Toyota Motor Co. said Wednesday it is recalling 1 million vehicles over a defect that could cause airbags not to deploy, increasing the risk of injury.

The recall covers a range of Toyota and Lexus vehicles with model years from 2020 to 2022. Included in the recall are Toyota Avalons, Camrys, Highlanders, RAV4s, Siennas and Corollas, plus some hybrids of those models.

The Lexus models in the recall include the ES250 seddan and the RX350 SUV, among others.

The vehicles being recalled have sensors in the front passenger seat that may have been manufactured improperly. Those sensors could potentially short circuit, causing the airbag system to not determine the occupant’s correct weight and potentially not deploy in certain kinds of crashes.

Toyota and Lexus dealers will inspect the OCS sensors and replace them if necessary at no cost to owners. Toyota will notify customers by the middle of February 2024 if their cars are in the recall.

Toyota owners who think their car might be included in the recall can call 1-800-331-4331 for details. For Lexus vehicles, owners can call 1-800-255-3987 for more information.

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DETROIT (AP) — Tesla’s recall of more than 2 million of its electric vehicles — an effort to have drivers who use its Autopilot system pay closer attention to the road — relies on technology that research shows may not work as intended.

Tesla, the leading manufacturer of EVs, reluctantly agreed to the recall last week after a two-year investigation by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that Tesla’s system to monitor drivers was defective and required a fix.

The system sends alerts to drivers if it fails to detect torque from hands on the steering wheel, a system that experts describe as ineffective.

Government documents filed by Tesla say the online software change will increase warnings and alerts to drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel. It also may limit the areas where the most commonly used versions of Autopilot can be used, though that isn’t entirely clear in Tesla’s documents.

NHTSA began its investigation in 2021, after receiving 11 reports that Teslas that were using the partially automated system crashed into parked emergency vehicles. Since 2016, the agency has sent investigators to at least 35 crashes in which Teslas that were suspected of operating on a partially automated driving system hit parked emergency vehicles, motorcyclists or tractor trailers that crossed in the vehicles’ paths, causing a total of 17 deaths.

But research conducted by NHTSA, the National Transportation Safety Board and other investigators show that merely measuring torque on the steering wheel doesn’t ensure that drivers are paying sufficient attention. Experts say night-vision cameras are needed to watch drivers’ eyes to ensure they’re looking at the road.

“I do have concerns about the solution,” said Jennifer Homendy, the chairwoman of the NTSB, which investigated two fatal Florida crashes involving Teslas on Autopilot in which neither the driver nor the system detected crossing tractor trailers. “The technology, the way it worked, including with steering torque, was not sufficient to keep drivers’ attention, and drivers disengaged.”

In addition, NHTSA’s investigation found that out of 43 crashes it examined with detailed data available, 37 drivers had their hands on the wheel in the final second before their vehicles crashed, indicating that they weren’t paying sufficient attention.

“Humans are poor at monitoring automated systems and intervening when something goes awry,” said Donald Slavik, a lawyer for plaintiffs in three lawsuits against Tesla over Autopilot. “That’s why the human factors studies have shown a significant delayed response under those conditions.”

Missy Cummings, a professor of engineering and computing at George Mason University who studies automated vehicles, said it’s widely accepted by researchers that monitoring hands on the steering wheel is insufficient to ensure a driver’s attention to the road.

“It’s a proxy measure for attention and it’s a poor measure of attention,” she said.

A better solution, experts say, would be to require Tesla to use cameras to monitor drivers’ eyes to make sure they’re watching the road. Some Teslas do have interior-facing cameras. But they don’t see well at night, unlike those in General Motors or Ford driver monitoring systems, said Philip Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies vehicle automation safety.

Koopman noted that older Teslas lack such cameras.

Tesla’s recall documents say nothing about increased use of cameras. But the company’s software release notes posted on X, formerly Twitter, say that a camera above the rearview mirror can now determine whether a driver is paying attention and trigger alerts if they aren’t. Tesla, which has no media relations department, didn’t answer emailed questions about the release notes or other recall-related issues.

Tesla’s website says that Autopilot and more sophisticated “Full Self Driving” software cannot drive themselves and that drivers must be ready to intervene.

Experts say that although limiting where Autopilot can operate to controlled access highways would help, it’s unclear whether Tesla will do so with its recall.

In the recall documents it filed with NHTSA, Tesla says its basic Autopilot includes systems called Autosteer and Traffic Aware Cruise Control. The documents say that Autosteer is intended for use on controlled access highways and won’t work when a driver activates it under the wrong conditions. The software update, the documents say, will have “additional checks upon engaging Autosteer and while using the feature outside controlled access highways and when approaching traffic controls.”

Cummings noted that doesn’t specifically say Tesla will limit areas where Autopilot can work to limited-access freeways — a concept known as “geofenced.”

“When they say conditions, nowhere does that say geofenced,” she said.

Kelly Funkhouser, associate director of vehicle technology for Consumer Reports, said she was able to use Autopilot on roads that weren’t controlled access highways while testing a Tesla Model S that received the software update. But it’s difficult, she said, to test everything else in the recall because Tesla has been vague on exactly what it’s changing.

Homendy, the chairwoman of the transportation safety board, said she hopes NHTSA has reviewed Tesla’s solution to determine whether it does what the agency intended it to do.

The NTSB, which can make only recommendations, will investigate if it sees a problem with Teslas that received the recall repairs, Homendy said.

Veronica Morales, NHTSA’s communications director, said the agency doesn’t pre-approve recall fixes because federal law puts the burden on the automaker to develop and implement repairs. But she said the agency is keeping its investigation open and will monitor Tesla’s software or hardware fixes to make sure they work by testing them at NHTSA’s research and testing center in Ohio, where it has several Teslas available.

The agency received the software update on its vehicles only a few days ago and has yet to evaluate them, Morales said. The remedy must also address crashes on all roads, including highways, the agency said.

Cummings, a former NHTSA special adviser who is set to be an expert witness for the plaintiff in an upcoming Florida lawsuit against Tesla, said she expects Tesla’s warnings to deter a small number of drivers from abusing Autopilot. But the problems for Tesla, Cummings said, won’t end until it limits where the system can be used and fixes its computer vision system so it better detects obstacles.

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Customs and Border Protection said it was closing one of two bridges to vehicles in Eagle Pass, Texas, a town of about 30,000 people that, for a while last year, was the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. The agency is also reducing vehicle entries in Lukeville, Arizona, a remote desert crossing that has become a major migration route in recent months.

“The U.S. is continuing to see increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals and encourage migration,” Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. “As we respond with additional resources and apply consequences for unlawful entry, the migration trends shift as well.

Lukeville lies in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, which was the busiest of nine along the U.S.-Mexico border by far in October.

John Modlin, the sector chief, said Sunday that all sector social media accounts would be temporarily reduced in response to “the ongoing migration surge.”

“At this time, all available personnel are needed to address the unprecedented flow,” Modlin wrote on X, the platform formerly called Twitter. “The social media team will return once the situation permits.”

He returned a short time later to apologize for the “hastily written statement” and pledged transparency.

Staffing cuts to legal trade and travel are the latest response to demands for processing people who cross the border illegally, often to seek asylum. A major pedestrian crossing in San Diego was closed for weeks starting in September as authorities turned more attention to people who entered the country without permission.

While arrests for illegal crossing fell in October, September was the second-highest month on record.

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DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government has opened a formal investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot partially automated driving system after a series of collisions with parked emergency vehicles.

The investigation covers 765,000 vehicles, almost everything that Tesla has sold in the U.S. since the start of the 2014 model year. Of the crashes identified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of the probe, 17 people were injured and one was killed.

NHTSA says it has identified 11 crashes since 2018 in which Teslas on Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control have hit vehicles at scenes where first responders have used flashing lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board or cones warning of hazards. The agency announced the action Monday in a posting on its website.

The probe is another sign that NHTSA under President Joe Biden is taking a tougher stance on on automated vehicle safety than under previous administrations. Previously the agency was reluctant to regulate the new technology for fear of hampering adoption of the potentially life-saving systems.

The investigation covers Tesla’s entire current model lineup, the Models Y, X, S and 3 from the 2014 through 2021 model years.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which also has investigated some of the Tesla crashes dating to 2016, has recommended that NHTSA and Tesla limit Autopilot’s use to areas where it can safely operate. The NTSB also recommended that NHTSA require Tesla to have a better system to make sure drivers are paying attention. NHTSA has not taken action on any of the recommendations. The NTSB has no enforcement powers and can only make recommendations to other federal agencies.

Last year the NTSB blamed Tesla, drivers and lax regulation by NHTSA for two collisions in which Teslas crashed beneath crossing tractor-trailers. The NTSB took the unusual step of accusing NHTSA of contributing to the crash for failing to make sure automakers put safeguards in place to limit use of electronic driving systems.

The agency made the determinations after investigating a 2019 crash in Delray Beach, Florida, in which the 50-year-old driver of a Tesla Model 3 was killed. The car was driving on Autopilot when neither the driver nor the Autopilot system braked or tried to avoid a tractor-trailer crossing in its path.

“We are glad to see NHTSA finally acknowledge our long standing call to investigate Tesla for putting technology on the road that will be foreseeably misused in a way that is leading to crashes, injuries, and deaths,” said Jason Levine, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, an advocacy group. “If anything, this probe needs to go far beyond crashes involving first responder vehicles because the danger is to all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians when Autopilot is engaged.”

Autopilot has frequently been misused by Tesla drivers, who have been caught driving drunk or even riding in the back seat while a car rolled down a California highway.

A message was left early Monday seeking comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations office.

NHTSA has sent investigative teams to 31 crashes involving partially automated driver assist systems since June of 2016. Such systems can keep a vehicle centered in its lane and a safe distance from vehicles in front of it. Of those crashes, 25 involved Tesla Autopilot in which 10 deaths were reported, according to data released by the agency.

Tesla and other manufacturers warn that drivers using the systems must be ready to intervene at all times. In addition to crossing semis, Teslas using Autopilot have crashed into stopped emergency vehicles and a roadway barrier.

The probe by NHTSA is long overdue, said Raj Rajkumar, an electrical and computer engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies automated vehicles.

Tesla’s failure to effectively monitor drivers to make sure they’re paying attention should be the top priority in the probe, Rajkumar said. Teslas detect pressure on the steering wheel to make sure drivers are engaged, but drivers often fool the system.

“It’s very easy to bypass the steering pressure thing,” Rajkumar said. “It’s been going on since 2014. We have been discussing this for a long time now.”

The crashes into emergency vehicles cited by NHTSA began on Jan. 22, 2018 in Culver City, California, near Los Angeles when a Tesla using Autopilot struck a parked firetruck that was partially in the travel lanes with its lights flashing. Crews were handling another crash at the time.

Since then, the agency said there were crashes in Laguna Beach, California; Norwalk, Connecticut; Cloverdale, Indiana; West Bridgewater, Massachusetts; Cochise County, Arizona; Charlotte, North Carolina; Montgomery County, Texas; Lansing, Michigan; and Miami, Florida.

“The investigation will assess the technologies and methods used to monitor, assist and enforce the driver’s engagement with the dynamic driving task during Autopilot operation,” NHTSA said in its investigation documents.

In addition, the probe will cover object and event detection by the system, as well as where it is allowed to operate. NHTSA says it will examine “contributing circumstances” to the crashes, as well as similar crashes.

An investigation could lead to a recall or other enforcement action by NHTSA.

“NHTSA reminds the public that no commercially available motor vehicles today are capable of driving themselves,” the agency said in a statement. “Every available vehicle requires a human driver to be in control at all times, and all state laws hold human drivers responsible for operation of their vehicles.”

The agency said it has “robust enforcement tools” to protect the public and investigate potential safety issues, and it will act when it finds evidence “of noncompliance or an unreasonable risk to safety.”

In June NHTSA ordered all automakers to report any crashes involving fully autonomous vehicles or partially automated driver assist systems.

Shares of Tesla Inc., based in Palo Alto, California, fell 3.5% at the opening bell Monday.

Tesla uses a camera-based system, a lot of computing power, and sometimes radar to spot obstacles, determine what they are, and then decide what the vehicles should do. But Carnegie Mellon’s Rajkumar said the company’s radar was plagued by “false positive” signals and would stop cars after determining overpasses were obstacles.

Now Tesla has eliminated radar in favor of cameras and thousands of images that the computer neural network uses to determine if there are objects in the way. The system, he said, does a very good job on most objects that would be seen in the real world. But it has had trouble with parked emergency vehicles and perpendicular trucks in its path.

“It can only find patterns that it has been ‘quote unquote’ trained on,” Rajkumar said. “Clearly the inputs that the neural network was trained on just do not contain enough images. They’re only as good as the inputs and training. Almost by definition, the training will never be good enough.”

Tesla also is allowing selected owners to test what it calls a “full self-driving” system. Rajkumar said that should be investigated as well.

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I don’t mean to be the overbearing father of a teenage driver, however, I did some research on possibly installing a GPS System on teenage driver vehicles.

Here is what I found:

Fact: Research has shown that teenagers don’t drive safely for fear of crashing, but rather for fear of getting a ticket. Researchers said that teenagers have a sense of immortality and the “it can’t happen to me” syndrome.

Fact: Getting a speeding ticket for just 20 mph over the limit could result in a $3,000 increase in premiums for auto insurance with a teen driver on your policy!

Facts: Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people 15 to 20. Speeding has been a factor in over 37% of crashes involving 16-year-olds.

Do You Suffer From An Anxiety Attack Every Time Your Teen Driver Gets Behind The Wheel?

As your teen’s responsibilities increase (such as the privilege to drive a motor vehicle) your anxiety levels can skyrocket, and for good reason. Some psychologists will say that installing a GPS monitoring device in your teen’s vehicle shows a lack of trust in your teen. Would it be better for your teenager to get a speeding ticket on their own and have to deal with it? Or, would it be better for you, as a parent, to take a pro-active approach to your teen’s behavior and modify it through open communication?

GPS Vehicle Monitoring System Can Empower Trust:

We say, “Trust-But-Verify.” A GPS vehicle monitoring system will act as a powerful deterrent for any negative behavior. Furthermore, we believe that explaining to your teenager that a GPS vehicle system in the vehicle is implemented out of love and not mistrust. You want your teenager to live to their 21st Birthday…You also want to foster the trust that exists between yourself and your teen. Having a GPS vehicle monitoring system will, believe it or not, empower you and your teen to build a stronger foundation of trust.

What About Cell Phones That Have GPS Built-In? Can I Use That?

What about a cell phone with GPS installed in it?  Isn’t that the same thing? Actually, it is not. A hardwired GPS vehicle monitoring device, like the two listed below, are permanently installed. They generally cannot be removed or turned off, like a cell phone. More importantly, these GPS vehicle monitoring devices are connected directly to your car’s battery, so they operate when your car operates.

Know Your Teenager’s Vehicle Location If & When You Need To:

Equally important is the safety and security of your teenager. A vehicle installed with a GPS monitoring device, will allow you to locate your vehicle’s position if the need ever arises.

Important Tips On How To Keep Your Teen Safe Behind The Wheel

Make sure your teen is well-rested before they drive: studies show fatigue as a contributing factor in teen-related accidents. 

Ban the use of cell phones while driving: they are distracting and dangerous to a teen driver. 

Do not let teens drive with other teens: statistics show 2 or more teens in a vehicle have an 86% chance of being involved in a traffic fatality.

Do not let your teen drive at night! Studies show nighttime is the riskiest time for a teen to drive. 

Of course every child is different, so let us know what you think…and be safe!

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Search: GPS Systems on Teenage Drivers

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It’s hotter than a $2 pistol out there! The AC went out in our house for a couple of days…and that was tough until the repairman got there. I called three companies, and of course, they were all slammed with service calls…this also means your car’s air-conditioning system is going to be working overtime too.

Speaking with our detail, Melinda makes sure our detail guy Kevin replaces the cabin filters because it helps at cooling the car more efficiently.

Replace Your Cabin Filter
Kevin checks the cabin air filter on every vehicle in stock to make sure it’s clean. He knows, “A dirty filter prevents optimal airflow.” In newer cars, these filters are relatively easy to check on; if you see a lot of dirt accumulated on it, it’s time to change it. You can save money if you can replace the filter yourself—in most cars the filter is accessible behind the glove compartment.

Don’t Pre-Cool
Bob Scott at VIP Autos has remote start on his Chrysler 200; lately he has been leaving his ac on and using his remote start to pre-cool his car; however, the experts say that your cars air conditioning work much better when you’re actually driving, because the faster the engine turns, the faster the air compressor runs, which lets the system cool more effectively. Don’t waste time and gas…sorry about that Bob.
They say if the interior is really hot, crank up the fan when you start driving and open just the rear windows for 10 to 20 seconds. This forces all the hot air out of the cabin. Don’t open the front windows—that only moves the heat out of the front of the car, and it will leave the air in the back of the cabin hot and stagnant.

Automatic Climate Control
If you have automatic climate control, lowering the temp doesn’t make the car cool off faster. Most systems will do all the fan and temp adjustments automatically, like Bob’s pre-cool technique.

Keep it Low
Setting to the lowest temp and adjusting your fan makes the car air conditioning more efficient, will dry out the air less, and can actually save some fuel. Why’s that? In a typical A/C system, the air is cooled to 38 degrees. If you set the temp higher, you are actually forcing the system to re-heat your air, which takes more effort, burning more fuel.

Recirculate
I recirculate the air is good however if you have passengers in the back seat, turn off the recirculation mode. This takes air from the front of the cabin and pulls it back through the system, so even though everyone upfront stays cool, the air in the back can get hot.

Turn Off Stop/Start
I was driving a 2019 Mini Cooper home from a Chamber event recently and noticed the A/C didn’t work well when I came to a stop….if your car that has that auto start/stop system, although it a great fuel saver, turn it off because it keeps the car air conditioning compressor from running when it shuts the engine off. In very hot weather, you can begin to notice the lack of cool air very quickly, especially if you’re stuck at a lengthy stoplight as I was.

Hope this Helps and stay cool
The Hemet Car Guy

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