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The Central Georgian

Transportation│Cars

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The Central Georgian

Choosing Your Teen's First Car

(MSN) Motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 cause of death among Americans aged 15-20. Limiting the number of passengers in a teen's car reduces driver distraction—a cause of many crashes that involve teenagers. More...

Major Construction Project Information. Click on an option below to view general information about specific construction projects on major interstates and state routes in Georgia.  

Choose One: Interstates    State Routes

Please visit www.511ga.org for real-time traffic and travel information on our state highway system.

Gender plays a significant role in the cost of insurance

Teens can't wait to get behind the wheel. But it's a costly milestone—young, inexperienced drivers face some of the biggest auto insurance premiums.Since teenagers have little experience behind the wheel, insurers view them as high-risk drivers. More...

Green Driving Tips

A little advance planning, a less-aggressive driving style and a well-maintained car can help you get the most out of every gallon of fuel.

By avoiding hard acceleration and sudden starts, you could see a 20% gain in fuel economy.No matter where you live and what you drive, you can maximize every gallon of fuel. Every gallon of fuel that you don't use saves you money and helps to reduce global warming. More...

High Priced Auto Loans Force Many Black Consumers Down A Road Of Turmoil

    (The Kansas City Call) What do you do when you have “not so good” credit and need an automobile? Chances are you go to a “we finance anyone”  car dealership and get the what could be viewed as the “once over.”
    While the average car interest rates hover  around 6.8 percent, it is not unusual to find interest rates for the credit impaired hovering in the neighborhood of 20 plus percent. More...

10 Tips: How to avoid damaged goods at the car lot
MSNBC
Even cars and trucks that seem like real “cream puffs” can be concealing serious damage — and the vehicles’ titles may not clue you in to that key detail. ...


Mustang Heaven
2008 Ford Mustang
Mustang Heaven
Three new colors and available 18-inch premium wheels on the V-6 coupe enhance Mustang’s bold American style. Shelby Mustang Magic. ...

Auto123
2008 Volvo S40 and V50 First Impressions
Auto123, Canada 
I won't go as far as to say that the new Northern Oak trim that graces the new cars' interior is ridiculous. On the contrary, with their light tone and ...

Tow truck drivers face danger with little recognition

By ROCKY SALMON
The Press-Enterprise

With the summer driving season at its peak, tow truck company owner Mark Yarbrough is holding his breath every time one of his drivers has to help a stranded motorist.

"In this business, accidents can happen to anyone at anytime," the Perris business owner said. "One minute you could be hooking up a car and the next, you are being dragged down the freeway."

Tow truck drivers may be called for a variety of potentially dangerous missions -- from fixing a flat tire to cleaning up an accident scene. And owners like Yarbrough have joined a national campaign to implement stricter training standards and more recognition for those who lose their lives.

The California Highway Patrol does not keep statistics on tow truck accidents and fatalities but the Tow Truck Association of America estimates that at least 60 operators are killed nationally each year. It's equal to the number of police and paramedics killed along our roadsides, said Mike Scott, safety director and researcher for the association. More....

Driving While Black: The Car and Race Relations in Modern America

"Drivin' down the Freeway:" Blacks and Car Culture

Whatever the hassles of driving, African Americans, like whites, shared a passion for cars. The automobile was, for most Americans, the most expensive item that they owned other than a house. In a status-conscious consumer society, the car became one of the most prominent symbols of "making it." The automobile industry, which developed some of the most sophisticated marketing and advertising campaigns of the twentieth century, appealed to consumers' desire to drive cars that played to their self-image. Auto manufacturers developed new models that were luxurious, sporty, sturdy, or family-friendly. More...

Driving While Black: On the Line: Blacks and Auto Work

Blacks were not just consumers of the car. Their history was also intertwined with the history of automobile production. Here, too, the historical record was mixed. Detroit, the Motor City, became one of the most important destinations for black migrants from the south because of its reputation as a major center of car production. But the door to auto factory jobs opened slowly for blacks. Until World War II, the auto industry was not a particularly important employer of African Americans. More...

Georgia schools feeling crunch of state's new driver's ed law

Associated Press

Driver's education programs across Georgia are experiencing traffic jams of their own because of a new state law requiring 16-year-olds to undergo behind-the-wheel training before getting a license.

The statute, which took effect Jan. 1, is known as Joshua's Law - named for 17-year-old Joshua Brown of Cartersville, who died in 2003 after his truck hydroplaned on a wet road and hit a tree. Under the state law passed in 2005, 16-year-olds can't get a license until they take 30 hours of classroom instruction and have 40 hours of driving experience supervised by a parent or a certified driving instructor. More...

Car Review: 2007 Saturn VUE Green Line
On Wheels Magazine

Remember the "five speed" badges that used to appear on early compact cars, when having four forward gears was the norm? The 2007 Saturn VUE Green Line puts us in mind of those cars, because it's not hard to envision a future in which the VUE Green Line's "soft" hybrid system becomes something downright commonplace.

This compact SUV doesn't look that much different from its conventionally-powered stablemates. Just like the Ford Escape and Toyota Highlander hybrids, the VUE Green Line carries its cards close to its vest. Unlike the competition, the Saturn uses a milder hybrid system. It boosts fuel economy, but it's a more compact system that doesn't take up as much space inside the car, and consequently doesn't cost as much. The VUE Green Line blends perfectly into the background, and that's just what it should do. More....

Labor Department announces retraining program for auto industry layoffs

Some auto workers facing layoffs in five states will be able to access $3,000 a year to pay for retraining under a program by the Labor Department.

The demonstration program, targeting job reductions and plant closures announced by General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., will help between 2,500 and 4,000 people who have worked for automakers, auto suppliers and others affected by industry plant closings in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio. More....

Stalling the dream....

Meizhu Lui is the Executive Director of United for a Fair Economy and the co-author of the new report, "Stalling the Dream: Cars, Race and Hurricane Evacuation," available at www.faireconomy.org.

Fifty years ago, the late Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, catalyzing history-making events.

Imagine, however, if Rosa Parks had lived in New Orleans in September 2005 and was trying to escape from the gathering clouds of Hurricane Katrina. Would she have jumped in her car?  Would she have bought a train ticket?  It is likely she wouldn't have found any bus seat. Would she have survived? More....

Car Safety Tips for Kids /Safe Kids Worldwide

Editor's Note: Safe Kids Worldwide is a global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury, a leading killer of children 14 and under. More than 450 coalitions in 16 countries bring together health and safety experts, educators, corporations, foundations, governments and volunteers to educate and protect families.

Safe Kids Worldwide was founded in 1987 as the National SAFE KIDS Campaign by Children's National Medical Center with support from Johnson & Johnson. There is no one device or solution to prevent effectively all types of accidental childhood injuries. Instead, Safe Kids combines several factors to create programs that reduce injuries:

Motor Vehicle Safety

  • Every person riding in a car or truck needs his or her own seat belt.  Do not let passengers ride in storage areas or on other people's laps.
  • Children always ride restrained with a car seat or seat belt and in the back seat.
  • Infants should ride in rear-facing car seats until at least 20 lbs (9 kg) and at least 1 year old. Do not put a rear-facing car seat in the front seat of a vehicle with an active passenger air bag.
  • Children over 1 year old and between 20 lbs (9kg) and 40 lbs (18 kg) should ride in forward-facing car seats.
  • Children ages 4 to 8 between 40 lbs (18 kg) and 80 lbs (36 kg) should ride in booster seats restrained with lap and shoulder belts. A regular seat belt won't fully protect a child this size in a crash.
  • Children and adults over 80 lbs (36kg) should use a seat belt for every ride.

Highway crashes do not discriminate

Children are all equally vulnerable - whether they are Caucasian, Asian, Latino, African-American, and Native American - because highway crashes do not discriminate . However, statistically, highway fatalities are more prevalent among African-American and Latino children. Research conducted by Baltimore's John Hopkins University School of Public Health found that: The risk of African-American children, ages 5-12 dying in a crash per mile travel is almost 3 times as great as that of Caucasian children.African-American under 4 have the highest death rate; Latino children under 4 have the 2nd highest death rate.Latino children, 5-12 years old have a 72 percent greater death rate than Caucasian children. However, the death rate for Latino children is 43 percent lower than that for African-American children.

 



The Central Georgian, 2007,
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