Bethesda, U.S.A. — When it comes to the safety of your vehicle, the brake system is at the top of the vehicle safety checklist. Brake Safety Awareness Month in August, sponsored by the Motorist Assurance Program (MAP), is a great time to have your brakes inspected to make sure they are in safe working condition. The Car Care Council recommends checking the brakes routinely and repairing or replacing when necessary.

“A properly operating brake system helps ensure safe vehicle operation and control under a variety of conditions,” said Rich White, executive director, Car Care Council. “It is important for motorists to be alert and recognize the signs and symptoms that their brake system may need maintenance or repair. Letting the brakes get to the ‘metal-to-metal’ point can be potentially dangerous and lead to a more costly repair bill.”

Brakes are a normal wear item for any car and eventually they’re going to need to be replaced. Several factors that affect brake wear include driving habits, operating conditions, vehicle type and the quality of the brake lining material.

Never put off routine brake inspections or any needed repair, such as letting the brakes get to the ‘metal-to-metal’ point, which can be potentially dangerous and lead to a more costly repair bill.

If your car is pulling to the left or right, or if you hear odd noises when you apply the brakes, you should inspect your brakes. Other warning signs include an illuminated brake warning light, brake grabbing, low pedal feel, vibration, hard pedal feel and squealing.

For routine maintenance, check a vehicle’s braking system at least once a year. A thorough inspection should include brake lining wear, brake fluid level, rotor thickness, condition of hoses and brake lines, brake and dash warning lights, as well as taking the car for a test drive to detect other potential brake system problems.

The Car Care Council is the source of information for the “Be Car Care Aware” consumer education campaign promoting the benefits of regular vehicle care, maintenance and repair to consumers. For more information, visit www.carcare.org.

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New York, U.S.A. — In-car technology is revolutionizing the driving experience, especially when it comes to connectivity options, including mobile device connection to the Internet, navigation systems, emergency response systems, and driving habit monitoring devices. Yet, more than three in four car owners (76%) report that they believe in-car connectivity technologies are too distracting and even dangerous to have.  In addition, more than half (55%) argue that automakers have taken technology for road use too far.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,634 U.S. adults (ages 18 and over) of whom 1,991 own or lease a car, truck, minivan or SUV, surveyed online between May 7 and May 15, 2012 by Harris Interactive.

Beyond fearing how connectivity technology may impede driver focus, a strong majority of car owners (62%) also worry about how technology may interfere with their privacy, including where and how they drive. Just over two in five U.S. car owners (41%) believe that their insurance rates could increase because of what in-car technology reveals about their driving habits. This is more of a concern among younger drivers between 18 and 35 (46%) and men (46%).

American car owners are, however, conflicted when it comes to technology and their cars. Three in five (61%) view their car as a haven from the outside world and thus don’t want to always be connected while driving. Yet, more than half of car owners find that in-car connectivity makes driving more enjoyable (58%) and makes them feel safer (57%) while on the road.  Men in particular enjoy having connectivity in their cars (64%) more than women (53%) and feel safer with technology on-board (61%) compared to women (54%).

The trend of embracing in-car technology is clearly generational. It’s the Baby Boomer generation that finds staying connected while in their vehicle the least important. Only 39% of car owners 50 to 66 think in-car connectivity is important compared to 58% of those who are between 18 and 35. When it comes to new car purchase decisions, two in three car owners between 18 and 35 (66%) say that the vehicle’s technology has some or a great deal of influence on the next car they choose. This drops to just (46%) for those between 50 and 66.

According to recent data produced by the 2012 Harris Poll AutoTECHCAST(SM) study, its safety technologies such as back-up cameras, blind spot warning systems and pedestrian sensors that have seen the most interest in the past year, compared to entertainment and connectivity technologies.  For those new car buyers interested in entertainment and connectivity technologies, 24% state that they would consider the option of docking their smart phone in their vehicle compared to just 14% who would consider having their entertainment applications built-in.

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The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) has called for a nationwide ban on the use of cell phones and text message devices while driving. Carnegie Mellon University’s Marcel Just, a leading neuroscientist who has studied how using cell phones impairs driving ability, applauds NTSB’s proposal.

“Banning the use of cell phones by drivers in non-emergency situations could be another dramatic step forward in further reducing the unacceptably high levels of driving-related fatalities in the U.S., which is most recently at about 33,000 people killed annually,” Just said. ”While recent improvements in automobile safety equipment have made an enormous contribution, it remains to make improvements in the most important factor, driver performance, and to save thousands of additional lives per year. We are our own worst enemy.”

Just’s research shows that simply listening to someone speak on the other end of a cell phone reduces by 37 percent the amount of brain activity associated with driving, compared to driving alone. To determine this, Just used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study participants in a driving simulator.

When they were listening to a sentence, they were more likely to weave in their lane than when they were driving undisturbed. The decrease in available brain resources can cause drivers to commit the same type of driving errors that can occur under the influence of alcohol.

Another study from Just’s laboratory showed that subjects could not willfully ignore someone speaking to them; the processing of a spoken message was so automatic that it could not be gated out, and continued to affect the brain activation associated with a second concurrent task. This study shows the dangers of cell-phone use by drivers cannot be overcome by strategically controlling one’s attention.

Just’s research shows that making cell phones hands-free or voice-activated is not sufficient in eliminating distraction to drivers. “Drivers need to keep not only their hands on the wheel; they also have to keep their brains on the road,” Just said. “The clear implication of our work is that engaging in a conversation could jeopardize the judgment and reaction time if an atypical or unusual driving situation arose.

Driving in quick-moving traffic is no place for an involved phone discussion, let alone texting.” Marcel Just is the D.O. Hebb Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging.

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