By Art Liggio, President and CEO, Driving Dynamics

Last year Safety & Risk featured two columns: “Alert the Fleet: The Other Driver Has Been Abusing Prescription Opioids” and “Riding High in My ’58 Ford Cortina,” both intended to raise awareness that we’re sharing the road with more and more drivers operating their vehicles with diminished capacity.

And as more states legalize the use of marijuana―most recently added was California with 38 million inhabitants representing 12 percent of our country’s population, the message of vigilance and preparedness is worth repeating.

With access to this recreational drug becoming more easily available ever day, it’s almost certain we’ll see an increase in the number of individuals operating vehicles under the influence, putting themselves and the rest of us in harm’s way.

READ MORE

By Mark Boada, Senior Editor

By all accounts, when it comes to the world’s electric vehicle (EV) present and future, China is the 800-pound gorilla. Consider the following, as reported in This Week in Asia last August:

• In 2015, Beijing declared its plans to dominate the world’s electric car industry by the year 2025.
• In 2016, China sold half a million electric vehicles, making it by far the world’s biggest market. In contrast, manufacturers in the world’s second largest market, the United States, sold just 155,000.
• China’s electric vehicles are manufactured overwhelmingly by locally owned producers, not foreign joint ventures, and they are based on Chinese technologies. Last year China’s leading electric vehicle maker, Shenzhen-based BYD, turned out 100,000 cars. The leader in the US, Tesla, managed to sell 76,000 into its home market.

 
Elsewhere, you’ll find these facts:

READ MORE

The Washington Post

The everyday movements of tens of millions of American cars are being monitored with a huge amount of personal information being collected – everything from how fast a person drives, how hard he brakes, to how much fuel his car uses and the entertainment he prefers.

Often without owners’ knowledge, carmakers have transformed the automobile to a sophisticated computer on wheels that offers even more access to our personal habits and behaviors than smartphones do.

“Any company that has tons of data about consumers and can control the interaction with them is going to have the capability and incentive to try to use that information to the company’s advantage — and possibly to the detriment of consumers,” Ryan Calo, an associate professor of law at the University of Washington said.

Read the article at The Washington Post.

The New York Times

The renewable energy subsidies survived Republican tax reform, including the $7500 electric vehicle tax credit which begins to phase out after a company sells 200,000 electric vehicles.

The 200,000 limit on the tax credit was added in 2009 when Congress extended incentives for plug-in vehicles passed during the George W. Bush administration, as a way to move the nation toward energy independence.

Tesla and G.M. have benefited from the tax credit, but will soon lose their competitive edge as they both are expected to reach the 200,000 limit this year.

Read the article at The New York Times.

Cars.com

Ford’s latest Sync 3 infotainment system is integrating Waze via AppLink so you’ll be able to plug in your phone and have Waze displayed on the touchscreen, operate it via the screen or voice commands, and hear the prompts from the audio system.

The Waze app gives navigation directions for best routes using crowdsourced information from Waze users on the road.

“With the flexibility of our Sync 3 software and AppLink, customers can easily use Waze to get all the traffic and navigation help they need — on a big screen and without having to fiddle around with their phones while driving,” said Don Butler, Ford executive director for Connected Vehicle and Services.

Read the article at Cars.com.

Forbes

Automotive industry researchers at Boston Consulting Group believe that by 2035, new mobility technology will account for 40 percent of industry profits.

Automakers will have to step up their investments in key areas like autonomous vehicle technology, battery production facilities, electric-vehicle charging infrastructure and self-driving taxi fleets in order to get their fair share of future profits.

“OEMs face a double-whammy challenge of needing to make investments in these growth areas at the same time that their margins in their core business are declining,” said Michelle Andersen, a BCG partner and coauthor of the study.

Read the article at Forbes.

Wired

General Motors’ driverless all-electric Chevrolet Bolt doesn’t have a steering wheel or pedals and has officially asked the federal Department of Transportation to exempt it from certain parts of the rules that govern automotive safety.

“In an age where cars won’t need any kind of pedals or steering wheels, those don’t quite make sense. They’re almost illogical or missing a predicate when there is an artificial intelligence, a computer driver,” says Paul Hemmersbaugh, GM’s policy director for autonomous vehicles.

To handle riders who demand a human touch, and to do things like call emergency services in case of a crash, GM will rely on its in-vehicle OnStar system.

Read the article at Wired.

The Detroit Bureau

Ford had a solid and loyal base of buyers for the old Ranger and realized it needed to get back in the market as it watched its competition rapidly rebuild the old midsize pickup segment – sales growing a hefty 83% since 2014.

The automaker will need to really deliver on performance and fuel economy numbers when the new Ranger is released.

“The 2019 Ford Ranger isn’t just a downsized F-150. Nor is it just a tweaked version of the midsize pickup sold overseas, company officials revealed during a background briefing on the new truck. Virtually every body panel and a significant portion of what’s underneath the skin has been revised for the North American market. There’s also plenty of infotainment and safety gear meant to appeal to U.S. buyers.”

Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.

The Verge

A new poll released by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety reveals that most people don’t trust driverless car technology and think that Congress and the federal government should impose minimum safety requirements on these vehicles before they hit public roads.

A majority (63 percent) said they would not support “mass exemptions” from federal motor vehicle safety standards, and were not comfortable (75 percent) with automakers having the power to remotely disable vehicle controls when the autonomous vehicle is being operated by the computer.

“The Department of Transportation needs to issue some regulations as driverless vehicles are put onto the road to ensure a minimum level of safety and security,” said Jackie Gillan, president emeritus at the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. “Right now, that’s not the case.”.

Read the article at The Verge.

Managed Healthcare Executive

To be successful in the future, businesses will need to understand and embrace the millennial generation while rethinking their approach to recruitment, retention, and workforce productivity.

According to the Business Journal, only 29% of millennials report feeling engaged in their jobs.

“Managers need to better understand how to work with millennials, how to keep them engaged, and most important, how to recognize the value we can add as employees.”

Read the article at Managed Healthcare Executive.