Summer Road Trip Auto Safety Check

This weekend will be the busy three-day last hurrah of summer and many of us plan to hit the road. With each season there are different risks drivers face while traveling. In the summer it’s easy to delay routine maintenance. Preventative maintenance is a summer driving must! Depending on how good you are about the routine maintains before you leave on vacation be sure to have things done. Anything from overheated cooling systems, tire problems and burned transmissions can leave vacationers stranded or create a safety risk. Be sure to have the oil changed and check for other potential problems … Continue reading

Would You Know What To Do If Your Car Went Into A Lake, River or Body of Water

Each year thousands of people in the United States die when their car plunges into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. It only has to happen to me one time, and that would be more then I would want to ever have to face. I live in a city with two rivers, I go back and forth over them all the time, sometimes everyday. I don’t ever want to find out what would happen if my car landed in the river but I sure would like to remember what I should do if it actually did happen to me. … Continue reading

How To Check Your Email While Driving

Have you ever pulled up next to a car at a red light just in time to see the driver lean over to the passengers seat and whack out a few lines on his laptop? I’ve seen it done many times (and I’m not counting the times that the person I witnessed doing so was related to me) and it never fails to make my heart skip a beat. Bottom line: Drivers who don’t keep their eyes on the road make me nervous. Which is why I was very interested in the news that new technology being unveiled at this … Continue reading

Preparing For Car Trouble

Has your car ever broken down on the highway? Or maybe even on a long stretch of road in the middle of nowhere? To make matters worse, it is dark outside and you have the kids in the car. Years ago it happened to me. Luckily, my son was at home with his father. If he had been with me, I know the situation would have been a lot worse. At the time, I did not have a cell phone. I can hear it now, “What? No cell phone?” Yeah, that’s right. Can you imagine breaking down and not having … Continue reading

Auto Emergency Kits

Some of the most tragic stories of vacations gone wrong are often those where a person or family experiences a situation where they are lost or stranded in their automobiles. While the risk of life and death situations are far more common with winter driving trips, no matter the season families can suffer great peril when traveling by car. The truth is that most of the tragic stories we hear on the evening news may have been avoided had families considered and prepared for the worst possible situations they might face along their journeys. When we jump in the car … Continue reading

Start The Engine! Auto Travel and The Winter Car Trip.

Driving in winter conditions requires skill and concentration. Taking a long trip on unknown winter roads requires some preplanning. If you have already taken all the steps before the engine starts, now it’s time to talk about the actual journey. If your aren’t used to driving on snow or ice be sure to review the Five Tips For Driving on Icy, Slippery or Snow Covered Roads . This time of year can bring surprises when you least expect them and some of the roads we travel may be affected by winter conditions. It’s always a good idea to keep the … Continue reading

Six Tips Before Starting The Engine On a Winter Car Trip.

A safe trip traveled by car during the winter starts with good planning, and considering the possible emergencies we might face as we travel. Before you gas-up and start down the road take some time to be sure the car is ready for the elements and the family is ready to face time, distance and the worst case scenario along the way. A Safe Auto Trip Starts Before the Engine Does! Before you start a trip in the winter be sure to take these steps into consideration: Tip #1 Mapping and Contact Person. Know where you are going and which … Continue reading

Traveling By Car: A Life and Death Decision.

James Kim was a senior editor at CNET, a San Francisco Bay-area online news and information outlet. On December 6, 2006 his body was found, in the Oregon wilderness. Kim had left his wife Kati and two daughters in their stuck car on Dec. 2 to search for help. Katie and the girls were found and rescued on Monday, Dec. 4. The Kim family left San Francisco on Nov. 17 to visit friends and relatives in the Pacific Northwest over the Thanksgiving holiday. After missing their turn to Gold Beach they decided to take what appeared to be another route … Continue reading