95-03 Ford Ranger / 99-08 F-series Super Duty 3rd Third Brake Light Chrome on 2040-parts.com

Study: Hybrids safer in accidents, more dangerous to pedestrians

In the first analysis of its kind, the Highway Loss Data Institute found that drivers of hybrid vehicles are, on average, 25 percent less likely to be injured in a crash than drivers of conventional vehicles. Matt Moore, the data institute's vice president and author of the study, said weight was a big factor in its analysis. “Hybrids on average are 10 percent heavier than their standard counterparts,” Moore said in a statement on Thursday.

One lap of the Web: Amphibious awesomeness, retro Land Rovers and a toy Toyota engine

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Looks like the Willow Run assembly plant outside of Ypsilanti, Mich.

Volvo XC30 for 2012

It's starting to look as if the baby Volvo Crossover - the XC30 - is getting close The rumour mill has been working on a smaller crossover/SUV from Volvo for a long time – since just about the time that the Volvo C30 first hit the road. And it’s a car that makes a lot of sense, especially in the current market. So it’s not any sort of surprise to see the rumour resurface, but we’re a bit peeved to have missed (until now) the comment that’s being attributed to Lex Kerssemakers – Volvo’s Overseas Corporate Strategy President – from Geneva when he apparently said “There will be some further expansion of the XC range in the near future”.