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[Reverse Cameras] [Parking Sensors] [Handsfree Car Kits] [In-dash Gps] [Smart Park]

RECENT TESTS by NRMA Insurance show that most passenger cars in Australia offer poor rear visibility – a key factor in accidents leading to deaths of children in driveways.

The 2009 Reversing Visibility Index, which lists results for 205 tested vehicles, shows that only five percent achieved a full ‘five star’ result – up from zer0 percent in 2004.

The NRMA attributes the slight improvement to the increasing provision of reversing cameras in new cars. For the first time, reversing cameras are now available for the Ford Falcon and Toyota Camry/Aurion as either an option or as standard on up-spec models.

“Both Ford and Toyota are to be congratulated on their move to introduce reversing cameras to the large vehicle category – meaning more Australian families will have access to this life saving technology,” NRMA Insurance Spokesperson Robert McDonald said.

“We would like to encourage other manufacturers to follow their lead.

Five star vehicles for rear visibility include the BMW X5, Ford Territory, Holden Commodore Sportwagon, Honda Legend, Kia Soul, Lexus GS 430, IS 250, LS 460 and 570, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Toyota Kluger.

Among the 22 vehicles receiving a zer0 score were the Audi A3 Cabriolet and S4 sedan, the Citroen C5, Ford Falcon, Holden Commodore, Cruze and Epica, Honda Acord, Accord Euro and Civic, Hyundai i30, Kia Cerato, Cerato Koup, Mazda3 and Mazda6, Mitsubishi Lancer hatch and sedan, Proton Persona, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Corolla, Prado and Rav-4.

“Less than ten years ago, no manufacturers had reversing cameras, however around half now have them on at least one of their models. And it is pleasing to see manufacturers of more affordable cars, like Kia for example, also embrace this technology,” Mr McDonald said.

“Display screens are already installed in many new cars for audio, GPS and air-conditioning. This means a reversing camera can easily be added to the existing system, which hopefully means manufacturers will continue to make them available.”

Mazda Australia Public Relations Manager Steve Maciver said that rearward visibility has not been raised as a concern by owners of either the Mazda3 or Mazda 6, or “for that matter, owners of any Mazda vehicle”.

“Mazda takes both occupant and pedestrian safety very seriously and this is demonstrated by the large number of both active and passive safety features available across the whole Mazda range,” Mr Maciver said.

“As part of Mazda’s product development process, safety continues to be high on the list. As such, we will continue to look at any further opportunities to improve safety in future models through the integration of new technologies.”

Scott Whiffin, Holden’s National Media Manager pointed to the 5-Star ANCAP safety rating of the Commodore and Cruze ranges as evidence of Holden’s commitment to safety.

“Safety is not negotiable with our cars – not ever. That’s why all of our locally built passenger car range and Cruze have been given a five star safety rating from ANCAP.

“The Sportwagon has reverse parking senses as standard across the range,  reverse cameras are standard on Calais V Sportwagon and optional on all other VE Sportwagons,” Mr Whiffin said.

The cops are cracking down on using your phone behind the wheel.

We all know that you should use a hands-free car kit if you’re talking on the phone while driving, but the police are catching up with the fact that there’s a lot more to mobile phones than voice.

Victoria is the latest state to crack down on mobiles behind the wheel. Under the changes, mobile phone use for any purpose while driving will only be permitted if the phone is in a commercially designed holder and the driver does not need to touch any part of the phone to receive a call (by using Bluetooth or a similar technology), reports The Age. It seems putting the call on speaker-phone isn’t good enough.

Of particular interest is the fact that even holding a mobile phone – whether or not you’re on a phone call – will now be prohibited. This includes resting it on your lap and even seems to apply when you’re stopped at the lights. I imagine they wouldn’t look to kindly on you sitting a netbook on the passenger seat either.

The new laws appear to encompass using a mobile phone for texting and satellite navigation, not just making voice calls. Get caught and you’re looking at a $234 fine as well as three demerit points. Suddenly a decent car kit doesn’t seem all that expensive.

At least the new Victorian laws make it clear that you are permitted to use a phone as a sat-nav device if it’s in a “commercially designed holder”. The law isn’t as forgiving in NSW, where the rules can be interpreted to mean that it’s illegal to use a phone for sat-nav even if it is in a car kit.

The laws in Victoria and South Australia are just as strict for Learners and P platers, who are banned from even using hands-free car kits whilst driving. Once again, the penalty is a $200+ fine and three demerit points. If you’re on your Ls or your Ps, the safest option is to turn off your phone before you get in the car.

I’ve been on the look out for a decent iPhone car kit for a while but I haven’t seen anything that gets a tick in every box. I think I’d better start looking a bit harder.

What kind of car kit have you got for your phone mobile?

Front and Rear Parking Sensors

Park with confidence with Front sensors and Rear Parking Sensors to provide accurate indication of how far away objects are from your vehicle

Parking sensors use ultra sonic sound wave to detect objects, the closer u get to an object the faster the sensors will beep. Once you are approximately  20cm away from an object the sensors will give out a continuous beep to let you know not to go any further.

We use and recommend ‘Smart Park’ brand for both Front and Rear parking sensors. We have used many different brands of Parking Sensors over the years and have found no other brand of sensors that can match the Quality or performance of the Smart Park Range of Sensors.  Smart Park also offer a 3 year factory warranty on all products.

Front Parking Sensors

Many Companies will put Reverse sensors on the Front of your car, this is definitely  not a good idea as Reverse sensors are designed to be engaged when u put the vehicle in reverse. So when Reverse Sensors are put on the Front of a vehicle they are either on all the time or turned on and off via a switch mounted on the dashboard.

The Problem with this is when you are driving in traffic e.g.pulled up behind someone at traffic lights they will beep the whole time until the light goes green or you turn them off. This can get very frustrating especially when they are not switched on when you need them.

We use specially designed Front Parking Sensors that have motion sensing feature

built in so when your car is moving the will function and as soon as the vehicle stops moving for 3 seconds they stop beeping e.g. Stopped at traffic lights.

This means that your sensors are always working when you need them and not annoying you when in traffic.

Front Sensors can also be fitted with a optional LCD display that can be mounted in the vehicle for a  visual indicator as well as audible.

Rear Parking Sensors

Some Parking Sensors are big bulky and ugly looking. The Smart Park Senors are the flushest  best looking sensors on the market and once they are colour matched to the exact same colour as your bumper. The Smart Park senors are the best looking sensors that we have ever installed.

When in use the sensors will beep once to let you know they are working. Once you get within 1.7m from an object they will start beeping slowly, increasing in speed the closer you get to an object. Finally when you are approximately 20cm away they will continuously  beep to let you know not to go any further.

We can install Parking Sensors on just about any passenger car.

We don’t recommend installing Parking sensors on tray back utes or vehicles that have steel or aluminium bumper bars as the metal will effect the way the sensors operate giving false warnings.

Colour Matching

Our sensors are professionally painted to the exact colour of your Vehicle.

Each car has a paint code, usually found on the compliance plate under the bonnet or behind the drivers side door b pillar.

With this code we mix the factory colour and apply 2 coats of colour and 2 coats of clear so your sensors stay looking great for years to come,while making them as unnoticeable as possible.

Parking sensors are the next best invention after thecar.  Who could have thought that a time will come when you could park in a narrow parallel parking between two cars in a packed parking space?  Long ago, this was wishful thinking for frazzled drivers who had to deal with parking space headaches everyday. But thankfully, that was long ago

The Advantages of the New Parking Sensors

Without a parking sensor, collisions and accidents can happen because you cannot see the corners of your car.

·         With parking sensor installed in front and at the rear of your car, it is like having x-ray vision where you need it, especially when you are parking in a narrow space between two cars.  Because it can detect moving or unmoving objects near your car, it gives off alerting beeps to warn you to stop thus preventing expensive collisions.

·         This is a good safety measure against hitting young children and pets when you are reversing out of the garage, and you do not need anybody to watch out for your car while you ease in and out of the parking space.

·         Since these works well in any type of weather, you can always have the full confidence of knowing you will not get parking scrapes.  However since the reverse parking sensor is extra sensitive, it might give off continuous beeps when it detects snow.

·         When the reverse parking sensor detects any obstruction, it immediately gives off beeps to alert you. You can stop and maneuver your car away from the obstacle without getting off the car.

·         These are easy to install eliminating added cost for professional installation.

·         No more fender bender issues and costly damages.

·         No need for regular maintenance.

The numerous benefits you can enjoy from your parking sensors should hurry you to get one while supplies last.  You can get these incredible finds in eBay at discounted prices.  With 57 percent off the retail price, you will get yourself the deal of your car’s lifetime and even beyond.

Parking Sensor Facts

The parking sensors have really hit it big in the car market.  The early prototype of the ultrasonic technology used 4 to 6 sensors that had to be mounted by drilling and the drilled hole painted over.  It was also a pain to find the exact pain color to match the car’s body paint.  Instead of delighting car owners, it caused a problem.  The ugly holes drilled into the cars exterior were unsightly and the paint over obvious.

This was soon replaced with the newer PDI 1.  The new technology used by elite car manufacturers is so discreet. Nobody could guess that you have installed sensors in your car’s bumpers.  The new car sensors do not need any drilling to be installed, saving the expensive exteriors from any blemish. PDI 1 makes a good fit with any car model because these are discrete mounts using electromagnetic technology for secure installation.

The parking sensors give off beeps when any obstruction is detected and the frequency of the beeps is an alert that the obstacle is dangerously near.  As the driver, this can stop you when you must, helping you avoid any unwanted bumps and bangs.  Shouldn’t you be getting your PDI reverse parking sensor kit now when there’s an irresistible offer?

Using mobile phones and visual display units

From 9 November 2009, there will be some changes to the road safety rules about using mobile phones and visual display units.

Mobile phones
Using a mobile phone while driving is prohibited, except to make or receive a phone call or to use its audio/music functions provided the phone:

• is secured in a commercially designed holder fixed to the vehicle,
  or
• can be operated by the driver without touching any part of the phone.

Using a phone as a GPS while driving is prohibited unless it is secured in a commercially designed holder fixed to the vehicle.

All other functions (including video calls, texting and emailing) are prohibited.

Learner and P1 drivers, are prohibited from using a mobile phone at all while driving.

Holding the phone (whether or not engaged in a phone call) is also prohibited. Holding includes resting the mobile on the driver’s lap.

Visual display units
A driver must not drive a vehicle that has a television receiver or a visual display unit operating if any part of the screen is visible to the driver or is likely to distract another driver.

A driver can use a driver’s aid such as a navigation device but it must be an integrated part of the vehicle design, or secured in a commercially designed holder, which is fixed to the vehicle.

Exemptions
The rule relating to securing visual display units does not apply to motorcycles.

Road safety reasons
Using a mobile phone or a visual display unit as you drive is distracting and creates dangerous situations that could be fatal.

The risk of being involved in a crash increases by as much as four times, when using a mobile phone as you drive, and if you are texting the risk of crashing increases to 23 times.

TONY EASTLEY: The New South Wales Roads Minister wants all new Australian cars to have audible reversing sensors. Eric Roozendaal will put forward the idea at a meeting at a Child Safety summit today.

Vehicle manufacturers have rejected the call, saying it would push up the cost of cars and make Australia internationally uncompetitive.

But the minister argues it’s not a huge price to pay for saving scores of lives.

Sabra Lane reports.

SABRA LANE: In New South Wales alone, 66 children were killed in accidents on private property between 1996 and 2001. Most of them were run over by their parents or relatives, who were reversing the family car.

NSW Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal says it’s a needless loss of life.

ERIC ROOZENDAAL: It’s an ongoing issue. Every week or month we hear of a case of a toddler that’s been run over, often by the family vehicle.

My own experience with three small children is having reverse sensors really does improve safety, and I think now is the time to say to manufacturers in this country, why not put reverse sensors on all new vehicles – and there’s 340,000 new vehicles every year in NSW – let’s put them on all new vehicles from here on in.

SABRA LANE: How much would that push up the cost of new cars? Do you know?

ERIC ROOZENDAAL: Well, I know that you can get aftermarket reverse sensors fitted for around $200 to private vehicles. I would imagine if the manufacturers took it onboard to fit to all of their vehicles it’d be a really minor additional cost to the average new vehicle.

SABRA LANE: How many lives do you think you could save?

ERIC ROOZENDAAL: Well, we have a number of fatalities every year that involve cars reversing over people, or hitting people when they’re reversing. And in those cases most of them are children under three. So I think we could talk about saving a considerable number of lives.

SABRA LANE: Mr Roozendaal will put forward the idea today to a school road safety summit.

It will also be referred it the Federal Department of Transport and Regional Services for investigation, to see if the Australian Design Standard should be modified to include reverse sensors.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has rejected the idea.

The Chamber’s CEO is Peter Sturrock.

PETER STURROCK: So whether it’s $200, $500, or $1,000 to the vehicle costs, in terms of the component it’s the complexity of production and the uniqueness of that specification which makes it difficult.

SABRA LANE: He says governments should be spending more on roads, and that individuals should be more responsible for their own driving.

Mr Sturrock says compulsory reverse sensors would disadvantage the Australian Car Manufacturing Industry, making it internationally uncompetitive.

PETER STURROCK: It’s all about the complexity, because it’s simply not easy to go along and say well, let’s fit such and such a particular specification to a vehicle, just for Australia. It makes it very difficult, and overseas manufacturers are all about efficiency, they’re not about making it more complicated.

SABRA LANE: Eric Roozendaal dismisses that as nonsense.

ERIC ROOZENDAAL: Well, I find that pretty unconvincing. The average cost of even a small new car is somewhere in the vicinity of $15,000, an additional $50 or $100 to add pedestrian safety, a reversing sensor, strikes me as a very small increase, and I don’t find that convincing at all.

TONY EASTLEY: NSW Road Transport Minister Eric Roozendaal ending that report by Sabra Lane.

Car manufacturers are being urged to continue including reversing cameras on new cars, following today’s release of its 2009 Reversing Visibility Index.

Of the 205 cars tested, five per cent scored the full five stars, up from zero in 2004. The good news for consumers is that 22 new cars now offer reversing cameras as either a standard or optional feature, compared with just one model in 2004.

Significantly, for the first time, cameras are now available on popular Australian-built large cars, with both the Ford Falcon and Toyota Camry/Aurion introducing it as either an optional or standard feature on selected vehicles.

And Queensland drivers appear set to embrace the trend with nearly 80 per cent agreeing a reversing camera is a worthwhile safety feature*. In the last 12 months, nearly 40 per cent of them have experienced a near-miss while reversing.

NRMA Insurance spokesperson Robert McDonald said the results were encouraging, but there was still more that both manufacturers and consumers could be doing.

‘’Both Ford and Toyota are to be congratulated on their move to introduce reversing cameras to the large vehicle category meaning more Australian families will have access to this life-saving technology,’’ he said.

‘’We encourage other manufacturers to follow this lead. Less than ten years ago, no manufacturers had reversing cameras, but around half now have them on at least one of their models.

‘’It’s also pleasing to see manufacturers of more affordable cars, like Kia for example, also embrace this technology.

‘’Display screens are already installed in many new cars for audio, GPS and air-conditioning, so a reversing camera can easily be added to the existing system. Hopefully, manufacturers will continue to make them available.

‘’Parents not looking to upgrade the family car soon should consider buying a reversing camera and having it retro-fitted. A properly installed camera could improve the visibility of a car to a five-star standard.

‘’Although reversing cameras will improve safety significantly, theres still no substitute for proper supervision when it comes to kids and cars.’’

South Australia’s motoring group wants more cars fitted with reversing sensors to help save lives

The Royal Automobile Association (RAA) said blind spots in the rear of many modern vehicles meant some drivers were reversing as if they had both eyes shut.

The RAA said Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show on average one child every week is the victim of a driveway accident in Australia, with many sustaining serious or fatal injuries.

“Often the car is driven by someone they know – a parent, sibling or family friend – and the trauma that results following this type of collision affects the entire family, in addition to the injury or sudden death of the child,” the RAA said.

However, technical services manager Mark Borlace said reversing sensors, which warned drivers of obstacles behind the car with a series of beeps, could address the issue.

Mr Borlace said the RAA was keen to have them fitted to more vehicles.

“Obviously you have a very clear advantage if you know there’s an obstacle directly behind you,” he said.

“It takes the guesswork out of reversing the car and the safety implications for pedestrians are enormous.”

To help more car buyers fit reversing sensors, the RAA is supporting the free installation of sensors on cars bought from selected Adelaide dealerships on Saturday.

So as the NSW government considers introducing the Zero Tolerance P plater laws, they have already agreed to pass a new restriction on P-PLATERS. When this new law is passed late march or early april, all P platers will be banned from using mobile phones while driving. Now this might not come as big news since mobile phones have been banned for some time, but this new law doesn’t just target mobile phones but also Bluetooth, earpieces or hands-free devices will be outlawed in P-plated vehicles.

The phone ban will mean first-year drivers caught texting or talking on mobile phones more than once will automatically lose their license. The only way P platers will be able to call friends and family will be when they are pulled over to the side of the road with the vehicle stopped and the engine off. The sad thing is, you actually have to turn the engine off, cause a possible road hazard in order to answer an important call, even if you have a bluetooth car kit.

What I really want to know though, is how are the police going to monitor inbuilt and wired in bluetooth mobile phone systems? All new high end vehicles come with built in mobile phone integration technology. Are the police going to simply start pulling over any young driver who is talking in their vehicle? What about Australian idol wannabes singing in their cars? What about those of us who talk to ourselves?

The NSW government, like other governments has gone crazy with the P-plater restrictions, this is mainly due to the rising death toll of P platers with a near 30% increase in 2006 (94). So since the high powered car restrictions have no worked, they are trying to come up with more intuitive ways of stopping P platers accidents. Unfortunately, again, this isn’t one of them!