1st August 2008

There Are Multiple Actions That Can Severely Hamper Your Ability To Make Rational, Quick, And Accurate Decisions On The Road

When you turn on your motor vehicle, and before even placing the car into gear, you should make a commitment to yourself and others that you will operate the vehicle safely and as best so of your ability. Many people assume that driving drunk or under the influence of other substances is the only dangerous actions you can take part of while behind the wheel: however, the fact is that there are multiple more actions that can severely hamper your ability to make rational, quick, and accurate decisions on the road. Listed below are some of the most problematic reasons for car accidents on the road. Keep in mind that all of these listed decisions are up to you and can keep stopped at any time.

The first and most controversial reason for accidents on the road is the use of a cell phone. Some states have even gone so far to ban the use of cell phones, enforceable by a hefty fine and even possible points on your license.

Another distraction on the road is eating or smoking. As tempting as the thousands of fast food chains are lining many of the major roadways, you should make use of the inside seating area. Smoking is a habit that a sizable portion of anyone over the legal driving age partakes in. When smoking is listed as a distraction, it is more reaching for and lighting of the cigarettes that present a problem.

Slowing down and diverting your precious attention from the road to another accident is also not only an enormous annoyance, but also very dangerous. The fact is that many people do it, and when you have multiple cars looking at the same spot, usually to the left or the right, breaking and accelerating takes a back seat and fender benders become extremely common.

Conversations with passengers within the vehicle can often present problems as well. Studies have shown that conversations with only one individual will often result in slower driving, while an engaging conversation with several passengers tends to result in accelerated driving. Even though your eyes may be on the road, your mind is elsewhere impacting reaction time, attention span, and common sense on the clogged roadways.

All of these distractions do nothing but increase the chance of an accident. Even if you are a good driver with no past experience of being in an accident, there are always the other millions of individuals driving on the road that could become a problem with you nearby. All of these decisions also come into play when you are driving other passengers such as family, close friends, or even your children. Placing yourself in danger while driving is dumb, but placing others in danger by your actions is selfish.

When it comes to driving on the road, make sure that you remember that you’re not the only one of the road. There are women, children, and men of all ages, so just when you think it’s you that rules the earth, you better think again and drive safe!

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1st August 2008

Many Factors Influence Gasoline Prices

As we fill up with gasoline every day, a lot of us sit back and wonder how exactly is the gasoline price determined? What plays the part of making the gas prices so low or so high? In this article, we are going to explain a few factors that play a part in determining the gas prices. Hopefully after you read these points, you’ll better understand the gas industry and how gas prices are determined.

Amount of oil produced

Oil comes from all points of the world and as you may know by now, a majority of the United States’ oil comes from the Middle East. If the oil supply starts to dwindle, this will cause less of a supply causing the price to rise. If the supply is too high, obviously the price will lower so that it’ll sell. This will bring us into the supply and demand part of gas.

Supply and demand

Like anything you buy or see in the stores, it all comes down to supply and demand. If there’s a lot of demand for a product, the price will be higher because the businesses know it will sell. If the demand for the product is lower, the businesses will have to cut costs in order to compete and let the products fly off the shelves. Supply and demand is also a big part of the gas industry.

Wars

Believe it or not, wars have always made an impact on gas prices. If you look at the gas price history, you will notice that higher gas prices were always around during wars. Some experts say that wars have nothing to do with gas prices and others say that wars conflict with gas prices. We will let statistics speak for themselves and say wars creating an impact on prices.

Local taxes, etc

Gas prices aren’t the same price around the United States. Each state varies when it comes to gas prices. This is because of the local taxes and locations. You may that even in your area that some gas prices are higher in other areas. The reason that gas prices vary so much throughout the states is because of local and state taxes. A lower income area is going to have cheaper gas prices because of taxes compared to a higher income taxed area.

There are other factors that determine gas prices such as the stock and petroleum market. When fear is involved, it can affect the gas prices greatly. Besides these factors, there are many others that can influence prices such as damage done to oil barracks, refineries, etc. Gas prices will be no different than an item in a grocery store like I mentioned above, it basically comes down to the supply and demand of gasoline. When the demand is high, which it always is when it comes to gas, the price is going to be higher. If you don’t want to pay the higher gas prices, there are many alternatives on how you can save on gasoline.

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1st August 2008

Things You Should Consider When Choosing A Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Buying hybrid cars can seem a little daunting but not in the manner in what you may think, the complication in buying a Hybrid car is which one you should choose. To assist you in your purchase you will need to understand some of the basic principals on a Hybrid Electric vehicle (HEV).

All HEV’s have two energy sources for its engines: Electric and Combustion. When in everyday use on the road the car will run on either the Electric engine or the Combustion engine. However if the driver requires faster acceleration both engines will operate together.

There are many characteristics worth considering when purchasing a Hybrid Car, they have low emissions, are fuel efficient, and the battery actually recharges itself whilst you are driving therefore eliminating the need to plug into a wall socket like you would with a pure Electric Car.

There are also other considerations that must be taken into account when purchasing your HEV.

1. As a Prospective buyer you should have some level of understanding regarding the language that is used in relation to buying hybrid cars. According to the California Air Resources Board, Ultra Low-Emission Vehicle is a car with 50 percent cleaner emission, compared with that of a new 2001 model car.

A Super Ultra Low-Emission Vehicle emits 90% cleaner emissions than that of an average new 2002 model car. You will however have heard of cars that produce zero-emission but these are purely electric cars, and not hybrid cars, and at present pure electrical cars are impractical to produce.

2. You should also consider what you would use your HEV for. Hybrid cars are best used on short distance journeys in your local area if you were to use them on Highways or long journeys you would not be expected to get much Fuel reduction.

3. The other consideration is the cost, Hybrid Cars are usually more expensive than normal vehicles but this is due to the fact that at present there is only small numbers in production compared to Petrol cars and also they are more mechanically more complex. But these are only minor concerns considering what you will be saving on fuel.

The Federal State is at present encouraging people to buy HEV’s due to the long term benefits of limiting fuel usage. There are also several tax deductions for new buyers of hybrid cars, and several cities are also offering free parking as an additional incentive for low-emissions vehicles.

Therefore it is safe to say that the people, who buy hybrid cars, are the people who are buying the vehicles of the future.

posted in Future Fuels | 0 Comments

1st August 2008

If Your Car Works With Efficiency It Won’t Be A Problem To Your Economy

Hydrogen can appear to be the answer to our fuel problem, unless we’ve looked at the big picture. I saw a comment to an article I was reading about BMW and a hydrogen car they were supposedly going to market next year. The person asked why we didn’t have a full-on hydrogen car in the US. I guess my question is: where are you going to get fuel? The infrastructure for hydrogen, as a stand alone system, is beyond the horizon. We should be looking for alternatives, in fact we should have started doing that in the 1970’s with the first energy crisis. Hydrogen, even small amounts, increases the efficiency of other fuels. Most automotive hydrogen is produced by splitting hydrogen and oxygen from a water source that includes a catalyst. The overall gain, from working with various systems of that type, is 5% to 8%. Any gain is good, but that’s a long ways from stand alone.

The key is efficiency, which brings us to other items that aren’t as difficult to obtain, like octane. A simplified explanation follows. The higher the octane, the more efficient the combustion. The slower the burn, to a certain point, the higher the octane. Water vapor slows the burn and increases octane. On a foggy day there is a higher percentage of water vapor in the air, increasing horsepower. The horsepower increase on a foggy day is due to increased efficiency which is due in a round about way to the octane increase. When octane is increased, the timing can be advanced, which contributes to an earlier spark and the opportunity for a longer burn.

Computerized cars, after 1996, have OBDll, and later, compliant computers. Computers, if matched to the right system, will due all the changes. You don’t have to advance and retard the timing or reject the carburetor for different altitudes and conditions because the computer does that for you. With the right system you don’t have to do anything to the computer. The computer sensors monitor the exhaust and lean the mixture if the engine is running cool enough. 60% to 80% of the fuel that goes into the engine is used to cool internal parts. Water is about 200 times more efficient at cooling than gasoline or diesel.

I was watching a NASCAR race and one of the commentators made the statement that “all the horsepower is in the camshaft and cylinder head(s).” That statement, in the way it was worded, in not correct. A large percentage of the horsepower is in the camshaft and cylinder head(s), but not all. There’s a reason the fuel they burn is rated at 99 octane. The slower the burn, the more complete the combustion.

A engine has to “breathe” to be efficient. Like the human body, if the airways are fouled or restricted, the human body and the engine aren’t capable of reaching maximum efficiency. Water vapor steam cleans internal engine parts. It breaks carbon off the valves and pistons and flushes it out the exhaust while cleaning the exhaust system in the process. If water vapor is introduced at the right place in the intake system, it cleans the passages, mixes with the fuel and increases octane. Higher efficiency results in more HP and better fuel economy.

Going back to hydrogen, there is a hydrogen producing system that’s as close to free energy as you can get. It seems to make sense to use what’s already available, as opposed to wasting it and expending other energy to produce more. A high priced, high tech vehicle isn’t necessary. But, to make everything work at the optimum, you need to have all the information and not just one piece of the puzzle.

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