America’s Worst Driving Cities

The list of this year’s worst drivers by region is out!  Are you surprised by the cities that made the list? Any city that you feel should’ve been on it but wasn’t?

Wendy Peck once spent a year driving 30,000 miles around North America. “I’m a confident driver,” says the Canadian meeting planner—“always have been.”

Until, that is, she spent a winter driving in and out of Phoenix. “It’s not just that people speed,” she says, “but they roar up behind you in the lane, and have to slam on their brakes when you don’t magically disappear from their path.” The irony, she added, is that the city itself is easy to navigate. “It’s 100 percent the drivers that scare me to death.”

That kind of suspense helped Phoenix plow into the top 10 of America’s Worst Drivers—a new category in the annual America’s Favorite Cities survey. Travel + Leisure readers evaluate 35 cities, voting in categories such as shopping, cuisine, and driving ability. The nation’s best drivers, according to readers, are tooling around Kansas City, KS; Portland, ME; and Savannah, GA.

And the worst drivers? They hail from cities known for traffic and, shall we say, lively locals. Simon Tam, a musician who tours with the band the Slants, recalls driving though Little Italy in New York City. “A large delivery truck once drove onto the sidewalk just to pass me,” he says. “In the process, he took off my side mirror—and then flipped me off.”

Granted, some bad reputations stem from unfair perceptions. According to the Allstate Insurance Best Drivers Report, Phoenix residents average about 10 years between accidents—while local drivers in Washington, D.C., average only five years between run-ins. And some cities that ranked as the worst for driving ability are filled with tourists who don’t know their way around. That may explain Orlando’s poor standing (you try finding your exit with a carful of kids riding a sugar high).

Density and growing traffic can also take their toll on otherwise easygoing locals. Austin, TX, for instance, made the Worst list, despite also ranking well in the survey for friendliness. “You just can’t predict what they’re going to do,” says Jason Jepson, an entrepreneur who moved to the Texas capital last year. “They’ll gun it on a yellow, or swerve left to make a right-hand turn—and if you don’t have a huge truck, you’ll just get run over.”

Yet there’s a twist: “Drivers here are super nice to people on bikes,” says Jepson. “I feel much safer on my ten-speed than I do in my car.”

List of America’s Worst Drivers:

1. Miami

2. Atlanta

3. New York City

4. Boston

5. Washington, D.C.

6. Dallas/Fort Worth

7. Orlando, FL

8. Las Vegas

9. Providence, RI

10. Phoenix/Scottsdale

11. Los Angeles

12. Houston

13. Salt Lake City

14. Memphis, TN

15. Baltimore

16. San Juan, P.R.

17. Chicago

18. Austin, TX

19. San Francisco

20. New Orleans

Read more: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-worst-drivers

Top 5 Most Important Upcoming Car Technologies

Ever wish your car could tell if you were too tired to drive? The technology is already being developed. Read on for a sneak peek of the cars of the future!

“In the early 1980s television series Knight Rider, David Hasselhoff co-starred with a black Pontiac Trans Am named K.I.T.T. (that's the Knight Industries Two Thousand, if you're old enough to remember). The latter could talk, drive by itself and get its human partner out of a jam using its onboard artificial intelligence. At the time, such capabilities seemed like sheer fantasy -- even laughable. Yet today, these once "futuristic" car capabilities (and many more) are reality -- or close to it, anyway.

In this article, we'll explore five of the biggest upcoming technologies to watch for on the automotive scene, and when you might be able to experience them from behind the steering wheel.

In some cases, the technology is already here and ready to use. With others, you shouldn't expect to see them hit the roads until further research has worked out the flaws -- not to mention the high costs. But if past experience has shown us anything, it's that the race to provide cars that are safer, more efficient, faster and just plain cooler will keep pushing the boundaries of technology in what we drive.”

Read more:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the-hood/trends-innovations/5-important-car-technologies.htm

Make a Resolution to Drive Safe This Year

 

Happy New Year everyone!  Why not make a resolution to be a better defensive driver this year?  And if you are already a safe driver, pass these tips on to your friends and loved ones:

Most of us try to be good, courteous drivers, but somehow bad habits creep up, which can put ourselves and others in danger. Make 2012 the year you resolve to change your dangerous driving behaviors. You can even start today…

 

…I resolve to:

1. Always buckle up. Seat belts save over 12,000 lives a year by protecting passengers from hitting hard vehicle surfaces or being ejected from the vehicle in a crash.
2. Not use my cell phone behind the wheel. In 2010, over 3,000 people died in crashes related to using a cell phone or texting while driving. Put the phone down or pull over to use it.
3. Never drink and drive or drive drowsy. Over 10,000 people die in drunk driving car crashes each year. If you plan on drinking, make sure you have a designated driver or hand over your keys.
4. Yield to pedestrians and bicyclists. Pedestrians make up 12 percent of all motor vehicle deaths each year and bicyclists about 2 percent. Drivers need to be especially diligent around crosswalks and remember to look both ways for bikes even on one-way streets.
5. Drive the speed limit. Speeding is a factor in about one-third of all fatal crashes.
6. Wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle. Studies show that the use of motorcycle helmets is 42 percent effective at preventing deaths and 69 percent effective at preventing head injuries.
7. Model good behavior when driving children around. Children learn from their parents. Don’t show them bad habits.
8. Always use a proper car seat. Children under age 8 should be secured in a proper car seat and all children under 12 should be in the back seat. See our car seat advice for the ages and weights of the various types of car seats available.
9. Stop at red lights. Red light running killed 676 people and injured 113,000 in 2009 and most of those killed were occupants in other vehicles. Stop at red lights and slow down on yellow.
10. Maintain your vehicle and tires. Performing regular tire checks and routine maintenance will help to ensure your vehicle will stay in optimal condition.

Check out the full list of tips here courtesy of Consumer Reports: http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2011/12/top-10-new-years-safety-resolutions-for-drivers.html

Be a Good Passenger!

Do you know someone who is a “bad passenger?”  You might want to forward this article to them!  And for those of us who are not always in the driver’s seat, here is a nice refresher course on back seat etiquette:

Be a good co-pilot

“Basically, help drive the car,” Kendall says. “Be the eyes and ears when the driver is pulling out onto a highway or making a turn. Turn your head and lean back if the driver’s trying to see if anything's on the right, or look yourself and inform the driver. Don’t make the driver ask you to put your seatbelt on. And If you're a on a journey to somewhere you've both never been and you have no Nav system, be the navigator.“

Hang up

“When a passenger talks on the phone, they are zoning—not paying attention,” Kendall said. “It’s hard for the driver to have to listen to that because you can't walk away from it or plug your ears. Try to keep your voice down and keep it brief, or stay off the phone altogether.”

Contain your vocal reactions in tight spots

“When you yell, you’re actually helping the driver to hit something,” Kendall said. “You need everything you’ve got to get through an emergency situation, and yelling, gasping or exclaiming is a huge distraction that pulls the driver away from concentrating.”

He suggests having a talk with passengers beforehand if they’re nervous.

“People get in the car with me sometimes and they think I’m going to drive like we’re on the race track. But I’m incredibly self-centered and I don’t want to get hurt any more than they do. I just tell them, ‘”I’m not going to do anything to hurt you.’”

Pay closer attention when the car is packed with people.

“Almost without exception when there are people in the car,” Kendall says, “The car slows down, drifts into other lanes and passengers can take the driver’s attention away from the road. The more people in the car, the more everyone has to defer to the driver, which can mean lowering your voices, keeping the music at a reasonable level, and being aware of what’s going on outside the vehicle.”

 

Check out the whole article with even more tips here: http://autos.aol.com/article/good-passenger/