- TYETech
- A platform for all those tech-savvy people looking for the newest updates on all things tech related!
- How Has Wifi In Cars Impacted Families
- With Chevy’s In-Car Wifi Hotspots in 2015, What Mixed Messages?
- EMR Health Alliance of BC
- Fullsize GM SUVs have a problem that’s making owners sick
- Carsickness complaints: Family is ‘miserable,’ company aware of concerns
- Some GM SUV Owners Say Their Vehicles Are Making Them Sick
TYETech
A platform for all those tech-savvy people looking for the newest updates on all things tech related!
How Has Wifi In Cars Impacted Families
The major advancements in technology have made families grow further apart more than ever before. Most teenagers have developed a tendency to use social media sites as a comfort zone in which they share personal feelings, instead of confiding in their parents. Teenagers are not the only victims of technology, but parents who work, are actually always on the clock leaving them less time to talk to their children about their academics or what may be troubling them. This could potentially be why teenagers use social media websites despite it being a bad substitute because while social media websites are a good start for interaction, they do not replace the value of face to face interactions.
The damaging effects of technology on social interaction still spreads till this very day.
New innovations has actually made it possible for wifi to be installed in cars. With teens already being unable to properly interact with other and adults to busy to teach them the car was the one place that any real face to face time could occur ;however, with this new innovation that may be a thing of the past. The installment of vehicular wifi and longer lasting battery percentages, and portable chargers teenagers and their parents or guardians can stay plugged into the worldwide web leaving no real room for the family to grow. According to an AC Nelson report, fifty-four percent of of kids between the age of four and six preferred to spend time watching T.V instead of spending their time which their dad. Not only that but to much time around technology may have a negative effect on school performance, this is because the brain releases dopamine which is associated with attention and when this process goes on in front of a technological device the a person may only be able to pay attention in front of items in similar to those devices.
With Chevy’s In-Car Wifi Hotspots in 2015, What Mixed Messages?
General Motors (GM) has announced that many 2015 Chevrolet automobiles will have native, on-board 4G LTE wifi next year. The list of cars that will have onboard wireless hotspots includes the Chevrolet Corvette, Chevy Impala, Malibu, Volt, Equinox, Silverado, Silverado HD, Spark and Spark EV, and in Canada the Chevrolet Trax.
In fact, according to a statement from GM Chevrolet [Page no longer available – we have linked to the archive.org version instead], “The majority of the 2015 Chevrolet lineup in the U.S and Canada will have a 4G LTE connection built-in at vehicle launch.”
According to Alan Batey, senior VP of Global Chevrolet, “Chevrolet is expected to implement the broadest deployment of 4G LTE in the automotive industry. The fact that OnStar with 4G LTE will be available in models that range from the Chevrolet Spark to the Silverado to the Corvette, is indicative of our broad commitment to deliver more value and convenience through smart technology applications. This new, purposeful technology solution will make our consumers’ lives easier to connect.”
But how does a constant Internet connection in your car square with the increasing concerns about Internet use in the car, such as texting while driving? It seems that on one hand safety experts and governments are cautioning and worrying about distracted driving largely predicated on Internet use, while at the same time the car manufacturers are enabling the very thing about which we are cautioned.
And, cautioned rightly. Distracted driving – specifically texting while behind the wheel – has accounted for increasing numbers of deaths, leading not only to more strident cautioning, but even efforts to curb it through legislation, including the Colorado ban on texting while driving, and the Federal effort to get a complete texting and calling ban in 2011.
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While the Metrolink train crash resulting from an engineer who was texting, in 2008, may be one of the deadliest accidents in which Internet-related distracted driving figured, there have been many more accidents since.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), even back in 2010 there were more than 3000 fatal accidents a year attributable to texting, and of course many more non-fatal (but not non-injurious) accidents. In fact, the NTSB estimates that at any given moment, there are approximately 13.5 million drivers with their cellphone in hand!
(For one particularly poignant example of this, read about how this family shared their son’s last – fatal – text.)
So, what are we to make of these mixed messages – safety experts telling us to not text (use the Internet) while driving, while car manufacturers make it easier than ever by offering on-board wifi?
Of course, the car manufacturers and their lobbies will say that the car wifi is for passengers, and must not be used by drivers. And we are sure they will mean it – just as much as do the cigarette companies when they say they are not selling to minors.
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EMR Health Alliance of BC
Car manufacturers think everyone wants WIFI / BlueTooth access in a Car or Truck, but for those with EHS, a sensitivity to radio frequency / microwaves / wireless , these systems cause health problems almost immediately. It can effect anyone, even people that have had no previous health problems with wireless. Take a look at the news articles coming out now, where people getting into the latest Trucks on the market do not feel well.
Most major Car manufacturers have these new computer like consoles that have wireless, but how many of them provide the option to the customer to FULLY shut OFF the wireless part of the system? Most systems before 2015 have an Off switch (completely Off), but after 2015 they are more common to always be seeking a bluetooth/wifi signal, every time you start up the car , whether you want it on or not.
Fullsize GM SUVs have a problem that’s making owners sick
GMC Suburan with WIFI
Carsickness complaints: Family is ‘miserable,’ company aware of concerns
HOLLAND, MICH. – There’s been no recall, but drivers of several large SUV’s say their GM vehicles are making them sick.
The complaints have been acknowledged by the automaker — a Holland-area family says there is no solution to the problem. That family contacted WZZM 13 On Your Side for help.
“I had vertigo, nausea, migraine, the whole way down, the whole way back from Florida…part of it would be a constant pressure on your ears… it’s just miserable”, says Barb Francis.
It all started back in November 2014 when she and her husband paid just more $60,000 for a new 2015 Suburban at DeNooyer Chevrolet in Holland.
“We love the car; we still love the car,” Francis said. “But when you get in, it’s like your ears start to hurt after a while.”
The couple says it got worse after they took their grandchildren on a trip to Florida. Francis and her granddaughter got sick.
“If she’s not in that suburban, she doesn’t get sick,” Francis said.
They brushed it off at first but the next time they went on a long trip, her husband got sick.
“And he does not get sick, does not have that kind of thing,” Francis said. “He had vertigo, nausea, headaches. This is weird.”
It was then that the Francis’ searched the words “GM SUV making me sick.” Several news articles popped up.
13 On Your Side discovered numerous complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in both 2015 and 2016. They included remarks like “Severe Headaches,” “Experiencing pressure in my ears” and “makes me nauseous and dizzy.”
WZZM 13 Watchdog reporter Sarah Sell and investigative producer Emma Nicolas took the Suburban for a test drive. With cameras inside to capture all the details, a microphone picked up what many described as that buffeting noise, almost like a window is partly rolled down.
“Midway through I started to get a pressure headache,” Nicolas said. “I didn’t have anything with my ears. My ears weren’t bugging me. It was my head.”
The Francis’ have taken the suburban back to DeNooyer, and they made several attempts to fix it.
“They did the headliner, they changed the noise cancelling system, they drove it for 37 days, and put 720 miles on it,” Francis said. “There is major money into this and it’s still not fixed.”
Sales manager Dominique DeNooyer says they tried to work with the Francis’ on a solution.
“It puts us in the middle because we value the customer and our partnership with the manufacturer,” he said. “Our hands are tied.”
DeNooyer says the dealership did offer the Francis’ a similar vehicle, but they declined. Francis and her husband are paying more than $700 a month for the vehicle. At this point, they just want out of the lease.
Denooyer says it’s not that simple: “So, the lien is with the bank and as far as absolving the lease, we don’t have the ability because we don’t own that contract.”
The Francis have now hired a lemon law attorney. Several months later, they are still in negotiations. GM declined to do an interview and sent us this statement:
“GM is aware of customers’ concerns regarding a buffeting noise in certain previous model year full-size GM utility vehicles. GM does not believe this is a safety issue.” The company went on to say, “If someone has a similar problem, they should take it to their GM dealer for potential repair under warranty.”
“We just want to be done with it. Take it back. Nobody wants to drive it. We’re not driving it,” Francis said. With the help of their attorney, they are working with GM on a settlement to buy back the vehicle. In the meantime, they continue making lease payments and the Suburban sits in the driveway.
GM will not say whether the problem has been fixed in later models.
Some GM SUV Owners Say Their Vehicles Are Making Them Sick
From time to time you might feel a bit nauseated while driving (or riding) from point A to point B, and that’s pretty normal. But it appears that some General Motors SUV owners are having a bit more than just a little bout of carsickness while trolling around in their vehicles.
Autoblog.com reports that some full-size SUV owners have filed complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that a buffeting and vibration problem in their model year 2015 Chevy Tahoe, Suburban, Cadillac Escalade, and GMC Yukon vehicles is making them sick.
Owners say the issue can vary from an annoying vibration inside the vehicle to a more severe shaking that causes dizziness and headaches.
The owner of a 2015 Suburban filed a complaint in March noting that the car was creating a “buffeting, pressure sound, and sensation at low to mid range speeds. Creating headache, dizziness and strain.”
In another complaint, a fellow 2015 Suburban owner, tells NHTSA when driving the vehicle “we experience an awful ear pressure vibration. The car is not drivable and is causing headaches and vertigo.”
GM spokesman Tom Wilkerson confirmed to AutoBlog that the company is aware of the complaints that it “has been tracking this issue for a while.” Wilkerson downplayed the scope of the problem, noting that that there is a fairly low rate of occurrence.
So far, the company hasn’t found an exact cause for the issue. In some cases, Wilkinson says that balancing tires or chafing door seals has helped.
Owner complaints filed with NHTSA suggest that a problem with a headliner in the vehicle’s roof might be connected.
In one complaint, the owner of a 2015 Suburban tells NHTSA that the “roof will not remain attached to the roof bows. This causes the buffeting similar to a window being down when all are up. The results span from annoying to painful.”
Another owner, this time of a 2015 Yukon, tells regulators that he brought his vehicle to a dealer at least seven times in four weeks because of vibration issues. In all, the service department replaced the driveshaft, suspension components, and more, but nothing worked.
GM tells Autoblog that the company is working with customers on an individual basis to fix things. Owners experiencing similar issues are advised to contact their local GM service department.