N.H.T.S.A. Reports Increased Traffic Deaths

More people died on United States roads in 2012 than in 2011, according to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Motorcyclist and pedestrian deaths each increased for the third year in a row, and deaths of bicyclists reached the highest level in six years. Over all, however, traffic deaths continue to be at historic lows.

Fatalities in 2011 were at their lowest level since 1949. The 2012 increase could not be attributed to Americans driving more, because motorists drove nearly the same number of miles in 2012 as they did in 2011, according to the report. Highway deaths increased to 33,561 in 2012, according to the safety agency’s 2012 Fatality Analysis Reporting System, known as FARS. That is 1,082 – or 3.3 percent – more than the 2011 figure. The majority of the increase occurred in the first quarter of 2012, which the report notes was the warmest in history.

The estimated number of people injured rose as well, by 6.5 percent, in what N.H.T.S.A. described in its report as a “statistically significant change” from 2011. There did not seem to be one single issue that explained the increases – according to the federal agency, which released the data – and some crashes associated with traditional risk factors even fell. For example, the number of young drivers involved in fatal crashes continued to decline.

Here are some of the conclusions the agency reached:

¦?Of those killed in passenger vehicles in 2012, 52 percent were not wearing seatbelts.

¦?Pedestrian deaths were 6.4 percent higher than in 2011, and they increased for the third consecutive year. Most occurred in urban areas, away from intersections, at night, and many involved alcohol.

¦?Fatalities among motorcycle riders increased for the third year as well and were 7.1 percent higher than in 2011. The data showed that in states with no universal helmet law, 10 times as many riders who died were not wearing a helmet than in states that had such a law.

¦?Among bicyclists, deaths increased 6.5 percent over 2011, reaching their highest level in six years. Most of these deaths occurred in urban areas and were away from intersections.

¦?In crashes involving drunken drivers, deaths increased 4.6 percent from 9,865 to 10,322. In the majority of those crashes, drivers had a blood alcohol concentration nearly double that of the legal limit.

¦?Although the number of people killed in crashes related to distracted driving decreased very slightly – from 3,360 in 2011 to 3,328 in 2012 – the number who were injured increased. Those were up 9 percent from 387,000 in 2011 to 421,000 in 2012.

¦?There is good news in more recent government data. According to early estimates, the FARS data shows a slight decrease in fatalities for the first half of 2013.

Wheels: Lexus Ranked No. 1 on Consumer Reports Annual Report Card

Toyota Motor Sales 2013 Lexus GS 350.

10:46 a.m. | Updated Lexus earned the top overall score of 79 in the Consumer Reports 2013 Annual Report Card, the magazine announced on Tuesday.

Subaru and Mazda tied for second with scores of 76. The magazine said both brands build solid cars that have good handling and fuel economy, are versatile and relatively affordable.

Rounding out the top five were Toyota and Acura with scores of 74.

Honda scored a 72, hurt by the Insight and CR-Z, which had low scores.

Audi and Mercedes-Benz were the only non-Japanese brands to break into the top 10. Audi’s score of 70 put it into 8th place and Mercedes was in 10th with a 69. Audi was the only European brand to have very good reliability over all along with an excellent road-test score.

Eight of the top 10 brands in the report were Japanese. Most Detroit brands were toward the bottom, with European brands generally in the middle.

The magazine used a new grading system this year. In the past, the magazine calculated one overall score for each automaker, but this year there are separate scores for each brand and for individual brands. In the case of Toyota, its three brands, Lexus, Scion and Toyota, get separate scores. Ford also gets separate scores for the Ford and Lincoln brands instead of just one overall score for Ford.

It is more in line with the way consumers shop, the magazine said. Grouping Scion with Lexus doesn’t make a lot of sense from a consumer’s point of view “since they are rarely cross-shopped,” Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, said in a telephone interview.

The 2013 Annual Brand Report Card rankings, Top Picks and more were released by the magazine at a news conference before the Washington Automotive Press Association in Washington.

A brand’s score is calculated using road test and reliability scores, equally weighted, for each of the models tested. The reliability scores come from information provided by the magazine’s subscribers during its Annual Auto Survey.

The bottom five on the Report Card were Chrysler with a score of 52, Ford with 51, Lincoln with 50, Jeep with 47 and Dodge at the very bottom with 46.

Although the new Dodge Dart is an improvement over other small cars from Dodge, “it is not nearly up to the levels of the best competitors,” Mr. Fisher said.

Ford and Lincoln are still suffering from problems with the MyFord and MyLincoln Touch infotainment systems, as well as with the dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Those two issues hurt Ford (including Lincoln) in last year’s Report Card as well.

Ford has made some improvements, but not nearly enough; and problems are spreading as more vehicles have the MyFord and MyLincoln Touch system, Mr. Fisher said.

Those issues have been joined by performance issues related to Ford’s new 1.6-liter and 2-liter EcoBoost turbocharged engines.

“They both have less performance and drink more fuel than the competitors; it hurts their road test scores,” Mr. Fisher said.

To be included, the magazine must have data for at least three models, which meant Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Ram and Smart were not rated.

The April issue will be on newsstands March 5 and online for subscribers to the magazine’s Web site on Tuesday.