drivers – Adam's Auto Advice

What? Men Pay More Than Women for Auto Insurance!

In preparation to write this story, I did an Internet search for “men or women” and the auto-complete feature suggested “better drivers” as the top choice. Apparently, I am far from the only person who seeks answers to the age-old question of who makes better drivers — men or women? As my headline suggests, the news isn't good: Men have poorer driving records than women and, therefore, we pay more for auto insurance.

Men vs Women: Driving

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), men drive more miles and are more likely to engage in risky behavior such as speeding, not wearing seat belts and driving under the influence. I know I'm being a real downer, and here's one more stat you won't like: Accidents that involve men drivers tend to be more severe. In 2010, motor vehicle deaths with male drivers behind the wheel were over 22,902 in the U.S.; while deaths involving women drivers were much lower at 9,979.

That's just a fact, and where you live greatly affects how much men may pay in premiums. (For instance living in Baltimore city vs Baltimore county is a huge difference!) That doesn't mean men can't find coverage that is inexpensive it just means they have to do a little bit more homework. Many auto insurance companies lower rates for safe-driving records. Keep a clean-driving record or move to a city or state where it's cheaper to drive with insurance to help decrease premiums. Driving eco-friendly hybrid or electric vehicles can also result in lower auto insurance rates. Along with many auto insurance providers, Kemper is full of great online resources to help you find a better deal.

Shop Online Insurance Providers

Some online sources offer monthly payments significantly lower than traditional providers. Of course, there's an app for that: Apps that find and price insurance on your smart phone simplify the process, as they can run the numbers and provide comparisons from wherever you are. As with so many things nowadays, there are apps for this. The Cheap Car Insurance Finder helps find you insurance quotes and lead you to the right coverage. If you want another app be sure to read user reviews to find the best app for you.

You Have to Shop Around

Don't grab at the first policy that looks good on paper. Some insurance companies may not charge you up-front for your policy but might get you on the backside through the deductible. Read the fine print. Know what your deductible is, what your payments will be, how often you have to make those payments and what is actually covered in the event of an accident. Don't get caught holding your pants up with rope because your policy doesn't cover medical bills or damage to the other driver's vehicle.

Look for Discounts

If you are a homeowner, combine homeowners' policies with auto insurance and bundle premiums. Your age, your career, whether you have a clean-driving record, who else will be driving your car, and a host of other factors affect how much you pay and and the total amount of your discounts. Young male drivers are more expensive that young teenage women drivers, so letting your son drive your vehicle will cost you more.

The good news is in the last five years, the number of fatal automobile accidents involving both men and women drivers has decreased about 75 percent, according to the IIHS. Unfortunately, that's not reflected in our premiums. The Insurance Research Council looked at claim payouts in Michigan, which has the highest premiums in the country, and reported that while the number of accidents has decreased, the payouts have increased. Twenty-two percent of 2011 payouts were more than $250,000; in 2002, only 5 percent of payouts exceeded $250,000.

St. Patrick Day “Tipsy Taxi” Service

Happy St. Patrick Day! I am sure most people in Baltimore will be celebrating this holiday by going out to a bar or restaurant and having a few drinks. Why not have a little fun, right? It is important to remember to not drink and drive though. You not only endanger yourself when driving intoxicated but fellow drivers and passengers on the road. If you are going out tonight you might want to remember to call the “Tipsy Taxi.”

What is the Tipsy Taxi? It is a collaboration between the American Automobile Association (AAA) and Yellow Cab that tries to keep drunk drivers off the road on holidays that usually involve consuming large amounts of alcohol. To help with St Patrick's Day celebrations they are offering the service tonight.

That means on St. Patrick Day, Saturday March 17th, between from 4 pm – 4 am anyone who is at a Baltimore city restaurant or bar can call (#1-877-963-TAXI) and get a Free Ride home.

There are a few restrictions to using Tipsy Taxi though. You must 21-years-old and need to live in the Baltimore metro area. The taxi rides are Free but after $50 bucks, the rest of the ride is on you. Still it is a pretty sweet deal and a good idea to keep intoxicated drivers off the road.

Supposedly the Tipsy Taxi line is busiest between 12 am – 2:30 am. So keep that in mind if you call then. Remember if you are drinking tonight please call the Tipsy Taxi number #1-877-963-TAXI.

Have fun and stay safe!

Charm City Pedal Mill: “You Drink, You Pedal, We Drive!”

Pedal Mill Front — Charm City Pedal Mill!

Looking for something unique and fun to do on a weekend night, or any time in Baltimore? Look no further than the Charm City Pedal Mill.

You are probably wondering, ‘What is a Pedal Mill?' Basically, a Pedal Mill is a cycle with pedals and gears, 4-wheels, disc brakes, and a steering wheel like a car. It is powered by people, outfitted with 16 seats for adventurous riders to get it moving. It's a Rolling Bar. A ride on the Pedal Mill is a great way to spend a night out with friends in Fells Point and Canton.

Pedal Mills are inspired by similar machines in Germany and the Netherlands called Fietcafes. Amanda Linden, the owner and entrepreneur behind Charm City Pedal Mill, first encountered Fietcafes when she was living in Germany, spending time abroad.

Later in her hometown of Milwaukee, Amanda saw some people she had known in high school. Funny thing was, they were going by on one of these crazy Fietcafe contraptions. She started talking with them, and it turned out they had started running pub crawls around Milwaukee with it. “That's where I got the idea.” said Amanda.

So in August, 2011 she launched Charm City Pedal Mill. She runs the company along with help from a great group of dedicated friends. “Couldn't do it without them all,” says Amanda.

Using social media and a go-getter attitude, Amanda dove head first into getting the company started. After purchasing a vehicle, she went around to all the bars in Fells Point and Canton, told them about her Pedal Mill, and gave them her business card. “Some people were like this is the coolest thing ever!” However, there were bars that she never heard back from. Now with the success of the company and pub crawls, “Those bars are now calling me saying. ‘We really want to be on your tour!” says Amanda.

The Pedal Mill stops at about 10 bars on any given night. Tours will vary depending upon the time and day. Special requests are welcome.

Amanda is no stranger to the food and restaurant business, having worked in the industry for about 13 years. However, she longed for something more. “I didn't want to bartend, and didn't want to manage a restaurant. I had done that before!” she lamented. With Charm City Pedal Mill she has found her true calling, running pub tours in Baltimore. “It doesn't feel like work at all” Amanda said enthusiastically.

Amanda estimates that there are about 10 other cities that have Pedal Mills running tours, like her high school friends in Milwaukee. She emphasized that this is the, “First one in the Mid-Atlantic, which is kind of cool.”

For those interested in trying out this awesome contraption, it is $25 Mondays-Thursdays to rent out a seat. “You make that up with specials at the bar,” says Amanda. As part of being a rider on the Pedal Mill you will get a special wristband that lets bars know you are a Pedal Mill passenger, and that entitles you to specials. Each bar is different but you typically save 10%-15% on drinks and get shot specials. Tours are generally two miles long, which is great for working off all that beer and food during the night. (When else are you gonna do that, huh?)

You can also rent out the entire Pedal Mill per hour for $155. (Prices are a bit higher on the weekend.) The price goes down per hour the longer you rent it. People rent it out for birthdays, bachelor/bachelorette parties, corporate events, and other special events. “The groups coming out are usually celebrating something.” said Amanda.

The Pedal Mill is equipped with a sound system, so you can bring CDs or an MP3 player and listen to your favorite tunes through the night.

You can celebrate all you want on the Pedal Mill. Lots of people dress up in crazy costumes, “We had a whole crew of pirates last week,” Amanda told me.

One key person who helps run Charm City Pedal Mill is Jason. He fills a number of roles, acting as the main entertainer, head driver, and oversees operations and maintenance. You can see him on board the Pedal Mill most nights. He emphasized that the drivers stay sober, like all drivers should. “You drink, You pedal, We drive!” is the Charm City Pedal Mill slogan. “Never had a bad experience on here.” said Jason when talking about what it is like when they take the Pedal Mill out with customers. Jason fixes the Pedal Mill often, and was doing an alignment when I went to check it out. “He is good with the mechanics of it,” Amanda commented.

The drivers consist of a fun group of people, who all add their special skills to the business. Kevin is an electrical whiz helping fix any issues with the lights or sound system. Jeff is very good with bicycle mechanics. Sarah is the only girl driver, “She's great, really really good” says Amanda.

You might think getting this Pedal Mill business started and getting the permits would be difficult. Amanda told me that generally the city has been receptive because Baltimore is supporting bike initiatives. She also mentioned that businesses are particularly generous in helping each other out. The company partnered with Wedding411 and some hotels to be featured in Where magazine (that magazine that is always in hotel rooms). In addition, Drink Baltimore will run specials for them.

Sounds and looks awesome, right? What are you waiting for? Go get a group of friends together and rent it! Then come back and leave a comment and tell everyone about your fun experience on the Charm City Pedal Mill.

Pedal Mill Full — Let the Good Times Roll!

Call (#443-956-6455) for booking a tour or seat. You can also email: charmcitypedalmill@gmail.com. For additional info visit: http://www.charmcitypedalmill.com/

Baltimore Grand Prix a Boost for Baltimore

If most of you have not heard tomorrow Baltimore will be hosting it's first Grand Prix. This a big event for our small city and it is supposed to bring in an estimated 70 million dollars. There are many people unhappy with the event. Rightfully so as this is causing huge traffic congestion downtown. Consider though how much this means for a city like Baltimore. Our reputation has been marred by such shows as “The Wire” and “Homicide.” While there are many fans of these shows and I would include myself among fans of “The Wire” our city is plagued by many issues. It all really comes down to Baltimore being a poor city. Attracting a big racing event will mean continued commitment to keep money flowing into the city. Tens of thousands are expected to come out for the Baltimore Grand Prix. Baltimoreans should be excited! I know it can be difficult with terrible traffic, which I experienced today. Many communities are still without power. Racing is the last thing on their mind. Even if this is only around for 1-2 years, it will be a Boost for Baltimore. I look forward to covering it this weekend for the people of Baltimore.

http://www.baltimoregrandprix.com/

3M Headlight Restoration Kit Review

In my last post I suggested using Toothpaste to Restore Cloudy Headlights. It will work…. if you spend the whole day doing it!

To save yourself time and sanity I'd suggest buying a 3M Headlight Restoration Kit. These kits range in price from $15-20, and generally work well. For restoring the headlights on my Mom's '97 Chrysler Town & Country I bought the 3M Headlight Restoration Kit. It took me about 4 hours to do it properly. The process is basically what a body shop would do to restore and refinish headlights. Except you use a drill and save a ton of money since you DIY!

Here are Pictures of the Before and After on my Mom's '97 Chrysler Van.

BEFORE

AFTER

I did this on March 6th, 2010. That was about 2 months ago, and the headlights still look pretty good. The headlights were so dim nobody wanted to drive the Town & Country at night, but now that's not a problem. (Well I don't want to drive it because it's van but that is obviously a separate issue.)

Restoring your headlights is extremely beneficial for your safety and other drivers out on the road. Not only did this improve the appearance of the van, but the ability to see the road at night and in bad weather greatly improved and other people will be able to see the van better.

It's possible the headlights will get cloudy again, meaning I might have to buy another headlight restoration kit and redo this. If you want to avoid this in the future I would recommend going down to your local auto parts store and buying a UV clearcoat spray in a can. Headlights that come from the factory have a UV clearcoat protection on them, which helps protect from UV damage and debris. Generally when the UV clearcoat wears off is when you start to get cloudy, hazy, and yellowed headlights.

The 3M Headlight Restoration Kit doesn't have any sort of clearcoat spray that comes with the kit. Some kits, like the Slyvania Headlight Restoration Kit, come with a UV clearcoat application. I should put a protective UV coating on the van's headlights, to ensure I don't need to refinish the headlights again. I would recommend you do the same if buy the 3M kit.

Here are some tips for the 3M kit:

I was oversanding with the 600 grit sandpaper. The paper would gum up, before I realized it. It probably would have been helpful to wet the 600 grit paper a little bit every so often.
You get only 1 piece of 3000 grit sandpaper. It would have been helpful to have 2 pieces in my opinion. I did one headlight then I moved onto the other one, but by then the paper was used up. It took me forever to do the other headlight. I would suggest switching back and forth on each side if you are headlights are really cloudy, hazy, or yellowed.
You must Tape-up around your Headlights! I probably would have done a lot of damage to the paint if I didn't! I just used blue Painters Tape you can buy at any local hardware store, which worked fine.
I would suggest using a Corded Drill, which is what I used. If you try to use a Battery Powered Drill, I'm sure the battery will run out before you finish and you will be waiting for the batteries to charge.
As the video says in the beginning you definitely should have a Spray Bottle and some microfiber towels.

I hope this helps people restore their own Headlights. If you have seriously cloudy, hazy, or yellowed headlights keep in mind the 3M kit probably will not work. You might need to get them refinished and restored at a body shop. However, it is worth it to at least try the 3M kit first since it's not that expensive. I'd imagine your headlights will still look a little bit better.

If you have any questions about using the kit please leave a comment below.