27th May 2008

Slow Driving - No Driver’s License

Unnecessarily slow driving is a very annoying habit some drivers have. It delays traffic, it causes accidents, and it causes failures in road tests for many driving students. Driving slowly has its reasons, but the reality it brings is unavoidable: slow drivers can be found anywhere. During a driving test, driving too slowly can fail a student. However, slow driving has much more than that.The main reason for slow driving is fear and lack of confidence. A scared driver is more likely to drive slowly, since speed gives a feeling of losing control. The slow driving makes the driver more confident at first, but when everyone passes him, it can once again throw his confidence away. This is a cycle that leads to an extremely diffident driver.During a driving test, slow driving can annoy the examiner. Although the annoyance of the examiner is not a factor in the test results, marking a speed error on every street can ruin the test very quickly. Furthermore, driving too slowly can trigger a speed critical error, from which there is no return. Driving too slowly really ruins driving tests.On the road, slow driving is dangerous and already caused many accidents. When a fast car approaches a slow one, sometimes there is not enough space to change a lane or slow down. The result - the fast (or normal speed) driver hits the slow driver. If an accident doesn’t happen and the fast driver manages to slow down, drivers behind him will also slow down, and a chain reaction will begin. This is how “unexplainable” traffic jams occur.With all disadvantages, slow driving is not always bad. Some roads are limited to a very low speed limit, usually for good reasons. It is done to prevent accidents, crashes, and unnecessary death. Driving on these low speed areas might be boring and annoying, but it is also life saving.The only way to avoid unnecessary slow driving is practice. Not all practice drives are good. Only driving with a good guide that explains how to choose the right speed for any situation will help drivers. Every driving student should have such a guide before taking the driving test.

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments

27th May 2008

Want to Learn More about Cutting Gas Costs ?

Would you like to cut your gas costs and get the most out of your car? Everyone knows it, it’s no secret. The price of gas is going up, and it’s going to stay up. Sure it may fluctuate a bit, but the days of a $1 per gallon are gone. Long gone. The oil companies are not going to help you, the government will act slowly and too late, the car companies will make their vehicles more efficient only when they absolutely have to.So what’s a poor sap to do who is only looking to make it from point A to point B to earn an honest living?Alternative fuel saving technologies that can be applied to gas and diesel engines are not fancy, at least not anymore. Remember, it wasn’t the big companies that started the automobile revolution, it was guys who tinkered around in their garages and created something amazing. The same as the people who are looking beyond what the current big companies are trying to do.Let’s look at a few of our possibilities:Water Hydrogen: Water? How can water be a fuel? Heck, our planet is full of water, wouldn’t that be a great way to save money and the planet all at the same time? I’ll try to put it simply. It is a Free-energy solution which uses water as a supplement to gasoline. Using a little electricity, your car’s battery will separate water into a gas called HHO (2 Hydrogen + 1 Oxygen). HHO, also referred to as Hydroxy burns effectively and supplies significant energy, while the end product is just Water. HHO has the atomic power of Hydrogen and maintains the stability of Water.Sounds kind of confusing, but really what it means is that electricity helps your car convert energy from water.Moreover, you don’t need to add anything special to the water it works with plain old tap water.Bio-Diesel: You’ve probably heard of this one before; that guy on the news who converted McDonald’s french fry oil into fuel. Now wherever he goes his exhaust smells like french fries and McNuggets. Sure is a lot better than the smell of diesel, right? And a whole lot cheaper.Now on the market are guides and instructions for how regular people like you and me can do these things ourselves with a little instructional help. It will be better for the environment and better on our wallets.You owe it to yourself to check into them today. Wouldn’t it be nice to put the money you work so hard for toward something other than getting to and from work?

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments

23rd May 2008

The Speed Myth: Why Low Velocity

According to The Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre (Thatcham) around 250,000

UK motorists received whiplash injuries every year and in around 25,000 cases the whiplash injury leads to some kind of permanent disability. However, the figure may actually be much higher with many whiplash injuries going unreported becomes of the low velocity of the accident.It’s a common misconception that whiplash injuries can only occur when vehicles are traveling at speed. As a result there are many accident victims suffering in silence from whiplash injuries caused at speeds of less than 10 mph.Known as a Low Velocity Collision, accidents below 10 mph may have shown little or no damage to your vehicle due to the robust design specifications of modern car manufacturers. However, while there is no damage to the car, you could have sustained an injury that could, if left untreated, lead to long-term debilitating consequences.There is a great deal of evidence to support the low velocity claim. A study by Jean-Sebastien Blouin of the

School Of

Human Kinetics
at the

University of

Columbia
has shown that the natural human “startle” response can cause sudden contraction of the neck muscles when you are startled during a car accident. Blouin staged car accidents at very low speed (4mph) and found that the incidence of injury was far higher in those with a more pronounced startle response.Low velocity whiplash injury has a more pronounced affect on vulnerable people. The Brault Study of 1998 found that whiplash injury could occur in a minority of cases at speeds as low as 2.5mph. In this case most symptoms had disappeared within 48 hours and had no long-term affects. However, there a number of factors that increase the likelihood of injury at low speed: women, the elderly, and those with a history of neck and back problems are all at greater risk and if your head is turned at the moment of impact this can also mean a greater risk of whiplash.If you sustain any kind of injury in a car accident, regardless of the speed you were traveling or whether there has been any vehicle damage, you are advised to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Sometimes whiplash symptoms may not appear until after the accident; again due to the low impact speed many people are inclined to right off their symptoms as a pain in the neck and avoid seeking medical attention. Not only could this lead to long-term problems but it may reduce the effectiveness of any claim which you may wish to put forward at a later date.Whiplash, even at low speeds, can have long-term affects on your ability to work and on your lifestyle; if the accident was not your fault you may be able to receive compensation for any treatment you need to have and any reduction in your normal lifestyle such as loss of earnings. A reputable claims company such as 1stClaims, can advise you on your position and help you to achieve a fair settlement commensurate with your injuries. Our expert whiplash solicitors will also ensure that you receive treatment if necessary.

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments

23rd May 2008

Car Safety Tips For A Safe Journey

Before you use your vehicle, it is best to observe some car safety tips before starting out. Your diligence in making sure of standard automobile safety checks before traveling is the best preventive measure to avoid motor accidents.Check the radiator water level of the car as a first step. Some car owners just assume that there is enough water in their radiators, only to be surprised when the temperature gauge in the car’s dashboard starts shooting up. Do not wait for an accident like this to come your way; it is not easy to open the hood of the car and the radiator cap, once the engine is overheated. Some nasty accidents of scalding with boiling water can hit you, if you do not take precaution in opening that radiator cap! Things could be worse if you have no backup container in the car with some water, and you are in the middle of a highway in the desert!When starting your car’s engine, do not forget to put the transmission gear to neutral. This ensures that as the engine comes to life it functions normally, avoiding any unusual “jumping” or abrupt movement, as what happens if the transmission is on first or second gear, that may cause unnecessary accidents.After the car’s engine is started and you forgot to do a task back in the house that will require you to get out of the car to attend to it, be sure to put the hand brakes on, if you leave the engine running.If there are small children with you in the car, it is best to put the engine off even if the car is on neutral, before leaving the vehicle to return to the house. This is to avoid incidents of the kids unknowingly pulling the transmission lever, as kids are wont to do, active and restless as they normally are. An innocent hand’s pull on the lever might cause the car to move abruptly, if the transmission is suddenly in first or second gear without the presence of the adult driving the car.Before you move out of the garage to start your trip on the road, see to it that everybody with you in the car fastened the seat belts properly. Adults should supervise strictly the fastening of the seat belts for the children.Make sure in locking the doors properly especially if kids are traveling with you in the car. This is to prevent the accidental opening of the car doors while the vehicle is in motion. Keep away the kids from the doors as much as possible.Ensure positioning the rear view mirrors of your car correctly to enable you to have a good view of the rear of your car, especially the vehicular traffic following you.Before picking up some speed, make it a habit to check if the car brakes are working well, by testing them as you move slowly forward.There is one other thing to re-check before you proceed with that trip. See if the fuel gauge does not indicate a need to pass by the gasoline station for some refill of your tank. That, finally, should complete your list of mandatory things to do for your journey.

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments

22nd May 2008

Revealing Bumper Stickers and License Plates - What They Say About You

WHILST INNOCENTLY driving my car along a busy highway at peak hour the other day, looking for something to distract me from the growing impatience threatening my peace, I noticed a utility truck in the lane to the right. It was festooned with stickers proclaiming ‘this’ and advocating ‘that’. There was something about it that drew my attention… Objective achieved! I was distracted. The truck was filthy with light brown mud all over it, and there was one sticker in particular that gave the owner up. It read, ‘Thank a farmer for your next meal.’ I thought, “Yes… I will.”Bumper stickers can potentially tell us so much about the person who owns or drives a vehicle can’t they? What stickers do you have on your vehicle? It’s the same as personalized license plates. They often communicate ‘a perception’ of the driver’s personality and their approach to life. I see many cars with ‘name’ plates on them nowadays; the driver obviously seeks for all and sundry to know their name. Cars, like houses, boats, and vans can be a way of showing your character off, to exhibit your ’style.’ The stickers, badges, plates, and other devices we put on our cars communicate all sorts of things to all sorts of people, and not always what we’d expect.Here are some further considerations:  If you have a Christian “fish” on your car or any other spiritual sign, people will link your driving behavior to your faith… food for thought?   Do you have revealing information on your car that perhaps could compromise your security, for instance, names or phone numbers?   If you have values-promoting stickers or badges on your vehicle such as for safety or environment advocacy, people will expect you, your vehicle and your behavior to align to that ’stated’ value.   If you have profane stickers and badges you could expect about 90 percent of road users to have a negative attitude about you, and they don’t even know you!   If you support a cause like organ donation, leukemia research, or Alzheimer’s disease research, it pays to advertise. If you’re going to have a sticker it might as well give people information on the cause, or how to donate, or how to get involved.

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments

22nd May 2008

Fuel Saving Secret

Here is a guaranteed way to get instant savings on your car or truck fuel bill. Nothing to purchase, nothing to install, and very little effort!The most effective way to reduce your gas consumption is to ease off the gas pedal! Yeah, well duh. Everyone knows that. But not everyone does it. Few people are even aware of their jack rabbit starts, darting in and out of lanes, and racing to the next stop light. You can see every time you drive that people are hoofing it, and generally driving like there’s no tomorrow. Which is what there’ll be if we don’t all start using less oil.Let’s face it. There is practically no alternative to gasoline and diesel engines now or in the near future. Even hybrids burn oil and we can’t go far or fast in an electric golf cart, or afford a Tesla electric sports car.But you don’t have to give up anything except road rage if you just relax, learn to drive with a soft foot, and anticipate the traffic flow you are in. You can improve your gas mileage by 30 - 50% with a small change in driving habits. Imagine cutting your gas bill by a third!First off, think of having an eggshell that you mustn’t break under your right foot. As you get the vehicle moving, press gently and no more than an inch movement of the accelerator. You can easily keep up with traffic and merge at this rate. When you reach your cruising speed, ease off a little more. You can maintain a constant speed with a light touch.If appropriate use your cruise control. Studies show it can save 5 - 15% over manually adjusting your speed, and reduces speed creep.In city driving, look ahead for traffic signals, and anticipate slowdowns by watching for brake lights. If you ease off early and coast gently you might not have to stop at all and you can reduce the next acceleration needed from an unnecessary stop.Hard acceleration and braking isn’t just when tires squeal. Many people drive as if they’re in a race all the time without even realizing it. So changing your habits may not come easily but the dividends will pay off.Do you even know what your current gas mileage is? It sure isn’t what the sales window sticker says. That’s a theoretical number based on emissions at the tailpipe and not real world driving conditions. At your next gas stop fill up until the pump clicks off. Write down your odometer reading. Next time you fill up and pay that huge amount, write down the gallons and the miles again. Now calculate your miles per gallon for that thankful. Keep doing that each fill up and soon you’ll learn how easy it is to improve your mileage.With a little driving adjustment and awareness you can go from 20 mpg to nearly 30 mpg! I challenge you!

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments

22nd May 2008

Slow Driving - No Driver’s License

Unnecessarily slow driving is a very annoying habit some drivers have. It delays traffic, it causes accidents, and it causes failures in road tests for many driving students. Driving slowly has its reasons, but the reality it brings is unavoidable: slow drivers can be found anywhere. During a driving test, driving too slowly can fail a student. However, slow driving has much more than that.The main reason for slow driving is fear and lack of confidence. A scared driver is more likely to drive slowly, since speed gives a feeling of losing control. The slow driving makes the driver more confident at first, but when everyone passes him, it can once again throw his confidence away. This is a cycle that leads to an extremely diffident driver.During a driving test, slow driving can annoy the examiner. Although the annoyance of the examiner is not a factor in the test results, marking a speed error on every street can ruin the test very quickly. Furthermore, driving too slowly can trigger a speed critical error, from which there is no return. Driving too slowly really ruins driving tests.On the road, slow driving is dangerous and already caused many accidents. When a fast car approaches a slow one, sometimes there is not enough space to change a lane or slow down. The result - the fast (or normal speed) driver hits the slow driver. If an accident doesn’t happen and the fast driver manages to slow down, drivers behind him will also slow down, and a chain reaction will begin. This is how “unexplainable” traffic jams occur.With all disadvantages, slow driving is not always bad. Some roads are limited to a very low speed limit, usually for good reasons. It is done to prevent accidents, crashes, and unnecessary death. Driving on these low speed areas might be boring and annoying, but it is also life saving.The only way to avoid unnecessary slow driving is practice. Not all practice drives are good. Only driving with a good guide that explains how to choose the right speed for any situation will help drivers. Every driving student should have such a guide before taking the driving test.

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments

22nd May 2008

Want to Learn More about Cutting Gas Costs?

Would you like to cut your gas costs and get the most out of your car? Everyone knows it, it’s no secret. The price of gas is going up, and it’s going to stay up. Sure it may fluctuate a bit, but the days of a $1 per gallon are gone. Long gone. The oil companies are not going to help you, the government will act slowly and too late, the car companies will make their vehicles more efficient only when they absolutely have to.So what’s a poor sap to do who is only looking to make it from point A to point B to earn an honest living?Alternative fuel saving technologies that can be applied to gas and diesel engines are not fancy, at least not anymore. Remember, it wasn’t the big companies that started the automobile revolution, it was guys who tinkered around in their garages and created something amazing. The same as the people who are looking beyond what the current big companies are trying to do.Let’s look at a few of our possibilities:Water Hydrogen: Water? How can water be a fuel? Heck, our planet is full of water, wouldn’t that be a great way to save money and the planet all at the same time? I’ll try to put it simply. It is a Free-energy solution which uses water as a supplement to gasoline. Using a little electricity, your car’s battery will separate water into a gas called HHO (2 Hydrogen + 1 Oxygen). HHO, also referred to as Hydroxy burns effectively and supplies significant energy, while the end product is just Water. HHO has the atomic power of Hydrogen and maintains the stability of Water.Sounds kind of confusing, but really what it means is that electricity helps your car convert energy from water.Moreover, you don’t need to add anything special to the water it works with plain old tap water.Bio-Diesel: You’ve probably heard of this one before; that guy on the news who converted McDonald’s french fry oil into fuel. Now wherever he goes his exhaust smells like french fries and McNuggets. Sure is a lot better than the smell of diesel, right? And a whole lot cheaper.Now on the market are guides and instructions for how regular people like you and me can do these things ourselves with a little instructional help. It will be better for the environment and better on our wallets.You owe it to yourself to check into them today. Wouldn’t it be nice to put the money you work so hard for toward something other than getting to and from work?

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments

21st May 2008

Maintain Your Auto’s Cooling System For Your Upcoming Summer Vacation And Roadtrips

The purpose of a car’s cooling system is not only to remove excess heat. It is to keep the temperature of the car engine in tip top shape at that temperature to prevent excess damage and wear to your automotive engine and its components. Why chance excess wear and tear as well as expensive repairs to your motor vehicle – whether it is S.U.V., car, truck or van?Rust will fill and clog the passages of your radiator over time. Why chance expensive engine damage? Why take the chance of ruining an otherwise good vacation or trip due to little more than heat damage to your engine. Damage to your engine from excess heat is created over time. By simple routine radiator and cooling system maintained you can prevent much of these troubles, cares and concerns. Preventive maintenance is how airplanes are cared for. Why not treat your car of SUV in this same manner? It all comes down to a regular maintenance and inspections schedule.Rust may clog the passageways of your car or SUV’s radiator. Hard water deposits a scale much like the mineral scales that clog your coffeemaker, humidifier or kettle at the lake cottage. These mineral scale deposits reduce heat transfer in your radiator. Simply put your radiator will not be able to cool your car engine. Your car or SUV will overheat. Your car engine, trip vacation at least your day will be inconvenienced and perhaps ruined. Even more if two different metals touch inside your radiator system them electrolytic corrosion can and will occur. Further trouble and radiator damage is possible.If conditions are ideal or more than ideal for rust to form – rust is guaranteed to form and deposit in the waterways of your vital radiator. Rust makes up about 90 % of all solids that can choke up the water flowing areas if your radiator- including the water storage “water jacket” areas.Scale is a deposit of the solids left by the evaporation of the water and radiator antifreeze. These scales that are formed and deposited in your radiator and cooling system are very similar to the scale that forms inside a teakettle or coffeemaker after the boiling of hard water. What the solids are composed of depends upon the nature of the water itself but they most commonly include calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate and magnesium oxides.Electrolytic corrosion can result from soldered seams in older style copper radiator, copper gaskets in contact with other metals, brazed joints in steel tubes and imperfect plaiting on steel or other metal parts. An electrolytic current is set up and the metal most active electro chemically slowly dissolves.What can you do to prevent all this damage to your radiator and the grief and costs involved? As always the key words are prevention, prevention and prevention. An ounce of prevention is worth kilograms of cure.Radiator saboteurs can be averted by radiator cleaners and inhibitors used properly. You will prevent most of your troubles in your car of SUV’s vital and expensive to repair cooling systems.Fall and spring cleaning of a cooling system should always include- clearing out rust and scale with a chemical cleaner. It never hurts as well to have a competent auto repair shop conduct a thorough flush of your radiator. Basically your car’s radiator is flushed “backwards” with a strong flow of coolant to remove heavily trapped sediment and that horrible scaling. Lastly and in addition during these cleaning and preventative maintenance procedures you should insist that a radiator rust inhibitor be added to your radiator coolant. A Radiator Rust Inhibitor is a blend of rust inhibitors, lubricants and biocides that restores rust- and oxidation-inhibiting properties to coolant, promoting cooling system life. Furthermore, it provides lubricant to coolant that reduces and eliminates water pump noise.After all why cause yourself needless aggravation and car maintenance costs by not applying maintenance and inspection schedule to your vehicle’s cooling system. Your summer vacation and summer road trips will soon be here. Why not make your summer vacations road trips trouble free?

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments

20th May 2008

Car Safety Tips For A Safe Journey

Before you use your vehicle, it is best to observe some car safety tips before starting out. Your diligence in making sure of standard automobile safety checks before traveling is the best preventive measure to avoid motor accidents.Check the radiator water level of the car as a first step. Some car owners just assume that there is enough water in their radiators, only to be surprised when the temperature gauge in the car’s dashboard starts shooting up. Do not wait for an accident like this to come your way; it is not easy to open the hood of the car and the radiator cap, once the engine is overheated. Some nasty accidents of scalding with boiling water can hit you, if you do not take precaution in opening that radiator cap! Things could be worse if you have no backup container in the car with some water, and you are in the middle of a highway in the desert!When starting your car’s engine, do not forget to put the transmission gear to neutral. This ensures that as the engine comes to life it functions normally, avoiding any unusual “jumping” or abrupt movement, as what happens if the transmission is on first or second gear, that may cause unnecessary accidents.After the car’s engine is started and you forgot to do a task back in the house that will require you to get out of the car to attend to it, be sure to put the hand brakes on, if you leave the engine running.If there are small children with you in the car, it is best to put the engine off even if the car is on neutral, before leaving the vehicle to return to the house. This is to avoid incidents of the kids unknowingly pulling the transmission lever, as kids are wont to do, active and restless as they normally are. An innocent hand’s pull on the lever might cause the car to move abruptly, if the transmission is suddenly in first or second gear without the presence of the adult driving the car.Before you move out of the garage to start your trip on the road, see to it that everybody with you in the car fastened the seat belts properly. Adults should supervise strictly the fastening of the seat belts for the children.Make sure in locking the doors properly especially if kids are traveling with you in the car. This is to prevent the accidental opening of the car doors while the vehicle is in motion. Keep away the kids from the doors as much as possible.Ensure positioning the rear view mirrors of your car correctly to enable you to have a good view of the rear of your car, especially the vehicular traffic following you.Before picking up some speed, make it a habit to check if the car brakes are working well, by testing them as you move slowly forward.There is one other thing to re-check before you proceed with that trip. See if the fuel gauge does not indicate a need to pass by the gasoline station for some refill of your tank. That, finally, should complete your list of mandatory things to do for your journey.

posted in Driving Tips | 0 Comments