Reliability is broadly defined by how often your car experiences unscheduled failures or malfunctions. A car that is more likely to experience failures is considered unreliable, whereas one that can go for 150,000 miles with nothing but regular maintenance would be considered reliable.
For three decades, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has been smashing vehicles with an adult-sized dummy sitting in the front seat, simulating a type of head-on collision where two vehicles are slightly offset. It's always been a challenging test, above and beyond the minimum standards that car companies are legally required to meet. The IIHS conducts tests and independently awards safety ratings that are meant to reward companies for superior safety, well exceeding minimum standards.
Porter complained about difficulties when trying to insert lines in Excel. (Which, to be fair to Microsoft, is relatively straightforward - need to insert a row? Right-click on a selected row. Need to insert a line in text? Alt+Return is probably going to be your friend.) But then Porter turned to that other productivity stalwart, Word. "Never underestimate Microsoft's ability to make things more complicated," he said.
China has become the first nation to require a change to make it easier to rescue people from car crashes: Car doors must be able to open from either side mechanically, like by lifting a handle. The rules, which go into effect in 2027, follow international scrutiny of a futuristic design first popularized by Tesla, but adopted by many other automakers, in which door handles are electrically powered and hidden.
Kinetic's CEO Nikhil Naikal states, 'We have eyes, and when we need to correct vision, we go to an optometrist... In the same way, this is a digital prescription to correct the errors of the car's understanding of the world around it.'
The safety board released documents for each crash and announced it will hold a public hearing on March 31 in Washington D.C., where it will discuss the findings and likely issue recommendations to Ford. The NTSB is an independent federal agency that investigates transportation accidents, but doesn't regulate the industry.
Honda and DriveOhio have teamed up on a new road safety initiative in which Honda vehicles are being used to collect real-time data that can advise about potential issues and road deficiencies before they become a problem. Honda's Proactive Roadway Maintenance System, which has been in prototyping since 2021, uses "advanced vision and LiDAR sensors" to identify issues such as worn or obstructed road signs, damaged guardrails, rough roads and emerging potholes.
When shopping for a vehicle, most buyers are looking for more than just a good deal. A vehicle purchase isn't worth it to them without peace of mind. While style, technology, and performance all play a role, affordability and reliability consistently rise to the top of the priority list. A car that's reasonably priced but frequently in the shop quickly becomes an expensive headache. Drivers know that long-term dependability is just as important as the sticker price.
