Who hasn’t heard about all of the toy recalls in the news recently? It’s a wonder that anything is safe for our kids. But here’s something different: a car seat manufacturer that lists a safety alert before any injuries are reported. Imagine that - finding out there’s something wrong with a product and getting the word out so we can protect our kids!

Graco, a car seat manufacturer, released a safety alert for customers who use their ComfortSport seat in a rear-facing position.

The lower anchor belt, used with your car’s LATCH system, may be misrouted. It could allow the seat back to exceed 70 degrees in a frontal crash, causing injury, according to Graco’s press release.

I started my professional career more than 20 years ago as a typesetter working for Guns & Ammo Magazine. Quite frequently, when people heard where I worked, the group would divide into a pro-firearms/anti-gun debate, in which I was often accusingly asked "Would you have a gun in your house with children?!" My response was, "Well, I have car keys, bleach, and kitchen knives."

My opinion on sidearms notwithstanding, the point I was trying to make is that any object can be deadly, especially in the hands of children. I've heard waaaay too many stories from peers who told me that as teenagers they had snuck out of their houses and 'borrowed' their parent's car to go cruising. (So unsafe: inexperienced drivers out late at night with their friends as distractions!)

Many states now enforce different types of graduated drivers licensing (GDL) laws to phase in expanded driving privileges for new drivers during their first 12 to 18 months of unsupervised driving. GDL laws prohibit critical distractions and give new drivers more time to focus on their driving and learn how to handle unexpected driving situations.

Ask Patty prez Jody DeVere recently did a podcast with Greg Grimer of Voices in Business. Greg mentioned he had some tips for us and so here we go!

by Greg Grimer
I’ve owned well over 500 cars in the last 20 years, including just about every make of car that is sold here in Europe.  While few parts are interchangeable, most cars look very similar under the hood.  But 20 years ago, I knew next to nothing about cars.  My motivation to learn started when I bought my first car, a Toyota Celica and it needed a new clutch. 

I’d paid about $1400 for the car, the new clutch was $400 but the labor charge to replace it was $700.  I was just out of college, so I got a friend over to help me replace it.  No, that isn’t true he replaced it and I watched and learned.  And the most important thing I learned is what one person can do another can do if they are so motivated.  I also learned that repairing things for yourself rewards you with a feeling of self-reliance, resourcefulness and confidence.

Things every driver should be able to do.
*Check the Oil Level in your engine
*Check the Transmission Fluid level
*Check the Engine Coolant level
*Check the Air Pressure in the Tires and be able to inflate them
*Check the Brake Fluid
*Understand how to use Jumper Cables
*Know how to check the fuses in your vehicle

Ever have questions about buying auto parts? Where do you go? What do you look for? How do you start? 1AAuto.com is here to answer for you.

1.  Find a reputable online dealer
    - Find sites with unique content, including a telephone number, and avoid “serial sites.” A serial site is one that “spams” content, repeating information and linking excessively on every page. If the website is confusing to navigate, chances are it’s a serial site
    - Sites with Ebay stores allow you to check the ratings of the site and its products. This is beneficial as you can find direct comments from past customers to get the real scoop on the website.
    - Find sites that clearly display contact information. The more willing a site is to have you contact their service reps, the more confident they are in their ability to serve the customer.
    - Find a site that has seniority amongst the competition. There’s probably a reason why it has been around for so long, figure out what it is and use it to your benefit.

I browse the news feeds daily for material for blogging. Using the keyword "car" most of the articles are about car accidents. I skip over these articles most days as it would be too morbid to blog about every car accident I come across in the news.

Every 13 minutes, there is a death caused by a motor vehicle accident. There are approximately 3 million car-related injuries per year, 2 million permanent injuries, and 40,000 deaths in the U.S. annually.

Tamara Towse was my dear friend of 17 years. She died last Sunday in a car accident on Interstate 5. She and her husband were on their way home from a romantic get-a-way in Oregon.

I am absolutely devastated at the news of her death.

Did you know that, even if you don't own a car, you can still obtain reliable transportation on an hourly or daily basis, without the hassle of actually having to deal with a rental car company? Thanks to a service called "Flexcar" members can reserve and drive any of these cars whenever and wherever they need to, without filling out complicated paperwork or paying for insurance, gas, or repairs. Car sharing can be arranged by the hour (standard rates start at only $8 per hour!) or by the day (a little more pricey, starting at $63 per day). Anybody can become a member for $35. A service like this can put both students and parents at ease, knowing that reliable transportation can be easily obtained right on campus!

For undergraduates, personal transportation has long been a challenge. Campus parking for privately owned cars is usually limited or outright restricted, and few (if any) car-rental companies will rent to people under 25, much less under 21. The "Flexcar for Undergrads" opens up all of the benefits of car-sharing to 18- to 20-year-olds, a group which comprises the largest portion of campus populations.

Universities are increasingly turning to Flexcar to help reduce the to tal number of cars on campus while at the same time giving faculty, staff, and students a convenient transportation option. The vehicle situation at Arizona State illustrates the severity of the problem: in a given year the university hosts more than 1.5 million attendees at various campus events while on a weekly basis, more than 52,000 students vie for approximately 19,000 parking spots at the Tempe campus.

AskPatty.com takes its weekly jaunt around the motorsports world to see what some of our favorite ladies are up to this last holiday weekend of the summer. Turns out ABC really wanted a female race car driver for Dancing with the Stars, but had to settle for Helio Castroneves. Danica Patrick couldn't fit it in her schedule and Sarah Fisher is too busy planning her wedding.

Congratulations to IRL driver Sarah Fisher who is set to marry her long time love, Andy. Fisher says it has been hard balancing a racing schedule with planning a wedding but for her it has been a very rewarding year. "Since I didn't run a full IndyCar Series schedule last year, this year has forced me to retone all my muscles, and areas keep getting smaller," said Fisher. "So more and more alterations are needed for the dress. I've had the dress for a while, to say the least. I was excited to go get one right away after Andy proposed."

Danica Patrick didn't want to do Dancing With the Stars but she does want to talk power steering after IRL's Sonoma race last weekend. "It's the same exertion for a man or a woman, it's just that women, unfortunately, naturally come with less muscle mass and a smaller frame,'' said Patrick. "Power steering would make a huge difference. I think that we're all getting more conditioned to the feeling. I know in the past we have complained."

Lyn St. James hopes her biggest thrill is yet to come. The 60-yearold retired racer is still waiting for a woman to rise to the very top in auto racing. "Frankly, I would like to be around when a woman wins the Indy 500 and/or the Daytona 500, or any major NASCAR race," she said. "And I would like to see a woman contend for the [points] championship in a major [racing] series, because winning one race is awesome, but to win a championship is the ultimate goal, for any driver."

Velma Sluggs, 47, isn’t letting her age keep her from her love of motorsports; Sluggs has enrolled in the Palmetto Advancement for Learning Motorsports to pursue a career in automotive welding. PALM was founded in 2005 as a nonprofit corporation funded by the Waccamaw Workforce Investment Board. The tuition-free program targets people who are economically disadvantaged, unemployed, homeless or considered "at risk."

"I'd like to retire as a welder," Suggs said.

NHRA driver Ashley Force may have beat Danica Patrick to be one of AOL’s Hottest Women in Sports but The Driving Woman reminds us this week that Shirley Muldowney is the original motorsports pin-up girl. Muldowney left active competition in 2003 and continues to enjoy retirement.

"I had such a glow about that last year that I wouldn’t want to tarnish by making a comeback. I’m happy with where I am, and who I am. But if there’s a place for me somewhere in drag racing, I’m ready and willing," said Muldowney.

A lot of people have been asking whatever happened to Shawna Robinson. You remember her, she was the chick who stormed NASCAR Cup Series racing, but due to lack of sponsorship and lack of female driver development at NASCAR’s top level, Robinson was left without a ride. Currently, she is an interior designer in Mooresville, North Carolina but still hopes to one day get behind of the wheel of a NASCAR stock car again.

^{AskPatty.com is a 2007 proud sponsor of the NASCAR No. 112 AskPatty.com Chevrolet driven by the highest ranked professional female race car driver Deborah Renshaw. Watch Deborah on September 8th at Chicagoland Speedway in the ARCA/ReMax Series race.}

by Linda Przygodski
Women in Motorsports
Contributing Editor

There has always been an argument on this subject: Is synthetic motor oil truly superior to conventional, petroleum-based motor oil? We asked Pennzoil for their opinion - of course, considering what they manufacture... they are a little biased.

provided by Pennzoil
Full synthetic motor oils outperform conventional and synthetic blend motor oils in nearly all aspects of engine protection. Full synthetics such as Pennzoil Platinum® start with a quality base oil combined with an additive formula that enables it to help provide superior protection to prevent friction, resist burn-off, oxidation, shear and sludge.  This additive formula includes detergents, anti-wear agents, friction modifiers, dispersants, viscosity index improvers, and antioxidants to help the engine run better.

Is your teen driving to school for the very first time this year? As a parent you probably feel proud, relieved, and a maybe even little concerned, especially upon learning that the first six months of unsupervised driving are the most dangerous for new teen drivers.

So what's the best advice parents can give their teens as they give them the keys to the car and watch them head out the door?

"Don't drive distracted," advises GEICO's Janice Minshall, assistant vice president of communications. "That's the best message parents can give to new drivers. It's vital that teen drivers are highly focused driving to school in busy traffic. Highway safety experts know that young drivers don't have the experience to cope with a lot of distractions when they're first starting out."

Many states now enforce different types of graduated drivers licensing (GDL) laws to phase in expanded driving privileges for new drivers during their first 12 to 18 months of unsupervised driving. GDL laws prohibit critical distractions and give new drivers more time to focus on their driving and learn how to handle unexpected driving situations.

By Terry Galanoy of AOL Autos
For years now, throughout the country, there has been this increasing rush to judgment; the absolutely undeniable, inbuilt, positive self-conviction or justification that when it comes to vehicle safety, that SUVs were the, er, overriding wheels of choice and, further, that the overwhelmingly bigger the SUV the better. "It isn't for me, it's for the kids," one spouse would coyly intimate to the other, "It's for the kids, their safety you know ..." Not to mention, literally not to mention, that size also does seem to count when showing off the new high iron to the girls at the country club or the guys at the bowling alley.

Well, Mom and Dad, sorry to brake a flat spot on your wheels-within-wheels choices but the safety lobby, those crash and burn-your-butts folk continue to report, in annually increasing volume, that SUVs are not safer vehicles at all. Sort of the bigger they are, the harder they fail.

SUVs IN TRANSITION
Since the days when all "utility vehicles" were built body-on-frame, SUVs have been considered "trucks" and even though many have gone to "crossover" car uni-bodies, they still don't have to meet all of the U.S Government's regulations for passenger car safety. Their high centers of gravity have led to a grisly, increasing epidemic of fatal rollover crashes, their rear blind spots have resulted in scores of small children being backed over, and their uber-tank gross (sic) weights and dimensions generally cause, excuse the pun, absolute carnage to both the SUV occupants and in tragic comparison, mostly the other guys in smaller, lighter vehicles. No room, or time for the staggering stats here but you could look it up, on the NHTSA and IIHS web sites. You could also look up what extra fees SUV drivers are paying in fuel, insurance, registration, taxes, etc.; money -- that should stick in the craw instead of being stuck in the pocket with another type of vehicle.