
Trucks can use all sorts of engines.
Small trucks such as SUVs or pickups, and even light
medium-duty trucks in North America and Russia will use
gasoline engines. Most heavier trucks use four stroke turbo
intercooler diesel engines, although there are alternatives.
Huge off-highway trucks use locomotive-type engines such as
a V12 Detroit Diesel two stroke engine.
North American manufactured highway
trucks almost always use an engine built by a third party,
such as CAT, Cummins, or Detroit Diesel. The only exceptions
to this are Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks, which are
available with subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler, which are
available with Mercedes-Benz and Detroit Diesel engines.
Trucks and busses built by the Navistar International can
also contain International engines. The Swedish truckmaker
Scania claims they stay away from the U.S.-market because of
this third party tradition.
In the European union all truck engines
must comply with Euro 4 regulations, the regulations will
become more severe in with the introduction of Euro 5.
|
There
are standard tests for safety in new automobiles, like the
EuroNCAP and the US NCAP tests.There are also tests run by
organizations such as IIHS and backed by the insurance industry.
Despite technological advances, there is still significant
loss of life from car accidents: About 40,000 people die every
year in the United States, with similar figures in European
nations. This figure increases annually in step with rising
population and increasing travel if no measures are taken, but
the rate per capita and per mile traveled
decreases steadily. The death toll is expected to nearly double
worldwide . A much higher number of accidents result in
injury or permanent disability. The highest accident figures are
reported in China and India. The European Union has a rigid
program to cut the death toll in half by and member states
have started implementing measures.
Automated control has been seriously proposed and
successfully prototyped. Shoulder-belted passengers could
tolerate a 32 g emergency stop (reducing the safe
inter-vehicle gap 64-fold) if high-speed roads incorporated a
steel rail for emergency braking. Both safety modifications of
the roadway are thought to be too expensive by most funding
authorities, although these modifications could dramatically
increase the number of vehicles able to safely use a high-speed
highway. This makes clear the often-ignored fact road design and
traffic control also play a part in car wrecks; unclear traffic
signs, inadequate signal light placing, and poor planning
(curved bridge approaches which become icy in winter, for
example), also contribute.
|