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Random facts you probably didn’t know

We spend so much time in our cars nowadays, from driving to work to carrying out errands, but we bet you don’t know these random facts about cars and driving!

There are over 13 million vehicles on the road in Australia, and the average Australian drives 14 000 Kilometres every year – so 182 billion kilometres are travelled every year in a motor vehicle! This is twenty times more than the distance between Earth and Pluto!

According to the 2017 World Car Awards, the Jaguar F-PACE is the best car on earth – being awarded World Car of the Year as well as World Car Design of the Year.

The largest land vehicle on earth is the Bagger 288 excavator, manufactured by the German company ThyssenKrupp and costing around $100 million.

The cheapest car in the world is the Tata Nano manufactured by Tata Motors in India, costing around 100 000 Indian Rupees, or about AUD 2000.

The first ever person to be killed in a motor vehicle accident was Bridget Driscoll, who stepped off a kerb in London, and was hit by a gas-powered car driven by Arthur Edsall. Edsall was travelling at less than 10 kms/h.

A Nissan Leaf recently set a world record as the fastest car to drive over a measured mile in reverse, when Terry Grant, a stunt driver, averaged about 55 km/h.

In Switzerland, law dictates higher penalties for traffic infringements for those who can afford to pay. Millionaire CEO Richard Anderson picked up a speeding fine of 290 000 Swiss Francs, driving at around 136 km/h per hour in a 80 km/h zone – that equates to about AUD 300 000.

Animal-related car accidents account for about 6% of accidents on Australian roads. Animals that you may encounter are kangaroos, cattle, emus, sheep, cassowaries or camels, deer and crocodiles.

Some strange driving laws that exist around the world:

In Alaska, you are prohibited from tethering a dog to the roof of your vehicle
In Alabama, it is illegal to drive while wearing a blindfold
In Denmark, you are legally obliged to check underneath your vehicle before driving off, in case there is a person underneath your car.

The best selling car in Australia is a ute – the Toyota Hilux. The next best selling is also a ute – the Ford Ranger.

Hybrid cars

A hybrid car is one that uses more than 1 type of technology to provide motion. Usually, these cars will have an internal combustion engine as well as an electric motor – where the electric motor is sometimes able to power the vehicle on it’s own – or to assist the internal combustion engine.

The benefit of a hybrid car is that it will typically use less fuel, and also produce fewer emissions than a conventional vehicle of a similar size. The disadvantage of a hybrid car is that it is generally more expensive than a conventional car, due to the cost of the technology.

There are a few different types of hybrid vehicle systems:

Electric motor that assists the petrol engine. This type of hybrid cannot be driven on the electric motor only. The electric motor changes to a generator during braking, deceleration and light cruise conditions. The energy produced is stored in a battery pack, and then used to assist the petrol engine to accelerate when needed.
A second type has both an electric motor and an internal combustion engine, both of which can power the vehicle independently, although the electric motor can only handle low speeds and short distances. Power generated by the electric motor is stored in battery packs and the electric motor can assist the combustion engine when required.
A plug-in hybrid provides for the battery pack to be charged from mains power.
A mild hybrid is a conventional vehicle that can generate and store energy during braking and deceleration, to be used later thereby reducing fuel costs.
A range-extended electric vehicle has a full electric drivetrain supplemented by a petrol engine that drives a generator. This is not really a true hybrid.

Hybrid vehicles are most suited to a city environment with a lot of stop/start driving that will charge the battery pack. Significant fuel savings can be achieved in these conditions. Highway driving will not show much in the way of fuel savings, however, and the hybrid vehicle’s highway fuel consumption could well be bettered by some of the modern diesel turbo vehicles.

Why do cars get recalled?

The number of recalls issued by manufacturers of motor vehicles is rising, probably in line with the complexity of modern engines and electrical systems. Not all recalls are for major fixes – vehicles are recalled for smaller-scale fixes all the time. Smaller issues are sometimes addressed when you take your vehicle in for a service. At the other end of the scale, it has happened that the manufacturer has issued a “do not drive” instruction – such as was issued with Porsche for its 911 GT3 model that started catching fire.

Modern cars are built with mechanical and electrical systems – any part of which could fail. The safety of consumer goods (including their components) such as motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts is regulated by the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Among other things, such as statutory warranties as to acceptable quality, the ACL imposes obligations on suppliers and manufacturers of consumer goods concerning product recalls.

Under the ACL, goods (such as motor vehicles) are deemed to have a safety defect ‘if their safety is not such as persons generally are entitled to expect’. This means that whether a motor vehicle is considered to have a safety defect will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If a safety or non-compliance issue is found in a vehicle, manufacturers are responsible to fix these, and that means that they will recall the vehicle. Vehicle recalls can be voluntary, where the manufacture decides independently to recall a vehicle, or compulsory – where the manufacturer is compelled in terms of the law to conduct a recall.

The website recalls.gov.au lists all recalls for major car brands. In 2015 there were 158 car recalls, 199 in 2016, and 183 in 2017. We are still in the first month of 2018, and already 6 recalls for cars are listed.

In addition to the complex systems and potential for failure in modern cars, manufacturers are concerned about reputational damage should they be aware of a problem without recalling the models concerned, and later are exposed for trying to hide the situation. Car companies are now acting to address faults much earlier than they may have in the past.

Autonomous Emergency Braking

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and forward collision warning can stop your vehicle and avoid cars or obstacles ahead. In some cars the system operates only for lower speeds, and in others, a warning is provided to the driver if a potential collision is identified – this technology is applied differently in various vehicle makes and models.

The technology uses a sensor at the front of the car to judge distances and closing speeds between your car and other vehicles, objects or people. If it calculates that a collision is imminent, the car will apply brakes to stop or slow the car without any intervention from the driver.

This technology can avoid or lessen the damage caused by collisions due to driver inattention, fatigue or speeding – saving the lives of both the occupants of the car as well as other road users including pedestrians. The technology is programmed to act quickly – and reaction time is therefore more effective than even an attentive driver in the same situation, as most people are not used to dealing with critical situations and therefore don’t react quickly enough, or apply enough brake pressure to avoid a crash.

According to ANCAP (the Australian New Car Assessment Program), Australia’s independent vehicle safety advocate, low-speed AEB results in a 38 percent reduction in real-world rear-end crashes. The low-speed version – referred to by ANCAP as “AEB (City)” – usually consists of an automatic brake function that operates for speeds up to 30km/h or 50km/h.

According to Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission, AEB can avoid 35 percent of all rear-end crashes and mitigate damage in 53 percent of rear-end collisions.

Clearly AEB has tremendous potential to reduce injuries and costs associated with crashes.

As stated at the start of this article – not all AEB systems work in the same way. Some will not prevent a crash but will only slow down the vehicle thereby lessening the severity of the impact. It is important to note that no two systems are the same – there will be differences in the hardware used (cameras/radar/lasers) as well as the speeds at which the systems become effective. It is therefore really difficult to compare AEB systems between models – however, if you are in the market for a new vehicle, at least understand whether the models that you are looking at have AEB capability, and if so, to what extent.

Snakes and your car

“What on earth would snakes have to do with your car?”, you may ask. Well, earlier this year a Sydney motorist had to deal with a venomous red-bellied black snake that had slithered into the engine of his car. This particular snake is a native of eastern Australia, and can grow up to 2.5 meters – one of Australia’s largest venomous snakes. Snakes are found all over Australia – not only in the outback – so you would do well to be prepared for the scenario that our Sydney motorist faced.

Snakes are cold-blooded reptiles; they require external heat to keep warm. Snakes in the wild enjoy sunbathing on rocks under direct sunlight; snakes living in human-occupied areas are attracted to cars that are easily heated by the sun. Snakes use heated cars to sunbathe like they do in the wild. Removing snakes from a car is dangerous, especially if they are poisonous.

So, firstly – prevention is better than cure, right? How do you keep snakes out of your car? Be sure to keep your doors and windows of your car closed when your car is parked – and try not to park your car near long grass or heavily wooded or swampy areas. If a snake is going to set up home in your car, it is most likely that it will head for the engine area which is nice and warm, rather than the inside of the car. As long as your doors and windows are closed, when you return to your car a quick check under the bonnet will reveal whether you have any uninvited guests of the slithering variety, or not.

What are you to do if, as was the case for our Sydney motorist, you lift the bonnet and low and behold – a coiled up snake is warming itself in your engine? The answer is to leave the snake alone, and call a snake catcher. Removing a snake may seem to be a simple operation – but, given that Australia is home to more venomous species of snakes that non-venomous snakes, if you haven’t removed a snake before, you could get killed very quickly.

So – along with contact details for your insurance, roadside assistance etc, add the number for your local snake catcher to your phone.

Maintaining your car battery

The car battery is the heart of the vehicle’s electrical system – you really don’t want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere as a result of a flat battery. Here are some tips to help you to maintain the health of your battery thereby avoiding this type of scenario.

Firstly – ensure that you don’t drain the battery power unnecessarily:

When you leave your car, do a quick check to make sure that no interior or exterior lights are on
If you don’t use your car on a regular basis – keep the battery charge topped up by using a battery charger, or taking the car our for about an hour drive every week
Make sure that you service your car regularly, and that the alternator and battery charging system is checked during the service

In addition, the following regular maintenance needs to be done:

Clean your car battery terminals, remembering to loosen and remove the negative (- black) terminal from the battery first in order to prevent a short circuit between the battery post and the body of the car, followed by the positive (+ red) terminal. Then remove any corrosion from the terminals using water and a brush, then dry them. Reconnect the terminals in the reverse order – positive (+ red) first, followed by negative (- black).
Check the electrolyte level in the battery. If you have a maintenance -free battery you can skip this step.
Check the condition of the battery heat shields – these protect your battery from heat – extreme heat will result in overheating and swelling.
Check the battery for any leaks, bulging or cracks

Vibration can limit the life of your car battery – the battery should be secured with an approved battery clamp to limit vibration. Very hot weather can cause the engine area to become very hot, and under these conditions, the heavy use of air-conditioners can also put the battery under additional strain – which may cause the battery to fail.

There are some causes of battery failure that you cannot prevent through regular maintenance (manufacturing faults, short circuits/dead cells in the battery and general wear and tear, for example) – but following the guidelines above will help to extend your car’s battery life and maintain its optimum performance.

How do you know when to replace your brakes?

In the same way that your tyres, engine and even your air-conditioning system need to be maintained, so do your brakes.

The brake system on your car is made up of a master cylinder, brake hoses and the brake caliper. When you apply pressure to the brake pedal, this pressure is transferred by the master cylinder which compresses or forces the brake fluid along the brake lines, to force the brake caliper to close the disc pads onto the disc rotor.

Basically all of these components of your braking system experience wear and tear. The action of the brakes generates a significant amount of friction, and therefore heat. Brake pads will wear as a result, and you should replace them when they reach around 30% remaining. If you go below this level, you will experience a marked decrease in braking performance.

The disc rotors will also wear down – check your vehicle manual to determine the minimum thickness for safe use – less than this and you risk reduced braking performance.

Brake pads can also become glazed – stop start driving or riding the brakes causes the brake pads to become extremely hot, and the heat causes the surface of the pad to become smooth – thereby reducing the friction – you will notice squeaking brakes, and longer braking distances. If you have a traction control system in your vehicle, remember that these work by applying the brakes to individual wheels to stop wheel spin. This can also cause glazing on the brake pads. Switch off your traction control system when you are not driving in loose terrain.

The extreme heat can also cause the metal in the disc rotors to deform and become uneven. This will cause a wobble which you will feel through the steering wheel, especially is the discs on the front wheels have been affected. The uneven braking surface will also reduce braking performance and result in a longer braking distance.

Brake fluid transfers the pressure of your foot on the brake pedal in your car, to the brake pads and discs, thereby slowing or stopping your car. You should have the brake fluid replaced yearly – and in addition, you need to check the levels of the brake fluid on a regular basis – although the brake fluid is inside a pressurised and sealed system, the brake hoses, seals and fittings are made of rubber which can deteriorate over time, and some fluid may leak.

Regular attention to these items could save you a costly accident – in terms of the safety of yourself and your passengers as well as potential expensive repairs if your vehicle is damaged in an accident where you haven’t been able to stop in time.

Do you know what brake fluid is?

Most of us have heard of brake fluid, and we know that it has something to do with the proper functioning of the brakes on our vehicles – but exactly what is it, and why is it so important?

Brake fluid transfers the pressure of your foot on the brake pedal in your car, to the brake pads and discs, thereby slowing or stopping your car. The brake system on your car is made up of a master cylinder, brake hoses and the brake caliper. When you apply pressure to the brake pedal, this pressure is transferred by the master cylinder which compresses or forces the brake fluid along the brake lines, to force the brake caliper to close the disc pads onto the disc rotor. So if you don’t have enough brake fluid in the system, the brakes on your car won’t work as expected.

So, we need to check the levels of the brake fluid on a regular basis, as we are required to do for other aspects of our vehicles such as tyre pressure, oil levels and other fluids. Although the brake fluid is inside a pressurised and sealed system, the brake hoses, seals and fittings are made of rubber which can deteriorate over time. When this happens, you will have small leakage of fluid and you will notice that the brake pedal feels softer and you need to be more aggressive in applying your foot to the pedal in order to stop the car – and eventually as the deterioration worsens and the leakage increases, the brakes may fail entirely.

In addition to the potential for deterioration of the rubber parts within the brake system, there is also the fact that brake fluid breaks down over time and absorbs water, thereby losing its ability to provide the designed level of compression – even though the system is sealed. The brake system of your car generates a lot of heat – and as little as 3.7% of moisture within the brake fluid will reduce the effective boiling point of the brake fluid by almost one third.

You therefore need to replace your brake fluid at least annually, ensuring that you use the brake fluid type as specified in your owner’s manual

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