Posted By Mike

But 20-year-old Jonathan Fischer has invented a device that may help alleviate some of my worries. The Speed Demon is a black box of a different kind. It mounts inside your vehicle and will alert you by email or text message when your teenager exceeds pre-set speed limits and will tell you where your teenager is at the time. It combines a GPS unit, cell data modem and software to determine which roadway your teenager is traveling on and can accommodate different pre-set limits  for various types of roads, such as highway and secondary.

The device also features a curfew alarm, which will alert you if the car is driven during off-limit hours. You’ll also receive an alert if your teen tries to outsmart the device by turning it off. For emergencies, Speed Demon features a panic button that will phone home for help.

While Speed Demon will tell you where your young driver is traveling when he/she speeds, it doesn’t track a vehicle’s every move. For that level of tracking, you’ll need a different device. “As a teenager, I feel that teens deserve their privacy,” Fischer said. “My device only alerts when you’re driving dangerously. Drive safe, and you get to keep your privacy.”

Fischer has been working on Speed Demon since he was 16, inspired by the tragic death of a friend in a high-speed collision. The device is available at www.livefastdriveslow.com for $250 and a $15 per month service fee. For me, the invesment may be nothing compared to the peace of mind I get when I send my oldest out onto the road by himself.

Source: Boston.com

Evaluate your driving habits.

The way you drive has a great deal to do with how much gas you burn. The stop-and-go driving and trying rush hour traffic we experience in Chicagoland really cuts into our gas mileage. Many of us it worse by driving too aggressively—accelerating harshly when pulling away from stops or tailgating and then slamming on our brakes. Drivers like this needlessly burn more gas, wear out their brakes much faster than the average driver and actually save themselves very little time on the road. Not to mention, abrupt starts and stops are much harder on the engine and transmission than smooth, gradual increases and decreases in speed.

Here’s a better solution: Calm down, slow down and drive more sensibly. When possible, change your driving schedule to avoid the most heavily congested travel times. Try leaving for work earlier or later. Experiment with different routes to see if any make a difference. Chances are, you’ll save money and time while preserving your brakes and avoiding tickets and accidents.

Unfortunately, these distractions—however innocent their intentions—lead to accidents. According to a recent survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), almost 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near crashes result from inattentive or distracted drivers within 3 seconds of the incident. The American Automobile Association (AAA) suggests that distracted driving accounts for 4,000 to 8,000 accidents per day.

While scanning newspaper headlines, applying make up and testing out all the features on your GPS all contribute to those stats, chatting it up on cell phones seems to attract the most attention. The act has become the bane of traffic safety advocates and the target of legislators and lawyers alike. Recently, a 19-year-old English woman was sentenced to four years in prison for hitting and killing a 64-year-old grandmother while sending text messages on her phone. In the 15 minutes leading up to the accident, she had apparently used her phone on nine separate occasions.

Talking on the phone without hands-free equipment while driving is already illegal in Chicago, along with states like New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. California will join that list this year, and it’s been illegal in the U.K. since February.

We share this with you because we urge you to keep your eyes focused on the road ahead the next time you climb behind the wheel. Resist the urge to multi-task while driving and only use your cell phone if you have a hands-free setup. All it takes is a split second for you to be the reason traffic is backed up for miles on the Tri-State.

One-third of those surveyed said $3 per gallon would trigger (or has triggered changes), and another 32 percent said they would significantly change their behavior if gas prices reach $4 per gallon.

When asked how driving habits have changed, 90 percent said they are driving less and 75 percent said they are doing a better job of maintaining their vehicles.

Other changes include carpooling more (31 percent), purchasing more fuel-efficient vehicles (30 percent) and using public transportation (24 percent).

Interviews were conducted online with 500 people, 21 years or older, who are responsible for purchasing fuel, maintenance and repairs on the vehicle they drive. According to Opinion Research Corp., the company that conducted the survey, the data was weighted according to gender, age and geographic region. The maximum error range is plus or minus four points at a 95 percent confidence level.

Source: National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE