Top 10 Songs for Driving

At some point in your driving you've probably been sitting at an intersection singing your heart out to a song blasting on the radio. You might have been embarrassed when the person in the car next to you looked over and caught you right when you started belting out the chorus, or you might not have even noticed. But what song was it you were listening to?

Cars.com has polled drivers to learn which songs are the best for jamming to. Here are the top ten:

1. "Don't Stop Believin' " by Journey
2.  "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen  (27 percent)
3. "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC (22 percent)
4. "Any Way You Want It" by Journey (22 percent)
5. "Life Is a Highway" Tom Cochrane (21 percent)
6. "Dancing Queen" by ABBA (19 percent)
7. "American Girl" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (16 percent)
8. "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson (15 percent)
9. "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen (14 percent)
10. "Fortunate Son" by Creedance Clearwater Revival (14 percent)

You can read the full article from Cars.com here: http://bit.ly/1dSKq2r

What is your favorite song to sing along to in the car?

Why You Wouldn't Want to Own a Flying Car

For some reason, when everyone thinks of the future one of the first things that comes to mind is a flying car. The idea behind the flying car is that they will get us around faster than today's cars and make driving a much more convenient experience. But no matter how great George Jetson's life seemed, there are actually a number of reasons why you may not want to ever own a flying car, whether they ever become a reality or not.

An article from HowStuffWorks.com points out logical and practical reason why a flying car might not ever be  a good idea.

Flying Cars Are Expensive
A lot us of deep down really do want a flying car, but one of the main drawbacks to having your own will be the cost. Consider the following facts:
• A flying car project that the U.S. government is exploring is costing $50 million [source: Vanderbilt].
• A plane/car currently being developed by a private company is priced at $279,000 [source: Terrafugia]. 

Flying cars might not be millions of dollars like the government project, but they definitely won't come cheap. The closest thing we have to flying cars right now is more like a plane that folds its wings up and drives like a car. The car-plane, developed by Terrafugia, has a price tag closer to $300,000 compared to the average cost of a new car which is about $30,000 [source: Welsh]. So you can imagine that if car companies start selling flying cars in the future, they'll be priced higher than most of us can afford. 

Not only that, but if you're tired of filling up your car to go to work, you're not going to be much happier filling up a flying car either. Fuel costs for planes are more than the cost for cars [source: AirNav.com]. Even if we are able to fill up flying cars with regular unleaded gasoline, if you start running low on fuel in the air it's not like you can just pull into a station and fill up. 

The cost of your car insurance is going to skyrocket, as well, because you're not just insuring a car anymore; you're insuring a car that can fly. Imagine paying for premium coverage because your car cannot only get into accidents, but also crash to the ground. 

Breaking Down Means Falling Out of the Sky
This particular reason why you don't want a flying car is pretty self-explanatory, but maybe we should go through some possible scenarios just to drive the point home. 

Lots of us have been stranded on the side of the road at one time or another. Maybe your car overheated, you ran out ofgas, got a flat tire or that weird sound you've been hearing for months but never did anything about actually turned into a major problem. When your car breaks down on the road, most people try to quickly maneuver it out of traffic and get it to a safe place away from everything else. Well if you break down in a flying car, the only option you have is to fall from the sky. 

You're still not going to have some Good Samaritan help push the car to the side of the road. There won't be an option to pop the hood and diagnose the problem and you can't just get out and walk a few miles to get some more fuel. Gravity is going to have its way and its way is down. An object, ignoring air resistance, falls 1,000 feet (304.8 meters) in about 8 seconds [source: George]. So if you're 1,000 feet in the air and you have an accident, or your car just stops working, you better have a back up plan you can implement quickly. 

Even if you can glide or use some sort of parachute, you're going to have to know how to land your car in an emergency. How much of a runway do you need? Can you just put in some trees? Are there houses around? Breaking down in a flying car seems like a huge hassle, not to mention a serious danger. 

You'll Have to Learn How to Drive All Over Again
Learning to fly even the smallest and simplest of planesrequires going to flight school. Remember sitting in drivers ed and learning things like the average car travelling 60 miles per hour (96.6 kilometers per hour) will need about 272 feet (82.9 meters) in order to come to a complete stop? It may have been exciting at the time because we were all so close to getting a little taste of freedom, but after you've been driving for years, who wants to sit down and learn a whole new set of rules for flying in car? Because there will be lots of new rules. 

If you and your neighbor start your flying car at the same time and want to lift off in front of your house, who goes first? When making a turn in a flying car do you have to look above and below you as well as left and right? How about learning an entirely new way to navigate to a destination? Sure we could set up a GPS system in the flying cars, but if your GPS can't find the satellites, then how do you know where to go? 

Pilots learn how to fly without using their eyes to guide them. They rely on their instruments to tell them things like how high they are and what their speeds are [source: Wynbrandt]. Even though we use instruments for some of these things when we drive, we rely mostly on our eyes to see what's going on around us. But in the sky, you don't always have a good reference point. Factors like weather conditions or flying at night can make it impossible for pilots to use their sight to navigate the plane, so they rely on their instruments [source: Wynbrandt]. If you have a flying car you'll need to learn how rely on and trust your instruments more than your sight. 

Think you still want a flying car? You can't say we didn't warn you.

Click the link to read the full article from HowStuffWorks.com: http://bit.ly/LgPUaI

How the Cold Affects Your Car

Last week was one of the coldest the United States has seen in quite some time.  All across the country drivers had issues with cars not starting and dead batteries. But those aren't the only two things that the cold can take a toll on when it comes to your car. Check out this infographic from Jalopnik  to see all the ways the extreme cold can affect your vehicle.

Click the link to read the full article from Jalopnik: http://bit.ly/KA2kuF

Top 10 Excuses Used in Police Pullovers

“Well gosh officer, I didn’t see the speed limit sign!” – the most common excuse police hear when pulling drivers over, according to an article from Cars.com about a survey done by Insurance.com. The comparison pooled licensed drivers 18 an older. More than a fifth of the drivers polled said when they gave an excuse to the officer that pulled them over they said they couldn’t see the sign that told them not to do something.

There were 10 other popular answers given among drivers polled. They are listed with their percentages below:

1.       I couldn’t see the sign telling me not to do it :20.4%
2.       I’m lost and unfamiliar with the roads: 15.6%
3.       I didn’t know it was broken: 12.4%
4.       Everyone else was doing it: 6.4%
5.       I’m having in emergency situation in my car (for instance spilled a hot drink on your lap): 5.4%
6.       I missed my turn/exit: 4.8%
7.       I had to go to the bathroom: 5.6%
8.       I didn’t do anything dangerous: 4.2%
9.       I was on my way to an emergency (for example, to help someone who was ill or injured): 4.0%
10.   My GPS said it was the right thing to do: 2.2%
11.   I’m just helping out; I wasn’t even supposed to be driving (for example, your friend is intoxicated): 2.0%

To read the full article from Cars.com, click the link : http://bit.ly/15XAT5U

US Speeding Survey

Did you know that 16% of the United States thinks that speeding is okay for skilled drivers? A recent study done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found this and many other interesting stats about speeding in the US. Kicking Tires has highlighted the study in this article: 

Is it possible to believe that "slow and steady wins the race" while also feeling the need for speed? Evidently it is, according to a survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showing motorists' paradoxical positions on speeding. 

The just-released "National Survey of Speeding Attitudes and Behavior" provides estimates regarding how drivers feel about speeding versus their actions. Most (91 percent) agreed with the statement that "everyone should obey the speed limits because it's the law," while nearly half said it is very important that something be done to reduce speeding on U.S. roadways. About 4 out of 5 said driving at or near the speed limit makes it easier to avoid dangerous situations and reduces the chances of a crash. 

"However, despite acknowledging the safety benefits of speed limits and reasons drivers should follow them, more than a quarter of those surveyed admitted 'speeding is something I do without thinking,' and 'I enjoy the feeling of driving fast,' " NHTSA reported in a statement. "Further, 16 percent felt that 'driving over the speed limit is not dangerous for skilled drivers.' " 

Younger male drivers are the most likely to speed, according to the study. Male drivers admitted to speeding more than female drivers, while those with the least experience (ages 16-20) copped to speeding more frequently than any other age group — with 11 percent reporting having been in at least one speeding-related crash during the past five years compared to 4 percent for the overall population. 

NHTSA notes that speeding deaths nationwide account for nearly a third of all traffic fatalities each year, taking nearly 10,000 lives.

Click the link to read more at Kicking Tires: http://bit.ly/1jMp2in