Auto Safety

Following some expert tips and keeping a few tools on hand can help steer drivers toward safer rides. Here's some advice from the experts:

Avoid Breakdowns

Breaking down isn't just inconvenient and expensive-it can also put drivers in danger. If your car is having problems and you need to pull off the road, try to do so in a well-lit area and pull as far over on the shoulder as possible. Put emergency flares or reflectors on the road behind your car to help other drivers see you.

Of course, one of the best ways to avoid breaking down is to keep your vehicle well maintained. Check your car's oil, tires and belts regularly and bring it in for regular tune-ups.

Auto trends

Fads come and go, sometimes on a whim, other times because of outside forces.  Here at the halfway point of the new millennium’s first decade, car culture has sure taken some interesting turns.

Those of you who innocently took a test drive of a plain-Jane Nissan Altima when it was new in 2002, floored it, and nearly sprained your necks upon discovery of 240 horsepower, may have suspected that the standards of speed had risen a tad since the 90s.  Turns out that was only the beginning.  Nowadays, the Volkswagen Passat raised that same family car bar to an excessive 280 horsepower.  We have little $30,000 Mitsubishis that can leave Camaros for dead.  The 500-horsepower Dodge Viper suddenly seems ordinary, and the once-acclaimed Acura NSX is a joke.  Whether or not you’re a speed freak, there are two trickle-down benefits: the minimum standard of horsepower has risen from 55 (Geo Metro) to 103, and very few cars in any segment are truly underpowered anymore.  Not a bad development.