Car Seat Tips

To ensure that your precious cargo is safe during the summer trips, check out these helpful tips on car seats.

Engineers are working hard to ensure that cars and car seats are designed to keep kids as safe as possible. But it’s up to every parent to take full advantage of these innovations by making sure car seats and booster seats are used and installed correctly. Here’s what you need to know to ensure that your most precious cargo is safe in cars.

Hard Facts
Road injuries are the leading cause of preventable deaths and injuries to children in the United States. Correctly used child safety seats can reduce the risk of death by as much as 71 percent.

Top Tips

·    Seventy-three percent of car seats are not used or installed correctly, so before you hit the road, check your car seat. Here’s a quick car seat checklist to help you out. It takes only 15 minutes. If you are having even the slightest trouble, questions or concerns, certified child passenger safety technicians are able to help or even double check your work.

·    Learn how to install your car seat for free. Safe Kids hosts car seat inspection events across the country where certified technicians can help make sure your car seat is properly installed. They will teach you so that you can always be sure your car seat is used correctly. Find a Safe Kids car seat checkup event near you. 

·    Buy a used car seat only if you know its full crash history. That means you must buy it from someone you know, not from a thrift store or over the Internet. Once a car seat has been in a crash, it needs to be replaced.

·    We know that when adults wear seat belts, kids wear seat belts. So be a good example and buckle up for every ride. Be sure everyone in the vehicle buckles up, too.

·    Never leave your child alone in a car, not even for a minute. While it may be tempting to dash out for a quick errand, the temperature inside your car can rise 20 degrees and cause heatstroke in the time it takes for you to run in and out of the store.

Learn More

While it may seem like you need an engineering degree to figure out which child safety seat is best for your child, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.

Article courtesy of: http://bit.ly/14BaDZ9

How to Keep Your Kids from Driving You Crazy on Road Trips

Road trips are long. Kid’s in the back of the car asking, “Are we there yet?” every five minutes can make them even longer. If you can keep your kids occupied and happy you’ll be able to stay sane for the ride, as well as remain less distracted. Howstuffworks.com came up with a list of the top 10 things you can do to keep your kids happy on the road. In this blog we discuss some of the highlights:

 

·         Set Expectations – It’s almost so easy that you wouldn’t even think of it. Make sure before you leave for your trip your kids already know how you want and expect them to behave. Make sure they are prepared for a long ride, and give them incentive to be good, for example: allow the kids to bring their two favorite toys with them as long as they promise to behave during the ride.

·         Bring along plenty of toys – Some kids like dolls, some like sports balls, some even like books. Whatever it is they like, let them bring it. If it is something that can be played with inside the car it will give them something to occupy their time with. If it’s something involving an outdoor activity, like a Frisbee or a soccer ball, set aside 15 minutes during rest stops to let them play with it. It’ll even give you a chance to play with them and ease some of the travelling tension.

·         Reward good behavior – If things aren’t going well give kids an incentive to clean up their act. Good behavior means they get to choose where you eat that night, or else it warrant a stop at the next ice cream stand you go by. You can also use this tip in reverse. For example if your child won’t stop complaining tell them they won’t get to swim at the hotel pool that night.

·         Let the kids have a say – If you allow the kids to make decisions for certain parts of the trip it’ll keep them happier and give them less things to whine about! Let them choose the road music for an hour or two or allow them to pick a few road games to play while you drive.

·         Don’t skip the pit stops – This one is important. Too much time in the car will make anyone unhappy, kids and adults alike. Make sure to stop every two or three hours to go to the bathroom and stretch a little bit.

           

Click the link to read all ten tips: http://bit.ly/X1DJik

Engine Oil Myths

In order to operate smoothly, it’s essential that your engine is properly oiled.  The oil keeps the moving parts lubricated and protected from corrosion, sludge, and gunk free.  However there are many myths about engine oil and in this article, “5 Engine Oil Myths”. Here are some highlights:

·         The “W” in 10W-30 oils stands for “weight” -- the most important thing to know about oil  is viscosity  Oil is measured in single grade or multi-grade, and the oil is timed in seconds.  Example: SAE 30 means the oil takes approximately 30 seconds to flow through the tubes.

·         When engine oil turns dark, it’s dirty and should be changed – dark oil is dirty oil, which is false! Most modern oil disperses tiny particles called detergent additives. That’s why the oil appears darker. This in no way impedes the oil from performing its normal functions of lubricating and protecting the engine.

·         You should change your oil every 3,000 miles – modern detergents oils viscosities are better auto engineered to allow cars to travel 7,500 miles between oil changes.  Consumer Report has debunked this myth and driving 7,500 miles between oil changes shouldn’t harm your vehicle in any way.                                                                                 

You can read all 5 of the most popular engine oil myths at: http://bit.ly/Zgk046.

The Car of the Future

What does the car of the future look like? We have all wondered it at some point. Will it drive by itself, or communicate with other cars to avoid accidents? The infographic below from InsuranceQuotes.com paints a picture of what the car of tomorrow may possibly look like. Take a look and see how it compares to today’s cars.

Click the link to read the original article from Mashable: http://on.mash.to/107IRat

 

How To Change Your Brake Pads

There are few parts on your vehicle that are as important as you and your passengers...the brakes. Needless to say, without brakes you aren’t stopping or slowing down anytime soon.  Having a healthy and well-kept set of brakes will minimize harm for you and your precious cargo.  Over time, the break pads will become worn out.  This article How to Change Brake Pads will provide some simple do-it-yourself projects that could possibly save you a trip to the repair shop.

•       When to Change Brake Pads – The wear indicator is a small piece of metal and it is attached to the brake pad. Eventually, the indicators will contacts the brake rotor whenever the pad is worn down.  When applying the brake, the indicator will grind against the rotor; it will create a squealing noise.  The noise is a clear signal to have your brakes inspected.
•          Preparing to Change Brake Pads – Best idea is to start by placing a block under the wheel to prevent the chance of the car rolling anywhere while working on it.  Next, loosen (but don’t remove) the wheel’s lug nuts.  Then, use your vehicle’s jack to lift the car and securely place on the jack stands.
•         Tools for Changing Brake Pads – The tools aren’t hard to use or find, they are typically found at any auto part or hardware store.  Some tools needed are: A C-clamp, wrench, lug wrench, gloves, dusting mask and safety gloves, and finally new brake pads.

Take a look all of the steps by clicking the link: http://bit.ly/IuLlXm

What is Your Check Engine Light Trying to Tell You

A check engine light coming on in your car is never something a driver wants to deal with. The light could mean a vehicle needs expensive repairs, or it could be something as simple as a gas cap not being screwed on tight enough. But not matter what it is, the matter of the fact is you’re going to have to get your engine checked.

In 2010 CarMD published a list of the five most common check engine light codes. Here they are in order or frequency.

·         O2 Sensor (part of the emissions system monitoring and helping adjust the air-fuel mixture)

·         Loose gas cap

·         Catalytic converter

·         Mass air flow sensor (monitoring the amount of air mixed in the fuel injection system)

·         Spark plug wires

To read the full article click here: http://edmu.in/im4vWF

 

 

Stick vs. Automatic: An Infographic

Most of us probably don’t think twice about the kind of car we drive: we either drive a stick shift or an automatic, we get from point A to point B, and we got about our day.

Would you have ever guessed, then, that statistics can estimate other characteristics of yours depending on whether you drive a stick or automatic? For example:

●     Manual drivers are more likely to prefer grapes, raspberries and bananas while automatic drivers are prone to strawberry, cherry and pineapple

●     Manual drivers prefer Richard Pryor while automatic drivers like Tina Fey and Ricky Gervais

●     Manual drivers like “The Newshour with Jim Lehrer", “Face the Nation” and “NBC Nightly News” while automatic drivers like “Anderson Cooper 360”, “Today” and “The Situation Room”

These quirky facts and many, many more can be found here, in infographic form!