Cost of owning a car is on the rise

Overall, the costs of car ownership have risen compared to last year, according to an annual study by AAA, which says it now costs 2% more to own a sedan than it did last year.

The costs vary a lot according to the type and size of vehicle, though. It costs about $7,000 a year to own a small car in the United States but about $11,600 to own a four-wheel-drive SUV, according to AAA.

The study factored in costs such as fuel, maintenance, insurance, tires and depreciation.

Maintenance costs have risen the most, according to AAA, going up 11.26% compared to last year. Maintenance costs almost 5 cents for every mile driven. Those costs have gone up because of increases in labor costs, replacement parts prices and extended warranty prices.

Insurance costs have gone up 2.76% for sedans, AAA said. The drivers' group based its annual estimate of $1,029 assuming that a driver has a clean record. Insurance companies in seven states showed small increases for sedans of all sizes.

Fuel costs rose only 1.93% compared to last year. While the price of gasoline rose 3.84%, that was partly offset by improvements in the fuel economy of new cars. The cost of tires was unchanged from last year.

Article from: http://money.cnn.com

Defensive Driving Texas

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Google Does Not Want You To Drive

Getting you to take your eyes off the road could be worth billions in new search revenue to Google.

Google has never said exactly how it will make money off the self-driving vehicles it has been developing. Will it manufacture cars? Try to become the operating system for our highways?

The patent, titled “User interface for displaying internal state of autonomous driving system,” covers the idea of a vehicle dashboard that uses lights to cue a driver when it’s safe to relinquish control of their vehicle to a computer.

The patent includes an extremely telling schematic (shown below) of a driver behind the wheel of a self-driving car. Because what will people do when the car is driving? Obviously, they’re going to play with their iPhones.

While Google has never said how it plans to commercialize automated vehicles, it’s clear that keeping people’s eyes on the Web instead of on the road could itself mean a substantial boost to the company’s revenues.

Baloney, you say. Well, getting people to use Google services instead of doing something else is already a key strategy of Google’s. That is one reason the company can afford to maintain its free Android operating system for smartphones. All those phones mean more people on the Internet, searching via Google, and clicking on ads.

So just how much could Google earn by making sure drivers are not distracted from the Internet?

Based on U.S. Census Data there are 250 million adults in the U.S., of which 119 million work. Of those, 76 percent drive to work alone spending about 25 minutes to get there. Round trip, call it an hour. Times 260 workdays per year. That comes to about 23,514,400,000 extra person-hours a year to play with phones out of about 1,460,000,000,000 hours American adults spend awake each year. Or about 1.6% more free time overall.

Given Google’s revenue of $46 billion a year (and assuming the rest of the world behaves like Americans) the calculation suggests that by freeing up commuters to surf the Internet driverless cars are worth an additional $736 million in search revenue to Google.

Oh, and let’s not forget the point of this patent: Google’s car will tell you when it’s safe to start searching.

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Driving with the Black Box

     The National Highway Traffic Safety Board is proposing that the event data recorder be mandatorily installed during the manufacturing of all new vehicles beginning on September 1, 2014. Also known as the Black Box, it is said to have the capability of improving safety technology because it will be able to detect design problems and safety hazards within any vehicle. 

     Although it may be improving safety on U.S. Roadways some are raising the question that it may be crossing privacy barriers. The Black Box can detect all of the following; speed, brake pedal position, location of vehicle, if the passengers are wearing a seatbelt, and if air bags were deployed during a crash. 

     Insurance companies, lawyers, and police departments seem to be in the highest benefits of this new device. Insurance companies will be able to increase or lower your rates depending on the data provided to them by the device. Lawyers will be able to provide more significant data in wreck-less driving or DWI cases, and policemen will be able to quickly note the speed a vehicle was going before being involved in a crash. The Center for Auto Safety seems to provide sufficient information that the data recorders will in fact be benefiting more than anything. In all, the new device is going to approve the safety of most drivers on the roadway.

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Driverless Technology from Google Inc.

     With breakthrough technology from Google Inc., you may soon be able to sit back, relax, and take a nap in the driver seat of a moving vehicle. With the collaboration of 15 engineers, Google has developed the driver-less car technology. Operating much like the cruise control mode installed in many cars today, the driver-less system allows human drivers to take control of the car if they wish to do so. Although, that is unnecessary, because the creation is organized by elaborate maps that include the details of speed limits down to the slight curvature of the lane lines in the roadway.

     Unfortunately, most law makers are finding it difficult to digest this new innovation. The laws seem to be inadequate in the sense that they were initially structured with the notion that humans would be operating the vehicles. However, Nevada seems to be in favor of the technology. According to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, they have promptly accommodated the new machinery by passing a law on June, 29 2011 that permits the operation of driver-less cars, and even issued the first license for a self-driven car.

     The self-driving car may perhaps cause a revolution in terms of driving. Concerns of designating a sober driver on a night out could easily vanish if a vehicle has the capability to reliably drive your group home without a worry of harm. It certainly raises questions for many folks in terms of receiving moving violations as well. How will we hold a vehicle at fault in the event of an accident? Much more, determine if the human or contraption was in control? Clearly there is much work to be done in order to iron out these trepidation's,  but it is surely an exciting prospect of future normality.

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Comedy Driving Inc has 5 Houston Locations as well as our online defensive driving course!

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How Empty Is Your Tank?

     When your fuel light comes on, it is usually an indication that your gas tank is empty and must be filled as soon as possible. However, the website Tank on Empty is giving drivers a much different view point on their low fuel light with the motto: “How far can you go after the gas light in your car comes on?”  

     The site is solely dedicated to collecting figures from its visitors and turning that information into an estimated measurement of how many miles a vehicle may have until it completely runs out of gas. Even though it might not be the brightest idea to run your gas tank until the last drop, we must be thankful for those who have done so for the sake of others awareness. 

     With over 3 million page views, the site has quickly developed a plausible rating with all recognized car models. For example, a Honda Civic can go an average of 44.12 miles after the fuel light comes on, according to the 255 voters for that specific model. Each car model is also represented by its own easy-to-read chart that depicts how many people have voted for each distance they have gone. So, if you’d like to know how far your car can go, head over to Tank on Empty and type your car's make and model in the search bar! 

Take a Texas Defensive Driving Course with COMEDY Online TODAY! Just $25, includes shipping!!!

Paying too much for Auto and Home Insurance in Texas? Get a fast and FREE online quote TODAY with Iron Property Insurance Agency!

Comedy Driving Inc has 5 Houston Locations as well as our online defensive driving course!

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Invisible Steering Wheel

     Astoundingly, the new cutting-edge technology for automobile safety happens to abandon the need for a steering wheel. Japanese automaker, Nissan, created new features that are designed to prevent collisions as opposed to typical safety features that accommodate safety during a collision. With this new technology in hand, Nissan executives plan to eliminate deaths and severe injuries involving Nissan vehicles by the year 2015. Taking a defensive driving course, online, with comedy can also help eliminate the risk accident and injury on the roadway.

     The ‘camera and processing module’, mounted on the rear-view mirror, detects the condition and direction of the roadway ahead then communicates the data to the ‘steering angle actuator’ resulting in the superlative driving performance. The vehicle nearly drives itself.

     The “autonomous emergency steering” feature intends to maneuver the vehicle to the left or right in order to avoid an accident when the breaks are not capable to stop the vehicle in time. The technology is also able to accurately detect and avoid unexpected debris and/or pedestrians.  

     When parking, Nissan also added a feature to distinguish if the driver mistakenly presses the accelerator instead of the brake.

     Nissan said that the ‘digital drive’ car will be the first of its kind to be produced commercially, and they plan to initially install the technology in the 2014 Infiniti G37S model.

Comedy Driving Inc has 5 Houston Locations as well as our online defensive driving course!

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Are You Eligible to Take Defensive Driving?

Are you able to dismiss your ticket by taking a Defensive Driving Course?

                To be sure, you will need to contact the court that you have received a ticket with, and inquire if you are eligible to dismiss the ticket with a Defensive Driving Course. Depending on the court, you may be able to request permission by phone, mail, or in person. Please be mindful that every court in Texas has their own specific procedures that are different from others.

                Once the court has given you permission to dismiss your ticket, they usually give you 90 days to take a Defensive Driving Course. Comedy Driving Inc. offers a $25 defensive driving course, online, 24 hours a day, with 24 hour customer service. Comedy Driving Inc. is also approved by the Texas Education Agency and Region XIII Education Service Center, so their course is accepted by every court in Texas. To begin the course, go to ComedyDriving.com and click “Sign Up”. Then, you will create a username and password, so that you may log in and out of the course, and complete it at any pace you wish. Once you have completed the course, Comedy Driving will mail your certificate of completion to you, First Class Mail, the same or next business day. If you need your certificate sooner, Comedy Driving has several delivery options, so your certificate of completion can be shipped to you overnight.

                After you have received the certificate of completion, it is your obligation to sign the “court copy” and turn it in to the court, abiding by their requests. An “insurance copy” will always be mailed with the “court copy”, sign it and turn it in to your insurance company to possibly receive a discount on your current rates, or contact Iron Property Insurance for a better rate.

If you have any questions, contact Comedy Driving Inc. – customer service – at 713-465-0042.

Comedy Driving Inc has 5 Houston Locations as well as our online defensive driving course!

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