Safety & Accident

AACHEN, GERMANY -- To support the development of advanced active safety systems, a consortium of 29 partners has joined forces in a European research project that got underway Jan. 20 at the Ford European Research Center in Germany.

Tags: active safety systems, collision avoidance, Ford

DEARBORN, MI --- Ford Motor Co. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are embarking on a plan to study driver workload and identify new opportunities to use in-vehicle technologies to improve driver safety by lowering stress.

Tags: driver stress, Ford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Safety

DEARBORN, MI - Ford will produce an all-new, purpose-built Police Interceptor specially designed and engineered to replace the Ford Crown Victoria law enforcement vehicle lineup in 2011.

Tags: Ford, Ford Crown Victoria, police cruisers

DEARBORN, MI --- Dr. Steve Rouhana, senior technical leader for passive safety in Ford Motor Co.'s research and advanced engineering and group leader for biomechanics and occupant protection, likes to joke that he works with a lot of dummies -- crash test dummies. But when it comes to protecting vehicle occupants -- particularly children -- this father of three boys takes his work seriously.

Tags: air bags, crash test, crash test dummies, Ford, safety belts

DEARBORN, MI --- Ford Motor Co., as the final phase of its research into the cause and effects of distracted driving, is using high-tech goggles that measure the amount of time drivers take their eyes off the road to help validate in-vehicle technologies such as GPS navigation systems.

Tags: distraction, Ford, Ford SYNC, navigation system, voice recognition

DEARBORN, MI --- In an updated position statement on the repair and replacement of safety belt assemblies, Ford Motor Co. clearly comes out against the practice of collision repair shops re-installing seat belts taken from salvage or damaged vehicles.

Tags: body shop, collision repair, Ford, salvage seat belt assemblies

DEARBORN, MI – In such a situation that an occupant cannot respond, SYNC speaks to the 911 service and alerts an operator that a crash has occurred.

Tags: 911 Assist, accident, emergency, Ford, Ford SYNC, Safety

BINGHAM FARMS, MI – Vincentric announced the winners of its 2009 Best Fleet Value in America awards, with strong fleet product lines from General Motors and Toyota each earning seven awards, and Ford with five winning vehicles.

Tags: 2009 Best Fleet Value in America awards, Chrysler LLC , fleet product lines, Ford, GM, Toyota, Vincentric, Volvo

DEARBORN, MI – Earning 5-star ratings in both government crash tests, in addition to the "Top Safety Pick" award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the all-new 2009 Ford F-150 is packed with a list of advanced standard safety features.

Tags: 2009 Ford F-150, 5-star ratings, Ford, full-size pickup, NHTSA, standard safety features, Top Safety Pick, Truck of the Year

ST. PAUL, MN – The Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association sent a formal letter to the U.S. Congress urging immediate assistance for the well-being of the commercial fleet management industry and the greater well-being of the U.S. economy.

Tags: AFLA, Big Three, Chrysler LLC , Ford, GM, House of Representatives, senate, senators, Speaker of the House

DEARBORN, MI – Ford's "MyKey" technology will allow fleets to limit top speed and radio volume, set speed warnings, and assures safety systems remain engaged to help protect drivers and vehicle inventories.

Tags: Ford, MyKey

DEARBORN, MI – Ford Motor Company will offer a new advanced "active" collision-avoidance technology, Collision Warning with Brake Support, on certain Ford and Lincoln models next year.

Tags: Collision Warning with Brake Support, Ford

DEARBORN, MI – Ford is exploring several opportunities to promote "green" driving practices with everyone from everyday drivers to government officials.

Tags: EcoDriving, Ford, fuel-saving behavior

PHOENIX – Tests performed by Ford Motor Company show drivers coached by eco-driving experts can significantly improve the fuel economy performance of their vehicles.

Tags: eco-driving, Ford

DEARBORN, Mich. --- Ford Motor Co. announced plans to offer more active safety product features and technologies that consumers increasingly want and to ramp up research and development into next-generation accident avoidance safety technologies.

Tags: accident avoidance safety technologies, active safety features, Ford

WASHINGTON - In one of the company's largest export agreements, Ford will sell more than 30,000 North American-built vehicles in China, starting in 2009.

Tags: China, export, Ford

DEARBORN, MI – Ford Motor Company has improved its Service Part Limited Warranty coverage on both new and remanufactured gas engine and transmission assemblies, increasing the terms from three years/75,000 miles to three years/100,000 miles, effective Apr. 1.

Tags: Ford, gas engines, transmissions, Warranty

DEARBORN, MI – Researchers at Ford's advanced driving simulator, Virtual Test Track Experiment (VIRTTEX), are devoting much of 2008 to study how active safety technologies in vehicles should alert drivers of potentially dangerous driving incidents.

Tags: Ford, VIRTTEX, Virtual Test Track Experiment

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is urging owners of certain unrepaired Ford, Lincoln and Mercury SUVs, pickup trucks, vans and passenger cars that contain a safety defect to bring their vehicles to dealer repair shops immediately to have the cruise control switch disconnected.

Tags: Ford, NHTSA, Recall