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Ford builds it, you test it

Only a select few usually get the opportunity to test out upcoming vehicles. Ford is bucking that trend by allowing customers to sign up at BuiltToughTest.com, and get the chance to explain how they would put the aluminum reinforced 2015 Ford F-150 to the test. Product development does extensive testing to the extremes, going as far as disguising the F-150 and running it through the 2013 Baja 1000.

Ford creates ‘driver workload estimator’ to reduce driver distraction

Ford researchers have created a ‘driver workload estimator’ help reduce driver distraction by filtering infotainment and communication distractions. Researchers at Ford are working on a system that would use information submitted by the vehicle and the driver's body to prioritize what information can be displayed and at what time. With the ever-increasing demand for advanced infotainment systems, the chance of driver distraction has also risen as more displays and controls are integrated into the latest models.

Planning continues for driverless cars

OFFICIALS in California have been looking to the future as they bid to legislate for the arrival of hi-tech driver-less cars. A law passed in 2012 set a deadline of the end of this year for the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to decide how to legally integrate the so-called autonomous vehicles - which were once the stuff of science fiction but could be commercially available by the end of the decade. The latest talks on the matter among roads officials focused on how the vehicles will record actions so the data can be used to reconstruct an accident in an effort to trace the cause.