2013 Ford Escape Uses Video Game Tech For Hands-Free Liftgate: Video

2013 Ford Escape Concept

Newsletter Stay up to date on car reviews, buying guides, articles and more

If you've ever found yourself carrying a load of groceries in the rain and cursed under your breath while fumbling for the key fob to open your car's liftgate, we have great news: the 2013 Ford Escape will let you open that gate with a simple gesture, meaning that your keys can stay in your pocket or bag.

Once upon a time, being able to open a car door from a distance felt like a truly amazing thing. But as fantastic as remote-control fobs are, they still require us to press a button, meaning that we have to have them in hand.

Then came vehicles like the Toyota Prius, which open automatically once the appropriate key fob gets within range. That, too, is very handy, but for people who do a lot of schlepping -- which is many of us -- gaining access to the rear of most vehicles has remained a problem. With the rollout of the 2013 Escape, Ford addresses that thorny issue with a solution pulled straight from the Xbox Kinect and other gestural gaming systems. 

The new Escape will debut in two weeks at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show. There, Ford will unveil the next Escape's completely hands-free liftgate. To open it, owners simply make a kicking gesture under the rear bumper while they have the key fob in their purse or pocket. Just as cool? The liftgate closes with the same motion.

The only potential problem we might see with Ford's new technology is that users have to get very close to the liftgate to activate it, then back up to avoid being smacked in the chin as the gate opens (or on top of the head when it closes). As this video demonstrates, though, there seems to be a built-in delay to account for the time users need to back up, and the gate opens and closes very slowly and smoothly:

The 2013 Ford escape goes on sale next spring. It's expected to come with three fuel-efficient engine options, including 1.6- and 2.0-liter versions of the Ford EcoBoost. The 2013 Escape will be built in Kentucky at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant.

View the original article here

States Toughen Hands-Free Laws, Close Enforcement Loopholes

Don't take talking and texting rules too lightly. As data continues to stream in about the dangers of hand-held cellphone distraction, state legislators—and highway patrols—are getting tough.

The first round of cellphone-related distraction laws were, in some states, vague and poorly crafted when it comes to texting, and how people today use smartphones. And that meant that a lot of offenders were let go with only a warning.

But the days of lax enforcement might be over. In New York—which is already one of the few strictest states that apply points to offenders' driving records—Governor Andrew Cuomo recently introduced a bill aimed at toughening the language in its cellphone law—including closing some loopholes and upping the penalties. Making distracted driving a primary offense is one of the most significant changes of the new bill.

Oregon just this week finished fixing its own flawed hands-free law, which allowed a very generous loophole for hand-held use if the talking or texting was done when they were driving for work and "acting in the scope" of their employment. Police weren't happy with how hard it was to ticket drivers for legitimate distraction offenses, and nearly everyone, it seems, in these days of taking your work on your smartphone, could contest a ticket with the right argument.

In the rewritten version of the Oregon bill, which passed the state legislature this week and is to be signed by governor Kitzhaber—to take effect at the beginning of 2012—the language gets more specific about texting, and it makes exceptions on hand-held use only for police, emergency vehicles, utility crews, tow trucks, and certain types of agricultural vehicles.

Neighboring Washington is one state that amped up its cellphone law a year ago, making it a primary offense; this past week, the Washington State Patrol reported that it's issued about five times as many tickets—6,850 citations in the past year—for the issue than when it was a secondary offense. The citation rate has risen, too, with fewer pulled-over motorists receiving just a recorded warning. Even in Washington, though, just as in most other states with a primary law, cellphone distraction citations still don't go on the driver's permanent record.

That's the next step. If cellphone-related distraction is as dangerous as safety organizations say—handheld users are four times more likely to be in a serious accident, according to the IIHS—and if licensing point systems red-flag speeders and red-light runners to insurance companies, why shouldn't they indicate chronic distraction?

[StreetsBlog; Seattle Times; The Oregonian]

View the original article here