I heard on the news the other day that the driver allegedly responsible for a semi driver’s death last month was drunk. According to news reports he was served 10 beers at a Fort Worth bar. By now, even a gin-soaked barfly knows that mixing drinking with driving conjures up a potentially lethal brew. Responsible drinkers long have had two options for getting home safely – asking a sober friend to drive or hailing a taxi cab. But a company called Be My Designated Driver is offering tipplers in nearly two dozen cities a third alternative: Turning your own car into an “instant taxi” by hiring a designated driver to chauffeur you around for the night.
In the search for good drivers, BeMyDD only hires candidates who have spotless driving records. Many of the drivers have commercial driver’s licenses and a history of working as limousine drivers. Drivers with DUIs or more than four points on their record and registered sex offenders are among those who do not make the cut. If you find a driver with a winning smile or an especially light touch on the accelerator, you can request that person when you make your next reservation.
The service, known as BeMyDD, was born out of the frustration the twenty-somethings and their friends experienced when trying to get home responsibly after a night at the bars. They’d always have to do the coin toss for who’s going to be the designated driver, or who looks the most sober, and that’s a scary game to play.
Enter BeMyDD. After paying a $25 annual membership fee, you are eligible to use the company’s Personal Driver Service and reserve a designated driver in advance to drive you around town in your own car. The designated driver – clad in shirt and tie – waits in the car while you and your friends carouse. The service costs anywhere from $12.50 to $15 an hour, depending on location. There is a three-hour minimum, but no mileage limits. Cars can be filled with as many people as there are seatbelts in the car.
If you forget to pre-plan before getting tipsy, there’s no problem. Just call BeMyDD and activate the “Pickup Service.” A team of two drivers will arrive to take both you and your car to the destination of your choice. There is a $25 flat fee for the service, with an additional charge of $2.95 for the first 10 miles, plus $1.50 for each additional mile.
There’s no word on whether BeMyDD throws in two free aspirin to help cure the next morning’s hangover. Hahaha.
Originally, the company targeted drivers their own age – recently out of college and still in prime pub-crawling mode. Surprisingly, the company’s founders say much of the interest has come from customers who are 30 years old and above – people with something to lose who don’t want to risk the damage to their finances and their reputations that a DUI often brings. It promotes itself as generally being less expensive and more convenient than a taxi service, and I imagine it’s a lot cheaper than the legal fees and fines associated with a DUI.
Customers are urged to ask about the company’s insurance coverage and to find out under which circumstances BeMyDD would accept liability in the event of an accident caused by one of the company’s drivers.Of course, every time you turn your keys over to someone else, you’re putting your car – and your auto insurance – on the line. Remember the old saw: Insurance follows the car, not the driver. So if there’s an accident, the claim will fall on your policy. BeMyDD insures all its drivers and carries an umbrella policy for extra liability coverage. If an accident occurs and exhausts the car owner’s insurance coverage, BeMyDD will cover the rest.
BeMyDD services are not limited to bar-hoppers. The company offers a “Peace of Mind” plan designed for weddings and other special events. And the service can be used for other purposes, such as making sure an elderly parent gets to a doctor’s appointment safely and on time.
It is now available in major cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Miami and Washington, D.C. and it hopes to have BeMyDD in all 50 states by the end of the year.
While not everyone is planning on taking their car to a race track, most people do want to find ways to get more power out of their vehicle. The problem is, most people don’t understand how more power is made in the engine to begin with. The most straight forward way to get more power is to allow more air to get into your engine and pass through it quickly. The more air there is, the more combustion is made when the fuel is sparked inside the engine.
This means that you can get more boost from your car without having to drop in a new engine. But how do you get more air into your car? The easiest way is to keep your air filters clean. The longer you drive without changing or cleaning your air filters, the less air goes into your engine. If you are driving with a dirty filter, your car is actually doing more work to bring air in, and still creating less power. This will also take away from your gas mileage since more fuel is required to combust.
Another way to help air flow is to allow the air to exit your car faster. This is done through your car’s exhaust system. The bigger your exhaust pipe, the more air is allow to be pushed out of your car. But sometimes you don’t need to buy a new exhaust system, you just need to keep your exhaust pipes clean and unobstructed. By checking and cleaning your exhaust regularly, you will get more power, and it is another way to squeeze in a few miles per gallon.
If you are looking for easy solutions to get a little more kick out of your motor, as well as save some money at the tank, just be sure that you are keeping your air flow strong. If you have any other questions on how to put some more horses under the hood, feel free to come by, and we’ll help you out.
The Buick brand is highly regarded as making some of the best cars on the road, so how does it enhance that reputation? How about becoming more fuel efficient? That is the plan that Buick is planning to unveil with their 2012 Lacrosse. With gas prices starting to climb again, and more hybrid and fuel conscious cars on the market, Buick is planning on creating more cars that will get you more bang for your gas buying buck.
Here’s an excerpt from a recent Kansas City Star article singing the praise for the future of Buick, who has a manufacturing plant near the city.
But it will have something Buick hasn’t been known for — superior gas mileage. Its combined city/highway mileage rating is 25 percent better than this year’s. And its estimated 37 miles from a gallon of gas on the highway is up from 30 miles on the current model with a four-cylinder engine.
Those numbers come courtesy of several upgrades that don’t meet the eye — including slicker aerodynamics, an improved six-speed transmission, and a small battery pack that runs the car when it is idling and gives the four-cylinder engine a gas-saving boost when it needs a little extra power, say for climbing hills.
But Buick also wants people to know that a fuel-sipper rivaling many smaller cars doesn’t have to sacrifice ride, comfort and luxury features. So the company is proceeding carefully in its promotions, mindful of lessons learned in the 1970s when fuel-efficient cars often were labeled “econoboxes.”
As Daryl Wilson, lead development engineer for Buick, puts it: “It has to be a Buick.”
If you are thinking about buying a new Buick in the future, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the 2012 Buick Lacrosse. If you have any questions about the new upgrades or any other aspects to the new Buick vehicles coming soon, be sure to contact me.
If you own a truck, then chances are that you are used to loading up your bed and hauling everything from lumber to couches. After a while, you may notice that your truck bed becomes scratched and bruised. The best way to avoid this kind of wear and tear is to invest into a bed liner.
The problem then becomes, what kind of liner should you buy? There are two choices that you can make, either a spray on liner or a mold to install. While both of these systems have pros and cons, it can come down to personal preference and cost. So which one is right for you? I found a great article from bedlinersinsanfrancisco.com.
First thing is to decide if you want your new bed liner to be permanent because some spray-on bedliners or do it your self bed liners are forever bonded to the truck bed. A spray on bed liner keeps your truck bed looking new and is great for hauling light loads but you need to make sure you understand everything that goes into a spray on bed liner before you decide you that is the way you want to go. One big thing to know is that when they install your spray on liner they will have to grind down your factory paint to be able to prepare it for the spray on bed liner to adhere to the truck bed. If you are not interested in having a bed liner that you can not take in and out of your truck then it may be a good idea to look at a drop in bed liner. A drop in bed will give you a lot of different options as far as taking it in and out of your truck bed. There are all different types from a carpet style bed liner to a one piece drop in bed liner. One of the best bed liners I have seen lately on the market is a 5-piece bed liner that is custom fit to your truck bed and is not just a one size fits all. There are many nice things about a custom fit bed liner. One thing is you won’t have to worry about it rubbing your factory paint down to bare metal like the one size fits all drop ins. For many years that was a very common problem that gave drop in bed liners a bad name not having a custom fit to each truck and the combination of wind spelled disaster. When bare metal is exposed it does not take long for rust and corrosion to set in all from what was supposed to protect your truck bed. Something else to consider is cost cost can play a big factor in your bed liner purchase. A spray on is about $100 a foot so it can range any where from $500 to $1,000 for a spray on bed liner where the custom fit bed liners are about $399 shipped to your door and only take minutes to install and seem to outlast most spray on bed liner 2 to 1.
I hope that this helps you when looking at bed liner systems, and gives your truck bed longer life. You bought a truck to use its full potential, and a great bed liner can help you do just that. If you have any questions about bed liners, feel free to drop by and we’ll help you out.
The Texas sun can be particularly dangerous if you are driving towards it. Thousands of accidents every year happen due to people being temporarily blinded by direct sunlight. It’s happened to all of us, you take that turn, or hit the top of a hill and suddenly you can’t see anything by the sun glaring straight into your eyes.
There are ways to reduce the glare of the sun on your car and to become a safer driver. While wearing sunglasses and using your sun visors are the first line of defense, the sun can still wreak havok on your ability to see the road. One of the main problems is that the glare will hit any dirt and grime on your windows, giving you many small blind spots. Using a water beader, such as Rain X, will help keep your windshield clean.
Also, be more proactive and anticipate where the sun will be before turning. This will let you get your visor in an optimal position to block the sun. Also, when driving try to keep plenty of space between your car and the one in front of you. If the sun is impairing your vision, this will give you more time to read and react to what is happening in front of you.
If you are looking for any sort of top wind shield tint, or other accessories to help fight road glare, be sure to let me know, and I’ll be sure to help.
Your car runs off of a variety of different fluids. There’s gas and oil, radiator fluid and coolant, fluid for brakes, transmission, and even windshield wiper fluid. With all this liquid rolling around in your vehicle, there are a variety of ways for a leak to occur. So how do you determine if your car is leaking and if so, which fluid is not staying in your car.
I found a resourceful video to help you know where to look if your car seems to be leaking. If you do find a leak, take your vehicle to a mechanic as quickly as possible, since the leak won’t stop itself, and mechanical problems may occur due to a fluid shortage.
Be sure to do routine checks for car leaks, and if you start to notice stains forming on your driveway or anywhere else you normally park your car, to get it checked out.
With warmer weather coming it is time to make sure that one of your vehicles most important components, especially in Texas, is working. I’m of course talking about your air conditioner. While we are still far away from the true dog days of summer, it is best to make sure everything is working now before having to drive in a car that feels like the inside of a pizza oven.
The problem with having a non-working air conditioner is that having your system checked and fixed can often times cost a few hundred dollars. The good news is that you may only need to recharge your cars air conditioning system which will save you time and money. Recharging your air conditioner is simply refilling your system with refrigerant. Here’s an article from carjunky.com that explains how this simple task can save you many headaches.
According to industry research, most people are not aware that they can “recharge” their automobile’s air conditioning themselves. Recharging is simply adding refrigerant.
Easy-to-use, cost effective air conditioner charging products, such as Measure & Charge from Interdynamics, can save the do-it-yourselfer up to $100 per use compared to repair shop services. When factoring in the cost of a rental car, time spent at the repair shop and disruption of the daily routine caused by using a service station to do the job, the savings become even more significant.
“Recharging your vehicle’s air conditioning system is a simple process that takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish,” said Vincent Carrubba, director of research and development at Interdynamics.
Measure & Charge can be found at most automotive stores. For more information on do-it-yourself air conditioner recharging and retrofitting, visit www.id-usa.com.
Be sure to check your cars air conditioning system now, before you are stuck in the middle of summer without the nice cool breeze coming from your air vents. If you have any problems or questions about your vehicles air conditioning system, feel free to come by and let me know, and I’ll be glad to help.
One of the most popular things that people upgrade with after market products in their vehicle’s is their sound system. While today, most new cars come loaded with a high quality system, older cars generally did not take such things into serious consideration. While an upgraded stereo head and CD player will help improve the quality of your sound system, the real game changer is in the speakers.
The problem arises when trying to choose which brand and type of speakers will work best for you. There are literally hundred of choices to choose from, and it can get a little over whelming. The good news is I found a great article on crutchfield.com which explains what you should look at before buying your new set of speakers.
Match your speakers to your system
New speakers, like these C2-570X 5×7′s from JL Audio, put the life back into your music.
You should consider two main specifications when considering which speakers will work best in your car.
Sensitivity Sensitivity measures how much sound a speaker yields from the power applied to it. If you have a low-powered car stereo, like most factory systems, speakers with high sensitivity ratings will make the best match. If you have a high-power system, like that provided by a brand-name receiver or external amplifier, then consider speakers with lower sensitivity ratings. Properly powered, they’ll provide excellent sound quality.
Power-handling Power-handling lets you know how much power (measured in watts) a speaker can handle. If you’ve got a low-powered system, your speakers don’t need to be able to handle lots of power. On the other hand, a system with powerful external amps will require speakers whose power-handling is close to the output of the amps. And remember, the key spec in power-handling is the maximum RMS power-handling, not the peak power handling. RMS ratings realistically measure how much power the speaker can handle on a continuous basis, not just for a short period of time.
Be sure to check out the rest of the article as it gives great information on what kind of speaker options you have. Let me know in the comments what kind of speakers you have installed in your car or truck.
If you are ever in an accident, you may appreciate your cars air bags. All new cars are equipped with multiple air bag systems in order to keep drivers and passengers safe in the event of a crash. But how do you know whether or not your are absolutely safe in the event of an air bag deployment?
While air bags significantly reduce injuries and fatalities in auto accidents they may also cause harm if safety measures are not used. An air bag deploys when a car is hit by the use of exploding gas, and they may result in burns to the body during deployment. I found a great article at howstuffworks.com that explains how to address air bag safety concerns.
It didn’t take long to learn that the force of an airbag can hurt those who are too close to it. Researchers have determined that the risk zone for driver airbags is the first 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) of inflation. So, placing yourself 10 inches (25 cm) from your driver airbag gives you a clear margin of safety. Measure this distance from the center of the steering wheel to your breastbone. If you currently sit less than 10 inches away, you can adjust your driving position in the following ways:
Move your seat to the rear as far as possible while still reaching the pedals comfortably.
Slightly recline the back of your seat. Although car designs vary, most drivers can achieve the 10-inch distance even with the driver seat all the way forward by slightly reclining the back of the seat. If reclining the seat makes it hard to see the road, you can raise yourself up by using your car’s seat-raising system (not all cars have this!) or a firm, non-slippery cushion to achieve the same effect.
Point the airbag toward your chest, instead of your head and neck, by tilting your steering wheel downward (this only works if your steering wheel is adjustable).
The rules are different for children. An airbag can seriously injure or even kill an unbuckled child who is sitting too close to it or is thrown toward the dash during emergency braking. Experts agree that the following safety points are important:
Children 12 and under should ride buckled up in a properly installed, age-appropriate car seat in the rear seat.
Infants in rear-facing child seats (under one year old and weighing less than 20 pounds / 10 kg) should never ride in the front seat of a car that has a passenger-side airbag.
If a child over one year old must ride in the front seat with a passenger-side airbag, he or she should be in a front-facing child safety seat, a booster seat or a properly fitting lap/shoulder belt, and the seat should be moved as far back as possible.
The best way to use your air bags is with a seat belt, so make sure that you are buckled up as well. Also, take your car to a mechanic so they can run tests on your air bag systems to ensure that they are still properly working and will deploy. Feel free to drop by if you have any questions about your air bags.
It doesn’t matter how large or small the load you’re towing is, if you aren’t doing it correctly and safely then you are putting yourself and other in danger while driving. Whether you own a truck or SUV, or a smaller vehicle with a tow hitch, learning how to properly tow will make life on the road easier for you and everyone else.
You may think that one you have your hitch secure then driving should be easy. Just remember that your car or truck will behave differently when you are towing, and its best to learn how your vehicle will handle and move before driving like you normally would. I found a great article from etrailer.com with a great list of dos and don’ts if you plan on towing.
The addition of a trailer adds weight and length to the tow vehicle. More weight means more time to speed up and more importantly, slow down. Overall handling is also affected. When towing, allow for extra time when switching lanes, stopping and passing other vehicles. To assist in slowing down, trailer brakes are a very good option. The extra length can also cause problems on turns. Because the trailer does not follow the exact path as the vehicle on turns, remember to swing out wider when traveling around bends and corners.
To conserve fuel when towing, travel at moderate speeds. Faster speeds increase wind resistance, reduce gas mileage, and place added strain on the vehicle and trailer. When traveling over large hills or down gravel roads, use a lower gear to ease transmission and engine operation. Shifting out of overdrive and into a lower gear may also improve vehicle gas mileage.
Be extra cautious of potholes and other large bumps. Riding over one can damage the tow vehicle, trailer hitch and/or trailer. When pulling a trailer take your time and be careful.
If for some reason (a gust of wind, a downgrade, a pass by a larger vehicle, etc.) the trailer does begin to sway, the driver needs to assess the situation to determine the proper course of action. Here is a list of Do’s and Don’ts to think about.
Do’s – Good Towing Practice
Gradually reduce speed
Steady the steering wheel – sudden turns can cause more sway
Apply only the trailer brakes to help reduce trailer sway
Don’ts – NOT Good Towing Practice
Do Not slam on the brakes – jackknifing could occur
Do Not attempt to steer out of a sway situation
Do Not increase speed – Trailer sway increases in faster speeds
Do Not tow a trailer that continues to sway
Look at reloading the trailer or perhaps adding a sway control or a weight distribution system with sway control
If you have any questions regarding your vehicles ability to tow, and weight capacity be sure to drop by and let me know and I’ll be glad to help.
New speakers, like these 
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