Safety Tips in the Summer Heat: Keeping Your Tires Cool

Consumer Reports: Summer Heat and Tire Safety

Summer is definitely here with record breaking heat across much of the county.  In Arizona, the heat can be blistering for your tires and dangerous.  According to Conusmer Reports, "Hot weather exacerbates heat build-up and weakens the tire, potentially leading to abrupt and sometime catastrophic failure. On a hot 90-degree day at our track, surface temperatures easily exceed 150-degrees. Think about what your tires are experiencing while you're enjoying the drive in a cool air-conditioned car."  With temperatures currently above that in most of Arizona, there are some important tips that can keep your tires cooler and you and your passengers safer.

"For example, just having your tires properly inflated will go a long way to avoiding such failures. Tire pressure is the life-blood of any tire; An under-inflated tire generates more heat due to excessive sidewall flexing, adversely effecting handling and fuel economy. Also, the tires will wear out faster.  The key here is using the correct inflation pressure. Based on our experience and a number of industry surveys, most tires are not inflated correctly. Those that are under-inflated are typically the result of no or infrequent pressure checks. However, some consumers go the other way when they over-inflate their tires using the sidewall rating—that's the maximum pressure and the not service pressure as defined by the vehicle manufacturer, which is typically listed on a driver's door jamb placard."

Important tips from Consumer Reports:

• Inflate the tires to the recommended setting outlined on the tire information placard found most often on the driver's door jamb and/or the vehicle owner's manual.
• Check the tires monthly. Tires will typically lose up to 1 psi per month, and pressure drops about 1 psi for every 10-degree drop in air temperature.
• Buy a good tire gauge. It's also a good idea to buy a portable compressor that works off of your car's power outlet; these are available in many auto parts stores. 
• Tires also lose air to common punctures, so if you find you're always adding air to one particular tire, it might have a slow leak. Have it checked out at a service garage.

Source:http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2012/08/tips-to-keep-your-car-tires-cool-amid-damaging-summer-heat.html

Remembering to keep and eye on your tires while enjoying the summer heat can help avoid blowouts and improve your millage.  At FooteWork, we are looking out for you!  Fast, Friendly, FooteWork!

Get Ready For Summer: Vehicle Safety and Maintenance Check List

Summer is almost here!  It's a good time to do some routine checks of your vehicle before taking a trip and it's easy to do it yourself. About.com's Auto Repair section has some very useful how-to links:

Radiator Flush: The coolant in your radiator doesn't last forever. Over time it can break down and start to corrode the inside of your radiator. This can lead to cooling problems and radiator repair. A radiator flush once a year is cheap insurance against radiator repairs.

Replace Your Air Filter: You should replace your air filter twice a year, so now's a good time to get that 5-minute job out of the way.

Tire Checks: Summer traveling could mean driving in the rain. The tread on your tires must be adequate for rainy weather or you could end up in a ditch, or worse. Checking the tread depth on your tires take one minute. While you're at it, you should check your tire pressure, too.

Replace Your Windshield Wipers: Winter weather can be brutal to your windshield wipers, making them almost useless if you get caught in a summer rain shower. Replace them at the beginning of the summer and you won't have to worry.

Inspect Your Brakes: It's a good idea to inspect your brakes twice a year just to be sure everything is up to snuff. Car safety should always be a top priority. Go ahead and check your brake fluid while you're at it.

Check Your Battery: Corrosion is very likely to build up during winter weather driving. Check your battery posts and cables to ensure you'll have no starting problems.

Check Your Headlights: Sometimes you don't notice that you have a bulb out. Now's a good time to take a look to see if you need to replace a headlight bulb. Not only is it unsafe to drive with one headlight, you can get a ticket!

Source: http://autorepair.about.com/od/seasonal/a/summerize.htm

Also important is checking your oil every 3000 to 5000 miles. Keeping the oil from getting too low preserves the life of your engine. Checking the fuel filter is also recommended but might be better done by professionals.  Changing a clogged fuel filter can increase your vehicle's fuel economy and performance which is wise before heading out on a long road trip!

It's essential to bring lots of water when traveling, especially when driving through the desert. Also, it's a good idea to travel with an roadside emergency kit.  Check out this checklist from Consumer Reports:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/03/roadside-emergency-kit-what-to-carry-with-you/index.htm

We hope you have a safe and fun Summer!  Come see us at one of our FooteWork offices, located in Prescott, Prescott Valley, and Williams, Arizona for any of your auto, RV, motocycle, OHV, boat, or aircraft title and registration needs.  We also do Level 1 Inspections to check vehicle ownership both on and off site and abandoned vehicle, towing and salvage yard inspections as well as many more motor vehicle services.  

Happy Summer!

Roadtrip!

Northern Arizona has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.  Take a roadtrip and explore our great state.  See link for 10 great scenic drives in Northern AZ to take this Spring and Summer:

http://www.arizonascenicroads.com/northern/nothern_index.html

Safe driving!

Arizona Repeals Clean Car Program And Considers Electric Car Tax

Ford Focus Electric

Last month the Governor's Regulatory Review council voted to repeal the year old Clean Car Program that went into effect January 2011 and to instead match the Federal Greenhouse-gas regulations which are less strict.  On the heels of this decision, there is a new Arizona Bill calling for an electric car tax.

According to the Arizona Daily Star "Environmentalists argued that the repeal will discourage zero-emission-vehicle development and harm the state's air quality, but supporters of the change said it will have negligible environmental impact and no economic impact.

"We believe this was the best course of action," said Henry Darwin, director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, which called for the change. "We thought we had a very clear message from the Legislature to not adopt standards more stringent than the federal standard."

Clean Cars went into effect in January 2011 and applies to vehicles sold in Arizona. Mirroring standards in California, the program requires car companies to lower emissions that harm air quality, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and sell and develop infrastructure for zero-emissions vehicles.

In 2008, the federal Clean Air Act forced the state to either adopt tailpipe-emissions regulations from the federal government or from California. At the time, according to an ADEQ memo to the council, a strong national program on tailpipe emissions didn't exist.

But in May 2010, the federal Environmental Protection Agency revised its fuel-efficiency and greenhouse-gas standards, prompting the ADEQ's determination that repealing the Clean Car rules in favor of the federal standards would be more beneficial to the state.

With the repeal, the state is dropping its requirement on zero-emissions vehicles. But Arizona didn't have the infrastructure to support zero-emissions vehicles in the first place, the ADEQ argued. "

Source: http://azstarnet.com/business/local/az-repeals-emission-rules-mirroring-calif-standards/article_4c8d395e-4d48-5b49-adc2-14dc6d77bb95.html

Along with the repeal of more stringent emission laws, Arizona is also considering a tax for electric cars.  Green Car Reports says "less than a month after the Arizona Governor’s Regulatory Review Council voted to repeal the state’s Clean Cars law and adopt the less-stringent emissions standards set out in Federal law, the state is now considering charging a pay-per-mile tax on electric car use.

Arizona House Bill 2257 -- introduced by Rep. Steve Farley (D-AZ) -- is modeled on proposed Oregonian legislation and would charge electric car owners up to 1.43 cents per mile travelled.

Like the $100 per year tax being proposed in Washington state and the electric car electricity tax being discussed in Kansas, the proposed Arizona tax would be the electric car equivalent of the tax currently levied on gasoline purchases statewide.

Like the gasoline tax, any funds from the pay-per-mile tax would be spent on maintaining the state’s road network.

“One of the only ways we pay for our roadways is through gas tax, so if they’re not paying into the gas tax system we need to find a way of closing that loophole, and getting them to pay for the roads they use,” Rep. Farley told the Cronkite News. “It’s only fair that we pay for the things we use.”

The majority of electric car owners in Arizona agree, according to Jim Stack, president of the Phoenix chapter of the Electric Auto Association.

“Someday it’s all going to be hybrids and electric vehicles,” he said. “it wouldn’t do us any good if we didn’t have any roads.”

But some consumer groups, whilst acknowledging the need to devise a tax system that ensures electric car owners also pay towards road upkeep, have pointed out that the tax could be too much, too soon.

Given the relatively high sticker price of most electric cars on the market today, they argue, an additional taxation system may put off prospective buyers from making the switch."

Source: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1072614_arizona-considers-charging-electric-cars-tax-at-1-43-per-mile