Windshield Time
Chances are you spend a lot of time in your car. Here's some automotive-related news that might help you appreciate your home-away-from-home a little more.
On the hunt for better gas prices
Technology can help you find gas for just a little bit cheaper than what you’re currently paying, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal ("Services Help Drivers Find Cheapest Gas," May 8, 2008). Some resources are: 1) GasPriceWatch.com, which is a free gas-price search program, complete with maps to the lowest-price gas stations; 2) Automotive.com, a continually updated tool on a user’s computer that monitors local gas prices without requiring a visit to a separate
Web page; and 3) interdimensionmedia.com, which allows users to figure out how much farther they can travel on the fuel remaining in their tank. MapQuest offers a fuel calculator at gasprices.mapquest.com. Other resources: www.gasbuddy.com; www.getmobio.com/learn/cheapgas (for cell phone users); and www.altfuelprices.com, for information on alternative fuels and prices.
All the rage
For the third year in a row, Miami has been named road rage capital of America, according to a survey commissioned by AutoVantage, a national auto club. Boston and New York were second and third. The survey identified two attributes of road rage: 1) angry or upset drivers, including out-of-control drivers and drivers who lose their tempers; and 2) bad or aggressive driving, including bad/careless/crazy and/or rude driving, cutting into lanes, cutting people off, tailgating and speeding. Likely triggers for road rage are drivers talking on cell phones, speeders, tailgaters and drivers who eat and drink while driving. Most courteous cities? Pittsburgh, Pa.; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, Wa.
On time, every time
Sales reps who value punctuality can get help from a new service from myFUNAMBOL and Dash Express. The two companies have synced their services so that drivers can access their calendars from virtually any source, such as Outlook, then view the most direct way to drive to their destination. Example: The rep auto-syncs her calendar to the myFUNAMBOL Portal (access is free). Once in the portal, calendar events are pushed to Dash Express via the MyDash portal. For events with a specified address, Dash is said to provide driving directions, traffic conditions and alternate routes around traffic jams. This eliminates the manual entry of destinations into the navigation system. Users can get a myFUNAMBOL account at http://my.funambol.com, and a MyDash account at www.dash.net.
Hands-free doesn’t mean hands-off
Drivers support hands-free laws for cell phone usage, but intend to keep on talking nevertheless. A survey of licensed drivers in California and Washington shows that 75 percent of drivers there support hands-free laws in their states. That said, 63 percent said they use their cell phone while driving on average about an hour a day, and 59 percent said they intend to use their phone about the same as they do now. Forty-seven percent already use some type of hands-free device, whether it’s a headset, cell phone speaker or a portable or installed hands-free car kit, according to the survey.
In your dreams
Drop your car off for servicing by 5 p.m. and pick it up the next morning by 7. This isn’t a dream. It’s reality, if you’re a customer of America’s Service Station in Atlanta. All 10 area locations are offering the overnight service. The company is open for business seven days a week. [FI]
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