How can I minimize the costs of driving?

This is a timely question as continued rising fuel prices have people wondering how to reduce the costs of operating a vehicle. With increased spending necessary just to fill the tank, drivers wonder if they should put off spending money on car repairs and maintenance.

The answer to that is “No.” Taking care of your vehicle actually saves you money both on fuel costs as well as long-term expenses. Of course, there are additional things you can do to conserve fuel such as taking it easy on accelerating from a stop and driving at 55MPH on the highway. But, keeping a close eye on maintenance for your vehicle will actually save on fuel costs as well. And it is an investment that can pay off by extending the life of your vehicle.

Whoever thought filling the gas tank would cost $100? With gas prices continuing to rise, we all look for ways to save. While we can’t affect the price at the pump, taking care of your vehicle and ensuring it is operating at optimal efficiency will save you money over time. For more information on how to reduce total costs of operating your car, SUV or truck, both in the short-term and long-term, see our tips on How to Get Better Gas Mileage.

We are here to help you make informed decisions about servicing your vehicle. Visit us in Haverhill or call us at 866-937-8658.

How do I protect my children on Halloween?

This week, Gary Jaffarian shares safety tips for parents and lists local Halloween events.

The best way to protect your children as they trick or treat in the dark is to avoid  busy, main streets; carry flashlights and have an adult accompany young children. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of recent clown-related stories covered in the news and Halloween may spur pranks or more serious risks. As always, make sure costumes are safe including not too long to cause tripping, and eye holes big enough for your trick or treater to see. Remember that dark costumes make it difficult for drivers to spot your children.

Whenever possible, walk on sidewalks, not on the street and remind your children to not run across streets without looking both ways. Halloween night is a difficult night for drivers. Commuters are trying to get home to be ready to hand out candy or bring their children out. With most communities having defined hours for trick or treating, it can be a big stressful due to traffic and trying to spot children out walking on the roads. When driving on Halloween, please drive safely and slow down when you reach neighborhoods. At every turn, be on alert, as there may be children out on the street where you don’t expect them.

Our Ask Gary followers live in many different towns—too many to name—so check your local paper, Patch.com or other internet sights to find out what is going on in your town. Many cities and towns are offering trick or treat nights at malls, shopping centers and other locations as an alternative to being on the roads.

Salem, Mass. is busy all month, but older children and many adults flock to this city to experience Halloween. If you are headed to Salem, be sure to plan ahead as traffic is very heavy, restaurants are very busy and the amount of pedestrians is incredible!  If you have older children who drive or are of age to legally drink, be sure to remind them to have a designated driver or use public transportation or Uber.

If you have older children who will be out this weekend and out on Halloween night, be certain to monitor where they are going and remind them of the crowds, road safety and making good decisions including not getting into vehicles where the driver has been drinking or with drivers who speed. Assure them it is safe to call you at any hour if they feel they are not safe.

If you are looking for fun, local activities weekend, here’s some local ideas:

Meet the Horror Authors—meet many local New England horror authors. They will share their stories and sign their books! Saturday, October 29 from 6-8 p.m. This event is free at the Buttonwoods Museum, 240 Water Street, Haverhill.

•  Boo Bash—The Mall at Rockingham Park is inviting all little ghouls, goblins and boo’tiful princesses to come have a spooktacular time at the Kidgits Halloween event. Put on your spookiest costume and come party with us for Halloween. Sylvan Learning will be at the event to introduce you to a scary good time with Lego Robotics.  Activities include Pumpkin decorating, fun seasonal photo opps, Halloween crafts, a Special Trick-or-Treating giveaway, Halloween treats and more! Saturday, October 29 from 1-3 p.m. at Lord and Taylor Court on Level 2.
• Downtown Newburyport Trick or Treat at all downtown stores including The Tannery on Water Street on Friday, Oct. 28 from 4-5 p.m. Children come in costume and they get treats!
• Tricks and Treats at Merrimack Valley Pavilion, 2087 Main St, Tewksbury on Sunday, October 30, from 4 p.m.–6 p.m. for free candy, games & prizes! Open to all kids ages 12 & under.
• Witch’s Woods – Through October 31st. Thurs. –Sun. at the Nashoba Valley Ski Area, Westford, Greater Merrimack Valley’s original Halloween Screampark. Climb aboard Witch’s Woods most popular attraction, the Haunted Hayride, and visit the Keeper’s Crypt, Castle Morbid and Nightmare Mansion.
• Groton’s Annual Halloween Costume Parade—October 28, 2:40 p.m. Meet at Prescott School wearing costumes! Parade starts at 3 p.m., runs down Main Street to the Town Field where children can enjoy dancing, games with prizes, face painting, giveaways, snacks, and more. There will also be a very special guest to greet the children for ages 2-10. Cost: Donation of at least one dollar per child at the field.

In local cities and towns in the Jaffarian Volvo Toyota area, Halloween will be celebrated as follows (all on Monday, October 31 except in Haverhill as noted):

Haverhill—Celebrated on the last Saturday in October from 5-7 p.m. (on Oct. 29 this year)

Amesbury—5:30-7:30
Andover— 5-7 p.m.
Georgetown—5-7 p.m.
Lawrence— 4-7 p.m.
Merrimac—5:30-7:30
Methuen—5-7 p.m.
Newbury—5:30-7:30
Newburyport—5:30-7:30
North Andover—5:30-7:30 p.m.
Rowley—5-7 p.m.
Salisbury—5:30-7:30
Tewksbury—6-8 p.m.
West Newbury—5:30 p.m-7:30

Please drive carefully and walk through the streets carefully. Check your flashlights now for batteries to have them ready to go! Watch your children and wear you walk!

All of us at Jaffarian Volvo Toyota wish you a happy and safe Halloween!

 

Gary Jaffarian

What can I do to ensure my teen drives safely?

That is a great question that I am sure crosses every parent’s mind once their teen becomes a licensed driver. I am addressing this question in honor of National Teen Driver Safety Week, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15-to 19-year-olds in the United States. In fact, in 2014 there were 2,679 teen passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes and an estimated 123,000 teens were injured. Parents need to take the time to talk with their teens about the many dangers of driving, according to the NHTSA. Those dangers include alcohol, lack of seat belt use, distracted driving, speeding, and extra passengers.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s NHTSA developed a campaign to help parents discuss five common sense, yet critical driving practices with their teenage drivers that can have the greatest beneficial impact to prevent a crash. The “5 to Drive” campaign gives parents and teens a simple, straightforward list that can help them talk about good driving skills and most importantly, prevent a tragedy before it happens.

The “5 to Drive” campaign encourages parents to discuss with their teens one safety topic each day during national teen driver safety week—or all at once. Try posting it on the refrigerator, leave a love note in the vehicle or include a reminder in their lunch. Most importantly, emphasize how much you love them and don’t want to lose them.

The “5 to Drive” campaign topics are:
1. No cell phone use or texting while driving. It’s against the law, however, in a survey by dosomething.org, 56% of teens said they talk on the phone while driving.

2. No extra passengers. The more passengers in the vehicle, the higher the risk of an accident. Try to limit one friend in the vehicle at a time. Peer pressure is a major contributing factor in teen crash deaths. Moreover, one NHTSA study found that a teenage driver was 2.5 times more likely to engage in risky behaviors when driving with one teenage passenger and three times more likely with multiple teenager passengers.

3. No speeding. Perhaps you want them to know that if your teen speeds and gets a ticket—there will be consequences. Insurance rates will go up and as a parent consider consequences affecting them such as paying for the increased insurance and losing driving privileges.

4. No alcohol. Also illegal for teens and they run the risk of losing their license with a DUI on their record, should they be stopped.

5. No driving or riding as a passenger without a seat belt. When the teen driver in a fatal crash was unrestrained, almost four-fifths of that driver’s teen passengers were unrestrained as well.

Lack of experience, judgment and maturity, as well as peer pressure contribute to poor choices among teen drivers. Teens also suffer from “It won’t happen to me” syndrome or delusions of “I’m a great driver!” It is only for those reasons that you need to discuss these teen driver statistics with your son or daughter:
• More than half of the teen occupants of passenger vehicles who died in crashes were not wearing seat belts.
• Speeding was a factor in 35 percent of fatal crashes involving a teen driver.
• At least 12 percent of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes were distracted at the time of the crash.
• Despite the fact that all states have Zero Tolerance Laws for drinking and driving under age 21, 505 people nationwide died in crashes in which drivers 18 and under had alcohol in their systems.
• Only 44% of teens said they would definitely speak up if someone were driving in a way that scared them. Make it comfortable for your teen to know if they don’t feel safe in a friend’s vehicle, it is okay to call you for a ride, no matter what time of night.

Another tip and manner in which you can be a role model, is to allow enough time to get to your destination. If you’re running late, do you speed? Instill in your teen that it is more important to arrive a little late than never arrive because of a crash, but more importantly, allow enough time to get to school or other destination on time.

Lastly, there are devices you can purchase and apps you can download to monitor your teen’s location and driving. That is certainly an option and an investment worth making. Check out all of the tips and devices on the web. You’ll be glad you did. After all, nothing is more important than the safe return of your teen every time they leave the house.

All of us at Jaffarian Volvo Toyota wish you well as you are charged with the most difficult job in the world—being a parent, particularly to a teen. I am the parent of both a son and daughter and I understand the challenges, too!

What is the best source for vehicle safety information?

As a parent, safety is the most important thing to me when purchasing a vehicle. What information is out there that I can trust about safety ratings?

There are two objective and unbiased national organizations that conduct safety ratings on all vehicles and this information is also available on line. The two organizations are the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (http://www.iihs.org) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (http://www.nhtsa.gov/). The National Highway Safety Administration has a special web site for rating vehicles based on crash tests. We are happy to report that the two most affordable Toyotas are listed among the 2017 honor of a 5-star rating—the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Yaris. The Toyota Prius with its new safety equipment is soon to be tested.

For the 2016 models, Jaffarian Volvo Toyota models were listed in nearly every category of IIHS – all as Top Safety Picks + as follows:
• Minicars—Toyota Scion iA
• Small cars— Toyota Prius
• Mid-size —Toyota Prius V and Toyota Camry
• Mid-size luxury— Volvo S60 and Volvo V60
• Large Cars— Toyota Avalon
• Luxury Large Cars— Volvo S80
• Small SUVs—Toyota RAV4
• Mid-size SUVs—Toyota Highlander
• Mid-size Luxury SUVs –Volvo XC 60 and XC 90

According to the IIHS, to qualify for 2016 TOP SAFETY PICK+, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the five crashworthiness tests and an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention. Models that earn TOP SAFETY PICK+ or TOP SAFETY PICK are the best vehicle choices for safety within size categories.

Size and weight influence occupant protection in serious crashes. Larger, heavier vehicles generally afford more protection than smaller, lighter ones.

We are proud to sell both Toyota and Volvo, because overall they rank highest for safety. My grandfather focused on quality many years ago when he researched automobile manufacturers. He started with Volvo and then added Toyota. Please visit us at Jaffarian Volvo Toyota and we will help you choose the safest vehicle in the category that best suits your needs and budget.

 

 

 

Gary Jaffarian