December, January and February are the leading months for home heating fires. Overall, heating equipment is the second leading cause of U.S. home fires and home fire deaths. There are between 350,000 and 400,000 house fires in the United States every year that result in almost $8 billion in annual damages, according to the National...
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VIN stands for Vehicle Identification Number, a string of characters that identifies a car. Every passenger vehicle manufactured for U.S. sale since 1981 has a standardized VIN, while the VINs on older cars may vary in length and character type depending on the manufacturer. How many numbers are in a VIN? Each VIN consists of...
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Today’s cars have always-on technologies that help keep drivers safe. One of the most important pieces of car tech is TPMS, or tire pressure monitoring system. By alerting you to an under-inflated tire, TPMS can not only help you prevent an accident, but can help increase your fuel efficiency as well. Learn more about how...
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Teenagers are often encouraged to take a safe driving course to improve their skills early on, but every driver regardless of age can benefit from a safety course. In 2014, more than 2 million people were injured in motor vehicle accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While that is a slight decrease...
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Whether you’re a new driver or have years of experience behind the wheel, practicing safe driving consistently may help you avoid an accident. Check out the slideshow below for important safe driving tips to practice every time you drive. No matter how safely you drive, the unexpected can still happen. Make sure you have the...
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Ladders are a common part of home repair and maintenance. They enable homeowners to complete tasks that would otherwise be difficult to reach. But as is the case for any tool, it’s important to use ladders safely. Ladder-related injuries send more than 90,000 people a year to emergency rooms throughout the United States, according to...
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Riding an ATV can be fun, but if you don’t take the proper precautions, it can also be dangerous. These ATV safety tips can help make your riding experience safe and enjoyable: Enroll in an ATV Safety Course Before climbing on an All-Terrain Vehicle, complete a hands-on training course to help prepare you for both...
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You can lapse into bad habits no matter how experienced you are. Even seasoned motorists can slip up on certain, potentially unsafe practices. To find out what those mistakes are, we recently spoke to Bill Windsor, associate vice president of consumer safety for Nationwide. Pushing the limits of a yellow light. It’s easy for a...
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It could be the nearly irresistible urge to “take command” with unsolicited driving directives every time you’re a passenger in a vehicle. Or that sudden “shriek” you let out whenever you feel your comfort zone violated. Either way, you’re exhibiting signs of backseat driver syndrome. While some may shrug off this behavior as simply part...
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All cars have four wheels, so what exactly differentiates four-wheel drive from other driving systems? Four-wheel drive (4WD) refers to vehicles in which the engine powers all four wheels at the same time. These 4WD cars often allow drivers to switch from two- to four-wheel drive as conditions require. If you like going off-road for...
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Take these steps the next time you run into a traffic jam. Auto manufacturers are creating smart cars that initiate braking activity when you get too close to a vehicle in heavy traffic. And highway departments can report when there are dangerous conditions ahead. But when in heavy traffic, the ultimate influence on your safety...
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Driving down an unlit highway at night, your tire blows and you swerve into a ditch. Who you gonna call? You can try the Ghostbusters, but Bill Murray is probably too busy being famous to drive you to the hospital.
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An affordable nautical adventure awaits! Have you always dreamed of buying your own boat? While it’s a romantic and exciting notion, you need to understand what the required investment of money and time actually is. Buying a used model can help reduce the sticker shock. According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, 60 percent of first-time...
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This quiz can help your teen get ready to roll. For teenagers who are gearing up to earn a learner’s permit to drive, the process inevitably requires an exam to test knowledge of your state’s traffic laws. While some questions on state sites specifically speak to local laws, the following practice questions address universal, safe-driving...
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Take these steps the next time you run into a traffic jam. Automakers are constantly coming up with technologies to reduce accidents in daily driving. But the reality remains that accidents, road construction and other factors will inevitably tie us up in delays. Getting through those delays with minimal frustration usually relies more on human...
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