Raising kids can be a challenge and a lot of fun. Transporting them in the family vehicle can be difficult at the best of times. I’m not sure which was worse; when the kids were little or when they got older. A day never goes by when I hear “shotgun” from one of my kids. They all want to sit in the front seat. However, when the kids are small, it’s every parent’s responsibility to know where the kids should sit, especially in the early years. Keep in mind the middle of the rear seat is safest for any passenger. It’s farthest away from any of the four sides in case of collision.
As many parents do, they keep infants in rear facing car seats for quite a while. The rear-facing car seat helps to support the child’s head and neck if the driver does a sudden swerve, stops abruptly, or is involved in a crash. Since the infant’s neck muscles haven’t built up much strength in those first years, keeping them in a rear-facing car seat as long as possible is the best thing for them. There are some rear-facing seats that can hold children up to 20 kilograms! As long as your child hasn’t outgrown the rear-facing child seat, keep them in it! Continue reading Car Seat Safety Tips→
It’s that time of year when we send our kids back to school, and for the first time, some of them will be driving themselves — and maybe even siblings — to and from campus.
Regardless of whether they’re headed off to a college in another city or state, or just driving to the school across town, we know you want your teen driver to be as safe as possible behind the wheel. Continue reading Tips To Help Your Teen Be a Better Driver→
Well, it’s that time again: The kids will be heading back to school and I think that makes many parents very happy. Having four kids myself, I look forward to getting back into a regular routine once again. However, with an older son who now is heading to college, there are a few things that are different with him driving every day versus walking to school each day. If you’re a parent facing the same things, here are a few tips you may want to consider. Continue reading Driving Tips For Students Heading Back To School→
Don’t you just love the summer! It’s honestly one of my top four seasons to travel in! Summer vacations always brought great memories for me as a kid and now with having four kids of my own, making new memories is always happening.
To help make positive memories, traveling safely to your summer destinations should be every driver’s priority. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few summer travel tips. Continue reading Five Tips for Summer Road Trips→
Winter weather has been ravaging much of the nation’s snow states and some of us are STILL shoveling snow off our driveways, so it might seem odd to be asked “When’s the last time you washed your car?” If you’re still wearing your winter parka, getting a car wash may not be the first thing on your mind, but remember, without regular removal, road salt can cause corrosion and rust, ruin paint, and wreak havoc on your car’s undercarriage.
If your daily travels take you through saline-snowy streets, it’s important that you protect your vehicle from the ravages of road salt. And you beach people who never see the snow? Pay attention here, too: If you live near the ocean, your vehicles may be under a slower attack by overspray and salt in the air year-round. Continue reading Spring Cleaning your Car after Winter Weather→
It’s that time of year: Spring season freeze and melt cycles cause our weary roads to erupt with punishing potholes. Another colder-than-average and snowy Ontario winter means additional road maintenance challenges for cities and towns across the province.
Hitting a pothole can damage tires, wheels, steering and suspension, wheel alignment, and more. Hitting even one especially severe pothole could alter the alignment of a wheel and cause uneven tire wear. Uneven tire wear means the tire will need to be replaced sooner than necessary. That bad bump can wind up costing car owners hundreds of dollars in repairs! Continue reading Spring Thaw Brings Pothole Punishment →
When winter weather gets particularly ugly, driving in severe cold and snowy conditions can be both frightening and dangerous.
These extreme winter weather conditions pose unique challenges and safety risks for most Canadian drivers. To help Canadians prepare for winter driving, the Canadian Automobile Association partnered with Transport Canada to create a brochure listing the top five winter driving safety tips drivers need to know.
The goal is to help Canadian motorists prevent problems before they occur. The brochure, called “You, Your Vehicle and Winter Driving,” is a handy guide that includes information about how Canadians can make their vehicles winter-ready, how to prepare for and drive in bad weather, and what to pack in a winter survival kit. The downloadable guide is full of helpful safety tips, and can be printed out and kept in your glovebox. However, we’ve got a very brief summary of the five tips here: Continue reading 5 Tips for Winter Road Safety from CAA and AG+R→
At Active Green+Ross we realize you have many choices when it comes to the service needs of your vehicle, and we are sincerely appreciative for being named silver place winner in the favourite tire store category, and bronze winner for favourite oil change service in the Toronto Sun Readers’ Choice Awards. Continue reading Active Green + Ross Honored With Toronto Sun Reader’s Choice Awards→
Traditional automotive maintenance recommendations suggest changing all four tires at once when they reach the end of their useful life. And that makes perfect sense when tires have been rotated carefully and have worn evenly throughout their lifespan.
But sometimes, a driver may only be able to change two: maybe because poor alignment or improper inflation has caused two tires to wear dramatically differently from the other two, or because an unrepairable flat in one tire requires replacing a pair to keep the vehicle stable. And when that happens, where do you install the better pair? Do new tires go in the front or rear? Continue reading Replacing Two New Tires: Do they Go in Front or Back?→
Raising kids can be a challenge and a lot of fun. Transporting them in the family vehicle can be difficult at the best of times. I’m not sure which was worse; when the kids were little or when they got older. A day never goes by when I hear “shotgun” from one of my kids. They all want to sit in the front seat. However, when the kids are small, it’s every parent’s responsibility to know where the kids should sit, especially in the early years. Keep in mind the middle of the rear seat is safest for any passenger. It’s farthest away from any of the four sides in case of collision.
