Just a reminder that tomorrow is the Piru Neighborhood Council Meeting and first ever Business Mixer, We invite all local businesses to come join us at 7pm at the Piru Communtiy Center at Warring Park. Bring you business cards and a friend! We will ask each business owner and community organization to take a moment to stand and introduce themselves and the services that they can offer the community of Piru. We cant wait to see you tomorrow. We will also be introducting Piru's first Sponsored Skater to the community. Attached is a PDF with more information.

The Auto Club

(LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2010) – Southern California gas price held steady over the past week and stayed above $3.10 for the sixth straight week, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.122 per gallon, which is three-tenths of one cent less than last week, three-tenths of a cent higher than last month, and 27 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $3.132, one-tenth of one penny higher than last week’s price, three-tenths of a cent above last month, and 30 cents higher than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.20, up four-tenths of one cent from last week, also four-tenths of a cent higher than a month ago, and 26 cents above last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $3.11, which is half a cent higher than last week, four-tenths of a cent lower than last month, and 27 cents more than last year.

“This year has continued to exhibit unusual stability with regard to gas prices,” said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. “Summer travelers are finding it much easier to predict their gasoline expenses than in prior years.”

(CAMARILLO, July 16, 2010) – Because car crashes are the number one cause of death for teens, the Automobile Club of Southern California is offering free educational workshops in Camarillo on Saturday, Aug. 7, designed to help parents and teens prepare for their most dangerous years on the road.

Each year, 15,000 teens, ages 16-19, are killed or injured in vehicle crashes. The Auto Club has successfully spearheaded several laws to place additional life-saving restrictions on California’s novice drivers, but many parents and teens may be unfamiliar with the requirements.

“Dare to Prepare” provides critical information parents and teens, ages 14 and 15, need to know before teens take the wheel. The interactive workshop explains to parents and teens reasons why teens crash and provides tools and guidelines to help parents and teens go through the challenging learning-to-drive process. Participants will receive educational tools and resources to take home to help prepare them for driving.

The free workshops will take place from 10 a.m. to noon and from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at Camarillo Parks & Recreation, 1605 E. Burnley St. Space is limited. Participants must register in advance and teens must attend with a parent or caregiver. To register, please call the Auto Club’s Community Relations & Traffic Safety Dept. at (714) 885-2300.

“Teen drivers are inexperienced and often engage in risky behaviors behind the wheel due to a lack of reasoning skills,” said Anita Lorz, the Auto Club’s team lead for traffic safety. “Dare to Prepare aims to jump-start the dialogue about safe driving between parents and teens.”

The two-hour presentation also will discuss:

Parents’ and teens roles and responsibilities, including insurance

Understanding California Graduated Driver Licensing components

New Auto Club parent-teen driving agreements

Practical tips on teaching teens to drive

Additional resources and educational tools that can help

The Auto Club

(CAMARILLO, July 12, 2010) – The Automobile Club of Southern California will host a free child passenger safety education workshop at its Camarillo branch on Thursday, Aug. 5, for parents, expectant parents and caregivers of children up to 6 years of age.

The 90-minute workshop from 6-7:30 p.m. will focus on California’s child passenger safety laws, how to choose the proper child safety seat and how to install child safety seats from infant size to boosters.

Under California law, children should be properly restrained in a child safety seat or booster seat until they’re at least 6 years old or weigh 60 lbs. Safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers. Using a booster seat with a seat belt for older children instead of a seat belt alone reduces the risk of injury by 59 percent, according to the Auto Club.

The class is for adults only. No car seat installations in vehicles will take place. Participants will receive take-home resources, including information on where to locate local car seat installation technicians and upcoming safety seat events.

The class will be held at the Auto Club’s Camarillo branch, 2570 Las Posas Road, 93010-3452. Free parking is available in the courtyard. Class space is limited and reservations are required. Call the Auto Club’s Community Relations office at 714-885-2300 to reserve a seat.

The Auto Club

The Automobile Club of Southern California is offering its free Tipsy Tow service during the 4th of July holiday for the 14th consecutive year. The community service is available from 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 3, to midnight on Sunday, July 4, to help remove drinking drivers from the road. Tipsy Tow is available in the 13 Southern California counties served by the Auto Club.

Motorists, bartenders, restaurant managers, party hosts or passengers of a drinking driver may call 1-800-400-4AAA for a free tow home of up to seven miles. Callers simply tell the Auto Club operators, “I need a Tipsy Tow,” to receive the free tow and ride home. A regular Auto Club-contracted roadside service truck will be dispatched.

Callers need to keep in mind that the service excludes rides for passengers, is restricted to a one-way, one-time ride for the driver and the destination is limited to the driver’s residence. Reservations are not accepted. Drivers can expect to pay the rate charged by the tow truck contractor for rides farther than seven miles.

“Drivers should be aware of the high crash risk from drinking and driving associated with holidays and we encourage them not to get behind the wheel if they’ve been drinking,” said the Auto Club’s senior researcher Steve Bloch.

Fourth of July is a traditional time for barbecues, family gatherings, parties, picnics and activities that contribute to a more relaxed atmosphere and more opportunities for drinking alcohol, according to Bloch.

“It only takes one or two drinks to slow physical and mental skills that affect vision, steering, braking judgment, and reaction time,” he said. “Drivers should be aware that the California Highway Patrol and law enforcement agencies are likely using sobriety checkpoints and extra patrols to look for drinking drivers during the holiday.”

California arrests a large numbers of DUI offenders every year. In 2008 (latest data available) 214,000 drivers were arrested for the offense. “Motorists need to be aware that many enforcement agencies are targeting drinking drivers and as a result, arrests for DUI in the state have increased by 22 percent since 2001,” according to Bloch. “The toll from drinking and driving in California is enormous,” Bloch added. “In 2008, nearly 21,000 persons were killed or injured in alcohol-related crashes.”

A recent AAA report found that 10 percent of motorists admit to driving when they thought their blood alcohol content was above the legal limit. “This is entirely preventable,” said Bloch.

Drinking drivers frequently don’t plan for other ways to get home because they are concerned about retrieving their vehicle the next day. They cite taxi costs and inconvenience as reasons they don’t use alternate transportation, according to the Auto Club. Tipsy Tow provides motorists with a safe ride home for themselves and their vehicle instead of driving while intoxicated.

People convicted of driving under the influence could lose many of the important things in their lives, such as family, job, dignity and money. The Auto Club estimates that a first time DUI conviction in California can cost approximately $15,179 or more in fines, penalties, restitution, legal fees and increased insurance costs.

Current laws, enforcement, public awareness, and education efforts by public service-oriented organizations, including the Auto Club, have contributed to the decline in the number of alcohol-related fatalities during the past 10 years. The Auto Club provides the Tipsy Tow service and free publications as part of its “You Drink. You Drive. You Lose.” public awareness campaign.

The Auto Club advises that motorists can keep themselves and others safe and can avoid DUI arrests by keeping these safety tips in mind:

At social events, designate non-drinking drivers who can get everyone home safely.
Call a friend or family member for a ride home if you have been drinking.
Keep a cab company telephone number in your wallet so you can call for a ride home.
As a party host, offer a variety of non-alcoholic drink alternatives and provide a gift to guests who volunteer to be designated drivers.

Take the car keys away from friends and relatives who have had too much to drink.

The Auto Club

After two years of decreases, July Fourth travel among Southern Californians is expected to partially recover this year, with 2.57 million local residents planning to take trips this holiday, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. That’s a 19 percent increase from the number who traveled last year.

Among Southern California travelers, 2.23 million, or 87 percent of them, will get to their destinations by car this holiday weekend – 20 percent more than the 1.85 million who drove to their destinations last year. A projected 190,000 travelers will fly, which is a 20 percent increase from last year’s 173,000 plane travelers.

Statewide, 4.14 million travelers are expected to take holiday trips, also an increase of 19 percent. Car travelers are expected to number 3.58 million, while 306,000 are expected to go by plane. Nationally, July Fourth travel is expected to increase by 17 percent compared to last year, with 34.9 million Americans projected to take holiday getaways.

According to the AAA/Auto Club holiday travel survey, the average distance traveled for Fourth of July getaways for Southern Californians will be 470 miles, and this holiday’s median travel budget will be $756 in California and nearby states. Gas prices are expected to be almost the same as last year and are now in the $3.10-per-gallon range in most local areas.

“As we saw in our summer travel survey earlier this month, people are getting back to traveling, but they are hanging on to value-driven spending habits and are economizing on their trips,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “Bargains for Independence Day trips are not as plentiful this year as they were in 2009 when the recession was in full swing, but travelers can always save money by taking shorter trips, going to closer locations and choosing less expensive lodging, eating and entertainment.”

The top five destinations for Southern California travelers, according to a poll of the Auto Club’s AAA Travel Agency, are:
1) San Diego
2) Las Vegas
3) San Francisco
4) Central Coast
5) Grand Canyon

The holiday travel projections were based on economic forecasts, analysis and an extensive survey conducted by IHS Global Insight on behalf of AAA.

The Auto Club advises auto travelers to plan their routes ahead of time, and to call the California Highway Information Number at (800) 427-7623 to make sure that their planned route will not be disrupted by highway closures. The closure information is updated hourly.

The Auto Club

Gas prices barely budged throughout Southern California in the past week, holding on to average prices above $3 a gallon for the 15th week in a row in most regions, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.061 per gallon, which is six-tenths of a penny less than last week, 5.7 cents lower than last month, and four cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $3.072, which is half a penny higher than last week’s price, 4.3 cents below last month, and four cents higher than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.131, unchanged from last week, 3.4 cents lower than a month ago, and eight cents above last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $3.047, which is one-tenths of one cent lower than last week, seven cents lower than last month, and four cents more than last year.

“As we head into summer vacation season, Southern California gas prices are almost identical to this time last year and more than $1.50 lower per gallon than two years ago today,” said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. “At the moment, oil prices are holding steady and local refinery capacity is good, so automobile travel costs are very similar to what they were this time last year.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the CONTINUED »

The Auto Club

Despite the fact that identity fraud is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the U.S., about 40 percent of Southland residents have little or no concern about it happening to them while traveling or visiting retail locations this summer, according to a new survey by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The survey also revealed that nearly one-third of polled Southern California residents do not plan to take a few common precautions to prevent or minimize the effects of ID theft while on vacation this summer, such as removing unneeded IDs or credit cards from one’s wallet before traveling.

“Identity theft is not a crime that makes sensational headlines, but today you are more likely to become an ID theft victim than a victim of almost any other type of crime,” said Denise Bialek, program manager for the Auto Club’s identity theft monitoring benefits for members. “Between shopping, walking in crowded areas, visiting attractions, staying at hotels and eating out frequently, vacations can present many additional chances for a traveler to have his or her identity stolen.”

Bialek recommends that in addition to removing unneeded credit cards and identification from one’s wallet prior to a trip, travelers should photocopy their ID or passport and bring that copy in their luggage in case their wallet is stolen on the trip, and they should also contact their credit card companies to alert them when and where they will be traveling. Thirty-two percent of those responding to the Auto Club poll said they do none of those things prior to going on vacation.

The Auto Club recommends CONTINUED »

With the Fourth of July holiday just around the corner, homeowners may be asking themselves what they can to do deter home break-ins while on vacation this summer. The greatest numbers of home burglaries occur during July and August, according to insurance industry statistics. Homes are burglarized about every 15 seconds and a homeowner loses an average of nearly $2,000 in possessions and damages, according to the Dept. of Justice.

More than 2.1 million burglaries take place annually, with more than 65 percent being home break-ins, according to a national insurance industry group. “Residential homeowners and renters can deter the opportunistic home burglar by taking security precautions during summer months when homeowners they travel on vacation,” according to David Womble, group manager of homeowners claims for the Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club.

“Locking and preventing the opening of doors and windows is the most significant deterrent to home burglary,” said Womble. “Most home burglaries result from thieves gaining entry through unlocked doors or unlocked windows. Using a deadbolt with a key lock on both sides of the door can stop many thieves.”

Homeowners can also prevent easy access through sliding glass doors as well. Commercially available locks or placing a steel rod dowel in the inside door track channel can prevent an intruder from forcing the door open, according to Womble. Security systems also can be a theft deterrent and the Auto Club offers a substantial member discount on the standard Brink’s Home Security System through its Show Your Card & Save® program.

The Auto Club’s top 13 tips to help prevent home burglaries are:

Never announce your vacation plans on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter.
Lock all doors and windows before you leave. Use deadbolts, dowels, locking pins in sliding glass doors and windows to keep them from being pried open. Slowing down a would-be burglar will likely make them seek another home that’s easier to break into.
If possible, install a monitored alarm system in your home. You may be eligible for a discount on your insurance premium after the system is installed. The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club offers such a discount. Make sure your home insurance is up to date and provides adequate coverage if you own luxury goods, expensive jewelry and electronics. Check to see if you need an additional rider or floater insurance policy for those items from your Auto Club or other insurance representative.
Keep the exterior of your home and yard well lit with low-wattage outdoor lighting.
Close and lock the garage door. Side garage doors should be solid, without any glass and equipped with a strong deadbolt.
Don’t advertise that you’re going out of town. Stop all deliveries, mail and newspapers, or ask a trustworthy neighbor or friend to pick them up for you. Don’t let mail, including bank statements and credit card offers, sit in the mailbox to advertise you’re away and tempt a thief to steal your identity.
Use automatic timers with inside lamps and a radio. Set them to come on at random times.
Remove spare keys from outside your home, especially near the front door or under a welcome mat.
Trim bushes in front of entrances, including windows. This eliminates a burglar’s ability to hide while breaking in.
Keep some blinds up and curtains open to keep up normal appearances. Put away personal documents, and place critical documents in a safety deposit box or leave them with a relative. Hide expensive jewelry or place in a safety deposit box at your bank.
If you’ve just moved into your home, change the front door lock.
Many thefts are perpetrated by individuals who may have access to your home. If possible, conduct background checks and closely monitor those who may be working inside your residence.
Neighborhood Watch programs are great deterrents. If your neighborhood doesn’t have one, volunteer to start one with your local police department before leaving town or ask a trustworthy neighbor to keep an eye on your home while you’re away.