Help Decide How NHTSA Spends Your Tax Dollars

By James Baxter, NMA President

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the federal government’s lead agency when it come to safety policies and regulations; including speed limits, DUI laws, cell phone and texting bans, federal subsidies for speed traps and roadblocks, and vehicle equipment requirements. This agency was the last entity standing in support of the 55 MPH Speed Limit.

NHTSA is in the process of developing a five year strategic plan and it is asking for public comment on suggestions. You can be assured that every insurance company in the country, MADD, IIHS, Advocates for Highway Safety (more insurance company money), AAA (ditto), police organizations, ticket camera companies, and various “we hate cars” activists will be letting NHTSA how YOUR money should be spent to YOUR disadvantage.

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Car Care: When Can You Afford To Cheap Out?

By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist

People are understandably edgy out by the turn the economy’s taken — and trying to avoid unnecessary expenses. When it comes to your vehicle, there are some things you can “cheap out” on to save a few bucks — and other things you should never neglect.

Let’s look at some of both:

CHEAP OUT

Regular unleaded vs. premium

Some cars require premium; others merely recommend it. If you have one of the latter (recommend it) you can save a fistfull of dollars every month by using regular, which is typically 20-30 cents less per gallon.

Caveats: You might not get every last horsepower your engine is capable of delivering — and you might suffer a slight mileage drop that could eat away the “up front” savings at the pump. The loss of a few hp is probably nothing you’ll miss or even notice — but keep track of your gas mileage “with” and “without” premium to see whether the difference is big enough to make going back to premium fuel the smart thing to do. And: if you vehicle requires premium, do not use regular (or even mid-grade). You won’t hurt your engine but your mileage may suffer and power/performance may dip noticeably, too.

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Red Light Camera Wrongly Tickets Woman Who Was Out Of State

In another story that ticket camera companies will insist is an isolated incident (despite a new incident seemingly surfacing each week), a Peoria, Illinois woman was sent a ticket that should have gone to another driver.

WMBD/WYZZ TV has the story:

A Chicago traffic camera could cost you hundreds of dollars. It did for Peorian Casandra Davis, who wrote ‘We Hear You’ after getting tickets for something she says she didn’t do. Her ticket charged her $100 for running a red light in Chicago. The only problem is Davis was in Tennessee.

A red-light camera caught a picture of the car in action. The license plates look almost identical, with the exception of one letter. Plus, Davis drives a silver Impala, and the car in the photo is a red Buick.

Surely if she presented the city with proof of their mistake, they would immediately remedy the situation and apologize, right? Maybe not:

Davis says she called Chicago’s Revenue Department and sent proof, but instead of correcting the problem, Chicago increased her ticket to $200. Now Davis is worried she’s driving around with a bad driving record that’s not hers.

As usual, pressure from the media is the only thing that seems to force cities to fix their errors:

After we called the Department of Revenue we got Davis’ ticket overturned. Representatives say they confused some letters on the license plate.

For more information on red light cameras, check out our issue page.

How To Properly Dispose Of Used Motor Oil

If you do your own engine oil changes, you’ll end up with several quarts of dirty oil.

How should you dispose of it?

First, you need to get it ready for disposal.

* The best way to transport the oil from your home, via car, is to carefully transfer it from your oil drain catch pan to empty/used gallon jugs – such as leftover household detergent containers, etc. A funnel is helpful for this job, as is a drain pan that has a built-in pour spout. You can even buy a drain pan with a sealable lid and spout designed specifically to make it easier to take the old oil to a recycling station; however these can still be unwieldy for the average person to deal with — especially if they’re really full.

* Be sure the oil is cool before you attempt to transfer it to the empty jugs. Those jugs may melt or burst open if you pour still-hot used oil into them. Screw the cap onto the jug and make absolutely sure it is on tight. For extra security, you can slip the jug into a plastic trash bag and twist that closed with a tie-twist. Get an old cardboard box, put a layer of newspaper down on the bottom. Put the jug in there.

* If you have a truck, the best place to put the oil jug for transport is obviously the bed since if it does leak, it won’t be a disaster. Be sure it’s secure nonetheless (use tie downs or something heavy to keep the jug where you put it; and of course drive gently. If you have to use a car, avoid transporting the oil in the trunk. It is most likely to tip over or roll around as you drive, which could leave you with a foul and pretty much impossible to ever clean-up mess. The ideal place is actually the passenger side floorpan. It should be relatively flat and more important, you’ll be right there to keep an eye on it as you drive.

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