Is Daylight Savings A Danger To Drivers?

I always loved when Daylight Savings started in the autumn as a teenager.
Curfew was at midnight but on that last Saturday in October it meant that midnight was actually 1 AM.

Now the time change comes a week later ( which honestly, was so confusing this last week, I text messaged three friends in California to ask what time it was when I woke up).

As I've gotten older (and GASP! More responsible?) and sleep is no longer an optional all day recreation period and the clock rules my day as much as work, feeding that kid and being bone tired after running around all day, Daylight Savings has become a pain in the you know what!

Apparently, besides the grumbling that you hear from coworkers and friends, there are real statistics that point to Daylight Savings being more dangerous to us as drivers than I realized.

That the change in sleep patterns affects people will end their ability to drive safely. Some claim the accidents increase significantly twice a year directly after the time that the time changes. I'm not going to give sources-Google it yourself and you will see that most links are directly back to accident lawyers ( or ambulance chasers, as my father would call them).

What does make more sense to me is that the time change that happens for summertime increases the number of accidents that are related to alcohol.
The days longer, who doesn't want to embrace a beautiful summer day by going out with friends for a cool drink? Problem is? It is a bad idea!

So actually, in contrast to my teenage years when I thought daylight savings was about staying out and having fun, the time change that happens in Autumn is really the time when drivers stay home ( maybe have a glass of wine at
home) and the roads are a bit safer.

Probably better to remember at this time of year is that the holidays begin in earnest with Halloween and accidents do increase significantly due to holiday festivities through New Year's. My suggestion is: stay-at-home, save gas, burn candles responsibly, don't forget to vote next week and enjoy getting to stay up an our extra this Saturday night. You'll feel like a teenager.

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Driving With The Dogs: Safety For All

This is Mae & Nubbyns. I love my dogs. I love my dogs so much that last year I spent more after veterinarian than I did at the pediatrician. Or on insurance for my daughter and myself. Or on food. WellŠ that last one is not true. My dogs love me, they love each other, they love protecting me ( as much as you can protect if you weigh 12 pounds or 5 pounds). I even have documentation of how fierce these dogs are because the other day I took a break from writing on my computer using my MacSpeech voice-activated software and didn't silence the microphone. Here is what was recorded when my dogs saw a suspicious looking tamale seller rolling her cart down the sidewalk while I was out of sight:

and a a room and and and a man and and and and and and and and and and and and and in in an and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and a US and a day and a this is

I guess that the incomplete sentence at the end was me returning to the room and interrupting them; they didn't want me to know that they actually speak words that are in human dictionaries.

One thing I really love is taking my dogs to the beach, to friends' houses for play dates, on road trips and quick errands when I know I won't be getting out of the car. Luckily my 1999 BMW Z3 Coupe has a nifty feature that suits us perfectly while on the road: these touring cars were designed to hold luggage, go fast and be safe and the netting between the backspace and where the driver sits is the perfect barrier to keep both the dogs and me safe.

For one thing, if Mae had her way, she would be driving. That is an unsafe distraction that could lead to accidents and hurting me, my passengers, others on the road and Mae because my airbags would hit her 5 pound frame so hard.

According to one article that I found, in driving tests it was determined that a 13 pound dog sitting in the backseat unsecured would hit a passenger in the front seat with 396 pounds of pressure. At the moment of impact that means a dog's weight multiplied by 30 would result in a 70 pound dog hitting you with 2112 pounds of pressure. The chance of a dog surviving that is very low and for humans in the car? It would not be pretty.

There are seatbelt style restraints designed for dogs but the best solution, to be absolutely certain that no one would be unnecessarily hurt in the event of an accident, is to make sure that the dogs are in a confined space or a crate secured to the seat.

My dogs may not like when I leave them at home if I am in a car other than my BMW but knowing we are all safe is better than traveling in a pack.

Miss Motor Mouth

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Tesla Crunched in San Francisco: Carbon Fiber is Expensive!

Steve says:

Sadly, after likely having waited for over a year to get his new electric supercar, this unlucky San Francisco Tesla owner reportedly crashed only hours after taking delivery. While there were no reports of injuries, that carbon fiber bodywork won't be cheap to fix.

This crash actually happened right outside of my friend's apartment building in San Francisco, though he is reportedly upset that he wasn't there to gloat.

This is also only one of 8 Tesla roadsters on the road and a good test for the service department at the newly opened Tesla dealership in Menlo Park.

Michelle says:

Poor person! (We all pretty much know that the owner must be a guy but in the effort to be fair, lets stay gender neutral.) Certainly this will cause him to be the butt of a lot of jokes and I sure wouldn't want to hear it when the pocketbook is almost as pained as the ego. For example, already overheard was this comment:

Seems the lack of emissions is outweighed by the inflated egos of the people who drive them [Teslas].

Okay- I admit, I LOL-ed when I heard that.

The question I have is about insurance rates and statistics so I called my trusty State Farm friend, Jim Seilsopour and he pulled a quote on what it would cost me (as the good driver that I am) to insure a Tesla. Have to tell you- I was surprised that my quote came in at only $1200 every 6 months. I pay about $1200 a year for a '2001 Kia and a '99 BMW so, I dunno, but that sounds really cheap! Seems that the way that State Farm deals with specialty cars (high performance and/or handmade) is to lump them all together as a category. Many mainstream companies would not insure a Tesla (think AAA or Mercury) because a total loss wouldn't mean that a client with pockets that medium-deep would be insuring something else while their new car is being made and smaller agencies wouldn't either because a $110,000 loss could make the difference between a profitable year or not.

Being made of carbon fiber and only the number 6 car (yep, I am disagreeing with Steve) is also an issue for most insurers because it means that the owner will have to wait for parts from a manufacturer that already has a production backlog.

The good news is that there are now 13 Tesla's on the road with only one sadly sitting in a garage waiting for it's carbon bits and other parts to be ready. So- please be kind to this landmark Tesla owner. He gets the honor of being an early Tesla owner/investor despite being a pioneer crashing one of the most dynamic cars of our generation.

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Changing the Way You Drive Increases Safety & Reduces Traffic Jams

High fuel costs are impacting us in ways that we probably never realized. It is now being reported that traffic reduced 9% nationwide between January and May of this year. That number seems pretty low to residents of larger cities and in Los Angeles, I can tell you from personal experience that journeys that used to take 1 1/2 hour will often only take 45 minutes. It is changing the way that Angelenos measure distance: we used to measure in the estimated time that it would take to travel from one spot to the next.

In Georgia, a recent report indicated that traffic deaths dropped 33% and attribute part of that drop to rising fuel costs. "Higher fuel costs lead to less miles driven." People are being pickier about reasons to jump on the road and that is increasing safety! Who'd have thunk!

This all sounds like good news to those of us on the road but there are still some practical driving tips that can also help with safety and reduce the amount of time spent on the road.

1. Maintain a safe distance. Remember that trick for staying 10 feet behind the car in front of you for every 10 miles per hour that you are driving? Keeping that rule going can reduce Shockwave traffic jams, a phenomena that is at the root of most traffic jams and many rear endings on crowded roads.
2. Reduce your speed. Trying to get somewhere more quickly than everyone around you just doesn't work and is dangerous. Speed also affects your fuel economy: every 5 mph over 60 will cost you an additional $.30 according to the EPA.
3. Motorcycles are increasing on the roads and accidents will increase if car drivers do not stay aware. Constantly checking rear and side mirrors for bikes "splitting lanes" (driving between lanes of cars) is more essential than ever. Getting caught by surprise by a bike suddenly cutting in front of you is sure to start a shockwave traffic jam.

Less traffic is always a good thing but for those times when you have to be on the road with everyone else, safety is essential.

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Teen Drivers & Driver's Ed: Should They Wait or Get more Training

My former mother-in-law is famously quoted as saying:

There is no reciprocity. Men love women, women love children, children love hamsters.

What most do not know is that she usually would go on to add "And hamsters don't love anybody."

I am thinking of this because my daughter, a full on 14 year old, a girl version of Legolas, recently announced to me that she doesn't want to drive until she is at least 18. This was a surprise for several reasons. First, her mother is Miss Mota Mouth. Second, she reads car magazines like most girls her age read Seventeen Magazine. Third, her mother is Miss Mota Mouth.

Could it be that my passion had only partially passed down to my offspring? The history, the enthusiasm, the innovation- everything that she is able to discuss is just because one day she will be really great playing Trivial Pursuit?

Serendipity arrived in the form of an invitation to attend a Driving Skills for Life event hosted by the Ford Fund. What an opportunity! We went to Chicago and upon arriving at the parking lot/ training area, L'il Miss Mota Mouth started shaking uncontrollably. As she watched the driving instructors guide local high school students through skid control techniques, I watched my daughter completely melt in fear. The realization hit: Momma loves daughter, daughter loves cars, cars do not love anybody. They look pretty in pictures but are big scary beasts to a 98 pound young adult.

Because she is not permitted I was going to be the driver while L'il Miss Mota Mouth rode and filmed. Fortunately the first two courses that I did were not skid control so even though I took out a few cones while doing obstacle aversion, by the time that we got to the modified sliding Mustangs, she was completely at ease. The other participants, mostly high school students who had qualified to attend because of their support of Ford's programs to increase driver safety in Illinois schools, were doing fantastic driving. The driving instructors, all professional racing coaches, guided all of us through every step and answered questions joyfully.

Here is the interesting thing though: according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles the number of kids getting their licenses at 16 has dropped by 20%. The number of kids taking driver's ed classes in their schools has dropped even more. Many kids are just waiting to drive when they do not have to attend a driver's ed class of any kind and can just get a license at 18. I think that scares me more than the thought of 16 year olds behind the wheel because unexperienced and untrained drivers at any age are a concern.

In the end, L'il Miss Mota Mouth understood why even though she may not want the responsibility of being a young driver, she does need to learn to start building her skills (including response time that has apparently dulled in her mother's years). By working with schools, communities and students, Ford's program is bringing back the importance of driving safety among teens because they know that parents are talking more about sex and drugs with their teens than they are about safe driving.

Mother loves daughter. Daughter loves cars. Cars love nobody but the 98 pound kid will learn to own her driving skills.

More information about Ford's Driving Skills for Life.

Watch this space! Even more to come about this event, the topic of teen driving and my time with Ford safety executives including a video of me driving in a skid course.

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