The simple act of stepping on a brake pedal can generate a tremendous amount of heat. Brakes rely on friction, and it's easy for drivers to forget that they are sitting in massive, fast-moving machines weighing thousands of pounds. Just slowing them down can cause brake pad temperatures to rise by...

Most heavy trucks on the road today are equipped with drum brakes. Though an old technology, a number of innovations over the years have helped maintain its position as the first choice for heavy truck buyers.But this may be changing.Thanks in part to new federal fuel economy standards and...

When we're driving down the road, we expect our brakes to work any time we need them. Since we press the brake pedal so frequently, it's easy to forget just how many points of failure are contained within this complex system.As with any other part of your car, you can't take your brakes...

There is very little that a car will do without driver input. Even a system like cruise control requires us to make a conscious decision to set a certain speed, and to remain alert throughout the entire drive.Yet this is quickly changing. We've all heard about the impressive advancements being made...

Are Americans getting worse at driving? When compared to drivers in the rest of the world, this might be the case.A cursory glance at the numbers shows that auto accident deaths have been steadily falling in the U.S. since the 1970s. In 1972, the nation saw a peak of 54,589 auto deaths, according to...

Even the best-designed safety measure has a chance of failure. To get around this, and reduce the odds of such a failure becoming a problem, engineers design complex systems with multiple layers of redundancy. This way, if one safety system fails, others can take its place. We see this most frequently...

Today's drivers have access to cars that previous generations of motorists could have only dreamed of. Advanced technology has allowed manufacturers to design vehicles that are safer, contain more useful features, and are ultimately more enjoyable to drive.And there is no indication that manufacturers...

Picture this:You're driving along a winding road. There's another car in front of you, but it's far enough away that you don't pay it much mind. Instead, you take a moment to take in the scenery. You let your mind wander.Then, out of nowhere, you realize that the car in front of you has...

Though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is pushing vehicle manufacturers to make automatic emergency braking systems a standard feature on cars sold in the U.S., this shift appears to be some time away. Ten manufacturers responsible for more than half of all light vehicles sold...

Remember the first time you took a car trip with a GPS navigator? It was probably quite an adventure. While the earliest consumer GPS devices were certainly impressive pieces of technology at the time, they were notorious for making mistakes, such as sending motorists along incorrect routes or down roads...