Halloween is the most dangerous night of the year for child pedestrians. Darting out into the street is one of the most common causes of pedestrian death among children.  As children scurry from house to house collecting treats, it is important to take the following precautions:     

Visibility

• Decorate costumes, bags, and sacks with reflective tape and stickers.
• Use costumes that are light or bright enough to make children more visible at night.

Driving on Halloween can be frightening for motorists, especially when little “ghouls” and “goblins” – out after dark and full of excitement – forget road safety rules or wear costumes or masks that limit their vision. To help ensure safety on a night reserved for fun, the Car Care Council reminds motorists to drive slowly, be extra careful when entering or exiting driveways or alleyways, and make sure the vehicle’s brake system works properly.

Welcome to the AskPatty Blog Carnival, where we share a refreshing assortment of female friendly news and interesting automotive tidbits from around the blogosphere. Whether it's informative stories about eco-friendly people or green cars, care care tips or safety, exciting reports about amazing women in the automotive industry or female friendly car reviews, we've got something here for everyone. Have you got something to share? Halloween is just around the corner, so we scared up some especially spooky carnival items as well.  Email Ask Patty at info@askpatty.com or use the form to include your own blog bits in next week's carnival!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so before the month runs out, we wanted to draw your attention to StandUpToCancer.org  Working with the top experts in cancer research, Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at raising funds to accelerate cancer research and end cancer's reign as a leading cause of death. In November more than 50 of the most renowned personalities in TV, film, sports and music came together to make history in an unprecedented television event in which NBC, ABC, and CBS simultaneously devoted one hour of commercial-free prime time to raise funds for the fight against cancer. If you missed it, you can watch the entire hour here  and make donations here.  As a contribution to SU2C, singer Ingrid Michaelson has created a benefit album called "Be OK" which contains previously unreleased songs, covers, and live recordings that are favorites from her set list; Ingrid is donating a portion of the proceeds from the project to SU2C, so click on the button to download her album for yourself, and make a contribution to SU2C!

Women influence well over two-thirds of all consumer purchases in the U.S.--and perhaps even more when the economy tanks and households tighten their budgets. Simply put, women wield incredible purchasing power, according to Yvonne DiVita. Read the fascinating profile by Bulldog Reporter Brian Pittman, and find out what our friend Yvonne DiVita, President of Windsor Media Enterprises; Author of "Dickless Marketing: Smart Marketing to Women Online;" and Blogger at "Lip-Sticking"  has to say about "Economic Crises, Twitter, and How to Communicate with Consumers Who Control $5 Trillion."

This year's TIAW Annual Global Partnership Forum 2008  will translate insights on women's economic empowerment into action in four critical areas: micro/macro entrepreneurship; governance and corporate careers; political and personal influence; and technology. In addition to these four important streams, TIAW Global Partnership Forum will offer thought leadership sessions to stimulate ideas and debate on important aspects of women's success. The intense two-day event, being held in Toronto November 9-11, will have some amazing speakers including Maureen Kempston Darkes, who is President of General Motors for Latin America, Africa, and Middle East and is considered the most powerful woman in the automotive industry.

Ford's "MyKey" is a new system that parents can use to assist their freshly licensed teenagers drive more safely. While most parents can only lecture their children on the importance of staying within speed limits, Ford owners will have the option of programming their young driver's keys to impose a number of restrictions -- including top speed and maximum radio volume. While most of us parents believe this could be a positive feature, the blogger over at WebRides.tv has a different opinion. Do you agree? 

With the 65-and-older population in the United States expected to double to 70 million - that's one in five people! - by 2030, Nissan an other automakers are researching safety and comfort design changes as a way to reach for aging baby boomer's wallets. Watch this informative Associated Press video at Yahoo!news!

According to @DavidMoll at New Millennium Motoring,
General Motors and Chrysler have sharpened their fiscal axes and are taking drastic steps to ensure their continued survival. Upon unanimous approval by the board of directors, GM announced it has cancelled Project CXX, a $2 billion program to replace the aging Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Suburban sport-utility vehicles. Layoffs at GM plants are set to continue, with Janesville, the firm's oldest and most reliant on sport-ute production, set to close by Christmas. Meanwhile, Chrysler has announced it will close its Newark, Delaware, plant nearly a year ahead of schedule. As a result, the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen Hybrid sport-utes will be culled before they complete their first full model year. A thousand Chrysler employees will be laid off when the final shift is completed on Dec. 31, 2008. If the rumored Chrysler merger goes through, further layoffs are expected.

Those chicks over at Cars for Girls are really looking out for your best interest! They've assembled a collection of some wacky traffic laws readers should be aware of:  "Sure," she says, "some of them may be outdated and so odd that it makes you wonder what people were thinking when they thought these up, but believe it or not, some of them are still on the books."  I read them all, and hereby offer myself up to the law for my own wacky infringements. I confess: I HAVE driven my car in my housecoat. It's a long story, and has something to do with being locked out.

Already battered by the stock market collapse, automakers announced dismal sales figures for September, and consumer surveys show that fewer and fewer people are planning to buy a car in the near future.  Dealerships are in serious trouble. While that's a lot of doom and gloom for automakers, it can mean great deals for savvy buyers.  Jamie Page Deaton at U.S. News and World Report has assembled an excellent collection of October deals and incentives, so if you're shopping be sure to review this list to save on your car purchase!

Harveys, makers of the original seat-belt bags, has debuted its newest collaboration with Disney: A Harveys Disney Couture collection  that features authentic Harveys seatbelt webbing with a comic strip in which Mickey is affectionately showering Minnie with roses. The adorable bags feature splashes of color with a commercial pop-art look, and as with all Harveys bags they're handmade in the USA and come with a lifetime guarantee. Prices range from $20 for small accessories to $330 for larger bags. I'm putting this one on my Christmas List!

Do you believe in ghosts? We dug up some spooky car-related videos at Youtube.com that will make you believe ghostly spirits do haunt the earth, or at least seem to hang around surveillance cameras!
This one displays kind of ghostly shape caught on security tape at a gas station, and in this one, highway ghouls interrupt this tranquil drive. Scarey. Don't say we didn't warn you!

Female Friendly Dealers in the News!
The DCH Paramus Honda automotive dealership in Paramus, New Jersey has received the esteemed J.D. Power and Associates Dealer of Excellence recognition.  The Dealer of Excellence Program recognizes dealers who provide an outstanding customer experience during the new-vehicle sales and service process. Paramus Honda is a member of DCH Auto Group, which is one of the largest new-vehicle retailers in the nation, and is also an AskPatty.com Certified Female Friendly Dealer.  Way to go!

And that's it for this week's AskPatty Cars Around the World Blog Carnival! Make sure to submit your article for next week's "Automotive Advice for Women Blog Carnival" using the online form or by emailing Ask Patty at info@askpatty.com.

By Brandy Schaffels
AskPatty.com Editor

Sunday morning arrived and my stomach was in knots as I nibbled down a very light breakfast thinking about the day ahead. Today, I would be doing  a ride-along with NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Sam Hornish Jr. in the Team Penske Racing Mobil 1 #77 car at 175 MPH at Lowe's Motor Speedway  in Charlotte, North Carolina. The speedway is considered the home base of NASCAR, with 90% of NASCAR teams being based within 50 miles. I  was feeling excited, anxious, nervous, elated and determined to NOT show any fear whatsoever in front of "the guys"! After all, I am a car girl and a  BIG NASCAR fan and former sponsor of female NASCAR driver Deborah Renshaw...I will NOT be afraid, eeek,  and this will be an experience of  a lifetime...one off the bucket list of sorts.

Now about Sam Hornish Jr. ....can I trust his experience and driving skill, he seems so young at 28??? Actually he is one of the most successful drivers in the recent history of open-wheel racing and has entered a new chapter of his storied career in 2008. In 2007, Hornish Jr. earned a race victory for  his seventh consecutive season as he finished fifth in the Indy Car Series standings.

Gas prices have tumbled 30% from their record high in July and are poised to fall further. But economists say that cheaper gas won't be enough to revive a struggling economy.

No one doubts that lower prices are putting extra dollars back into consumers' pockets. With the average price of gas costing about $2.86 a gallon, or $1.25 a gallon less nationwide than it did at the peak in July, that translates into nearly $500 million a day in savings on gas purchases.

One of the few bright spots in the economy these days is at the gas pump!

DCH Auto Group is working to change that...

In the coming weeks you will be seeing and hearing more and more about the DCH Auto Group teen directed safe driving campaign we call "Mindless Driving. Keep It Out of Cars™". DCH dealerships will be announcing local events and programs designed to help teens learn to drive defensively. In the meantime DCH invites you to download information about the program, as well as information developed to help keep teen drivers safe when behind the wheel of a car.

Mindless Driving. Keep It Out Of Cars™

Here is a list of my recent reads, reviews and recommendations.

Secrets of Social Media Marketing: How to Use Online Conversations and Customer Communities to Turbo-Charge Your Business!

A BIG thank you to Paul Gillin for including AskPatty.com in Chapter 11 as a case study.

Secrets of Social Media Marketing is a handbook for marketers and business owners to use in deciding how to employ the new social media for online marketing. Social media has quickly moved from the periphery of marketing into the forefront, but this is a new and quickly-evolving field and there are few established formulas for success. Building on the lessons set out in Gillin’s acclaimed and oft-reviewed The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media, this book provides practical advice on strategy, tools, and tactics. It is a hands-on manual that will educate marketers on how to extend their brands, generate leads, and engage customer communities using online tools.

Proper vehicle lighting will be vital to safety when daylight-savings time ends on November 2nd. To prepare for fewer hours of daylight and the extra hours of darkness, the Car Care Council encourages motorists to take a few minutes to inspect their vehicles to ensure that all of the lights are working properly.

The Car Care Council recommends checking all vehicle lighting on a monthly basis, including the headlights, turn signals, brake lights, side lights, parking lights, tail lights, backup lights and license plate lights. Whether you do it yourself or visit a professional automotive technician, it is important to repair or replace non-functioning lights immediately.

Something as simple as a burnt-out brake light could potentially have major consequences. Results of vehicle inspections during National Car Care Month found:

• 8 percent of vehicles inspected needed work on at least one of their turn signals.
• 6 percent of vehicles had problems with at least one of their brake lights.
• 5 percent of vehicles failed their side light inspection.
• 1 percent of vehicles failed the inspection for their headlights, parking lights, tail lights, backup lights and license plate lights.
  
  

An estimated 14,000 women gathered at the nonprofit, nonpartisan conference held in the Long Beach Arena in Southern California yesterday. The event, which began 22 years ago as a government initiative for female small business owners and working professionals, has grown into the largest woman's forum of its kind in the United States.

California First Lady Maria Shriver shaped this year's conference theme, "Be who you are. Feel it. Live it. Pass it on," with the goal of encouraging women to discover their purpose, passion and power. This year's highlights included seminars on starting a small business and financial well-being, and panel discussions on topics such as "Alzheimer's, cancer and aging parents" and "how to be a confident leader."

Welcome to the AskPatty Blog Carnival, where we share a refreshing assortment of female friendly news and interesting automotive tidbits from around the blogosphere. Whether it's informative stories about eco-friendly people or green cars, care care tips or safety, exciting reports about amazing women in the automotive industry or female friendly car reviews, we've got something here for everyone. Have you got something to share? Halloween is just around the corner, so we scared up some especially spooky carnival items as well.  Email Ask Patty at info@askpatty.com or use the form  to include your own blog bits in next week's carnival!

Last week, NASCAR drivers helped spread Susan G. Komen for the Cure's NASCAR creed: Go Pink or Go Home! at the Bank of America 500 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.  While it is uncommon to see drivers in pink during a NASCAR race, Susan G. Komen for the Cure knows these drivers and their corporate sponsors, will help will help raise awareness of breast cancer within a very important audience. "Breast cancer is the number one health concern for women and women make up about 40 percent of NASCAR fans. It makes a lot of sense for us to pursue this kind of initiative through our great partners," said Katrina McGhee, vice president of marketing for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. "We are committed to seeing a world without breast cancer and work to educate women and men everywhere about the importance of breast self-awareness and the early detection of breast cancer. Our sponsors are helping to make this possible." Want to make a donation? Virtually anyone with a mobile phone can make a "Go Pink or Go Home" $5 donation to Susan G. Komen for the Cure simply by sending the text message KOMEN to 90999.

M&M'S Brand is making a $650,000 guaranteed donation to Komen for the Cure through the sale of limited-edition dark and light pink M&M'S Chocolate Candies nationwide -- available in both Milk Chocolate and Peanut varieties. In addition, 10 percent of the sale of its My M&M'S "Promise Blend" of pink and white M&M's Milk Chocolate Candies available exclusively online at www.mymms.com and 10 percent of the sale of its co-branded merchandise at M&M'S World Stores will benefit Komen. The brand has been a Susan G. Komen for the Cure partner since 2003, raising more than $4 million to help discover the causes and cures for breast cancer.

Consumer Reports will reveal brand-new reliability data on Thursday, October 23. Their annual survey tracks 10 year's worth of reliability data and details future trends for the most and least reliable cars on the roads, while their in-depth data enables them to predict how this year's models will fare. If you're in the market for a new car, be sure to stop by Consumer Reports and do your research!

We love the folks over at The Busted Knuckle Garage! They've got a great lineup of car-related products for ladies to buy for their favorite carguys, including amazing lotions and healing salves, but in recognition of how many of us cargals are out under the hood ourselves, they've given us our own "Automotive Femineering"  cap to broadcast our automotive interests. They've altered their traditional "Busted Knuckle" logo with a nicely manicured female hand  on the side of the cap they've embroidered "No Car, No Story" so that you can tell everyone about your own personal wheels, and on the back it reads "Let A Woman Do It" -- advice to take to heart eh? The cute hat is sized for women and available in chocolate brown with pink accents, and has a slightly frayed distressed look on the bill. They say it's their "way of saying thanks to putting up with us guys hiding out in the garage and under our cars, motorcycles, trucks...."

"Change. It's such an in word these days that it's almost lost its meaning," says Toby over at Diva Marketing Blog,   in which she shares her reflections on change and how Ford's Model T can help us learn about the many changes happening today because of new social social media marketing techniques.

Looking for some - er - unusual jewelry? How about this  Oil Pendant collection?  Each inch-long handblown glass piece is sealed with recycled silver or gold and contains a drop of recycled oil. Hmm.

The economy is changing and consumers are caught in a tug of war: Car dealers, most of whom already are facing hard times, need to increase their profitability -- just as car buyers are trying to spend less. This affects the entire car-buying process, from vehicle availability to new car financing and incentives to lease deals and the price of used cars. Joanne Helperin over at Edmunds.com  shares an excellent look at what you can expect and how to best take advantage of the slow economy's impact.

Have you ever noticed that many new cars look suspiciously alike? On closer examination, you may be able to differentiate one from another - the badge, a grille, the unique hood design, etc. With auto show season upon us, another model year of new cars will soon hit the streets. In this article at the Los Angeles Times, Joni Gray discusses 12 vehicles that most influenced current popular car trends.

Situated along the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles County, this Carson car dealership's displays -- often set to the backdrop of the Carson oil refineries -- are sometimes quirky, and usually eye-grabbers. Expressing up the fiendish joy of this Halloween season, they've got four full-size mummies standing chained to a new Corvette, while skeletons straddle the hood of another Corvette suspended from the air by a crane. Creepy!

SAMACLEOD over at The Car Hangar has posted a photo of the Halloween Robo Car car he bought last Halloween. Has anybody seen whether Hot Wheels has released any special editions for this Halloween season?

If you live near Dearborn, Michigan, then you won't want  to miss this special Halloween event at The Henry Ford Museum.  Offered every half hour between from 6:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. from October 24 through 26, The Henry Ford presents a turn-of-the-20th-century Halloween activity promising frightful fun for boys and ghouls of all ages! Admission includes a free treat bag. For more information or to purchase tickets call (313) 982-6001 or visit www.thehenryford.org.

Does your little one want to dress up like his or her favorite NASCAR driver for this year's upcoming trick-or-treat outing? Your junior driver can choose from four Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt, Jr costume variations. Vroom, Vroom!

It's not a trick: Nissan Motors will recall more than 204,000 U.S. vehicles from its 2007 and 2008 model years due to the possibility that a passenger side airbag could fail to deploy properly in an accident. According to a release at Yahoo! news,  the voluntary recall covers 2007 and 2008 Nissan Altima, Altima Coupe, 350Z, Murano and Rogue; and Infiniti G35 Sedan, G37 Coupe and EX35 built from March 12, 2007, to May 27, 2008.

Do you believe in ghosts? We dug up some spooky car-related videos at Youtube.com that will make you believe ghostly spirits do haunt the earth, or at least seem to hang around surveillance cameras! You can observe a ghostly girl caught on surveillance camera in a parking lot,  or watch an ethereal apparition hovering in a car impound lot.  Let us know what you think!