The Dangers of Speeding on Emptier Roads during COVID-19

People are taking to the roads with increased frequency, driving at higher speeds due to the reduced number of cars on the road. However, this behavior is not only reckless but also poses a significant risk to drivers and pedestrians alike.

Unfortunately, I've seen a similar behavior myself. People think it's safer to drive faster because there are fewer cars on the road, and they might be thinking or they're less apt to get pulled over by police due to concerns about exposing themselves to COVID-19. However, this is not true. The speed limits are in place for a reason, and driving at higher speeds increases the risk of accidents.

The best thing drivers can do is simply move over and let other people pass. It's not worth trying to get into their lane or pushing your way through traffic. This behavior may seem harmless, but it can lead to serious accidents and injuries. Speed limits are in place for a reason, and driving at higher speeds increases the risk of accidents.

According to the Governor's Highway Safety Association, emptier streets may be encouraging some drivers to flout traffic safety laws and speed limits despite there being far fewer vehicles on the road due to COVID-19. Many states have reported alarming speed increases, with some noting a significant surge in vehicles clocked at more than 100 miles per hour.

The consequences of speeding can be severe, including hospitalization, serious injury, or even death. Drivers who engage in reckless behavior put themselves and others at risk, not just their own lives but also the lives of emergency responders, healthcare personnel, and other drivers involved in accidents.

While it's understandable that people may be stir-crazy and looking for ways to release energy, excessive driving is not a solution. In fact, it can lead to a range of negative consequences, including increased stress, anxiety, and fatigue. Furthermore, the risk of accidents and injuries increases significantly when driving at high speeds, making it essential to exercise caution and restraint on the roads.

Driving at high speeds requires more attention and vigilance than usual, as the risks of accidents are higher if drivers lose control or fail to anticipate other vehicles on the road. The Governors Highway Safety Association notes that drivers need to pay even more attention when driving at higher speeds due to the increased risk of accidents.

In light of these risks, it's essential for drivers to exercise caution and restraint on the roads. If possible, consider pulling over and letting other drivers pass if you're not comfortable with the traffic conditions or feel threatened by aggressive driving. Remember that your safety is paramount, and it's always better to err on the side of caution.

We want to thank all the essential workers, including healthcare professionals, emergency responders, and grocery store clerks, who are risking their lives every day to keep our communities safe. Their bravery and selflessness are truly appreciated, and we're grateful for their tireless efforts during this challenging time.

As always, check out more information on any topic discussed in the show notes and visit icloud.com for more content about cars and related topics. Stay safe and well, and we'll see you next time.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe talk about our final test results of the 2021 kiyose Altos a CR survey with surprising results about what people would want to improve most about their cars and are people speeding more during this coronavirus lockdown next on talking cars hi and welcome to talking cards I'm Jennifer stock Berger I'm writing to Lou Kowski and I'm Mike Monticello so um we continue to work from home as you can see welcome back we'll go through our typical chapters here starting with news which for this week happens to be consumer reports news there was a survey done recently a nationally representative survey which means it's not just see our members about what people would desire to have improved about their vehicle if they could and not surprisingly or maybe surprisingly the number one answer was fuel economy so there's a couple things around that including the timing of the study because it was done during this corona stay at home stay safe period but Mon Mike Monticello any thoughts around that survey in the story well so we've seen this before where we've done a survey and you know the number one priority for people that they want to improve to us fuel economy and I'll be honest it surprised me the last time I saw it and it surprised me again this time you know what we asked the survey people ask which three attributes of the current vehicle had the most room for improved in for improvement and fuel economy topped the list followed by purchase price and maintenance costs and and and like you said Jen yeah that's even during this coronavirus time when fuel is very inexpensive right now so the fact that it's inexpensive and they still people still want their cars to improve keep in mind that's partly because so many Americans buy what do they buy they buy pickups and SUVs right which don't have you know the greatest fuel economy but what's interesting about this I think is that it goes against you know kind of what the current administration is pushing for which is to rollback fuel economy standards and CRS advocacy department has done some calculations that show that rolling back fuel economy will actually end up costing Americans billions of dollars in fuel savings and that might not make sense cuz you think well it costs money to put fuel economy to nology into cars but you end up saving so much more in the end so right right Ryan any any thoughts what people are paying attention and they care and it's not even about the money I don't think like no matter what we do going forward we need to be more fuel efficient and have a lighter footprint on this earth right fuel prices are cheap right now but guess what they're probably going to go back up I mean the history repeats itself right and it's not even just our members like Jenna this is a nationally representative survey yeah so I think your point Ryan about it being cyclic yes fuel prices are way low now but at some point again in the future we're likely to be pushed in that three dollars a gallon mark at another point in that people aren't just taking this moment the other tie to as you talked about that lighter footprint fuel economy it directly relates to greenhouse gas emissions and if there's one thing we've seen even during this brief period it's that you know how quickly the air gets cleaned up etc you know even with just us being off the road for this Korona period so it's it's really really good to see people thinking ahead and like they say you know Mike you said you were surprised fuel economy's on people's minds right I mean I think it's great that people are not just thinking in the present cuz it is very easy to think in the present oh you know gas prices are cheap right now so I'll have you know I won't worry about that maybe I want something else about my vehicle that's important but so they're obviously thinking okay yes is cheap now but they know down the road it's not gonna be so that's why they're saying that it's this is so important to them I I think there's a couple of there now just to kind of show both sides it's always important to show both sides you know there's two sides to every story so within this survey some of the numbers are 34% supports sticking with the already previously established goal of 5 percent annual improvements to fuel economy right so 34% 24% support the government's new plan of just a 1.5 percent annual increase in fuel economy but 39% neither oppose knows nor support the plan so I think it's important to know that it's not like it's overwhelming that you know people are you know want the 5% game so into that point there's what the government mandates and there's what we select as consumers all good points again the whole study we did a story about it you can check that out a consumerreports.org and see what else people wanted improved about their vehicles so moving on we'll go to from the track we have completed testing of the 2021 kiyose Altos yes one of the few vehicles that is already out with the 21 version it's futuristic again just some stats here this is a small SUV we we tested the S trim which is a 2 liter 446 horsepower engine with a CVT purchase price was twenty-four eight so that mid-20s small SUV higher trims get a 1.6 liter turbo with a dual clutch automatic and actually because it's a cousin of the Honda Kona that was the engine and transmission pair that we had tested in our Honda Kona front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive and again kind of shares other components with the Kona as well so I think I'll start with you Ryan impressions of the 2021 ah yes so tose so I am I like it it reminds me of a Kia Soul because it's very similar but it's an all-wheel drive Kia Soul which i think is a major plus it's it may be it may be a little smaller but for that sized vehicle I'm 6 foot 2 I fit in it very nicely a plenty of room I mean it's like the Kia stole the Kia Soul had a lot of room in it actually for a taller driver and this is very much like that handling wise it's it's not a razor sharp you know overly exciting car to drive but it's a small smaller footprint so it nimble it did very well in our track test and we went through am our wind maneuver at a very commendable speed it was just secure handling around the track it's stuff the car I'd stiffly but it kind of it's that price point in a sense it's it's a you know it's a it's a bargain I think at that price but it's um it's got some vices it's definitely a stiff ride and the CVT can be a little flurry and that makes the motor noise a little intrusive but that being said it's a fun little car to buzz around in a super practical I think what do you think Mikey yeah I mean I agree with all of that you know unfortunately I mean it's a it's a good vehicle but it didn't score high enough you know to be CR recommended you know it's it's it's behind vehicles like the Subaru Crosstrek the Honda coming up with which it shares components and the Nissan Rogue Sport you know it's funny because you're a tall guy Ryan but you know and this vehicle is it's you know it's pretty small yet tall driver tall drivers like you fit in it just fine plenty of headroom you know there's as far as the driving position you know it has a four aft adjustable center armrest was just you know makes it more comfortable for people of all different sizes to find a nice position the center console with this is an issue we we harp about on many cars it's you know our plastic it does hand you in but you know I like things like it has leather wrapped steering wheel for $25,000 you know that's not that common and so you know they really tried to put some nice stuff in there like that like the other things they have like they they put in some neat trim throughout the cabin yes there's a lot hard plastic but they you know there's some blue trim kind of textured blue trim blue stitching they kind of made the speaker grilles look you know glossy black plastic so just some things to kind of make it feel a little more expensive than it is but yeah it's loud inside especially when you push that engine it you know we were talking about this continuously variable transmission it's actually one of the better ones because either it does those artificial shifts it's trying to mimic an automatic but if you really start pushing the engine you know it's really trying to get some real acceleration well that's what like you said Ryan that's when you start to see the CVT flaring the the things that we don't like about a CVT and then combine with a loud engine now the engines revving really high will it's going to get loud inside and of course there's the the stiff ride that is definitely rougher than a lot of its competition yeah Brian do you think that that's the trade-off it has the stiff suspension which also makes it nimble in the handling regard yeah I mean it's certainly that's the trade-off I guess it's um it's I look at it though is that the safety oriented stuff the handling is good it's got great braking did very well in our braking test but the rides stiff the creature comforts are a little off so it's a trade-off but kind of a safe trade-off right I mean we would rather have a safer the car being safe and not a little more comfortable I guess that's you can't have it all for that price you know and you mentioned the Kia Soul right I mean some of the attributes of the Kia Soul we see here as well we see in in general other than some pretty thick a pillars that get very thick at the base the car has really good outward visibility what you talk about safety outward visibility is is important for safety you know so and and the fuel economy is pretty good yeah yeah burn all the drive yeah and I was gonna mention that you know that like two things I find funny you know the CVT we have seen success with those smaller displacement CVT combos in terms of fuel economy and this is is very good for for its size but I always find it funny that it has this CBT but then they put the fake shifts like we want that we want to feel like it's shifting even if it's really not the only other thing I was gonna say is is in terms of scoring that's stiff ride the creep the noise they do hurt its overall score and the fact that they had did not put all of those critical safety features automatic emergency braking forward collision warning standard across the lineup that base LX trim does not get those as standard equipment so that hurt they don't get those points that we award for a vehicle so we'd have that across the board did you have something else Mike you were gonna add no I was gonna make that exact point and you stole it from me thanks a lot sigh but the the lack of standard advanced safety features on the base trim does does hurt it in our scoring so but I certainly get the sense yes the score reflects what the car does in terms of ride and and noise but to Ryan's point it may be a car you actually like so so again tease out those tools we made you may actually prefer that handling and be willing to give up you know a little like you say of the creature comforts for that vehicle so check out again consumerreports.org the the overall score and and all the details of the 2021 Kia photos so that brings us to audience questions and this week we have three three video questions which we love send all of your questions to talking cars at icloud.com we love the videos you're seeing us at home we love seeing you guys in your spaces as well so the first question is from Chris in Ontario take a listen hey talking cars I'm the proud owner of a 2018 Jeep Cherokee trailhawk and I love everything about that truck except for one minor detail the version of UConnect that came with that model does not support Android auto my question for you is is there any way I can upgrade the UConnect to the latest version to take advantage of Android auto love the show can't wait for the next episode thanks guys so first of all Chris that is a nice video maybe maybe he could work for our video department did some nicer we appreciate David's burn yeah sorry Dave talking about our producer at these people yeah producer Dave Abrams but yeah nice job Chris we we like the quality of your video so to your question sorry we'll talk about that Mike Monticello any any advice for Chris yeah so uh you know it's well first of all it's great that Chris loves the Cherokee so much I've reached out to people at Jeep and what they told me was they said that unfortunately apple carplay and android auto compatibility with you connect first became available on the 2019 Jeep Cherokee not his 2018 and they said they weren't aware of an options to upgrade although they said they loved the fact that art you know our audience members loved the vehicle so much so I talked to see ours chief mechanic John Ibbotson and he said you know luckily there are some options out there unfortunately none of them are really cheap but there's some companies such as infotainment comm which actually is able to retrofit the 2019 you connect systems into these 2014 to 2018 Cherokees and and it's something you can do at home they have a very in-depth video and it's nowhere near as complicated as you might think would be to take out that whole centerpiece but you're looking at you know probably a thousand dollars or more I can get pretty expensive to do this you can also go go a true aftermarket route with a different system entirely but again you're looking at you know twelve hundred dollars or more to do this so and and again it's something you could also do yourself but keep in mind aftermarket systems you know they never it's a guarantee they're going to have all the functions that your original system did and I also want to point out that with that the system the first system where it retrofits a 20-19 system you're still gonna after you install the the new head unit in the car you're still gonna have to take it to your dealer or mechanic who has the right technology for the you know final like programming of this of this whole system so so there are some options none of them are inexpensive unfortunately yeah and in my only thought you know you go back to our day and again I'm gonna date myself a little when when all of the infotainment with somewhat modular you could take out your CD player and put in something better my Clayton what like indication what maybe you had an 8-track in your car but anyway you could change those out there is so much integrated into those infotainment screens including safety items like your backup camera it is no longer like plug and play like back in our day so I would be cautious of you know certainly some of those items so um but Chris it might be worth looking into so you lost you lost Ryan when you said 8-track you just like yeah no idea what you're talking about he knows only us oldsters he's seen him at a tag sale here we go Museum once yes like I had to teach my kids to what a rotary phone was but that's another story anyway moving on our next question is from Colin from Michigan hey talking cars I have kind of a weird question so if we look right here this rav4 was built in Japan but then the one right next to it was built in Canada so is there any noticeable difference between where these cars would be made in terms of quality or anything like that I know a lot of the high-volume models are built in a bunch of different assembly plants so you know would you ever notice the difference throughout the life of a guitar thanks have a good one so Ryan should call and expect a different rav4 depending on where it's built that's a good question but the answer is no I mean it should they should be the very same they should be the same the parts and the manufacturer or the factory is building to the same specs and they've become very good at this even if they're built in two different countries we and our reliability survey we don't even go to that level of finding out which plant these were made at we go to the trim level and that's it because we've never we've I mean we've seen tiny little things but if you think about the amount of cars we've driven at the track over the years you know we've driven BMWs that were built in Germany and then built here you can't tell the difference if you mean you could maybe start really nitpicking some of this stuff but you got to really look you should be getting the same car that's great and again you made the point the trim may have different features that are visibly different but should refer in terms of plant right and reliability should be the same just because everything they're going off the same specs and it's you know modern-day and we've already talked about and I know we've talked about it on the tire side specifications and quality practices tend to come at a company they're a company philosophy not necessarily plant to plant so you think you know if they Toyota has certain quality practices they should be the same if they're built in Japan or the United States from a company or SP so good question though I like a great question so our next question is from Mitchell in Denver Colorado hello talking cars I'm graduating from high school this month and I'm about to buy my first car my budget is $12,000 and I'm looking for something that's reliable gets good gas mileage and can drive in the snow occasionally I'm looking at the 2013 Golf TDI and I'd like to know if you think that that's a good idea I'm also wondering what else I should consider thank you bye so first of all Mitchell congratulations on your graduation I do I have family and friends who are graduating and my heart goes out to you guys who aren't having what we would consider the traditional graduation but that doesn't make your accomplishment any less so so congratulations to you I also think it's awesome that you have twelve thousand dollars to spend on a new car at your age that's fantastic this will be a graduation you will not forget that's for sure so to get to your question I'm gonna go to Mike Monticello first do you have a pic for Mitchell well yeah I mean so this is actually a tough question in a way because you know there's a there's several things going on here first there's the fact that he's looking for a reliable car but gulfs haven't really been that reliable for a while I mean since 2012 the golf has only had above average reliability once in 2018 for the 2018 model year so number two the there's the whole dieselgate so you'll want to make sure that that vehicle if your think about buying it has had the proper fixes and then there's the fact that you know some of us are still kind of in a sense just annoyed the VW there was that whole cheating scandal but the other thing is that the those TDI's are actually great driving vehicles the golf was a great driving vehicle and with the TDI engine you know has this really nice low revving nature that with a diesel but that strong you know low-end grunt that comes with that turbo coming on and then it has great fuel economy so I mean it's kind of like but it but he almost answers his own question if you wants reliable then probably this is not the vehicle to go with so I came up with a couple thoughts so one is 2016 Honda Fit and you know that 2016 might be a little bit of a stretch price-wise but you know because it was redesigned in 2015 and it was only average reliability when it was redesigned and I know you know normally the producers our video producers say only come up with one but I get I give people more for their money right so I also thought also thought 2013 mazda cx5 much above average reliability the prices should be in their proper range you can get it in all-wheel drive but I just want to make a just you know just you know so that Mitchell knows you know all-wheel drive only gives you going you know forward traction it doesn't help you in the snow as far as stopping so you don't have to get all wheel drive if you want to save a lot of money and get a little better fuel economy you could go front-wheel drive and that and then put winter tires on it and then you you know you could actually you know accomplish a lot of what he's looking for and then the other one is 2012 Toyota rav4 if you're talking reliable and good fuel economy and the ability to also get the vehicle in all-wheel drive it's hard to beat the the rav4 it's been just dead solid reliability for so I mean it's based it's near bulletproof and so I'd say 2012 toyota rav4 would be a good one as well but the cx-5 is more definitely more fun to drive if that's important yeah I had the winter tire thing in my notes too y'all like a front wheel yeah how about you Ryan any any thoughts for Mitchell pick yeah so I only picked one because I listened to our producer he follows a 2014 Mazda 3 hatchback fun to drive good on very good on fuel reliability is not perfect but it's that it's very good and you can get in a manual so it's kind of like a golf in a sense of like it's a hatchback roomy practical get some snow tires on that if you need to and off you go and it was right in that price so at the at the risk of sounding a bit motherly but certainly old enough to be Mitchell's leaving a risk hey I literally if you took what Mitchell said reliability fuel economy Toyota Corolla 2017 even Toyota Corolla bulletproof reliability standard safety again that's where the motherly part comes in all of that standard safety equipment automatic emergency braking forward collision warning and I was looking at our fuel economy numbers the last time we tested the TDI in a 2010 twenty nine city forty seven highway 37 overall Corolla 23 City forty-three Highway 32 overall not very far away from even the diesel TDI and I was pretty impressed so I know it's not the most exciting car so I did put a little note there it wouldn't mean a stretch to the pocketbook but the Toyota Corolla hatch but that didn't come out till 2019 so it would be a stretch to Mitchell's budget but hopefully Mitchell we've given you some good thoughts around both the TDI and some other options for you so moving on we do have one written question and that is from Sam from Connecticut a neighbor I've been traveling less recently during the corona virus outbreak but when I do leave to run essential errands I have noticed many more cars in the highway driving incredibly fast in excess of 80 or 90 miles per hour it seems some people are taking advantage of fewer vehicles on the road by driving very dangerously I've seen some reports about accidents on the roads declining during lockdown but fatalities going up did this mentally make it more likely for me to be rear-ended or am I wrong Ryan any thoughts for Sam huh unfortunately I've seen a similar behavior you know people are there's probably a few things going on here people there's less cars on the road so they think it's safer they can go fast there's less police they might be thinking or they're less apt to pull you over because they're afraid of getting the coronavirus or exposing themselves it's not safer to go faster the best thing he can do is just move over stay in the right lane let these people go don't even try to get in the way it's not worth it it's it's unfortunate because you know the speed increased you know your chances of a very very serious accident go up obviously and you know just this is not a good idea we should obey the speed limits and calm down a little I think people are excited to get out of their house too you know there's a little stir crazy it's it's unfortunate but yeah I've seen this myself yeah any thoughts Mike well yeah I mean so you know obviously you should normally be as alert as possible when you're driving your car but and you might think it might think okay well there's less people on the road you know it's safer out here I don't have to pay maybe quite as much attention but actually because of these higher speeds that were see that we're seeing and I'm gonna read a little something from this association that has also done some studies on this but so now because people are driving at higher speeds you actually need to pay even more attention than you usually do because if the closing speeds on each other is gonna be so much higher and if you get in an accident it's it's likely to be even worse but you know there's this governor's Highway Safety Association and they put out this you know it's kind of they did this study talking about this they talked about how emptier streets may be encouraging some drivers to flout traffic safety laws and there's a word you just don't see that much anymore flowey including speed limits despite there being far fewer vehicles on the road due to kovat 19 stay at home Wars State Highway Safety officials across the country are seeing a severe spike in speeding many states have reported alarming speed increases was some noting a significant surge in vehicles clocked at more than a hundred miles per hour and the other thing thing that they talked about and this is something we talked about on previous podcast is yes we want to get out there and do some driving for your car for your cars you know well-being and for your own person well being but remember that when you do that when you do sort of excess driving that you don't need to do you're increasing the chance of you getting in an accident and now that means there's gonna be police are gonna be called firefighters last time I said fire people I'm saying firefighters this time and and then of course the health care personnel at a hospital or whatever if you end up having to be taken there or the EMTs that come to the scene of the accident so that's why it's important to don't do the excessive driving but for sure right now with the way people are driving which is just ludicrous that they're seeing speeds of over hundred miles an hour frequently you have to be even more alert than ever yeah I too have experienced it and not just Sam the excessive you know it's easy you know get in the right lane and let them go because there's less traffic it was actually a dive in dive out they were just threatened themselves through where I was on the highway and it was a little crazy I do think people as we're in this lockdown longer just are looking for some way to release energy my concern was not just you know the increase of risk for serious injury when you're going that fast but if you're not used to driving a hundred miles an hour and you lose your chances of losing control are so much higher so yes Sam give them as much room as you can like like you say Ryan maybe even pull over just let him go because it's it's not worth it and don't let them push you you know to doing something dangerous for yourself either go yeah so that's all for questions Mike you bring up hospitalization I do want to say you know thank you to all the people that are allowing you know all the health care workers the essential employees and anybody from the doctors and nurses to the people that are bringing our mail that I can still go get groceries you know the clerks in the grocery stores you know we are safe at home but those people are going in every single day and we appreciate them so much anybody who who is essential so that will do it for this episode as always check out more information on anything we talked about in the show notes keep all of your questions videos coming talking cars at icloud.com and continue to be safe and well and we'll see you next timewe talk about our final test results of the 2021 kiyose Altos a CR survey with surprising results about what people would want to improve most about their cars and are people speeding more during this coronavirus lockdown next on talking cars hi and welcome to talking cards I'm Jennifer stock Berger I'm writing to Lou Kowski and I'm Mike Monticello so um we continue to work from home as you can see welcome back we'll go through our typical chapters here starting with news which for this week happens to be consumer reports news there was a survey done recently a nationally representative survey which means it's not just see our members about what people would desire to have improved about their vehicle if they could and not surprisingly or maybe surprisingly the number one answer was fuel economy so there's a couple things around that including the timing of the study because it was done during this corona stay at home stay safe period but Mon Mike Monticello any thoughts around that survey in the story well so we've seen this before where we've done a survey and you know the number one priority for people that they want to improve to us fuel economy and I'll be honest it surprised me the last time I saw it and it surprised me again this time you know what we asked the survey people ask which three attributes of the current vehicle had the most room for improved in for improvement and fuel economy topped the list followed by purchase price and maintenance costs and and and like you said Jen yeah that's even during this coronavirus time when fuel is very inexpensive right now so the fact that it's inexpensive and they still people still want their cars to improve keep in mind that's partly because so many Americans buy what do they buy they buy pickups and SUVs right which don't have you know the greatest fuel economy but what's interesting about this I think is that it goes against you know kind of what the current administration is pushing for which is to rollback fuel economy standards and CRS advocacy department has done some calculations that show that rolling back fuel economy will actually end up costing Americans billions of dollars in fuel savings and that might not make sense cuz you think well it costs money to put fuel economy to nology into cars but you end up saving so much more in the end so right right Ryan any any thoughts what people are paying attention and they care and it's not even about the money I don't think like no matter what we do going forward we need to be more fuel efficient and have a lighter footprint on this earth right fuel prices are cheap right now but guess what they're probably going to go back up I mean the history repeats itself right and it's not even just our members like Jenna this is a nationally representative survey yeah so I think your point Ryan about it being cyclic yes fuel prices are way low now but at some point again in the future we're likely to be pushed in that three dollars a gallon mark at another point in that people aren't just taking this moment the other tie to as you talked about that lighter footprint fuel economy it directly relates to greenhouse gas emissions and if there's one thing we've seen even during this brief period it's that you know how quickly the air gets cleaned up etc you know even with just us being off the road for this Korona period so it's it's really really good to see people thinking ahead and like they say you know Mike you said you were surprised fuel economy's on people's minds right I mean I think it's great that people are not just thinking in the present cuz it is very easy to think in the present oh you know gas prices are cheap right now so I'll have you know I won't worry about that maybe I want something else about my vehicle that's important but so they're obviously thinking okay yes is cheap now but they know down the road it's not gonna be so that's why they're saying that it's this is so important to them I I think there's a couple of there now just to kind of show both sides it's always important to show both sides you know there's two sides to every story so within this survey some of the numbers are 34% supports sticking with the already previously established goal of 5 percent annual improvements to fuel economy right so 34% 24% support the government's new plan of just a 1.5 percent annual increase in fuel economy but 39% neither oppose knows nor support the plan so I think it's important to know that it's not like it's overwhelming that you know people are you know want the 5% game so into that point there's what the government mandates and there's what we select as consumers all good points again the whole study we did a story about it you can check that out a consumerreports.org and see what else people wanted improved about their vehicles so moving on we'll go to from the track we have completed testing of the 2021 kiyose Altos yes one of the few vehicles that is already out with the 21 version it's futuristic again just some stats here this is a small SUV we we tested the S trim which is a 2 liter 446 horsepower engine with a CVT purchase price was twenty-four eight so that mid-20s small SUV higher trims get a 1.6 liter turbo with a dual clutch automatic and actually because it's a cousin of the Honda Kona that was the engine and transmission pair that we had tested in our Honda Kona front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive and again kind of shares other components with the Kona as well so I think I'll start with you Ryan impressions of the 2021 ah yes so tose so I am I like it it reminds me of a Kia Soul because it's very similar but it's an all-wheel drive Kia Soul which i think is a major plus it's it may be it may be a little smaller but for that sized vehicle I'm 6 foot 2 I fit in it very nicely a plenty of room I mean it's like the Kia stole the Kia Soul had a lot of room in it actually for a taller driver and this is very much like that handling wise it's it's not a razor sharp you know overly exciting car to drive but it's a small smaller footprint so it nimble it did very well in our track test and we went through am our wind maneuver at a very commendable speed it was just secure handling around the track it's stuff the car I'd stiffly but it kind of it's that price point in a sense it's it's a you know it's a it's a bargain I think at that price but it's um it's got some vices it's definitely a stiff ride and the CVT can be a little flurry and that makes the motor noise a little intrusive but that being said it's a fun little car to buzz around in a super practical I think what do you think Mikey yeah I mean I agree with all of that you know unfortunately I mean it's a it's a good vehicle but it didn't score high enough you know to be CR recommended you know it's it's it's behind vehicles like the Subaru Crosstrek the Honda coming up with which it shares components and the Nissan Rogue Sport you know it's funny because you're a tall guy Ryan but you know and this vehicle is it's you know it's pretty small yet tall driver tall drivers like you fit in it just fine plenty of headroom you know there's as far as the driving position you know it has a four aft adjustable center armrest was just you know makes it more comfortable for people of all different sizes to find a nice position the center console with this is an issue we we harp about on many cars it's you know our plastic it does hand you in but you know I like things like it has leather wrapped steering wheel for $25,000 you know that's not that common and so you know they really tried to put some nice stuff in there like that like the other things they have like they they put in some neat trim throughout the cabin yes there's a lot hard plastic but they you know there's some blue trim kind of textured blue trim blue stitching they kind of made the speaker grilles look you know glossy black plastic so just some things to kind of make it feel a little more expensive than it is but yeah it's loud inside especially when you push that engine it you know we were talking about this continuously variable transmission it's actually one of the better ones because either it does those artificial shifts it's trying to mimic an automatic but if you really start pushing the engine you know it's really trying to get some real acceleration well that's what like you said Ryan that's when you start to see the CVT flaring the the things that we don't like about a CVT and then combine with a loud engine now the engines revving really high will it's going to get loud inside and of course there's the the stiff ride that is definitely rougher than a lot of its competition yeah Brian do you think that that's the trade-off it has the stiff suspension which also makes it nimble in the handling regard yeah I mean it's certainly that's the trade-off I guess it's um it's I look at it though is that the safety oriented stuff the handling is good it's got great braking did very well in our braking test but the rides stiff the creature comforts are a little off so it's a trade-off but kind of a safe trade-off right I mean we would rather have a safer the car being safe and not a little more comfortable I guess that's you can't have it all for that price you know and you mentioned the Kia Soul right I mean some of the attributes of the Kia Soul we see here as well we see in in general other than some pretty thick a pillars that get very thick at the base the car has really good outward visibility what you talk about safety outward visibility is is important for safety you know so and and the fuel economy is pretty good yeah yeah burn all the drive yeah and I was gonna mention that you know that like two things I find funny you know the CVT we have seen success with those smaller displacement CVT combos in terms of fuel economy and this is is very good for for its size but I always find it funny that it has this CBT but then they put the fake shifts like we want that we want to feel like it's shifting even if it's really not the only other thing I was gonna say is is in terms of scoring that's stiff ride the creep the noise they do hurt its overall score and the fact that they had did not put all of those critical safety features automatic emergency braking forward collision warning standard across the lineup that base LX trim does not get those as standard equipment so that hurt they don't get those points that we award for a vehicle so we'd have that across the board did you have something else Mike you were gonna add no I was gonna make that exact point and you stole it from me thanks a lot sigh but the the lack of standard advanced safety features on the base trim does does hurt it in our scoring so but I certainly get the sense yes the score reflects what the car does in terms of ride and and noise but to Ryan's point it may be a car you actually like so so again tease out those tools we made you may actually prefer that handling and be willing to give up you know a little like you say of the creature comforts for that vehicle so check out again consumerreports.org the the overall score and and all the details of the 2021 Kia photos so that brings us to audience questions and this week we have three three video questions which we love send all of your questions to talking cars at icloud.com we love the videos you're seeing us at home we love seeing you guys in your spaces as well so the first question is from Chris in Ontario take a listen hey talking cars I'm the proud owner of a 2018 Jeep Cherokee trailhawk and I love everything about that truck except for one minor detail the version of UConnect that came with that model does not support Android auto my question for you is is there any way I can upgrade the UConnect to the latest version to take advantage of Android auto love the show can't wait for the next episode thanks guys so first of all Chris that is a nice video maybe maybe he could work for our video department did some nicer we appreciate David's burn yeah sorry Dave talking about our producer at these people yeah producer Dave Abrams but yeah nice job Chris we we like the quality of your video so to your question sorry we'll talk about that Mike Monticello any any advice for Chris yeah so uh you know it's well first of all it's great that Chris loves the Cherokee so much I've reached out to people at Jeep and what they told me was they said that unfortunately apple carplay and android auto compatibility with you connect first became available on the 2019 Jeep Cherokee not his 2018 and they said they weren't aware of an options to upgrade although they said they loved the fact that art you know our audience members loved the vehicle so much so I talked to see ours chief mechanic John Ibbotson and he said you know luckily there are some options out there unfortunately none of them are really cheap but there's some companies such as infotainment comm which actually is able to retrofit the 2019 you connect systems into these 2014 to 2018 Cherokees and and it's something you can do at home they have a very in-depth video and it's nowhere near as complicated as you might think would be to take out that whole centerpiece but you're looking at you know probably a thousand dollars or more I can get pretty expensive to do this you can also go go a true aftermarket route with a different system entirely but again you're looking at you know twelve hundred dollars or more to do this so and and again it's something you could also do yourself but keep in mind aftermarket systems you know they never it's a guarantee they're going to have all the functions that your original system did and I also want to point out that with that the system the first system where it retrofits a 20-19 system you're still gonna after you install the the new head unit in the car you're still gonna have to take it to your dealer or mechanic who has the right technology for the you know final like programming of this of this whole system so so there are some options none of them are inexpensive unfortunately yeah and in my only thought you know you go back to our day and again I'm gonna date myself a little when when all of the infotainment with somewhat modular you could take out your CD player and put in something better my Clayton what like indication what maybe you had an 8-track in your car but anyway you could change those out there is so much integrated into those infotainment screens including safety items like your backup camera it is no longer like plug and play like back in our day so I would be cautious of you know certainly some of those items so um but Chris it might be worth looking into so you lost you lost Ryan when you said 8-track you just like yeah no idea what you're talking about he knows only us oldsters he's seen him at a tag sale here we go Museum once yes like I had to teach my kids to what a rotary phone was but that's another story anyway moving on our next question is from Colin from Michigan hey talking cars I have kind of a weird question so if we look right here this rav4 was built in Japan but then the one right next to it was built in Canada so is there any noticeable difference between where these cars would be made in terms of quality or anything like that I know a lot of the high-volume models are built in a bunch of different assembly plants so you know would you ever notice the difference throughout the life of a guitar thanks have a good one so Ryan should call and expect a different rav4 depending on where it's built that's a good question but the answer is no I mean it should they should be the very same they should be the same the parts and the manufacturer or the factory is building to the same specs and they've become very good at this even if they're built in two different countries we and our reliability survey we don't even go to that level of finding out which plant these were made at we go to the trim level and that's it because we've never we've I mean we've seen tiny little things but if you think about the amount of cars we've driven at the track over the years you know we've driven BMWs that were built in Germany and then built here you can't tell the difference if you mean you could maybe start really nitpicking some of this stuff but you got to really look you should be getting the same car that's great and again you made the point the trim may have different features that are visibly different but should refer in terms of plant right and reliability should be the same just because everything they're going off the same specs and it's you know modern-day and we've already talked about and I know we've talked about it on the tire side specifications and quality practices tend to come at a company they're a company philosophy not necessarily plant to plant so you think you know if they Toyota has certain quality practices they should be the same if they're built in Japan or the United States from a company or SP so good question though I like a great question so our next question is from Mitchell in Denver Colorado hello talking cars I'm graduating from high school this month and I'm about to buy my first car my budget is $12,000 and I'm looking for something that's reliable gets good gas mileage and can drive in the snow occasionally I'm looking at the 2013 Golf TDI and I'd like to know if you think that that's a good idea I'm also wondering what else I should consider thank you bye so first of all Mitchell congratulations on your graduation I do I have family and friends who are graduating and my heart goes out to you guys who aren't having what we would consider the traditional graduation but that doesn't make your accomplishment any less so so congratulations to you I also think it's awesome that you have twelve thousand dollars to spend on a new car at your age that's fantastic this will be a graduation you will not forget that's for sure so to get to your question I'm gonna go to Mike Monticello first do you have a pic for Mitchell well yeah I mean so this is actually a tough question in a way because you know there's a there's several things going on here first there's the fact that he's looking for a reliable car but gulfs haven't really been that reliable for a while I mean since 2012 the golf has only had above average reliability once in 2018 for the 2018 model year so number two the there's the whole dieselgate so you'll want to make sure that that vehicle if your think about buying it has had the proper fixes and then there's the fact that you know some of us are still kind of in a sense just annoyed the VW there was that whole cheating scandal but the other thing is that the those TDI's are actually great driving vehicles the golf was a great driving vehicle and with the TDI engine you know has this really nice low revving nature that with a diesel but that strong you know low-end grunt that comes with that turbo coming on and then it has great fuel economy so I mean it's kind of like but it but he almost answers his own question if you wants reliable then probably this is not the vehicle to go with so I came up with a couple thoughts so one is 2016 Honda Fit and you know that 2016 might be a little bit of a stretch price-wise but you know because it was redesigned in 2015 and it was only average reliability when it was redesigned and I know you know normally the producers our video producers say only come up with one but I get I give people more for their money right so I also thought also thought 2013 mazda cx5 much above average reliability the prices should be in their proper range you can get it in all-wheel drive but I just want to make a just you know just you know so that Mitchell knows you know all-wheel drive only gives you going you know forward traction it doesn't help you in the snow as far as stopping so you don't have to get all wheel drive if you want to save a lot of money and get a little better fuel economy you could go front-wheel drive and that and then put winter tires on it and then you you know you could actually you know accomplish a lot of what he's looking for and then the other one is 2012 Toyota rav4 if you're talking reliable and good fuel economy and the ability to also get the vehicle in all-wheel drive it's hard to beat the the rav4 it's been just dead solid reliability for so I mean it's based it's near bulletproof and so I'd say 2012 toyota rav4 would be a good one as well but the cx-5 is more definitely more fun to drive if that's important yeah I had the winter tire thing in my notes too y'all like a front wheel yeah how about you Ryan any any thoughts for Mitchell pick yeah so I only picked one because I listened to our producer he follows a 2014 Mazda 3 hatchback fun to drive good on very good on fuel reliability is not perfect but it's that it's very good and you can get in a manual so it's kind of like a golf in a sense of like it's a hatchback roomy practical get some snow tires on that if you need to and off you go and it was right in that price so at the at the risk of sounding a bit motherly but certainly old enough to be Mitchell's leaving a risk hey I literally if you took what Mitchell said reliability fuel economy Toyota Corolla 2017 even Toyota Corolla bulletproof reliability standard safety again that's where the motherly part comes in all of that standard safety equipment automatic emergency braking forward collision warning and I was looking at our fuel economy numbers the last time we tested the TDI in a 2010 twenty nine city forty seven highway 37 overall Corolla 23 City forty-three Highway 32 overall not very far away from even the diesel TDI and I was pretty impressed so I know it's not the most exciting car so I did put a little note there it wouldn't mean a stretch to the pocketbook but the Toyota Corolla hatch but that didn't come out till 2019 so it would be a stretch to Mitchell's budget but hopefully Mitchell we've given you some good thoughts around both the TDI and some other options for you so moving on we do have one written question and that is from Sam from Connecticut a neighbor I've been traveling less recently during the corona virus outbreak but when I do leave to run essential errands I have noticed many more cars in the highway driving incredibly fast in excess of 80 or 90 miles per hour it seems some people are taking advantage of fewer vehicles on the road by driving very dangerously I've seen some reports about accidents on the roads declining during lockdown but fatalities going up did this mentally make it more likely for me to be rear-ended or am I wrong Ryan any thoughts for Sam huh unfortunately I've seen a similar behavior you know people are there's probably a few things going on here people there's less cars on the road so they think it's safer they can go fast there's less police they might be thinking or they're less apt to pull you over because they're afraid of getting the coronavirus or exposing themselves it's not safer to go faster the best thing he can do is just move over stay in the right lane let these people go don't even try to get in the way it's not worth it it's it's unfortunate because you know the speed increased you know your chances of a very very serious accident go up obviously and you know just this is not a good idea we should obey the speed limits and calm down a little I think people are excited to get out of their house too you know there's a little stir crazy it's it's unfortunate but yeah I've seen this myself yeah any thoughts Mike well yeah I mean so you know obviously you should normally be as alert as possible when you're driving your car but and you might think it might think okay well there's less people on the road you know it's safer out here I don't have to pay maybe quite as much attention but actually because of these higher speeds that were see that we're seeing and I'm gonna read a little something from this association that has also done some studies on this but so now because people are driving at higher speeds you actually need to pay even more attention than you usually do because if the closing speeds on each other is gonna be so much higher and if you get in an accident it's it's likely to be even worse but you know there's this governor's Highway Safety Association and they put out this you know it's kind of they did this study talking about this they talked about how emptier streets may be encouraging some drivers to flout traffic safety laws and there's a word you just don't see that much anymore flowey including speed limits despite there being far fewer vehicles on the road due to kovat 19 stay at home Wars State Highway Safety officials across the country are seeing a severe spike in speeding many states have reported alarming speed increases was some noting a significant surge in vehicles clocked at more than a hundred miles per hour and the other thing thing that they talked about and this is something we talked about on previous podcast is yes we want to get out there and do some driving for your car for your cars you know well-being and for your own person well being but remember that when you do that when you do sort of excess driving that you don't need to do you're increasing the chance of you getting in an accident and now that means there's gonna be police are gonna be called firefighters last time I said fire people I'm saying firefighters this time and and then of course the health care personnel at a hospital or whatever if you end up having to be taken there or the EMTs that come to the scene of the accident so that's why it's important to don't do the excessive driving but for sure right now with the way people are driving which is just ludicrous that they're seeing speeds of over hundred miles an hour frequently you have to be even more alert than ever yeah I too have experienced it and not just Sam the excessive you know it's easy you know get in the right lane and let them go because there's less traffic it was actually a dive in dive out they were just threatened themselves through where I was on the highway and it was a little crazy I do think people as we're in this lockdown longer just are looking for some way to release energy my concern was not just you know the increase of risk for serious injury when you're going that fast but if you're not used to driving a hundred miles an hour and you lose your chances of losing control are so much higher so yes Sam give them as much room as you can like like you say Ryan maybe even pull over just let him go because it's it's not worth it and don't let them push you you know to doing something dangerous for yourself either go yeah so that's all for questions Mike you bring up hospitalization I do want to say you know thank you to all the people that are allowing you know all the health care workers the essential employees and anybody from the doctors and nurses to the people that are bringing our mail that I can still go get groceries you know the clerks in the grocery stores you know we are safe at home but those people are going in every single day and we appreciate them so much anybody who who is essential so that will do it for this episode as always check out more information on anything we talked about in the show notes keep all of your questions videos coming talking cars at icloud.com and continue to be safe and well and we'll see you next time\n"