Last week, we looked at some common myths about vehicles that may or may not be true and clarified what is actually correct. This week, we look at a few more.
Driver safety technology makes your car safer:
As vehicles and technology evolve, the two are combined more and more to produce an increasingly safe driving experience. Both advanced safety systems and better build materials have been added to the newest vehicles to provide drivers with a level of safety unrivaled in years past. It seems then, that the simple answer to the question of whether or not driver safety technology makes your vehicle safer is a resounding yes.
On a technical level, this is correct. A brand new vehicle performs much better during crash testing than a vehicle from twenty years ago because the manufacturing methods are better, build materials are better, technology is more advanced, and our understanding of vehicle accidents has improved. This does not mean, however, that you become a better driver simply because your vehicle might be technologically advanced.
Most safety systems in vehicles, even “automated” ones, are meant to be used in tangent with an actual driver. Things like pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, and lane-keeping assist are intended to support the driver in their quest for better overall road safety rather than substitute for a driver actually driving a car.
In fact, there have been multiple studies conducted in the past several years that suggest the safety systems in vehicles don’t work nearly as well as they advertise and that drivers – especially younger drivers – are actually more prone to distracted driving, using advanced safety systems more as a substitute rather than a true driver aid.
Additionally, driver safety systems such as the ones mentioned above are active systems, working while the car is being driven, providing real-time feedback, and taking active measures to prevent certain events from occurring. Things like airbags, seat belts, and crumple zones are all passive safety measures which only protect a driver during specific situations and don’t actively do anything until necessary.
The Truth: At baseline, vehicles today are definitely much safer than they used to be because of technology. Things like airbags, seatbelts, crumple zones, and overall vehicle design ensure this. Active driver safety technology, such as automatic emergency braking, can and does prevent accidents from occurring when it is used correctly. Though many of the same safety systems are offered on different vehicles, not all technology is created equally, and some systems are better than others. Additionally, these systems are meant to work with a driver, rather than substitute for a driver, to make a vehicle safer. When one relies on this technology too much, a vehicle no longer becomes as safe as it could or should be.
Red cars are more expensive to insure and get pulled over more often:
We combine two myths into one for your convenience. It is said that red vehicles are more costly to insure than other-colored vehicles and that a red vehicle has a higher chance of getting pulled over than other colors. The truth behind these two related myths are simpler to answer than you might think.
First of all, more than one major insurance company has debunked the myth that red cars are more costly to insure: they are not. For proof, you can do one of two things: You can either request a car insurance quote yourself to see that the color of your vehicle is not an included item that affects the quote or you can do a quick Google search to see whether the color of your vehicles affects the insurance you might get on your particular vehicle.
Liberty Mutual Insurance actually provides a list of things that will affect your insurance rate including the type of car (a costlier car to repair/fix will be costlier to insure), safety features, location, driving record, and type of vehicle usage (Source). It’s as simple as that.
Now to the second item. A red vehicle will actually not get pulled over quite as frequently as a white one. This might sound like great news to all the Ferrari owners out there, but this is actually a little misleading. White vehicles only get pulled over more frequently because there are so many more of them on the road than red vehicles. Comparatively, it is true that red vehicles get pulled over more frequently than vehicles that aren’t red.
This is simply because red is a striking color which stands out to the eye. Buildings, trees, roads, and other items that may be part of the surrounding environment usually are not nearly as bright as a red vehicle moving at speed. Simple enough, right?
The Truth: Red vehicles are not more expensive to insure than non-red vehicles, but they do get pulled over more frequently than vehicles of other colors when all things are taken into consideration.
Japanese cars are more reliable than other brands:
Some of the most reliable vehicles in history have been from Japanese brands. Especially in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Japanese automakers cemented their reputation for building reliable vehicles.
The popular Toyota Camry and Corolla are well-known for being very reliable, and examples from 20 and 30 years ago are still being driven. The Honda Accord and Civic have also garnered a reputation for being fairly bulletproof, and some of their engines are considered among the most iconic ever built. Subaru and Mitsubishi are known for having rugged models that have competed in rally events all over the world. Several Nissan engines are considered to be some of the best of all time. Mazda even got the notoriously unreliable rotary engine to work pretty well in several of their applications.
Recently, this has somewhat shifted. Toyota and Lexus still generally top the charts as some of the most reliable vehicles on the market, but other brands have not been able to sustain the momentum they once had.
Nissan is on the brink of a financial crisis, and their reliability ratings, particularly with their transmissions, have plummeted. Both Subaru and Honda have had sporadic issues with excessive oil consumption. Mazda has stopped using the rotary engine altogether in favor of more reliable inline 4-cylinder units. Mitsubishi is a shadow of what it once used to be, having only a small number of dealerships in the U.S. and only offering a small lineup of vehicles.
Other automakers, particularly Korean ones like Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia, have caught up to the dominant Japanese brands to become some of the most reliable vehicles on the road. In 2019, Consumer Reports placed Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia among the top 10 most reliable automotive brands. Lexus, Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru also made the top 10 list, with Porsche and Dodge representing the other two brands. Nissan, Honda, Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and Acura fell out of the top 10. 2018 painted a similar picture with Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru all making a top 10 appearance.
The Truth: Lexus and Toyota make perennial appearances on just about everyone’s most reliable automakers list with a few other Japanese brands landing consistently near the top as well. With only three automakers available, Korean brands have managed to get all of their offerings consistently into or close to many top reliability lists in recent years. Many other Japanese brands, including Honda, Acura, and Nissan have slowly dropped in their ratings through recent years. Making a universal statement that Japanese vehicles are more reliable than other brands has some truth to it, but it is not definitively the case, especially in the past 10 years.
Using the A/C on the highway is better than driving with the windows down on the highway:
You may have heard it said that you should roll your windows up and turn on the air conditioning when you get on the highway, while opening your windows during in-town driving is the way to go. The idea behind this is that the open windows in your vehicle create more drag when you are going faster; thus, shutting the windows and streamlining your vehicles as much as possible on the highway will save fuel.
Several studies have been done on this, including an episode of Mythbusters where they tested this theory, and they found that using the air conditioning does not increase fuel economy on the highway… or anywhere. In fact, the tests that have been done to prove or disprove this myth definitely show that using the air conditioner decreases gas mileage across the board.
The reason is that your air conditioner is yet another auxiliary system your vehicle must power when it is running. In other words, any extra drag that driving with your windows down might add isn’t quite as detrimental as the extra fuel it would take to run the air conditioner. At least you will be comfortable on a hot day.
The Truth: It takes more fuel to run the air conditioner in your vehicle than it would take for the engine to compensate for any additional drag caused by open windows. Regardless of the speed you travel, the air conditioner is a system that requires power to operate, in turn, using more fuel as the engine must work harder to operate the additional system.
Hopefully you enjoyed our list of some of the most common vehicle myths that may or may not be true. Let us know the things you’ve heard about these myths, or let us know which ones we’ve missed, and maybe we will address them in another article.
