It's show time... Chicago Auto Show, that is. I'll be ChiILin' with Ford on Wednesday night, then I'll be out for the press preview Thursday and the Social Media preview Friday. I'll also be covering the What Drives Her luncheon with A Girls Guide To Cars. Check back like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often for my photo filled recaps and real time social media. With more than 1 million square feet of the industry's latest cars, trucks and SUVs, four indoor test tracks, interactive displays and cutting-edge technology, countless social media photo opportunities await. Chicago Auto Show organizers are planning a robust social media campaign to encourage fans to share their experiences via platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. "The Chicago Auto Show is perfectly positioned to harness the power of our crowds due to the show's sheer size, and our social media team takes advantage of this focus group to identify trends that set the stage not just for Chicago, but for the nation," said Chicago Auto Show General Manager David Sloan. "In addition, we offer free hi-speed WiFi across the show floor to make connecting and sharing as easy as possible".
A leader in social media, the 2018 Chicago Auto Show generated 50 million hashtag impressions, continued as the No. 1 national trend on Twitter and engaged more than 1,500 social media influencers during its Media Preview. This year, Chicago Auto Show organizers are giving fans plenty of chances to get into the action via social media. Tune in Live on Facebook Beginning Thursday, Feb. 7, the Chicago Auto Show is giving fans a backstage pass and will livestream all of the new vehicle unveilings and press conferences via its official Facebook page. Live video streaming will continue throughout the 10-day show. Experience the #CAS19 BUZZHUB Located just off of the Grand Concourse, the #CAS19 BUZZHUB features a 21-foot wall with real-time trending feeds and giant #CAS19 block letters for those pose-worthy moments. Fans who spot the Social Squad and show them their social media post from the show floor will receive instant prizes. Instagram #instawinCAS It's simple. Follow @thechicagoautoshow on Instagram, like the latest photo and tag a friend. Beginning Feb. 9, daily winners will be selected to receive a Chicago Auto Show prize pack. Fans who follow the show's daily Instagram stories will also get an insider scoop on "CAS Hacks" including the hottest debuts, special themed days and even ways to save on tickets. #SupercarSweeps The show has partnered with Wintrust to give lucky winners the chance to get inside of the Supercar Gallery. Fans who share a picture of their dream car with #SupercarSweeps and tag the Chicago Auto Show will be entered to win VIP access inside the Wintrust Supercar Gallery. Snap 2 Win •Add the Chicago Auto Show on Snapchat. •Snap a picture or video from the show floor. •Use the Chicago Auto Show custom geofilter. •Send the Chicago Auto Show account a snap via direct message. •The post may be featured in the Chicago Auto Show's daily story. Attendees can connect with the Chicago Auto Show's buzzing communities on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube for a virtual backstage pass to learn about the hottest cars, special events and contests. For more information on the 2019 Chicago Auto Show, please visit www.ChicagoAutoShow.com, or watch this promotional video.
About the Chicago Auto Show The Chicago Auto Show is the largest auto show in North America, spanning more than 1 million square feet of production, concept and exotic vehicle exhibit space. In addition to hosting multiple world and North American vehicle debuts, the Chicago Auto Show's First Look for Charity raises more than $2.5 million annually for 18 vital Chicago organizations in a single night. The 2019 public show is Feb. 9-18. For more information, visit www.ChicagoAutoShow.com or www.Facebook.com/ChicagoAutoShow. About the Chicago Automobile Trade Association Founded in 1904, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association is one of the nation's largest metropolitan dealer organizations. It is comprised of more than 420 franchised new-car dealers and an additional 150 allied members. The group's dealer members employ about 19,000 people in the metropolitan area. The association has produced the world-famous Chicago Auto Show since 1935. For more information please visit www.CATA.info.
ChiIL Mama and Weasel Momma of World of Weasels Blog hit the road together like Thelma and Louise without the cliff plunge, in the sweet, completely redesigned Ford Fusion. We got to check out the new safety features for 2013 that combat lane swerving, rear ending and other perils of drowsy driving. Did you just snooze through it? Bet you didn't know November 12-18th was Drowsy Driving Awareness Week. It seems like there's a week or month for every cause now, but this one is huge and impacts everyone....sometimes literally One of my good high school friends, Jeff, died at age 20, coming home for break with a friend from college. He was brilliant, funny and had a promising political career in mind. His dreams ended with a broken neck because the driver fell asleep. A decade later, Ani, a close friend of my husband's died coming home from Wisconsin where she'd been teaching rock climbing to environmentalists. Both the front and back seat passengers died when the driver fell asleep. She was strong, dedicated and smart. She was 30. People who would never dream of driving drunk, take their lives and the lives of others into their hands when they drive drowsy. As Thanksgiving weekend is upon us, and many families will be traveling to be with loved ones, it is especially crucial to know your limits and not...I repeat...not drive drowsy!! When the turkey tryptophan kicks in, it's not the time to be on a road trip. 844 Traffic Deaths This Year The highway signs proclaimed this grim statistic as I headed out to Naperville to meet up with Ford and AAA for a Drowsy Driving Awareness Week Brunch last Thursday, November 15th. Every time we've hit the highway this year, my kids (9 & 11) notice and remark on the ever changing death toll signage for the state of Illinois. I had the great opportunity to meet with Beth from AAA and ask her a few questions. She said the death rates are up this year after a steady decline for years. One reason is the rebounding economy means more people are on the road, and more of those people are texting and driving, multitasking in dangerous ways with cell phones, or driving tired. We also got to hear how Ford is making the roads safer with anti-drowsy technology. Their new 2013 Fusion has been completely revamped and with the tech package add on, it's got some great bells and whistles to wake up dozing drivers and decrease accident rates. ChiIL Mama and Weasel Momma ofWorld of Weasels Blogtook a drive together in the sweet, new Fusion. Fortunately we'd just downed copious amounts of coffee at brunch with Ford, so we were worlds away from sleepy. We made a few test swerves and a slow drift into the other lane to see what the Fusion would do.
Ford Fusion 2013--making driving safer The Ford Fusion is like Santa...it knows when you are sleeping. It knows when you're awake! This car is so smart it has a Ford Driver Workload Estimator that can tell if you're dozing off from the pressure and placement of your hands on the wheel. If you're drifting, there's a Lane Keeping System With Driver Alert. The wheel vibrates, a light comes on to suggest coffee, and the car will even engage the brakes if you get too close to traffic in front of you. It won't brake for you, but it does everything but...getting the brakes prepped and ready to go in a split second. Those safety features can be turned off and don't kick on until you hit 40, so it won't vibrate with every turn and lane change.
Even the cruise control is adaptive, so no more tapping the breaks for slow traffic and accelerating again. Fusion's got it under control all by itself. It even parallel parks itself with a simple push of a button. I was also geeking out over BLIS--the blind spot information system. There are few things more nerve wracking than checking your mirror for an all clear, changing lanes and seeing a car materialize where there was none--with a blaring horn and a glaring driver. It happens. This cool little safety feature is imbedded in the side mirrors and shows you what's in your blind spot! Pretty sweet. The GPS and Bluetooth enabled dash cut down on distracting personal gadgets and have a Do Not Disturb button to block incoming calls and texts and divert them into voicemail for later. Can you make one that mutes kids in the back seat? We also dug the gas saving feature that shuts the car down at stops for a substantial savings. Ford Fusion is the only car on the market to integrate all of these safety features.
Check out these telling stats from DrowsyDriving.org Facts and Stats
According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 Sleep in America
poll, 60% of adult drivers – about 168 million people – say they have
driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than
one-third, (37% or 103 million people), have actually fallen asleep at
the wheel! In fact, of those who have nodded off, 13% say they have done
so at least once a month. Four percent – approximately eleven million
drivers – admit they have had an accident or near accident because they
dozed off or were too tired to drive. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported
crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results
in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in
monetary losses. These figures may be the tip of the iceberg, since
currently it is difficult to attribute crashes to sleepiness.
There is no test to determine sleepiness as there is for intoxication, i.e. a “Breathalyzer”.
State reporting practices are
inconsistent. There is little or no police training in identifying
drowsiness as a crash factor. Every state currently addresses fatigue
and/or sleepiness in some way in their crash report forms. However, the
codes are inconsistent and two states (Missouri and Wisconsin) do not
have specific codes for fatigue and/or fell asleep.
Self-reporting is unreliable.
Drowsiness/fatigue may play a role in
crashes attributed to other causes such as alcohol. About one million
such crashes annually are thought to be produced by driver
inattention/lapses.
According to data from Australia,
England, Finland, and other European nations, all of whom have more
consistent crash reporting procedures than the U.S., drowsy driving
represents 10 to 30 percent of all crashes.
Who is at risk? Sleep related crashes are most common
in young people, especially men, adults with children and shift workers.
According to the NSF’s 2002 poll:
Adults between 18-29 are much more likely to drive while drowsy compared to other age groups (71% vs. 30-64, 52% vs. 65+, 19%).
Men are more likely than women to
drive while drowsy (56% vs. 45%) and are almost twice as likely as women
to fall asleep while driving (22% vs. 12%).
Adults with children in the household are more likely to drive drowsy than those without children (59% vs. 45%).
Shift workers are more likely than
those who work a regular daytime schedule to drive to or from work
drowsy at least a few days a month (36% vs. 25%).
Sleep deprivation increases the risk of a sleep-related crash; the less people sleep, the greater the risk.
According to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, people
who sleep six to seven hours a night are twice as likely to be involved
in such a crash as those sleeping 8 hours or more, while people sleeping
less than 5 hours increased their risk four to five times.
A study by researchers in Australia
showed that being awake for 18 hours produced an impairment equal to a
blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .05, and .10 after 24 hours; .08 is
considered legally drunk.
Other research indicates commercial drivers and people with undiagnosed
sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and acute insomnia are also at
greater risk for fall asleep crashes.
Nearly three-quarters of adults in
America (71%) drive a car to and from work, and many are drowsy drivers,
according to NSF’s 2001 Sleep in America poll. More than one-fourth of
these respondents (27%) said they have driven drowsy to or from work at
least a few days a month, 12 percent drove drowsy a few days a week, and
four percent said they drove drowsy every day or almost every day. Sleep deprivation and fatigue make
lapses of attention more likely to occur, and may play a role in
behavior that can lead to crashes attributed to other causes.
According to NSF’s 2000 Sleep in
America poll, when they are driving drowsy, 42 percent of those polled
said they become stressed, 32 percent get impatient and 12 percent tend
to drive faster.
In the same poll, about one in five
drivers (22%) said they pull over to nap when driving drowsy. Older
adults are more likely to pull over and nap than younger drivers, who
are most likely to drive when drowsy and least likely to pull over and
nap.
People tend to fall asleep more on
high-speed, long, boring, rural highways. However, those who live in
urban areas are more likely to doze off while driving compared to people
in rural or suburban areas (24% vs. 17%).
Most crashes or near misses occur
between 4:00 – 6:00 a.m.; midnight – 2:00 a.m. and 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. are
also peak times for crashes to occur. Nearly one-quarter of adults (23%)
say they know someone personally who has crashed due to falling asleep
at the wheel.
In NSF’s 1999 Sleep in America poll,
60 percent of parents with children who drive living in the household
said they have not discussed the dangers of falling asleep at the wheel.
In the 2002 poll, nearly all respondents (96%) agreed that information
about driving while drowsy should be included in tests for a driver’s
license.
Drowsy driving crashes can result in high personal and economic costs.
Several drowsy driving incidents have resulted in jail sentences for the driver.
Multi-million dollar settlements have
been awarded to families of crash victims as a result of lawsuits filed
against individuals as well as businesses whose employees were involved
in drowsy driving crashes.
Arrive Alive-Don't Drive Drowsy.
Test drive a redesigned 2013 Ford Fusion for loads of sweet safety features.
