Smart Motorist

Seat belt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a harness designed to hold in place the occupant of a car or other vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop. A mother pregnant women always should sit where she has not been shown to affect the safety of an unborn baby in a crash.  Motor vehicle accidents cause 70% of all cases of abdominal trauma in pregnancy. Compared with a belted passenger, an unbelted pregnant woman in a car crash has double the risk of vaginal bleeding and quadruple the risk of fetal death.  "That's basically what all of us have now," said Jones, who is director of the maternal fetal medicine program at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas. "It's the lap belt that's integral with the shoulder belt." 

Some older drivers simply cannot be "rehabilitated" -- the phrase used by driving experts. Drivers who continue to be a danger to themselves and others on the road for various reasons, most notably due to medical problems that impair driving ability to dealing with a collision; from awareness about how changes in health might affect driving ability to antilock braking systems., and dementia associated with cognitive impairment and lack of insight leading to loss of decision-making skills.

American Automobile Association (AAA) worked with the University of Florida (UF) and National Older Driver Research and Training Center (NODRTC) to identify the many vehicle features that can optimize safety and comfort for seniors. These features may be specifically helpful based upon specific conditions or limitations. Some of the recommendations included in Smart Features for Mature Drivers include:

Forty years ago, used-car buyers dreamed of buying new; new-car buyers dreamed of more expensive models. Now, many smart car shoppers who want quality and dependability are turning to used cars first. Plentiful supplies of warranties, low-mileage, late-model cars coming off lease have altered both the new and used car marketplace. 

The first step in the car buying process is finding the right car. Do you want a sofa on wheels, an economical compact car, or a high performance powerhouse? Your family's safety in an accident is an important point to consider when purchasing a new vehicle. We review the various types of car, truck and hybrid; safety features; front-wheel versus rear-wheel versus all-wheel drive; stick versus automatic transmission; optional equipment; and other considerations. Here's where you begin to sort through the huge variety of automobiles available, narrowing the choice down to a few categories. 

The wisest and thriftiest course is to pay cash for your cars. If this is not an option, I highly recommend you obtain financing before you settle on a particular vehicle.

Loans versus Leases - Loans enable people to buy things. A lease is a rental agreement. Once you make all the payments on an installment loan, you actually own your car; whereas, when all the payments are made on a lease, you own nothing.

Insurance fraud has become a major financial problem for both insurance companies and consumers. The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports that insurance fraud costs the insurance industry an estimated $30 billion each year.

If you have spent at least 18 months with an "N" sign in your vehicle, you are now eligible to take the Level 2 road test. Novice drivers who pass this test will become fully-qualified Class 5 license holders. With this license, you exit the Graduated Licensing Program.

Vehicle seats and seat belts are built for the comfort of adults, not to secure a child car seat correctly. Some seat belts need a different buckle or a special locking clip to safely secure a child car seat. Some child car seats cannot be used safely in certain seating positions. Air bags can cause serious injury or death to infants in REAR-FACING child car seats.

Driver fatigue is very dangerous condition created when a person is suffering symptoms of fatigue while driving, often resulting from the hypnotic (Inducing sleep; soporific or hypnosis) effect especially during nighttime (peak levels at night can be 10 times daytime levels) driving either falling asleep at the wheel or so exhausted they made serious – and fatal – driving errors.

If your teenager has just gotten a driver's license, chances are he or she is looking forward to driving to school this fall. It may be hard to imagine handing them keys to your brand new car, but that may be the smartest vehicle to choose.

With cellular phone popularity reaching new heights (over 100 million cell phones are in use in the US), more and more drivers are using their commute time to conduct business and personal affairs on their cell phones. American motorists spend substantial amounts of their day in automobiles, vans, trucks, and buses.

Smart Motorist recommends that drivers get sufficient sleep, don't drink alcohol when sleepy, pull over when drowsy, and limit their driving at night - especially between midnight and 6 a.m.

Carwash Chains - Many of the carwash chains offer interior detailing services in addition to their washing activities. Just remember you get what you pay for: a $5 or $10 detailing is little more than a quick vacuum and $.50 worth of Armor-all.