Thursday, July 29, 2010

How to Beat Traffic Camera Tickets

Technology is now on the side of the law. You can now get a traffic ticket for running a red light without a law enforcement official being anywhere near your vehicle.

The dreaded traffic camera that takes a picture of the back of your car to record your license plate number is showing up in more areas of the country. It will soon enough be in your area you can count on it.

But technology has met its match this time with a non-tech product that you can use yourself. A company called PhantomPlate has come up with an ingenious product to keep you from receiving a traffic ticket if you happen to run through a red light.

It’s comes in a spray can that you apply yourself. No, it doesn’t turn your car invisible, but it does make your license plate invisible to the traffic cameras by using a reflective coating that is invisible to the eye but quite effective.

Why does it work? The traffic camera uses a high powered flash to capture the image of your license plate. When the camera flash hits the plate, the PhotoBlocker spray reflects the light and blurs the image completely.

Think of what a picture would look like if you aimed a camera at a mirror with a flash. That’s the effect on a smaller scale. You simply buy a can of the Photo Blocker, spray the license plates on up to two vehicles (only one application is needed), and never worry about getting a traffic ticket again by an automated traffic camera.

No worries of being pulled over for having the spray on your plates because it’s completely invisible to the eyes.

If you don’t want to use the spray, you can buy a plastic cover called a PhotoShield or Reflector cover that stays on your plate and works the same way.

These products are only illegal in Pennsylvania, so if you live or drive in any other state, you can use them.

I am not condoning the use of these products to purposely run red lights or other traffic signals. I do feel secure in recommending them to the average safe driver who may unintentionally drive through a red light.

For the cost of a traffic ticket of $100 or more, it’s worth it.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The new Green Hornet movie starring Seth Rogen features a Black Beauty car that's awe inspiring! The nice thing is that it doesn't move too far from the original at it's base, but man does it have some cool stuff!

The original Green Hornet was a 1930's radio program about a newspaper publisher turned crime fighter and his martial arts expert sidekick.

It then became a short-lived crime fighting show that ran during the 1966 and 1967 seasons. It's based on a comic book duo starring two crime-fighters: The Green Hornet and Kato. Kato was played by none other than Bruce Lee; the star of many karate movies in the 1970's.

The new movie keeps the Black Beauty intact with some 21st century modifications.
The Black Beauty is a 1965 Chrysler Imperial and the movie used 29 different versions for various scenes!

The car includes two hood mounted Gatling guns (machine guns) as well as a missile launcher or two.

Some of the cars were used to be chopped in half or otherwise damaged during filming. Others were made with roll bars so that stunt drivers could literally roll the cars over repeatedly.

Seth Rogen stars as Britt Reid, the son of a wealthy businessman. As Reid takes over his father’s business, he decides that there’s more to life than just earning a paycheck and decides to become a crime fighter .

One of his best and most loyal employees decides to build an indestructible crime fighting car that becomes the Black Beauty.

The twist is that they decide the best way to become effective crime fighters is to appear as villains themselves. That way they can get close to the actual villains and appear to be on their side.

Some of the other versions of the car were used for testing the various weapons and gadgets as the car was being built. Very cool!

The Chrysler Imperial was the most prestigious car for Chrysler from roughly 1955 to 1975. There were different versions along the way of course, and 1965”s was the Imperial LeBaron.

Another interesting fact about the series is that the Green Hornet was actually related to the Lone Ranger. He was supposedly his great grand nephew.

Like other antique cars, the Chrysler Imperial is a collectible, but one that is very affordable in most cases. Chrysler collectors have even paid as low as $5,000 for 1965 convertibles in good shape with original parts.

Check out the TV series with Bruce Lee through BlockBuster Online:

Blockbuster.com

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Saturday, July 10, 2010

Auto Insurance Terms

Almost all states require some type of auto insurance for its drivers and the days of states that don't require insurance are over.

How familiar are you with the auto insurance policy you have on the vehicle you or your family drives?

Here is a list of terms you should know very well. Make sure that you go through your insurance policies at least once per year as rates may have increased and coverage’s may change.

It’s also a good idea to receive quotes from competitors to the carrier that you have every two to three years. I personally saved about $1,200 per year recently by switching to my new carrier!

Deductible – The insurance lottery term as I like to call it. This is the up front amount you pay for damages to your vehicle. Typical deductible coverage amounts are: $100, $250, $500. Yes, you can carry insurance with no deductible meaning that the insurance carrier will pay for everything to fix your damaged vehicle. Great deal, eh?
Unfortunately, you’ll pay more for your policy if you don’t have a deductible. The higher that amount is, the lower your insured rate will be. Make sure you compare what your payments will be at different rates of deduction.

Full Coverage – This refers to the two main types of auto insurance coverage: Comprehensive and Collision

Comprehensive – This is the insurance that covers your vehicle for everything other than a collision. If your car is stolen and damaged, your comprehensive insurance would pay for any damages. Also, the Mother Nature coverage as in: floods or tree falls. If your engine catches fire and the car is damaged by smoke and/or burning, it’s covered by comprehensive insurance.

Collision – Yes, this is the one that covers you in the big bang, crash, dent, messy thing. If you hit another vehicle or something else on (or off) the road that you don’t like such as a tree, guardrail, or building; the collision coverage would kick in.
Here is an opportunity to save some money. If your car can be labeled a real “clunker” and is worth less than $1,000 in value because of age, mileage, condition, or a combination of those; you may decide not to carry collision insurance. If it’s already banged up, what’s another dent or two, right?

Uninsured Motorist – Oh yeah, they’re out there. Probably more than you think. Unfortunately, people that have a hard time paying their bills, will skimp on or skip insurance coverage. But, you need to carry it so that you (personally) or your vehicle will be covered in case of an accident with an uninsured motorist.

Bodily Injury – More important than fixing the vehicle in an accident is fixing you, your passengers, or those that may have been injured in an accident with another vehicle.

Property Damage – If you join your neighbor for dinner (accidentally) by crashing your vehicle into the side of their house, that’s property damage. This is typically written together with Bodily Injury insurance.

Glass Repair, Towing, Rental – These are less important (and less costly) to carry than the other types of auto insurance categories, but nice to have.
If your windshield cracks and needs replacement, that would be covered by glass repair.
If you’re a AAA member, you get a reduced rate for towing, but it can still be quite expensive so take a look at towing insurance.
I always get rental car insurance as my wife is good for an accident or two every couple of years (don’t tell her I said that), and body shop repairs can take a week or more.

These are the main types of vehicle insurances, so know them well and do compare your rates with other carriers. There’s a lot of competition in the insurance world so make sure you shop around!


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Sunday, July 4, 2010

Check the Car's History When Buying a Used Car

You’ve found the pre-owned vehicle that you want to buy. Whether it’s a beat up clunker you’ll use to get from point A to point B or a luxurious low mile sedan, you need to check its history.

It doesn’t matter how great it runs or how nice it looks, it’s important to know where the car has been, who has owned it, and to insure that the odometer hasn’t been rolled back.

In addition, the report will list all reported accidents, vehicles designated as lemons, branded titles and other valuable information.

Do you feel comfortable buying a car that was driven in Louisiana in 2005? It may be fine, but many cars that suffered flood damage from hurricane Katrina have shown up on used car dealer’s lots all across the country.

While it’s not necessarily a bad idea to buy a car that was part of a rental car fleet or was sold at auction; isn’t it worthwhile knowing that?

Some car dealer’s have these reports on vehicles on their lot so make sure to ask if it’s not readily available.

You should also check the odometer reading that will be listed on the report each time the vehicle has been sold and sometimes as it’s had major repair service. You want to insure that there is a logical flow to the mileage readings.

If you see on a report that a car has been driven 30,000 miles in a year, you should take notice. The most obvious sign you’ll be looking for is if a vehicle had 30,000 miles on it at some point and was sold a year later with 28,000 miles on it! That either means that a mistake was made in reporting or that an odometer was unlawfully rolled back.

The two leading companies that provide this information are CarFax and AutoCheck. CarFax is the one that most people are familiar with, but Auto Check is the better choice and here’s why.

An AutoCheck report is roughly 10% less expensive than a CarFax report and provides twice as many accident reports. AutoCheck also has an auction frame damage report and it uses a scoring system to make your decision as to whether to buy the vehicle or not easier.

If you want to check more than 5 vehicles, AutoCheck has an unlimited report program where CarFax’s limit is 5 reports.

Finally, the AutoCheck report uses color coding to identify areas where no problems are indicated (green), where there is information to report, but it’s not necessarily bad (blue), or a (red) exclamation point where there are problems that show up.

Peace of mind is important when buying a used vehicle, so make sure to use a vehicle history report as part of your decision making process on any vehicle that you look at.

Here is a link to AutoCheck:
Get a FREE VIN Check from AutoCheck®.
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