driving

Driving in the Snow

With all the snow our area has received over the past 24hrs it goes without saying, but if it doesn’t look safe to drive, it’s probably best not to. That said, if you have to be on the road today, Chester County has released its tips for safe snow driving.

Their advice includes:

  • Decrease your speed and leave plenty of room to stop. Allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front of you.
  • Brake gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels start to lock up, ease off the brake.
  • Turn on your lights so that other motorists can see you more clearly.
  • Keep your lights and windshield clean.
  • Use low gears to keep traction, especially on hills.
  • Be especially careful on bridges, overpasses and infrequently traveled roads, which will freeze first. Even at temperatures above freezing, if the conditions are wet, you might encounter ice in shady areas or on exposed roadways like bridges.
  • Don’t pass snow plows and sanding trucks. The drivers have limited visibility, and you’re likely to find the road in front of them worse than the road behind.
  • Don’t assume your vehicle can handle all conditions. Even four-wheel and front-wheel drive vehicles can encounter trouble on winter roads.

For a full list of tips is visit chesco.org or simply click here. For a free Pennsylvania Auto Insurance quote contact a Kimberley Vassal Insurance agent today, http://www.kimberleyvassal.com.

 

Safety Sites for Teen Drivers

As a parent, you probably have some jitters about your teen driver. And that’s completely understandable considering the fact that teens are statistically more likely to be involved in a crash than the general population.

The good news is there’s plenty you can do to keep newly minted drivers safe behind the wheel. It all starts with information and the following sites, all created by trusted federal and national organizations, can help. So click over any (or all) of them to learn how to have an important and possibly life-saving conversation with your teen driver.

Tucked within this catch-all site for all things safety is a special section on teen driving. It’s full of hard research and stats as well as creative materials — among them, audio and video clips, toolkits and posters — you can use to raise awareness in your home and in your wider community.

Just a few of the features on this well-designed site include a clickable map detailing each state’s distracted driving laws, fast facts about the issue and a pledge form for anyone ready to commit to phone-free driving. Also, make sure to check out the Faces section — it’s full of high-impact stories and videos of people who lost their lives as a result of their own or others’ distracted driving.

The CDC promotes traditional research and facts along with new media and social media resources such as podcasts, e-cards and widgets. There are also links to other helpful sites and a special parents’ section with free branded and customizable materials.

This site’s strongest selling point is its information on Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) — a novice driver licensing system that can reduce teen drivers’ high crash risk by 20 to 40 percent. Even if your state doesn’t have a GDL initiative in place, you can jump start your own program by following the step-by-step guide outlined by the experts at the NSC.

If you have questions about insuring your young driver, contact a Kimberley Vassal Insurance agent today, http://www.kimberleyvassal.com!

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R U Texting n Driving?

For as long as there’ve been cars, there’ve been distracted drivers. And that’s never been truer than now, with drivers facing temptation from Internet-enabled mobile phones, GPS devices, iPods and all the other electronics out there.

That said, one of the most dangerous distractions remains texting while driving, an activity that the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute reports makes it 23 times more likely that a driver will crash.

With statistics like that, it’s no wonder states like Pennsylvania feel spurred to action. The commonwealth became the 37th state to ban texting while driving when it enacted Act 98 in March. This new law stipulates that anyone caught tapping out a message behind the wheel can be pulled over and fined $50. So next time you feel the urge to text while driving stop and think of the consequences. For a free Pennsylvania auto insurance quote visit our website today, http://www.kimberleyvassal.com.

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Philadelphia Amongst The Worst Commuting City

Even during rush hours without the threat of a winter storm, getting to and from work in the Philadelphia area is among the country’s worst commuting experiences, according to U.S. Census Bureau data and an analysis from the website Nerd Wallet. The Census Bureau this week released commuting data for states and counties and issued detailed reports on certain metropolitan areas, including Philadelphia. Below is the information and analysis that was reported.

  • Who’s Commuting?

About 253,000 people commute into Philadelphia from the suburbs, including 60,000 from Montgomery County, 51,000 from Delaware County and 11,000 from Chester County.

Philadelphia residents, meanwhile, commute to work in the suburbs in the following numbers: about 60,000 to Montgomery County, 17,000 to Delaware County and 7,000 to Chester County.

  • Lost Time, But Less Lost Money

Nerd Wallet tallied annual delays per commuter, cost of gas and population density to get city rankings for those who drive to work. It estimated the average Philadelphia commuter is delayed 48 hours a year in the car, yet pays slightly less than the national average for gasoline.

  • Who’s Worse Off?

Coming in at 10th-worst nationwide, Philadelphia’s commute was considered less terrible than those in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, Oakland, Honolulu and Portland, OR.

  • Carpooling? Public Transportation?

Exactly half of Philadelphia workers drove to the office alone in 2011, less than the 76 percent national average, according to the Census Bureau. Meanwhile, about a quarter of them used public transportation, far more than the 5 percent national average.

More statistics on Philadelphia commutes are available at the Census Bureau’s Factfinder website.

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Winter Weather Driving Tips

Even though the weather reports are calling for a beautiful (warmer than average) week across the area, I wanted to still share some important winter driving tips to keep in mind as we ender the “home stretch” of the winter season. Weather there is snow on the ground or not remember to take caution and keep the tips below in mind when driving. For a free Pennsylvania auto insurance quote visit our website today, http://www.kimberleyvassal.com

AAApublicaffairs.com recommends the following winter driving tips:

  • Avoid driving while you’re fatigued. Getting the proper amount of rest before taking on winter weather tasks reduces driving risks.
  • Never warm up a vehicle in an enclosed area, such as a garage.
  • Make certain your tires are properly inflated.
  • Never mix radial tires with other tire types.
  • Keep your gas tank at least half full to avoid gas line free-up.
  • If possible, avoid using your parking brake in cold, rainy and snowy weather.
  • Do not use cruise control when driving on any slippery surface (wet, ice, sand).
  • Always look and steer where you want to go.
  • Use your seat belt every time you get into your vehicle.
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Autumn Driving Safety Tips

Autumn

As the weather and road conditions change with the arrival of the fall season, We figured it was a great time to post some driving safety tips that will help keep you safe as you enjoy the cool crisp air and the beautiful colors of the autumn leaves. Also, a friendly reminder, for the month of October we (Kimberley Vassal Insurance) our running a rewards programs, if you know someone looking for insurance and refer them to us you will recieve a $10.00 Wawa gift card!

Many leaves seem to accumulate on the roadways this time of year and this causes extremely slippery conditions, its very similar to driving on ice at some points. Also as colder temperature develop throughout Fall wet leaves can freeze and turn into dangerous icy leaves on the roadway. Here are a couple tips to remember when driving on these leafy roadways:

  • Slow down if you are driving on a road covered with leaves, especially when driving around turns.
  • Allow yourself plenty of room to stop in an emergency. Keep a greater distance between you and the car in front of you.
  • Leaves make it difficult to see potholes and bumps in the road.
  • A pile of leaves raked to the side of the road is an inviting place to a child. Children enjoy jumping into the leaf piles or burrowing down into them and hiding. Never drive through a leaf pile. Use caution going around turns and where children are playing.
  • Keep your windshield leaf free to avoid wet leaves getting stuck under the windshield wiper blades.
  • In order to avoid the possibility of a fire hazard from the exhaust system or catalytic converter, never park your vehicle over a pile of leaves.

In many cases, autumn is considered very damp and wet time of year. There are many rainy or foggy days and nights. As the temperatures drop, frost often coats the ground at night, it is important to remember:

  • When driving in fog, set your headlight to low beam. This setting aims the beam of light down toward the roadway.
  • In the fall as temperatures drop, frost often forms on the roadway, causing hazardous driving conditions. Drive slowly and break gently at overpasses and bridges as these areas frost over more quickly than other roadway surfaces.
  • Be aware of areas where black ice forms on the roadway.
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A new Pennsylvania law mandates that drivers give cyclists a wider path
Philadelphia Skyline

Philadelphia Skyline (Photo credit: Vlastula)

A new law in Pennsylvania requiring cars and trucks to give four feet of clearance when passing a cyclist simply put on the books what good drivers should be doing already, according to the bill’s supporters. “All it does is codify what smart drivers and safe drivers already do,” said Andrew Stober, spokesman for the mayor’s office of transportation in Philadelphia. “There are 20 states that have this law.” The statewide law, which went into effect Monday morning, allows drivers to pass over yellow lane lines to make way for cyclists. Cars turning left must also yield to bikes coming from the opposite direction.

“The four-foot passing law is not about some kind of Big Brother-y attempt to monitor every action on the road, but now a motorist knows they can pass a yellow line to get by a bicyclist,” said Nicholas Mirra, communications coordinator for the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia. The onus for road safety is not just on motorists. Bicycles are vehicles by legal standards and have the same responsibility to follow traffic signals, according to AAA MidAtlantic spokeswoman Jenny Robinson. The new law requires that cyclists “use reasonable efforts” to avoid disrupting the flow of traffic and stay “as close as practicable” to the right-hand curb.

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Starting A Car In Cold Weather

Cold weather can make your car difficult or impossible to start. Here are a few tips in order to maintain and help start your vehicle.

  • Park your car inside a garage or under a carport, if possible. Keeping your car under cover can lessen the effects of snow and extreme temperatures on your car.
  • Put the key in the ignition, and try to start the car. If it doesn’t start within 5 seconds, stop and wait a minute before trying it again. If you car is not fuel-injected, you should pump the gas once or twice before turning the key.
  • Apply heat to the engine bay of the car. Use a circulator heater designed for warming engine bays. This will heat up the fluids in the engine and make the car easier to start.
  • Allow the car to sit in the Park or Neutral position after starting. The oil needs time to warm up and thin before you drive. Starting the car and driving off immediately can damage the engine.

For a free auto insurance quote visit our website at www.kimberleyvassal.com.