Socal Mom by Donna Schwartz Mills

Unlocking the Scion tC at AskPatty.com

Last month, I started a new gig as a contributing editor over at one of my favorite sites for car advice, AskPatty.com, the automotive site for women.

My latest post is live. Find out how I fared a youth-oriented event celebrating the new Scion tC.

I Get the Star Treatment in a Chevy Cruze

6:28 PM: Edited to include Disclosure Statement

On Friday, I was privileged to attend another "drive and ride" event hosted by General Motors, to get a preview of their new Chevy Cruze (which won't be on lots for another month)... and had the opportunity to interview one of their engineers about the vehicle's safety features.

I am readying a sneak-peek type of post over at AskPatty.com, as well as a planned video showing where we went on our drive. But the folks at Chevy beat me to it by putting together a professionally edited video of their own... starring ME.

Want to know what we thought of the vehicle? Watch this space and I'll let you know when my review is live at AskPatty.com. In the meantime, learn more about the Cruze and its fuel efficiency features at Chevrolet.com and The Future is Electric.

Disclosure: I have no business affiliation with General Motors or its agents. I was not paid to write this post - however, I was given a gift card to use for expenses while we drove the vehicle. There was no expectation that I would write a positive post about the car.

Lexus Safety Camp: A Little Education Goes a Long Way

My daughter starts high school in the Fall, and while she is mildly excited about that, she has lately become obsessed with another upcoming milestone. I know this from the conversations we have each morning on our way to school.

"I want YOU to teach me how to drive when I get my permit next year," she announced recently. 

Ummmmm.... Well, I think by law, she will need to take lessons from a licensed driving instructor. But she will need to get several hours of practice behind the wheel, and I guess I'm the experienced adult who will have to grit my teeth and sit beside her.

Did I say I was experienced? I have driven the roads of Los Angeles for nearly 40 years... but I still need to learn some new tricks, as I discovered last week when I attended a driver safety event hosted by Toyota Motors' Lexus division.

I don't think I have to point out that there have been vast improvements in automotive technology over the past four decades. My first car did not have a lot of safety and fuel economy features we now take for granted: catalytic converters, airbags, power seats and windows, anti-lock brakes, and vehicle stability systems may have been available on higher end vehicles in the 1970's -- but now, most of those features are standard (and many are mandated). Onboard computers? When I got my first driver's license, you needed an entire room to hold a computer. Only visionaries (and the writers of Star Trek) would dream that some day they would be an integral part of the car you drive.

So I should not have been surprised when the professional drivers at Lexus Safety Camp noted that advances in safety technology dictate changes in the way we drive -- or should. Take the way we grasp the wheel. Back in the prehistoric 1970's, we were taught to think of the wheel as a clockface and put our hands in the "10 and 2" position.

But today, the safest place to keep your hands is at "9 and 3." That's because of the addition of the airbag within the wheel; in the event of a collision, you don't want your hands to be in the way. Care must also be taken to position the wheel so that the airbag isn't going to hit you in the face.

New technology can make your vehicle behave differently. Take the addition of anti-lock brakes. As someone who buys and holds on to cars for ten years or more, I hadn't a clue what was going on in my Volvo the first time I engaged my ABS system. The pulsation of the vehicle as I came to a quick stop was quite frightening - but according to the experts at Lexus, that's exactly what's supposed to happen:

If there is one thing I learned at the safety event last week, it's that driver education doesn't end in high school. As we age and our vehicles become more sophisticated, it would behoove us all to take a refresher course every few years. I'm glad Lexus put on the event and am pleased to put the word out.

DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation for this post, although the company did feed me and send me home with a goodie bag filled with promotional materials, a first aid kit and car games for the kids. I have no business affiliation with Lexus or their parent company, Toyota.

Taking a Text Drive

Apparently, California drivers are ignoring the law against texting and driving, as the Los Angeles Times reported this week.

I have a post up right now at 50-Something Moms Blog, where I talk about teens who text (and their mothers who follow). I took great pains to mention that I pull over to the side of the road when I need to send my daughter a text (i.e., if I am running late to pick her up).

While I don't text while driving, I will admit to occasionally sneaking a peek at my Blackberry Inbox when I am stuck at a red light. I know this is something that seems like it would be safe... but I also know that anything that distracts me from the task at hand (driving!) can lead to an accident. Let this be a public notice: THIS IS SOMETHING I RESOLVE TO STOP DOING.

I'm a signatory of the pledge at Mom Sends the Message, which supports safe driving practices -- which are harder to maintain, as anyone who drives a kid's carpool will tell you. I say a little prayer of thanks every day I make it home safely from school drop-off - between the parents who make illegal U-turns or double-park or encourage their kids to jaywalk in front of other cars... and the middle school kids who don't even look to see if a vehicle is already in the intersection before they start crossing the street...

...it's a miracle I've never been in an accident near that school. Or worse - that no kids have been hit by anyone.

Keep Your Mind on the Wheel

The very admirable Cooper and Emily (of The Motherhood social networking site) have begun a new safety behind-the-wheel campaign:

The idea behind Mom Sends the MSG is that auto safety begins with US. Kids model OUR behavior... and if WE'RE setting a bad example by being scofflaws behind the wheel, how can we expect our kids to follow the letter of the law (and safe driving) once they get their licenses?

This is a subject that is near and dear to me (as my own daughter will attest). We live down the hill from a middle school, and when we were shopping for our house, we didn't think to visit between the hours of 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. Had we seen steady of procession of cars barreling high speed up and down our street each morning, I don't think we would have bought it! 

Over the years, I've written plenty of rants about the way people drive around schools: the folks who seem to think that red zones don't matter when they are dropping off or picking up their kids... the ones who park in crosswalks... make illegal U-turns... and jaywalk. (And don't get me started on people who don't stop at stop signs!)

I am outraged by parents who do all they can to ensure their own kids' safety -- but don't give a hoot about anyone else's.

And then there are cellphones. I have to confess that in the past, I have tweeted from the car while stuck at a red light... but I ended that practice a long time ago. One factor was last year's train accident a few miles from my home, when it turned out the operator had been texting someone instead of paying attention.

But another factor is that I simply cannot handle the distraction. I don't even like talking on a hands-free cellphone when I'm driving and recently stopped bringing my bluetooth along. (So if you are trying to reach me between 7:30 and 8:30 on Monday through Friday, leave a message... I will call you back when I'm safe at home.)

I'm happy to take the pledge to model good driving behavior - and urge you to do so, too here.