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Using our turn signals is something we don’t really think about a lot. However, we tend to notice if someone else on the road with us is not using theirs properly. From leaving the blinker on and not actually needing to turn or merge to not actually using the blinker at all, even when turning or merging, we notice. And in my case, yell at the other driver (because they can totally hear me from my car in their own car. Totally). This definitely isn’t productive… but I am addressing this blog to the members of our driving community who are a bit more… let’s say lax about their turn signals. This one’s for you! Why do we not use our turn signals? This is a question that haunts us constantly, especially when we’re driving. Sometimes it’s because nobody is around, so it seemingly doesn’t matter if we use them or not because nobody is there to care. But the problem with this is that not using your signals in this type of situation starts you on a habit of not using them that will carry over into higher-traffic situations. It’s easier to do something all the time instead of picking and choosing when to do it - especially if that thing is turn signals. Another reason is that it’s just a right turn. Left turns are much more important, apparently, and so right turns just… don’t need to be signaled. This is still wrong! No matter which way you’re turning, you should be using your signals. Even if you’re in a dedicated turning lane. Even if there’s nobody behind you. Use that signal!! The turn signal is actually one of the most important safety features on your vehicle. Sure, your dealership or car maker might not have marketed it that way, but trust me - your blinker is one of the main ways that you communicate with other drivers on the road. Without it, nobody would have any idea where you are going or what you intend to do. So use that puppy! I don’t know how to stress that enough! If your blinker is broken, remember that you can always come to Fiore Toyota and have the professionals here take a look at what’s wrong. We’ll get you back on the road in no time! Check Out Our Service Specials!

Driving while distracted is one of the deadliest things you can do as a driver on the road - and the worst offender is texting while driving. According to the FCC: Over 8 people are killed and 1,161 are injured daily in incidents reported as distraction-affected crashes in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in 2015, there were 3,477 people killed and an estimated additional 391,000 people injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010. In 2015, the National Occupant Protection Use Survey reported that handheld cell phone use continued to be highest among 16-24-year-old drivers. These sobering statistics can be avoided, or at least ameliorated, through some simple steps you can take to impress upon people, especially new drivers, that texting while driving is dangerous for everyone on the road, including the driver. Tell new drivers that they should not be using mobile devices, like cell phones or music players, while behind the wheel. Taking your eyes off the road for even a split second can kill - and with drivers taking their eyes off the road for an average of five seconds while texting (the equivalent of driving an entire football field) there's a lot that can happen in even a short amount of time. Don't text and drive yourself! If you are trying to lead by example and show a new driver good habits while driving, you should practice what you preach and put the phone down. There are solutions to staying in touch when behind the wheel that are much less dangerous and leave your hands and eyes open to driving, such as Bluetooth® and voice-activated controls. However, any distractions while driving should be avoided at all costs. If you know that you are easily distracted, do not talk on the phone or text when driving. Make sure that everything, like music, is set up before you start moving so that you will not have to adjust when on the road. Staying safe on the road is one of the most important things you can do for not only yourself, but for the other drivers on the road with you. Teach others about how they can stay safe and not distracted, and practice those lessons yourself. Find A Solution With Fiore Toyota

FREEDOM! SWEET SWEET FREEDOM! Or so your newly licensed teen thinks! Here’s the thing, I want my teen to be independent just as much as she does, well almost as much as she does, but I also want to make sure she is safe and sound and making good decisions. I know that I have to cut the umbilical at some point, but it’s hard to do when she’s asking for the keys and all you can see is a sweet 4-year-old with red hair and skinned knees walking out to the car. While I don’t want to be a helicopter mom, I do want to lay down some new driver ground rules to try to keep her safe. I’ve listed a few of my rules I enforce and hope they will be helpful to you too. 1. Focus on the Road! While the advances in technology have been extremely beneficial in many ways, technology also serves as a distraction that can prove to be very dangerous. In fact, distraction is a major factor in teen car crashes. Research done by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety showed that 6 out of 10 teen crashes involve driver distraction. That number alone is enough to want to cut up my daughter’s license. 2. Limit the number of passengers in the car Much like the issue with technology, having large groups of friends in the car with them while they drive provides added distractions. Talk to your teen about why it’s important to limit the number of friends they have in the car with them and how they should handle a situation when multiple people are pressuring them for a ride. Some states have legal restrictions on the number and type of passenger a new driver can have in their vehicle during their first and second years of driving, so look up the laws in your state. 3. Set clear consequences for traffic tickets When it comes to having a teen, in general, making the lines plain and clear is extremely important. This remains true with driving rules. If your child knows the exact consequence for things like traffic tickets, there will, in theory, be less conflict between you and your child and they will be less likely to want to inflict those consequences upon themselves. Make sure they know how traffic violations affect their driving record and their future driving, outside of the consequences you create. 4. Make buckling up a must Really stress the importance of buckling up. It can literally be the difference between life and death, so make sure that your teen is buckling up every time they drive. 5. Say “no” to drinking and driving Talk to your teen about the real dangers of driving under the influence or of getting in the car with someone who’s been drinking. While I certainly don’t condone underage drinking, I want my daughter to get home alive, and not attempt to drive while under the influence for the sake of hiding it from me. For every parent, this issue is a bit touchy and each will handle it differently, but for me, I try to stress a “no questions asked” system. If my daughter needs to get home I will not hound her with questions, I won’t yell, I will just pick her up and get her home safely. 6. Limit driving at night Driving at night is riskier than daytime driving for all drivers, and even more so for new drivers. A whopping 53% of teen crash fatalities occur between 6PM and 6AM, notes Teens in the Driver Seat, which is one reason many states set nighttime restrictions for new drivers. Low visibility and glare from oncoming headlights make it difficult for any driver to see at night, regardless of their level of experience. “Measuring Changes in Teenage Driver Crash Characteristics During the Early Months of Driving.” Measuring Changes in Teenage Driver Crash Characteristics During the Early Months of Driving | AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, www.aaafoundation.org/measuring-changes-teenage-driver-crash-characteristics-during-early-months-driving. Find the Right Car For Your Teen Today

It’s a beautiful summer day- the sun is out, the birds are chirping. Everything is peaceful and calm. UNTIL a quick glance at your dashboard in your peripheral vision alerts you to a symbol lighting up. Darkness descends upon your day. The check engine light is on. BUT WHY?! Don’t panic! We’ll walk you through a few things you should do when your dash tells you it’s time for a checkup on your engine. Why is the darn light coming on in the first place? It’s perhaps a bit misleading to call this light the check engine light as the light can be activated by a number of issues that don’t necessarily have to do with your engine. In fact, this light is also called the malfunction indicator light (MIL). Basically, the light is activated when a car’s on-board diagnostics (OBD) system detects a problem with the performance of some of the car’s major components. Depending on your car’s year, make, and model the OBD will be looking for different warning signs. The top 5 reasons a check engine light might activate. You could need to: Fix a loose, damaged, or missing gas cap Replace your oxygen sensor Replace your catalytic converter Replace your massive airflow sensor (MAF) Replace your spark plugs or plug wires So, how do you figure out what the real problem is? Your best bet is to get your vehicle checked out as soon as possible. While having your MIL light on isn’t usually anything to panic about, it shouldn’t be ignored either. By dealing with the issue immediately, you will likely save yourself from a more expensive trip to the service center. So what do you need to do? When the MIL is activated, the car’s computer memory stores a “trouble code” specifying the problem. By translating this trouble code,  your mechanic can pinpoint the problem and make the necessary repairs. To do this, an electronic scan tool or diagnostic computer is used to read this code. While you can certainly do this on your own, for the most accurate diagnosis of what is going on with your car, you really should go to a professional. The Technicians at Fiore Toyota will be more than happy to help you out and get your car back in pristine shape. So when your check engine light comes on, don’t panic. Get it checked out before it becomes something you really need to worry about. By fixing the little things early, you are helping to stop the bigger things from happening. Answer Your Dashboard’s Plea For Help Today!

Have you ever horribly misjudged a road trip? No? Well, I have. Like, I’m not talking about I ran out of snacks or the drive was kinda long. I violently underestimated how far my car could go on 1 tank of gas and didn’t take the time to plot out where the rest stops with gas stations were. So here I sit, on the side of the road. No cell service and no idea where the nearest gas station is. My only hope was to wait for some kind person to stop and take pity on my stupid self. My situation was not looking super promising. I was running low on snacks and it was starting to get dark. I had basically given up hope that anyone would drive by when, like a beacon in the night, a police car showed up on the road. They pulled up behind me and asked me if there was a problem. No officer, I just like to chill out in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road in my Camry. Please feel free to go on ahead. Obviously, I didn’t say that, BUT I was feeling sassy so I definitely thought it. He was kind enough to get me some gas so I could carry on my way. I was very lucky this time, but I could have been out there for quite a while if he hadn’t come by. Other than the obvious concern of running out of gas on the side of the road there are quite a few reasons you should never let your gas go below ¼ of a tank. You can’t always count on your fuel gauge to give you an exact measurement of how much gas is left in your tank, so keeping the gas level above ¼ tank removes the concern of ending up stranded like I did. Additionally, allowing the level of gas in the tank to run low can damage your car. If you run completely out of gas it could cause damage to your catalytic converter which could be an expensive job if it needs to be replaced or repaired. The gas in your car also helps to keep the temperature of the electric fuel-pump motor regulated, much like coolant, so when your gas is running low, the pump sucks in air creating heat and resulting in the fuel pump to wear down earlier and potentially fail. That repair could cost a couple hundred dollars — which I’m guessing is significantly more than what you would have had to play to fill your tank. If saving money is your reason for holding off on buying gas, just know that this effort to save a few dollars could end up costing you hundreds. If you are really concerned, you can stop by Fiore Toyota and find a vehicle with incredible mileage and save yourself some money that way! So to recap, here are some tips to avoid running out of gas: Keep your gas tank no less than ¼ full. Fill up before heading out on a long trip or to work... Don’t rely on your car to tell you exactly how much gas is in your tank. Get a Car With Amazing Mileage Today

I am not well known for my patience on the road or really in general. I have been known to get a bit, let’s call it, frustrated, while out on the road. It’s even worse when I’m hangry. I am in a constant state of apologizing for the mean things I have said while hangry. It’s not pretty friends. As such, I have taken it upon myself to figure out some ways to stay calm cool and collected during my ride to work. No one wants to start a long work day angry at 8am. So below you will find some tips and tricks to make mornings run more smoothly leading to a more relaxing driving experience. Get a good night's sleep. There is only so much a strong cup of coffee can do to make someone who is 100% not a morning person, a calm and conscious human at the crack of dawn. Getting a good night's sleep can help make the morning less brutal. Figure out what you plan to wear and eat in the morning. Planning has never been a strength. I tend to be the person flying around my apartment trying to find that one shirt that looks good with those pants and the shoes with the straps that I wore last weekend but haven’t seen for days. I spend easily 30 minutes looking for the clothes then need to decide if a shower or breakfast is more important to me before I am late for work. A little planning the night before removes the flustered mess sprinting around the house like a mad woman. Plan to leave with at least 20 minutes to spare if you have to drive through large amounts of traffic each morning. Going along with the frantic woman desperately running around trying to get her life together before work, planning to leave with enough time to make it through traffic will only make the morning run more smoothly. Listen to calming music or music that makes you feel good on your way to work. Now, my music that brings me to a happy and calm place might be totally different than yours. For example, my mother’s happy music is death metal, while mine is Natasha Bedingfield. You do you. If that’s the music that will keep you calm and collected for a highway full of people who seem to have forgotten how to drive, then run with that. Last, but certainly not least. When you feel yourself getting upset at a someone's foolish actions on the road, instead of immediately reacting, take 5 seconds to just breathe before you react. It usually only takes 5 seconds to decide that what you wanted to say and do were a bit of an overreaction. We’re all just people, we make mistakes, and there is no use getting upset over the things we can’t control. Hopefully, you have found one or two of these tips helpful to making your morning less of a nightmare. While my temper still makes an appearance, I’ve had less road rage issues since planning my mornings out a bit better. It gets better friends! Stick with it! Find Your Own Calming Car Today