Latest News From Bumper Radio

ORLANDO, Fla., (May 13, 2015) – New test results from AAA reveal the potential for significant headlight shortcomings when traveling on roadways that lack overhead lighting, typically America’s rural roads, which account for 40 percent of vehicle miles traveled annually. To assess headlight capabilities and limitations and learn what, if any, advantage advanced headlight technologies offer, AAA compared the performance of halogen, high intensity discharge (HID) and light emitting diode (LED) headlights. AAA’s test results suggest that halogen headlights, found in over 80 percent of vehicles on the road today, may fail to safely illuminate unlit roadways at speeds as low as 40 mph.

Regulators are bracing for what will be the largest recall the US automotive industry has ever seen - nearly 34 million US vehicles may have defective and potentially deadly airbags from Takata. These serous defects have led to 6 reported deaths and many more injuries. Automotive expert Lauren Fix, The Car Coach explains what the Takata airbag recall means for you!

It only takes a penny to see if your tires are worn or losing tread. Examining your tires for wear and tear, along with checking tire pressure and alignment, are essential to ensuring your vehicle’s safety on the road and helping to improve gas mileage and performance. The non-profit Car Care Council recommends that motorists be car care aware and check tire condition and pressure regularly.

WASHINGTON (May 27, 2015) – Nearly two-thirds of people injured or killed in a crash involving a teen driver are people other than the teen behind the wheel, according to a new report released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.  In 2013 alone, 371,645 people were injured and 2,927 were killed in crashes that involved a teen driver. The results come just as the “100 Deadliest Days” begin, the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day when teen crash fatalities historically climb.

“Teen crash rates are higher than any other age group, and this data confirm that the impact of their crashes extend well beyond the teen who is behind the wheel,” said Peter Kissinger, President and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.  “Since teens drive more during the summer than any other season, this insight is a timely reminder to everyone—drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists— to be mindful when sharing the roads with young drivers.”

In this video, Dr. Bill Van Tassel, manager of AAA Driver Training, puts three ordinary drivers behind the wheel on a closed course and challenges them to text while driving. The drivers are asked to maneuver through hundreds of cones while attempting to read, write, and send text messages. The video illustrates how difficult it is to text behind the wheel and how easy it is for the behavior to cause a crash.

Teaching a child how to drive safely is an act of parental love — and societal responsibility. In this series of short documentaries filmed by photojournalists from Getty Images Reportage, watch how three families in different communities are navigating this rite of passage.

Dad is in a hurry. He takes a sip of coffee as the traffic slows, then reaches around to the back seat for his briefcase. All the while, he’s giving his teenage son important advice about the SATs and the upcoming prom.

Then the phone rings. “I shouldn’t do this,” the father tells his son, as he juggles his cell and the steering wheel. “But this is important.”

There are a few distinct advantages of an absorbed glass-mat battery versus a lead-acid battery:

As of May 1, 2013, there are three major automotive starting flooded battery manufacturers in the United States. There are four absorbed glass-mat (AGM) starting battery manufacturers and there are four flooded deep cycle battery/major deep cycle battery manufacturers in the United States.

Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) is a test conducted at 0 F (-18 C) for 30 seconds without falling below 7.2v at the battery's CCA rating.

Marine Cranking Amps (MCA) is a test conducted at 32 F (0 C) for 30 seconds without falling below 7.2v at the battery's MCA rating.

Connecting batteries in parallel is commonly used in golf car and RV applications. The total cold cranking amp (CCA) and reserve capacity (RC) changes to the sum of all the batteries connected in parallel.