How to Select The Best Defensive Driving School

Choosing the best defensive driving school comes down to two things -- what you want from it and proper research. In this article, I will give you some criteria to determine what the best school would be for you.

There are two popular options, when it comes to attending traffic school. You can do so in person or online. In either case, make sure you sign up with a school that will meet all the requirements of the state and federal laws, so you can get the full benefits of completing your defensive driving courses.

What it all comes down to when choosing the right school, is what you need to get out of it. For those who simply need to get a ticket dismissed, then they should consider the fastest and simplest method of doing so. In this case, seven times out of 10 it would be wise to go online. Here, you can complete the course at your own pace and you do not even have to leave your home to complete the course.

This is also beneficial because you do not have to wait for certain classes to start before you can start attending the defensive driving school. With online options, there is always a course you can start right away.

My only warning here would be to make sure you sign up with the school that is going to meet all the state requirements. Nothing is worse than starting a school online and getting a certificate of completion, only to find out later that it will not mean anything towards getting a ticket dismissed.

On the other hand, if you're simply going to take classes to improve your skills as a driver, and for safety reasons, then I would recommend a more personalized type of instruction. In this case, it would probably be wise to sign up for a local class. Here you have the opportunity for more personalized attention and typically these classes are more thorough than their online counterparts.

In any case, research the options that are available to you both locally and on the Internet before you come to any conclusion. Take the recommendation of others into consideration, such as your family lawyer, or someone from the DMV.

In conclusion, I have given you some basic information you can use to start helping you to select the best defensive driving school.

Want to learn more? Steven Ross has written many other useful and interesting articles at http://www.defensivedrivingreport.com


By Steven P. Ross

Choosing an Auto Glass Service Technician

If your windshield has become damaged, it is important to have it repaired or replaced as soon as possible. It is even more important that you should select a qualified technician to perform this service. Having a structurally compromised windshield can dramatically increase your chances of serious injury or death in the event of an accident. Furthermore, if the windshield is not properly installed, these chances do not get any better, and may even be worse.

Alright, but what are the chances that your windshield would ever be improperly replaced? In 2002, the program 20/20 ran a story which stated that up to 70 % of the 12 million windshields replaced each year are done so improperly.

Proper installation of your vehicle's windshield is crucial to the performance of the vehicle's safety systems. The best way to ensure a proper installation is to only use a reputable auto glass service technician; one which uses quality materials, provides sound service, and has a reputation. Be sure to find a company which provides each of its employees with comprehensive training. National Glass Association (NGA) certification of the technician's competency is highly recommended, and is normally required by most responsible auto glass service providers.

The installation and replacement of vehicle windshields is a delicate matter, and improperly trained or unknowledgeable technicians should be avoided at all costs. Poor technicians commonly make small mistakes which can lead to big problems, especially in the event of an accident. These mistakes may include not thoroughly cleaning the new windshield and application area of the vehicle before installation, or using butyl tape instead of urethane as the bonding agent.

Similarly, not wearing protective gloves when handling the windshield can allow oils and dirt from the hands to contaminate the bonded surfaces of the windshield. Skipping any step in the process will obviously lead to problems, and many unqualified technicians may do this, such as skipping the secondary primer for the windshield altogether. This can prevent the windshield from fully bonding to the vehicle.

Another common mistake made by auto glass service technicians is that they may not fully explain the situation to the vehicle's owner. For example, after a windshield is replaced, it needs time to fully cure before it is safe to drive. Lack of communication between the technician and customer is a sure sign of an unqualified technician. For example, I very recently had a coworker who had his Jeep's windshield replaced while he was at work. The service technician came, replaced the windshield in a matter of minutes, and left. My coworker never even knew the technician had come and gone. This is a perfect example of poor communication, and low-quality service. Three weeks after this, his windshield developed a crack from the top of the windshield to the bottom. I don't know if these have anything to do with one another, but it is very interesting nonetheless.

Mr. Oliver is a marketing agent of 87749 Glass. The auto glass company provides auto glass replacement and repair throughout the nation. For more information on their Auto Glass Repair & Replacement please visit their website.


By Budda Oliver

Classic Car Restoration - What You Need To Know

There are a lot of steps involved in getting your classic car restored, and it's best that you know at least a little about them so you don't get ripped off, now I'm by no means saying that most shops out there are going to rip you off, but there are a select few shops that make a living pulling little tricks, short cuts and work a rounds, and you don't want them doing this on your car.

Now first and foremost a restoration shop is not like your local collision repair shop, it's completely different in every respect, yes a restoration shop does body and paint work, but that is about where the similarities end, a collision repair shop can look at the damage to your car from a collision and give you an estimate with in $100 dollars of the job.

A restoration shop cannot begin to give you an estimate that is even in the ball park, there is no way for them to see every last detail of the restoration on your car, every car is different, some cars are rusted out more then others, parts car be almost impossible to locate for some cars, you don't just call the local parts store for some of these parts, especially when your talking MOPAR restoration work, there just weren't a lot of them built in the first place.

Now a shop could tell you something like this when you ask for an estimate, a normal restoration on a car that's in good shape, with no, or very little rust would take about 800 hours for us to restore, and this would probably be about right, and if the car is in bad shape you could add about 300 hours, this would be pretty close to what it should be, but every shop is a little different, and you have got to know that these estimates are based on time only, parts are added cost, and usually added time.

When a shop tries to give you an estimate, it usually ends up with the car not getting completed, and the owner of the shop, and his customer being very unhappy with each other, and this doesn't need to happen, this is one reason that my shop doesn't give estimates on work, unless it's just something like changing a quarter panel, or door, something simple, on a full restoration we can't do it, we have tried, and we have had the same problems that I have alluded to earlier.

OK; now that I have finished that little tangent, let's get down to business, the very first thing is that you love your car, because you'll be spending a lot of time with it, rather you do the work yourself, or hire a shop to do it for you, either way it will take a lot of time to finish the restoration work, the word restoration itself should be enough to tell you that, most shop are just a man living his dream to restore cars for a living.

Now if you choose to have a shop do the work on your car, make sure that you take a tour of any shop that you are considering to let do the work, during this tour you should look around the shop, look that how clean the shop is, look ate the quality of the equipment and tools that the shop is using, high quality tools and equipment indicate pride in their shop, and in their workmanship, and clean shop shows pride in the shop, and gives you an idea of how they'll treat your car.

Now look at the work in the shop, look at the other cars, ask the employees what their doing, and why they're doing it, one of the best answers that you could hear is, I love classic cars, and I think of each car that I restore as my own, if this were my car, how would I want it done, and then I do it that way, or as close as possible with in the budget that we have to work with.

If you decide that you want the work done faster, the shop will put more people on you project, but you have got to realize that these people are working for the shop labor rate, so if the shop has a labor rate of $75.00 per hour, and you have two people working on your car, your not paying $75.00 your paying $125.00 per hour, or shop rate for each employee that's working on your car, and it is fair, they had to leave another job to help on your car, and their job is now just sitting there waiting for him to get back to it.

As you've seen I talk a lot about the shop, and the work they do, and what they charger for their work, now I'll give you a few questions that you should ask the owner of the shop while he's by you, or you can ask the foreman of the shop id the owner is gone.

1.Has your shop ever restored one of these kind of car in the past.
2.If so, can I see some before, after, and during pictures.
3.Ask them why they should be the shop that restores your car.
4.If your doing to take to the shows, have they won any awards from car shows.
5.Tell them what your going to do with the car, I.E. It's a driver, it's a show car.
6.Do you have a good parts connection for the parts on my car.
7.Do you charge to locate parts for my car.
8.What is you typical time frame for completion of the restoration work.
9.If you want custom paint, does their shop do it, or is it farmed out.
10.Do you have references from past customers, a lot of shops don't, and it doesn't mean anything, but if they do, please ask to take a look at them.

If you just do a little research, you can save yourself a lot of agony, and the shop also, before you go in to the shop get all of your ducks in a row, learn about your car, make sure that the shop has worked on your make and model of car, most shops have pictures of cars that they have restored, sit down and look at what they have, ask a lot of questions, most shops expect that, if they don't like you asking questions, look for a different shop to do the work on your car.

Make 100% sure that all of your questions are answered to your satisfaction, if you don't ask any questions then it's your fault if something go wrong during the restoration of your car, if you ask questions, the shop will have a better idea of what you expect, remember questions, not demands, if you get rude with a shop owner, or it's employees, your car could get pushed to the back burner, so be nice, but make sure that the shop knows what your looking for when the car is done.


Classic Car Restoration

Muscle Car Restoration

I've been in the automotive business for about 20 or 25 years, I have worked in all facets of the industry, from parts to restoration, all different makes and models, I just want to keep people interested in the old cars because it's where my heart is.

http://autorevival.com


By David Atkin

A UK Car Rally With A Difference

I have been looking into various types of rallies that have taken part across the UK in the name of charity. I have found quite an unusual one that consists of traveling from John O'Groats to Lands End. Not that different in itself apart from a few difficult rules.

The rules were that the vehicle could not be a sports model or modified in any way, it had to be an average road-going vehicle and it couldn't be owned by the driver or borrowed from somebody known to the driver.

It was also compulsory to arrive at each check point in a different vehicle. If anything happened to the vehicle en route, a new car was not allowed. However, you could still win the rally if you made it in person to the final check point within a vehicle. Help was allowed as the rally is in aid of charity.

Short of stealing a car, I couldn't see how this would work but most people got around the rules by hiring a vehicle and routes were planned via the designated check points.

All participants were to arrive in Scotland on the night before the start of the rally to complete necessary paperwork.

Dundee City was the first check point followed by Paisley and nothing interesting was reported thus far. Various cars were checked in from the car hire companies including Clio's and KA's. I think everybody must have been pacing themselves and setting off in small cars thinking this will get them through the cities a little speedier.

Paisley check point reported the first man down. Apparently, he lost his vehicle to irresponsible shopping and getting clamped. Fortunately for him, he was kindly picked up by another couple who chose to upgrade to a Megane before the next check point due to the rescued man being rather portly.

According to the records, cars were getting increasingly bigger as time went by due to participants helping each other out and the couple who collected the portly wheel clamp man also picked up a couple with a baby that was delivered in the back of their own vehicle!

Newcastle went by without a hitch and various repairs are being made along the way with participants bodging cars to make it to the next car hire company.

Other checkpoints along the way included Nottingham, Birmingham and Peterborough. The records show that at this point the number of vehicles were fewer, occupants numbers increasing and vehicles becoming larger.

Despite the rally being in aid of charity, the worst side of human nature did kick in along the way and several fights were reported where the police had to come and calm the situation. This had already calmed down by the time rally members made it to the M25. Quite an achievement because in my days of traveling as a reporter, the M25 has never been the most relaxing road to travel.

Southampton check point reported no disturbances, however one group had grown to the point where they had to hire a Luton van!

Penzance was the last location for changing vehicles with a disappointing breakdown by the Luton van and the race was won by an old couple in a Citroen CV.

This was, indeed, an unusual race but all in a good cause.

Expert reporter Catherine Harvey looks at how car hire helped a charity rally. To find out more please visit http://www.car-hire-uk.com

By Catherine Harvey

Best Gas Mileage Car

Improve Your Car's Gas Mileage - Tips and Tricks

With the cost of gas at its historical high, and rising every day, we all know that it is very important to get the most fuel efficient car which you can find. When you are in the market for a new car, there are several ways that you can make sure the car which you are buying is actually the most fuel efficient vehicle for your purposes.

How to Find a the Most Fuel Efficient Car - Ask Around

First of all, in order to get the best gas mileage car you have to ask around to make sure the one you are buying is actually best. Ask not only the people you are buying from, but look at magazine reports as to determine the appropriate car so that you can be sure that you are finding one that fits your needs. Remember that you can't always trust the dealer to give you the correct information, so you should look at other sources.

The Right car for the Right Circumstances - Driving Specifics

The other thing that you have to be sure you are doing when you are looking for the best for your needs is to take into consideration what kind of driving you'll be doing and therefore what kind of car, or possible even truck or SUV is going to be the best option for you. Remember that some brands get better gas mileage if they are driven only in the city, and some do best on long trips. You have to be sure that you are looking at what is right for you.

Whatever you do, make sure that you take your time, and do your homework, because the car that you purchase should last you for years.

Harry Bernstein has been a "gear head" since before he could drive. You can find more information on which is the best gas mileage Car for you as well as and more money and gas savings tips at GreatGasDeals.com.

By Harry Bernstein