The Auto Club

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17, 2009 – Southland gas prices soared to new 2009 records earlier this week, but then slightly backed down, 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 $3.14 per gallon, which is 4.5 cents more than last week, nine cents more than last month, and 61 cents less than last year. In San Diego, the price is $3.151, which is 3.6 cents more than last week’s price, nine cents above last month, and 62 cents lower than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.227, up 3.3 cents from last week, 12 cents higher than a month ago, and 64 cents below last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $3.129, which is 4.5 cents more than last week, nine cents more than last month, and 61 cents less than last year.

“Reports of scaled-back production in California refineries helped cause a rise in wholesale prices, which quickly made its way to consumers at the pump,” said CONTINUED »

The Auto Club

Parents go to great lengths to make sure their children are safe. But when it comes to child car seat safety, too frequently minor mistakes can put children at risk without parents realizing it, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

To kick off National Child Passenger Safety Week, Sept. 12-18, the Auto Club warns parents of the six most common car seat mistakes. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children. However, 244 lives of children under age 5 were saved during collisions in 2008 because they were secured in a safety seat.

To help ensure children are properly protected in the event of a crash, the Auto Club offers its Birth to Boosters brochure to parents at Auto Club branch offices and also urges parents to guard against these mistakes:

Not using a safety seat. Whether an infant, toddler, or booster seat-age child, parents should always use the appropriate child restraint system every time their children are in a vehicle. Safety seats reduced the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers. And, CONTINUED »

The Auto Club

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8, 2009 — Southern California gas price averages have spent most of 2009 well under $3 a gallon, but now price averages have topped the $3 mark for two months in a row, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California monthly Fuel Gauge Report.

The Southern California September average price for regular self-serve gasoline is $3.104, four cents higher than the August average of $3.061. This month’s average price is 78 cents lower than last year’s September price average of $3.841.

The statewide average price of $3.11 is six cents higher than the August average of $3.052. This month Van Nuys has the state’s lowest average price at $3.019, while Eureka CONTINUED »

The Auto Club

LOS ANGELES, CA – Southern California gas station prices continued to hover near the $3 mark for the second week in a row, 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 $3.036 per gallon, which is three-tenths of a penny less than last week, 20 cents more than last month, and 87 cents less than last year. In San Diego, the price is $3.035, which is four-tenths of a cent less than last week’s price, 23 cents above last month, and 84 cents lower than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.133, up 1.8 cents from last week, 20 cents higher than a month ago, and 89 cents below last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $3.021, which is nine-tenths of one cent less than last week, 20 cents more than last month, and 86 cents less than last year.

“When we look back at where gas prices were one year ago, August 2008 was when prices were plummeting by double digits in response to the economic crisis,” CONTINUED »

The Auto Club

LOS ANGELES, CA. - As expected, gas price averages are now topping $3 a gallon in every major Southern California region after another week of price increases, 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 $3.052 per gallon, which is 7.1 cents more than last week, 16 cents more than last month, and $1.04 less than last year. In San Diego, the price is $3.063, which is 7.9 cents more than last week’s price, 20 cents above last month, and 97 cents lower than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.116, up 6.1 cents from last week, 13 cents higher than a month ago, and $1.10 below last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $3.037, which is eight cents more than last week, 16 cents more than last month, and $1.02 less than last year.

“Prices aren’t rising as rapidly as they did during the first week of August, but so far they are still going up in response to higher CONTINUED »

The Auto Club

Many Southern California teens will return to school in the next few weeks, and some may hope to drive onto campus in a new vehicle. Because car crashes are the number one cause of death for teens nationwide and California, getting the right car for a novice driver is an important decision for parents. The Automobile Club of Southern California has developed a list of criteria and vehicles to assist parents and their teens.

When asked by parents: “What is the safest car to get my new teen driver?” the Auto Club’s answer is: a mid-size car with a four-cylinder engine, automatic transmission, Antilock Braking System (ABS) and high safety crash test scores.

“A mid-size car is big enough to protect a novice driver in a crash, but small enough to be manageable for a novice driver,” said the Auto Club’s Automotive Research Center Manager Steve Mazor. “The four-cylinder engine limits acceleration capabilities and generally provides better fuel economy. Automatic transmissions are easier to drive and allow the novice to focus on the road as well as steering, acceleration and braking. Electronic stability control helps prevent roll-overs.” CONTINUED »

The Auto Club

With the Southland experiencing a lingering heat wave with temperatures in the 90-100 degree range, the Automobile Club of Southern California strongly reminds motorists of the danger of leaving children alone in a closed vehicle.

The Auto Club reminds parents and childcare givers that children can die within minutes in hot temperatures. Recently in Los Angeles, a car thief stole a vehicle with children inside generating concern that the thief might abandon the car with the kids inside during the high temperatures. The vehicle and children were found three hours later, unharmed.

Nationwide 423 children died from heat stroke after being left in unattended vehicles since 1998.

“We think that we’re only going to be inside a store for just a few minutes, but children under age four are the most at-risk for having their lives endangered by being left in a hot car for any length of time,” said Steven Bloch, Ph.D., senior traffic safety researcher for the Auto Club. “Children should not be intentionally left in a car by an adult, or forgotten because of adult distraction. Children also should not be allowed to play in or around cars,” he added. CONTINUED »

The Auto Club

The current heat wave has raised wildfire dangers to new levels. The Automobile Club of Southern California is alerting local residents that they should have a family emergency plan and also take steps to reduce the likelihood of property loss in a wildfire.

"In the past five years, Southern California has seen major wild fires in San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Thousands of residents have experienced the trauma of evacuating their homes, not knowing if they would have a home when they returned," said Cortland Ray, the Auto Club's vice president for insurance claims. "While most of them did not experience losses, these prior disasters, and the current drought, make it clear that Southern Californians need to make sure they have planned for emergencies such as this."

Ray added that consumers need to be aware of their insurance policies and what they cover. Homeowners insurance through the Auto Club, for example, is one of the few to offer an Advantage option with Guaranteed Replacement Cost, meaning that covered damage to a qualifying home built after 1950 will be repaired even if the cost is higher than the stated coverage amount of the policy. This enhanced coverage option will also pay up to $25,000 to repair or replace covered property with equivalent materials that meets environmentally responsible and energy-efficient standards as well as provide $25,000 in identify theft protection. CONTINUED »

The Auto Club

Economic doldrums continue to provide a silver lining to Southland drivers for the third straight week with cheaper prices at the pump, 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 $2.932 per gallon, which is 4.5 cents less than last week, two cents higher than last month, and $1.64 less than last year. In San Diego, the price is $2.921, which is six cents less than last week’s price, one cent below last month, and $1.62 lower than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.022, down 2.2 cents from last week, eight cents above last month, and $1.60 below last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $2.926, which is 4.2 cents less than last week, two cents more than last month, and $1.61 less than last year.

“Oil industry analysts tell us that crude oil prices and wholesale gasoline futures had moved up to unsustainable levels given the flat driving demand in California and the U.S.,” said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. “We’ve seen these commodity prices decline sharply in the last couple of weeks and hopefully that signals a continued downward trend at the gas pump.”

Use of hand-held cell phones by drivers declined sharply from pre-law levels nearly a year after the state law went into effect last July, according to Automobile Club of Southern California observational roadside surveys of drivers on Orange County roads.

Prior to the law’s implementation, the Auto Club found that 9.3% of drivers were using hand-held cell phones. Shortly after the law took effect, July 1, 2008, use declined to 3.3% – a drop of 65% in one month, according to the Auto Club survey. Use of hand-held cell phones has crept up slightly in follow-up surveys, rising to 3.4% three months later, and increasing to 3.9% in the Auto Club’s 10-month follow-up survey. Importantly, however, hand-held cell phone use remains 58% below where it was before the state implemented its cell phone law.

Two other US localities have hands-free cell phone laws that have been systematically evaluated. Those locations experienced very different results from their laws. In New York State, where a hands-free cell phones law took effect in 2001, almost no effect of the law was found a year later. In contrast, Washington, D.C., experienced a reduction of more than one-third in the use of hand-held cell phones about one year later. CONTINUED »