2012

Both natural disasters and recalls have hindered Toyota’s sales in previous years, but they seem to have made a comeback in 2012. They surpassed the reigning champion, GM, in sales for the first half of 2012. Contributing to Toyota’s success are increased sales in China and Southeast Asia and U.S. sales recovery following extensive recalls…. read more

Could your happiness be directly tied to how well you pilot your vehicle? Toyota thinks so, and they’re trying to help your driving habits remain steady.  Since 2006, the company has been working on a form of in-car technology that they say will be able to gauge a person’s mood when he or she gets… read more

In many states, it’s necessary for convicted drunk drivers to have ignition interlock devices installed in their cars.  These devices require persons to blow into a tube that can detect the presence of alcohol on their breath.  But lawmakers are looking to explore whether these items should become a requirement in all vehicles. The federal… read more

A group is charging soda makers with endangering the public’s health by including what they say is a cancer-causing chemical in their products. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to ban 4-methylimidazole from soda.  The group has claimed that studies have shown unsafe levels of the… read more

Not all streets are created equal. Pedestrian accidents are a cause for concern all across the country, but some communities are hit harder than others. One such city is trying to do something about this. Tucson, which last year experienced 25 fatal or near-fatal accidents involving pedestrians, has created a pedestrian safety task force to… read more

According to news sources, a grant aimed at increasing safety on the roadway has been awarded to the Pittsfield Police Department to help them in their ongoing effort to maintain enforcement of crosswalk laws as well other safety measures. The $7,500 safety  grant was awarded to the department by The Massachusetts Executive Office of Public… read more

According to news sources, researchers have found a link between a recent multi-state E.coli outbreak and raw cookie dough commonly found in many grocery stores nationwide. The researchers recently published their findings in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal after they found a causal link between a recent outbreak of E.coli in 2009 and ready-to-bake cookie… read more

According to news sources, a new study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that road traffic fatalities in 2010 decreased significantly to historic lows of 1.10 per 100 million vehicle miles. Advances in safety technologies and increased police enforcement are contributed to helping bring down the numbers. The conclusions of… read more

According to news sources, the Missouri Older Driver Safety week is already underway, recognizing the fact that increasing numbers of elder citizens and taking onto the roadways and staying equally active during retirement years. The city has already taken numerous measures to ensure safety on the roadway for older drivers while actively making effective improvements… read more

A recent study found that offshore drug manufacturing plants are more likely to suffer quality problems than their U.S. mainland counterparts, report news sources. The study, conducted by researchers at Ohio State University, compared manufacturing plants on the U.S. mainland with plants in Puerto Rico. All plants were owned by U.S. pharmaceutical firms, and researchers… read more

A manufacturer-based motorcycle safety group has launched a one-year study to examine real-world safety issues that face riders, report news sources. The Motorcycling Naturalistic Study, commissioned by industry non-profit safety group the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), will involve 100 motorcycles equipped with data-gathering technology that will provide researchers with “real-time, near-crash, pre-crash and actual-crash information.”… read more

A recent study found that approximately 5,000 children are injured annually from falling out of windows and that younger children are at greater risk of window falls, report news sources. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, looked at data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System operated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Researchers… read more