify potential hazards better than a human driver and be incapable of distraction or incapacitation.

Crashes due to only sensing and perceiving errors accounted for 24 percent of the total, and incapacitation accounted for 10 percent. Those crashes might be avoided if all vehicles on the road were self-driving — though it would require sensors that worked perfectly and systems that never malfunctioned. The remaining two-thirds might still occur unless autonomous vehicles are also specifically programmed to avoid other types of predicting, decision-making and performance errors.

Consider the crash of an Uber test vehicle that killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, in March 2018. Its automated driving system initially struggled to correctly identify 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg on the side of the road. But once it did, it still was not able to predict that she would cross in front of the vehicle, and it failed to execute the correct evasive maneuver to avoid striking her when she did so.

Planning and deciding errors, such as speeding and illegal maneuvers, were contributing factors in about 40 percent of crashes in the study sample. The fact that deliberate decisions made by drivers can lead to crashes indicates that rider preferences might sometimes conflict with the safety priorities of autonomous vehicles. For self-driving vehicles to live up to their promise of eliminating most crashes, they will have to be designed to focus on safety rather than rider preference when those two are at odds.

Self-driving vehicles will need not only to obey traffic laws but also to adapt to road conditions and implement driving strategies that account for uncertainty about what other road users will do, such as driving more slowly than a human driver would in areas with high pedestrian traffic or in low-visibility conditions.

The 2020 Hyundai Palisade is also a 2020 TOP SAFETY PICK from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) when equipped with optional LED headlights.

SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES
Palisade offers a number of advanced safety technologies, including Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with Pedestrian Detection, Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist, Lane Following Assist, Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist, Safe Exit Assist, High Beam Assist, Driver Attention Warning and Smart Cruise Control with Stop and Go.

HYUNDAI SMARTSENSE TECHNOLOGIES

Hyundai’s standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA) enhances driver awareness to the rear of the Palisade. Using the Blind Spot Detection system’s radar sensors when backing up, the system can not only warn the driver if vehicles approach from the rear side in certain situations, it may also automatically applies the brakes.

An available safety feature includes Rear Occupant Alert (ROA). The system monitors the rear seats using an ultrasonic sensor that helps to detect the movements of children and pets. The system first reminds drivers to check the rear seats when exiting the vehicle with a message on the center instrument cluster display. If the system detects movement in the rear seats after the driver leaves the vehicle and locks the doors, it will honk the horn and send a Blue Link alert to the driver’s smartphone via Hyundai’s Blue Link connected car system. The system is designed to help prevent children and pets from being forgotten in the car, but it may also help in cases where children accidentally lock themselves in.

The Palisade also features an optional Safe Exit Assist system. To enhance the safety of Hyundai’s passengers, Safe Exit Assist uses radar to help detect cars approaching from the rear and cautions passengers looking to exit the vehicle. If a passenger attempts to open the door when a car is approaching from behind, a visual and acoustic warning on the center cluster may alert the driver. In addition, if the driver attempts to deactivate the Electronic Child Safety Lock feature, Safe Exit Assist may override the driver and ensure the rear doors remain locked until the approaching vehicle has passed. Once the road is clear, the driver can then deactivate the Electronic Child Safety Lock and successfully unlock the rear passenger doors.

In addition, Palisade has seven standard airbags: dual front, dual side, driver’s knee, and roll-over-sensing side-curtain airbags. Palisade uses a full-length large side curtain airbag that includes third-row seating coverage for enhanced rear occupant protection in the event of a collision. Tire pressure monitoring with individual position display, anti-theft security, three LATCH anchors in the second row and two LATCH anchors in the third row and a rearview camera are also standard on Palisade.

According to UN data, an estimated 1.35 million people are killed every year in road crashes and up to 50 million more are injured. This costs the global economy $1.85 trillion. TSR is advancing road safety with actionable campaigns and programs, including safer fleets, safer cities, and data and digital innovation. Forward-thinking companies like Autoliv are joining the cause because of their actionable commitment to road safety improvement and technology to prevent crashes, injuries and deaths.

Autoliv will specifically participate in TSR’s Safer Cities micromobility risk management project and lead safety research into the growing e-scooter and micromobility market segment and they will participate in TSR’s Global Leadership Council for Fleet Safety that is focused on supporting fleets with access to peer advisors, training experiences and organizational development to establish a safety culture and create positive change.

The request for comments (RFC) was published Nov. 21, 2019 in the Federal Register.

The 2020 Chrysler Voyager, the latest addition to Chrysler brand’s legendary minivan lineup, has earned a five-star overall safety rating from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Five stars is the highest possible rating awarded by NHTSA. Voyager is the latest Chrysler brand minivan to earn the rating, joining Chrysler Pacifica in the five-star category.

The new minivan’s overall five-star rating was achieved, in part, because it received five-star ratings in a full range of crashworthiness evaluations:

• Front driver-side impact
• Front passenger-side impact
• Overall frontal impact
• Front seat combined barrier and pole side impact
• Rear seat combined barrier and pole side impact
• Driver side barrier impact
• Rear passenger side barrier impact
• Side barrier impact
• Overall side pole impact

The 2020 Chrysler Voyager’s crashworthiness benefits from thoughtful application of steel shaping technologies such as hydroforming, a process that transforms steel tubes by injecting them with fluid at extreme pressures. The result: intricately molded load beams that afford greater strength and stiffness than welded components.

In addition, the new minivan’s door ring is assembled from tailor-welded blanks – sections of hot-stamped steel that vary in thickness. This strategy helps maintain structural integrity in certain crashes.

High-strength steel (HSS) accounts for 72 percent of the new Voyager’s body structure. Its cradle and front rails are made of Advanced High-strength Steel (AHSS) and are configured to help steer crash energy away from the passenger compartment.

Arguably more important, the Voyager also features several available safety and security features to help drivers avoid collisions in the first place. The minivan’s Blind-spot Monitoring system alerts the driver to vehicles entering his/her blind spot.

Such warnings help accommodate safer lane changes.

Meanwhile, an available Rear Cross Path detection system assists the driver with hard-to-see angles when backing out of tight parking spots where field of vision may be hindered.

And the available ParkSense rear park assist with stop detects objects in the path of the Voyager when the vehicle is in reverse. While sensors help the driver maneuver into tight parking spaces, they also prompt automatic braking when the system deems contact is imminent.

NCAP is the government’s premier consumer information program for evaluating vehicle safety performance. The program tests vehicle performance in various crash scenarios and provides an objective rating on a 5-star scale to clearly inform consumers of a vehicle’s safety performance.

Drawing, in part, from the comments and feedback received late last year from a public meeting, NHTSA plans to propose major upgrades to NCAP in 2020. These will involve new technologies, new test procedures, updates to vehicle labeling, advancements in crash-test dummies, and continued consumer research to ensure NCAP’s products are effectively meeting the public’s needs. NHTSA will also consider new technologies tied to the safety of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users such as cyclists.  

NHTSA is working to publish a Federal Register Notice in 2020 that will seek comment on upgrades to NCAP. 

The UK’s position as a world leader in the safe testing and roll-out of self-driving vehicles has been further cemented by a new safety regime, called CAV PASS, being pioneered in the UK, Minister of State for the Future of Transport Minister, George Freeman, has announced today (4 September 2019).

To ensure self-driving vehicles are safe and secure by design and minimise any defects ahead of their testing, sale and wider deployment on UK roads, the government is developing an assurance system using its world-leading expertise in vehicle safety and cyber security within government, industry and academia.

The minister today also officially opened the Autonomous Village, a self-driving vehicle test facility at Millbrook-Culham with 70km of secure test tracks, a private mobile network and a simulator suite. This will be part of a network of self-driving vehicle test facilities across the country, co-ordinated by UK automated vehicle company Zenzic. The new ground will allow developers to safely challenge systems and collect data, to help fine-tune software, sensors, 5G telecommunications and cyber security systems.

The new safety assurance system will first focus on enabling the advanced trialling of self-driving vehicles, and aims to eventually help assure the safety and security of these vehicles for their mainstream sale and use. Such advanced trials may include those without a human operator in the loop at all times, or the assessment of novel vehicle types such as pods and shuttles.

This work builds on the world-leading code of practice for automated vehicle trials first launched by the UK in 2015 and updated this year.

SUVs and crossovers continue to soar in Europe, attracting new entrants from around the world. The C-segment SUV Korando is the first five-star car from Korea’s up-and-coming SsangYong. Well-equipped, and with AEB as standard, the Korando’s rating brings it into line with its competitors.

The Volkswagen Group launched the Škoda Kamiq, sister of the Seat Arona and Volkswagen T-Cross. The Škoda Kamiq is a high-riding Scala and shares a five-star rating and similar results to the car tested earlier this year.

Mercedes-Benz enters the all-electric market with the fully-electric compact luxury SUV EQC. This is the first of Daimler’s EQ range, and its rating augers well, with a five-star rating and good all-round performance. The EQC is part of a growing trend towards battery electric vehicles and joins Jaguar’s I-Pace and Audi’s e-tron amongst the cars that Euro NCAP has tested, and Tesla’s Model X, which will be assessed later this year.

Good results were achieved by other newcomers as well. The latest Mercedes-Benz CLA achieved an outstanding outcome, scoring more than 90 percent in three of the four area of safety assessed by Euro NCAP. BMW’s two-seater roadster, the new Z4, scored well all-round but its protection of vulnerable road users was especially impressive, thanks to an active bonnet that lifts when a pedestrian has been hit. Audi’s alternative to the Mini, the A1, also performed well in safety tests. A five-star car in 2010, the second-generation small hatchback repeats its top rating against Euro NCAP’s newest test requirements, thanks in part to ‘Audi Pre Sense Front’, its standard-fit AEB system.

Finally, the Ford Focus achieved five stars in 2018 but its marginal front-seat whiplash protection meant it could not capitalise on good results for its AEB system. Ford has improved the design of the seats and head restraints and the car now demonstrates good whiplash protection in rear-end collisions and is rewarded for its excellent AEB city performance. The outcome is an improved overall score that reaffirms that the Focus is an all-round family car with great safety credentials.

The Outlander PHEV received high marks all around, scoring four out of five stars in the overall frontal crash and rollover tests, while also receiving five out of five stars in the combined side crash ratings. The combined side rating bundles side barrier and stationary pole crash tests together into one rating.

Outlander PHEV also features availability of several active safety systems including Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM) with Pedestrian Detection, Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Automatic High Beams (AHB), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Blind Spot Warning, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. The FCM system’s FCW and Autonomous Emergency Braking functions along with its LDW system are NHTSA recommended advanced safety technologies.

Starting with the 2020 model year, Mitsubishi will add active safety and driver assistance equipment on all trim levels of Outlander PHEV. SEL trims will now feature FCM with Pedestrian Detection, LDW and Automatic High Beams (AHB) as standard equipment, which were previously reserved for only the top-level GT trim. 2020 Outlander PHEV will be on sale at select Mitsubishi dealerships nationwide by the end of 2019.

NHTSA’s NCAP program conducts hundreds of crash tests across multiple makes and models each year to evaluate a vehicle’s crashworthiness, availability and effectiveness of safety equipment and to help consumers make smart decisions about safety when purchasing a vehicle.

Every Mitsubishi Outlander is also backed by Mitsubishi’s 10-year/100,000-mile Powertrain Limited Warranty, a 5-year/60,000-mile fully transferable New Vehicle Limited Warranty, a 7-year/100,000-mile Anti-Corrosion/Perforation Limited Warranty and 5-year/Unlimited Miles Roadside Assistance. Additionally, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has a fully transferable 10-year/100,000-mile warranty on PHEV components and the Main Drive Lithium-ion battery.

The 2020 Hyundai Kona, Santa Fe, and Tucson were all awarded 5-Star Overall Safety Ratings, the highest available overall safety rating issued by the government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as a facet of its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).

Kona, Santa Fe and Tucson exemplified exceptional safety in crashworthiness and collision avoidance—due to the new Hyundai SmartSense safety technologies available in these 2020 models. Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), uses the car’s front-facing camera and radar to help detect an imminent collision and avoid impact or minimize damage by braking autonomously. Sensing road markings, Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) helps to prevent accidental lane departure and may automatically steer the car if required. Driver Attention Warning (DAW) monitors ones’ driving patterns—detecting drowsy or inattentive driving. Once detected, it alerts the driver with a sound cue and warning message on the instrument panel. Additional safety technologies in these vehicles include Blind Spot Collision Warning (BCW) and Rear Cross Traffic Warning (RCCW).