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CHICAGO, April 24, 2017 -- Experts from Cars.com put the current crop of affordable compact cars to the ultimate test in their most recent Compact Sedan Challenge. The 2017 Honda Civic walked away with the highly sought-after title of "Best Compact Sedan of 2017." 

"If you think the compact sedan class is full of cheaply made economy cars, think again," said Cars.com executive editor Joe Wiesenfelder. "Many of the latest choices in this segment offer heaps of style and technology for a lot less than you'd think. These one time bare-bones sedans now come chock-full of safety and technology features like the latest crash-avoidance tech, smartphone integration and even all-wheel drive in some."

New AAA survey reveals that Americans still leery of a driverless future

ORLANDO, Fla. (March 7, 2017) – A new report from AAA reveals that the majority of U.S. drivers seek autonomous technologies in their next vehicle, but they continue to fear the fully self-driving car. Despite the prospect that autonomous vehicles will be safer, more efficient and more convenient than their human-driven counterparts, three-quarters of U.S. drivers report feeling afraid to ride in a self-driving car, and only 10 percent report that they’d actually feel safer sharing the roads with driverless vehicles. As automakers press forward in the development of autonomous vehicles, AAA urges the gradual, safe introduction of these technologies to ensure that American drivers are informed, prepared and comfortable with this shift in mobility.

After remaining relatively flat, the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline has now fallen for 10 straight days to today’s average of $2.30 per gallon. Today’s national average is one cent less than one week ago and two cents more than one month ago. Compared to this same date last year, consumers are paying 37 cents more per gallon at the pump.

Gas prices may continue to drop in the near future due to declining crude oil prices and a well-supplied market, but will begin to creep up again over the next month due to seasonal refinery maintenance and the May 1 required switchover for producing summer-blend gasoline. This prediction comes with the necessary caveat that an unexpected market-moving event, such as unplanned domestic refinery maintenance or further production cuts from OPEC and non-OPEC countries, could further impact prices and supply.

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 18, 2017) – Despite lower gas prices, a new AAA study reveals that consumer interest in electric vehicles remains high, with the survey showing that more than 30 million Americans are likely to buy an electric vehicle for their next car. With rising sales, longer ranges and lower costs, AAA predicts a strong future for electric vehicles, and announces the top electric, hybrid and other efficient vehicles in its independent, rigorous test-track evaluation.

How AAA Chooses, Tests and Scores Vehicles
“With their lower ownership costs and compatibility with emerging autonomous technologies, electric vehicles are poised to be a key vehicle of the future,” said Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of Automotive Engineering. “Tesla — a standout in AAA’s evaluations — has helped widen the appeal of electric vehicles by showing they can be stylish, performance-focused and filled with cutting-edge technology.”

You’ve got one job: driving safely.

If you’re driving down the highway, do you think there is ever a circumstance when it’s safe or smart to close your eyes for five seconds?

Of course you don’t. Keeping your eyes on the road is one of the first things we all learn about safe driving. So why would anyone ever think it is okay to text when behind the wheel, or do anything else that takes your attention from driving?

It takes about five seconds, on average, to read or send a text. Not a lot of time. But, in that span of time, with your eyes on your phone and not on the road, a vehicle travelling 55 miles per hour can travel the length of a football field. In that instant, over that distance, a life can be taken—maybe even yours. Distracted driving killed 3,477 people on America’s roads in 2015.

Today’s national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $2.42, which is an increase of 13 cents over last month and 29 cents more than this time last year. As gas prices continue to reach new heights and hit an all-time high for the year, the summer demand has not kicked in, meaning consumers can expect the price at the pump to continue to rise for coming weeks. Based on recent American Petroleum Institute reports, U.S. gasoline deliveries in March were the second highest March deliveries ever recorded, confirming the forecast that demand is on track for the summer.

Quick Stats
The nation’s top ten least expensive markets are: South Carolina ($2.12), Oklahoma ($2.15), Mississippi ($2.17), Tennessee ($2.17), Arkansas ($2.17), Alabama ($2.18), Louisiana ($2.20), Missouri ($2.22), Virginia ($2.23) and Texas ($2.26)
The nation’s top ten markets with the largest weekly increases include: Utah (+9 cents), Ohio (+7 cents), Idaho (+5 cents), Alaska (+5 cents), Massachusetts (+4 cents), Connecticut (+4 cents), Indiana (+4 cents), New Hampshire (+4 cents), Rhode Island (+4 cents) and Florida (+4 cents)

Since 1998, 701 children have died due to heatstroke after being left or trapped in a hot vehicle. Think this tragedy can’t happen to you and your family? Ask Raelyn Balfour.

Raelyn had heard about heatstroke’s dangers. Like many of us, she chalked it up to irresponsible parents leaving children behind in vehicles. Then one morning, while feeling tired, overwhelmed, and distracted—feelings familiar to most parents with young children—she mistakenly thought she had already dropped her 9-month-old son, Bryce, at daycare before she continued on to her office. In reality, he was still in the back seat of her car. By the time she realized it, heatstroke had taken Bryce’s life.

You’re more like Raelyn and other parents who have lost a child to heatstroke than you might realize. The fact is that heatstroke tragedies happen to loving, caring, attentive parents. The vast majority of these tragedies happen when a child is mistakenly left behind in a vehicle or when an unattended child gains access to a vehicle. 

There were lot of great vehicles at the 2017 New York International Auto Show, but the overarching message was luxury SUVs and performance cars. There was not very much attention on hybrids.

Join The Car Coach to get the inside scoop and executive interviews on the new Audi Sport , Kia Rio, Nissan Rogue and Volkswagen Atlas.

Gas prices have dropped slowly on the week. Today’s national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $2.39, a three cents drop from one week ago; however, it is an increase of nine cents over last month and 18 cents more than this time last year. One year ago, the country was experiencing higher consumer demand and prices were increasing. Fast forward to today, consumers are still experiencing higher gas prices over last year due to the OPEC agreement, but we are not seeing substantial increases at the pump due to increased gasoline inventories and low demand across the country.

New study shows that 88 percent of young millennials engage in risky behavior behind the wheel

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 15, 2017) ― A new report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 88 percent of young millennials engaged in at least one risky behavior behind the wheel in the past 30 days, earning the top spot of worst behaved U.S. drivers. These dangerous behaviors ― which increase crash risk ― included texting while driving, red-light running and speeding. These findings come as U.S. traffic deaths rose to 35,092 in 2015, an increase of more than 7 percent, the largest single-year increase in five decades.
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“Alarmingly, some of the drivers ages 19-24 believe that their dangerous driving behavior is acceptable,” said Dr. David Yang, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety executive director. “It’s critical that these drivers understand the potentially deadly consequences of engaging in these types of behaviors and that they change their behavior and attitudes in order to reverse the growing number of fatalities on U.S. roads.”