QDOS Accident Assistance

29/11/2016

Taking inspiration from Road Safety Week last week, we would like to impart a little knowledge about possibly the most important safety feature found in a car that we now take for granted.... the seatbelt.

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It's been almost 60 years since Volvo patented the three-point safety belt. This patented seatbelt became a standard feature in the first production car of 1959, the Amazon. It is estimated that at least 1 million lives have been saved by the three-point seatbelt since it was patented 57 years ago, making it the most passive safety feature in a car.

The seatbelt barely changed over the first 40 years of its existence, but since then, the latest systems have transformed the safety of modern cars. In the 90’s, development accelerated and load limiters became part of our cars from the turn of the century. In a collision, this feature prevents the loads transferring to your chest, in turn breaking your ribs.

Nowadays if you ignore the seatbelt warning alert and don’t buckle up, some manufacturers alter the performance of the airbag deployment during a crash. Modern sensors are already able to detect a collision before it happens, although the software still needs further adaptation so that it can react to different types of accidents.

Richard Cuerden, chief scientist at the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), explains: “The big case for [this technology] is our ageing population. As more of us drive later in life, we’re more vulnerable, so it’s desirable to develop restraint systems that can [adapt to] protect the most vulnerable in moderate crashes and the younger, higher risk drivers in more violent crashes.”

Ahead of Road Safety Week from November 21-27, it’

25/11/2016

Lit Motors have created a vehicle that is a mixture between a bike and a car. The futuristic C-1 can reach 100mph and will NEVER fall over thanks to its self-balancing technology.

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The design is as thin as a motorcycle and could help you cut through traffic while keeping you safe and warm. Even better, it uses gyro stabilisation to stay balanced, so unlike a motorcycle, it will never fall over.

The C-1 has a top speed of 100mph (160kph) and can go from 0 to 60mph in a blazing six seconds, according to Lit Motors. But the most impressive trick that the C-1 can boast about, is its ability to balance itself on just two wheels.

Using a pair of flywheels spinning at 10,000+ rpm, the gyro system exerts 1300 ft-lbs of torque to control the tilt and lean of the vehicle. This allows the C-1 to lean itself into and out of turns, and is powerful enough to keep the C-1 upright, even in a collision.

What's more, the C-1 is also environmentally friendly, powered by electricity instead of petrol. A 10.4 kilowatt-per-hour battery pack lasts 150 to 200 miles on a single charge, according to Lit Motors.

While it looks small, the C-1 has enough space for a passenger in the backseat. It also allows the driver to squeeze into parking spaces normally reserved for motorcycles. The founder of Lit Motors, Danny Kim, hopes the product will hit the market next year and will cost from $24,000 (£15,000).

Check out the video in the link provided to see it in action. It's pretty incredible!

Our tech is engineered from the ground up with you in mind. Slip and park between cars, get to work …

23/11/2016

We thought we would offer some timely advice by pointing out how the cold weather can negatively affect your car battery and how to prevent this from happening.

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Sadly, your car battery is more vulnerable in colder weather. A useful suggestion is to have it tested once the cold weather starts to appear. This will prevent going out to your car only to find that it won't start due to a dead battery.

Since the operation of a battery is based on a chemical reaction, temperature plays an important role in performance. The ideal operating temperature for an automotive battery is 26.7 C (80 F). This is when the battery operates at its maximum efficiency. Cold temperatures slow these chemical reactions, hence why a battery can become sluggish in winter, even though its state of charge may remain unchanged.

There are a few ways to prevent your car battery going flat:

1) Where possible, keeping vehicles in a garage is one way to ensure they will start in particularly cold conditions.

2) Be aware of its age. A typical battery can last an average of between three to five years. Once they get past 5 years it’s a good idea to get them replaced.

3) Either ensure you make some long journeys to charge up the battery or invest in modern battery conditioner/intelligent charger so that the battery can be left connected indefinitely without overcharging it.

4) It's easy to forget just how much electronic equipment there is in modern cars that can drain the battery. Remember to unplug items from the 12V socket and any USB ports, when not in use and ensure you do not leave your interior lights on (we've all been there!).

To give your battery a bit of a hand before you start up the car, switch off everything electrical (particularly fans/blowers and lights) and depress the clutch on a manual vehicle, to reduce the load on the battery when you start the car from cold.

18/11/2016

It’s quick-fire question time! See if you can answer this multiple choice question correctly.

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If you have a collision, which of the following will reduce the risk of neck injury?

a) A collapsible steering wheel
b) A properly adjusted head restraint
c) Having no seatbelt on
d) Holding your neck upright


ANSWER:
The headrest must be adjusted properly to provide support. The other options above will make no difference or even increase the risk of a neck injury.
Therefore, the correct answer is b).

15/11/2016

It’s time. So what helpful piece of information can we enlighten you with this week? Well today it’s about positioning your wing mirrors.

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Our tip this week is to not have your car body visible anywhere in your mirrors. This is one of those things that takes next to zero effort to do correctly, but that many people ignore.

You hopefully already know that the "blind spot" is the name for the area on either side of a vehicle that is invisible to wing mirrors. It's such a frequent cause of accidents that higher-end car models have adopted radar or camera systems that are capable of detecting other vehicles in your blind spots and delivering the information to you in urgent beeps or visual prompts within the mirror itself.

You see, blind spots can be brought into increased view of your wing mirrors, provided that these mirrors are adjusted to contain no part of your own car. Just angle them away from you until the point where your car is no longer visible in either one, and leave them there. That way, there's no overlap between them and the rear-view mirror, and any car that's passing you on either side will remain in at least one of your mirrors until it enters your field of vision.

Admittedly, this seems less like a "tip" and more like "the most obvious piece of advice of all time," but the number of people who don’t know this is surprisingly high. So if you haven’t already, give it a whirl and see the difference.

13/11/2016

As the winter weather is now upon us, we should start considering how it can affect our vehicles. There are a number of ways it can do so, the first we would like to bring to your attention is tyre pressure.

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Tyres tend to be a bigger issue in the winter due to compressed air that cooler weather brings. In extreme temperatures, tyre pressure can fluctuate; the tyre pressure can decrease at rest and increase when the car is moving.

It sounds like the most obvious thing to do, but if the tyre pressure warning light comes on, don’t ignore it and hope it goes away, make sure you inspect the tyres.

Driving with low – or too much – tyre pressure can lead to uneven wear and a shortened lifespan for the tyre. It can also lead to a tyre blowout on the road.

It may be a good idea to keep an emergency maintenance kit in the car and include a portable air pump and pressure gauge.

10/11/2016

Yet another car recall due to its lack of safety – this time it’s the Vauxhall Corsa.

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Vauxhall is having to recall the previous-generation Corsa because it is found to be a fire risk according to BBC’s Watchdog programme. A total of 2,767 cars produced between 2006 and 2014 are affected, but which models particularly?

The cars in question are the 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine models. The majority of those are said to be the Black Edition spec (see article for photo), but some are the SE and SRi models. The Black Edition cars are more easily identifiable by their exclusive two-tone alloy wheels.

The cause of the fire has been found to be if water reaches the Vacuum Pump Relay Box, it can lead to a short circuit. It is only these models that have this part, so no other Corsa models should be affected.

If you own one of the above mentioned cars, then you will be notified by Vauxhall if yours is included in the recall. However, they are encouraging all anxious Corsa drivers to contact its customer care helpline on 0800 026 0867 if they wish to speak to a professional.

Vauxhall is recalling the previous-generation Corsa due to a risk of fire, which has been investigated by the BBC's Watchdog programme

08/11/2016

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08/11/2016

It’s quick-fire question time! See if you can answer this multiple choice question correctly.

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What should the left-hand lane of a motorway be used for?

a) Normal driving
b) Breakdowns only
c) Vehicles travelling at the minimum speed limit
d) Overtaking traffic in the middle lane

ANSWER:
The left-hand lane is just for normal driving. It is the lane in which people join the motorway, and it should be used by all drivers unless they are overtaking.
Therefore, the answer is a).

06/11/2016

After a car-to-car crash test, Nissan is forced to withdraw a model from sale.

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The new Nissan Tsuru has been removed from the market after it earned an appalling zero-star safety rating. These cars are built for the Mexican market and are largely used as taxis but the Tsuru was found to be well below the standard of its US counterpart.

The model was assessed in a 50% overlap collision with the US market Nissan Versa (which is similar to the UK’s Nissan Pulsar). Both cars were moving at 40mph at the time of impact, however there was a vast difference in the damage done between them.

The Versa has a full set of airbags and a deformable crash structure which ensured that the occupants escaped with only cuts and bruises. The Tsuru has no airbags and the car’s A-pillar buckled so badly that it pe*****ted the passenger compartment, ensuring fatal injuries to the driver.

The test was carried out by global New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) as part of its campaign which is focussing on raising safety standards as well as removing new cars that perform poorly. NCAP reported that the Tsuru was involved in over 4,000 fatal accidents in Mexico from 2007-2012, with its poor safety standards contributing towards the statistic.

Car-to-car crash test sees Mexican Nissan Tsuru earn zero stars, prompting firm to drop it from line-up

03/11/2016

Insurers have been found to be ‘using fraud to justify bigger premiums’.

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A personal injury solicitor has claimed that insurers have been found to be making fools of motorists by using a record number of whiplash claims to raise prices almost ten times the rate of inflation. Since October 2015 the average policy has increased by £38 (a 9% rise) according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

The overwhelming number of whiplash claims in the last year has seen insurers blaming the inflated cost on personal injury claims, higher repair bills and rises in insurance premium tax. However, a Solicitor of whiplash claims at Thompson Solicitors, accused insurers of attempting to mislead motorists by arguing that the cost of claims fell last year and was 30% lower than in 2010.

“Fraud is being cynically exaggerated to attack the rights of honest motorists and to justify premium increases. It’s high time the insurance industry stopped their manufactured hysteria about fraud and concentrated on providing greater transparency so consumers can see if the ever-growing premiums are justified” he said.

Rob Cummings from the ABI, said: “The government has a key role to play in ensuring the best insurance deals for honest motorists.”

Insurers have asked the government to have automatic emergency braking technology as a compulsory addition to new vehicles to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions.

Honest motorists are being taken for fools by insurers using a record number of whiplash claims to justify price rises almost ten times the rate of inflation, a personal injury solicitor has claimed.

01/11/2016

Headlights in cars might sound like a simple subject. If they’re on, they’re on, and it’s easy to tell because you can see where you’re going. Right? Well, that isn’t always the case. Here’s our on which lights should be used and when.

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Nowadays, with the rise of automatic headlights and daytime running lights, (DRLs) it isn’t always quite so easy to fathom which lights your car is showing. So which lights should you have on, and how can you tell whether they are?

Daytime running lights (DRLs)
• European legislation said they should be fitted to all new cars released after February 2011, these illuminate whenever the ignition is on, and the headlamp switch is in the 'off' position.
• They must not be used instead of normal headlights because they aren’t bright enough to light the road ahead of you, your car will not be lit from the rear and your registration plate will not be lit, which could land you in trouble with the police.

Sidelights (or side marker lights)
• These come on at the same time as the rear lights but shouldn’t be used at night because they are usually very dim.
• You can also use these to illuminate your car when it’s parked, if you’re afraid other drivers might not see it. Their low brightness means they won’t drain the battery as quickly as regular headlights.

Dipped-beam headlights
• These are often referred to as ‘headlights’. They’re the bright lights at the front of the car that you would be using to drive at night. When you turn them on, the sidelights stay on which means you get red lights at the rear of the car, combined with bright white lights at the front.
• You should also use them in any conditions in which visibility is compromised – including when driving through rain, fog, smoke, or even tunnels.

Full-beam/Main beam headlights
• These are brighter headlights which should only be used when there is no other traffic around, to see further along the road than you otherwise would be able to. They can also be flashed briefly, usually by pulling back lightly on the indicator stalk.
• You should also avoid using them in fog, which the bright beam doesn’t pe*****te; instead, it gets reflected back, meaning it’ll reduce your visibility rather than increasing it.

Rear and front fog lights
• Rear fog lights (fitted as standard) are brighter versions of your rear sidelights. They’re used to ensure your car can be seen from the rear even in low visibility. Front fog lights (not fitted as standard) project a low, wide beam which helps you to see the edges of the road at close quarters when you’re driving slowly in fog.
• Fog lights should only be turned on when visibility drops below 100m, and should be turned back off again whenever the visibility increases again otherwise they can blind other drivers.

A good tip is to try and remember at all times not just what you can see, but also how your car looks to other road users. It’s something you should think about and question repeatedly – can other drivers see you? Can you do more to make your car stand out? Are you dazzling them with your main beam?