ZipCar is partnering with the City of Boston to launch a new fleet-sharing program called FleetHub. Some existing city-owned fleet vehicles will be outfitted with Zipcar's proprietary car sharing technology for use by city employees, combining vehicles once dedicated to city departments to create an interdepartmental fleet. By focusing on fleet modernization, the City can dispose of older, under-utilized vehicles while modernizing the fleet with alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles.
The Federal Highway Administration estimates approximately 40% of crashes each year are directly related to snow, sleet, ice or other winter weather. Tips to help drivers navigate slippery winter roads include allowing sufficient time to reach their destination, use headlights, slow down, avoid using cruise control, and steer in the direction of the slide if their vehicle begins to skid. Fleet managers should review winter driving basics with their drivers.
New studies of teen drivers conducted by State Farm and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found that more than 70% of male teens involved in serious crashes were distracted by their passengers before the accident occurred. Teen passengers can encourage unsafe driving. More states may feel pressure to adopt rules limiting the number of young passengers in a car with a just-recently licensed teen driver.
Peter Hoffman is an advocate and author of publications on hydrogen vehicles. A number of automakers have committed to building hydrogen cars by 2015, and Mr. Hoffman expects their production costs to decrease as technology matures. He also predicts more consumer acceptance of fuel-cell vehicles due to their built-in level of safety and the fact that they can travel up to 300 miles on a tank of hydrogen.
Used car prices went up about 3 percent in 2011 and are expected to increase almost another 2 percent in 2012. Consumers are hanging onto their vehicles longer and many are opting for used vehicles when they do buy, coupled with reduced automaker production over the last few years, so that the limited field of used vehicles is drawing higher prices at the dealership.