This article is from our archives and has not been updated and integrated with our "new" site yet... Even so, it's still awesome - so keep reading!
Published on
Wed, Nov 30, 2005
By:
The LACar Editorial Staff
LA Car
brewmeister Derrick Lim's batch
ROY NAKANOBACK SEAT DRIVINGAUTO CLUB OFFERS
TIPSY TOW SERVICE FOR NEW YEAR WEEKEND
December 30, 2005
Los Angeles (Business Wire) - The Automobile Club of Southern California is offering its free Tipsy Tow service to drinking drivers during the New Year's holiday
weekend again. The service is available from 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 30, through the end of the day on Sunday, Jan. 1. Tipsy Tow is available in the 13 Southern California counties served by the Auto Club.
Motorists, bartenders, restaurant managers, party hosts or passengers of a drinking driver may call 1-800-400-4AAA for a free tow home of up to seven miles. Callers simply tell the Auto Club operators, "I need a Tipsy Tow," to receive the free tow and ride home. A regular Auto Club-contracted emergency road service truck will be dispatched.
Callers need to keep in mind that the service excludes rides for passengers, is restricted to a one-way, one-time ride for the driver and the destination is limited to the driver's residence. Reservations are not accepted. Drivers can expect to pay the rate charged by the tow truck contractor for rides farther than seven miles.
"We want motorists to be aware of the high crash risk from drinking and driving associated with holidays and encourage them to think twice about getting behind the wheel if they have been drinking," Auto Club spokesperson Carol Thorp said.
While the number of Californians arrested for driving under the influence in 2003 (the latest year available) is far lower than it was 24 years ago, it is still
far from low - 179,000, according to Thorp. Statewide annual alcohol-related fatal and injury crashes have also decreased sharply, from 49,000 in 1981 to nearly 22,000 in 2003 "We'd like to see these numbers reduced even further, particularly the high numbers during the holidays," added Thorp.
The Auto Club advises that motorists can keep themselves and others safe and can avoid DUI arrests by keeping these safety tips in mind:
## At social events, designate non-drinking drivers who can get everyone home safely.
## Call a friend or family member for a ride if you have been drinking.
## Keep a cab company telephone number in your wallet so you can call for a ride home.
## As a party host, offer a variety of non-alcoholic drink alternatives and provide a gift to guests who volunteer to be designated drivers.
## Take the car keys away from friends and relatives who have had too much to drink.
The Automobile Club of Southern California, the largest AAA affiliate, has been serving members since 1900. Information about
its products and services is available on the Auto Club's Web site at
www.aaa-calif.com.
Your Back Seat Driving comments can be sent to: Letter
to the Editor.
The Hummer and the Hybrid:
LA Car's own brain versus brawn study
ROY NAKANO:
BSDREAL MEN DON'T
EAT QUICHE
December 23, 2005
The annual (January) 10Best issue of Car and Driver magazine is out. As
usual, one can disagree with its selection of 10 best cars (e.g., the Mazda RX8,
the Honda Accord), but the collection of 10 best reader stories and 10 best
winners and losers are an amusing read. Making it onto the 10 best losers
category:
"According to a study at Cornell University, men whose masculinity has been
questioned are more likely to oppose gay marriage, support the war in Iraq, and
buy SUVs," says Car and Driver. The research was reportedly
conducted on 111 undergraduates, and the finding were presented to the American
Sociological Association last August.
Your Back Seat Driving comments can be sent to: Letter
to the Editor.
ROY NAKANO:
BSDHERO TO ZERO IN
TWO SECONDS
December 20, 2005This one comes courtesy of reader Arthur Yin:
The husband was in BIG trouble when he forgot his wedding anniversary.
"Tomorrow," his wife angrily told him, "there had better be something in our driveway that goes from zero to 200 in two seconds flat!"
The next morning, the wife looked outside and saw a small package in the driveway. She brought it inside, opened it.... and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Funeral services for her husband have been set for Saturday.
Your Back Seat Driving comments can be sent to: Letter
to the Editor.
Times have changed at Ford since the
Model T days.
ROY NAKANO:
BSDFORD TO ADVERTISE
IN GAY PUBLICATIONS AFTER ALL
December 17, 2005
Following a decision by its luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover to pull advertising from that
sector, parent entity Ford Motor Company announced it will run corporate
advertisements in gay publications. The corporate ads include all of Ford's
brands.
In a letter to some gay, lesbian and human rights groups who met with the automaker, Ford said it has decided to run corporate ads in the targeted publications in
2006, reports Reuters.
"It is my hope that this will remove any ambiguity about Ford's desire to advertise to all important audiences and put this particular issue behind us," Joe Laymon, Ford's group vice president for corporate human resources, wrote in the
letter.
A spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. gay rights organization,
informed Reuters that it is the first time Ford would run corporate ads in these publications.
The week before, Ford announced its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands will pull all advertising from gay publications
after facing a boycott threat from the American Family Association.
"Ford is not the first company to come under fire for its stance on
homosexuals," says Jui Chakravorty of Reuters. "Other large companies including Microsoft Corp. and Walt Disney Co. have also found themselves trying to appease groups on both sides of the cultural divide."
Your Back Seat Driving comments can be sent to: Letter
to the Editor.
ROY NAKANO:
BSDLET ALL USE
CARPOOL LANES, OCTA CHAIR SAYS
December 13, 2005
First it was compressed natural gas cars. This year, it was hybrids. Now, the
chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority is recommending that all
single-occupant cars be allowed into the carpool lanes - during off-hours.
OCTA Chairman Bill Campbell (who also happens to be an Orange County supervisor)
has asked Caltrans to determine if it will work in Orange County, says David
Reyes of the Los Angeles Times. Campbell, a former state assemblyperson,
took notice that the practice already exists in certain parts of Northern
California. "Northern California is already doing it, and this should help
spread traffic over all lanes and make it safer and free-flowing too,"
Campbell told the Times.
In Sacramento County, Caltrans restricts carpool lane access only during morning
and evening rush hours. "But between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and again after 7
p.m., they are open to all vehicles - even those with only a driver," says
Reyes.
In addition to the off-hours access, motorists in some Northern California
counties can also go in and out of the carpool lane without regard to lane
striping. "At least five Northern California counties - Sacramento,
Alameda, Santa Clara, Contra Costa and Marin - allow this flexibility,"
says Reyes.
"They've solved how to do it in Northern California, and if any study or
review gets done, it needs to be done regionally, and that includes L.A. County
and the other counties in Southern California," Campbell said.
Your Back Seat Driving comments can be sent to: Letter
to the Editor.
ROY NAKANO:
BSDWHAT IS IT ABOUT
TRUCKS?
December 10, 2005
This week, it's my turn to tool around in a truck. More specifically, it's Mitsubishi's new Raider pick-up, which is based off of the Dodge Dakota
platform.
Our $33,920 2006 4WD XLS DBL model comes with a 4.7-liter V8, leather-trimmed
seat, a six-way power adjustable driver's seat, and a Sirius satellite
radio-ready sound system with a six-CD changer, 276 Watt amplifiers. In short,
this one comes well-equipped.
So why am I not more excited about this vehicle? After all, I come from a truck
family. My earliest memories of living in Boyle Heights, California, involve
seeing my father's 1949 F-Series Ford pick up pulling up into the backyard every
day (I'd get a ride from the alley to the house). He purchased a number of other
trucks throughout the years, and I'd sometimes go out on gardening routes with
him.
Therein might lie the rub. I grew up with trucks as work vehicles. For families
that rely on the utility that trucks provide, they make a lot of sense. For most
of us who live In Southern California, however, they make less sense.
With the subject truck, there's the issue of ride (stay off of the 710 freeway if
it matters to you), handling (great, if you like boats), and fuel efficiency (EPA: 15 city and 20 highway)
- all of which are generally superior in cars comparably priced. Parking proved
to be a particularly thorny prospect when trying to fit the truck into an
ordinary space at the local Zankou Chicken parking lot. And, oh yeah, this truck
doesn't fit in my garage.
I don't mean to pick on the Raider, since what applies to the Raider
more-or-less applies to just about every truck on the market. And as a truck,
the Raider works just fine.
But $35,000 can buy an awful lot of car. For those contemplating a truck as a daily
driver, you've got to ask yourself: Are the weekend runs to Home Depot enough to
justify the sacrifices in ride, handling, and fuel efficiency? For you,
there may be other reasons why a truck purchase makes sense. For me, the answer
is clear: Those eight feet-long planks are actually easier to get into my own car
than they are in trucks with six-foot beds.
Your Back Seat Driving comments can be sent to: Letter
to the Editor.
ROY NAKANO:
BSDGAY-FRIENDLY CAR
ADS
December 7, 2005
The antigay American Family Association
has called off its threatened boycott of Ford Motor Company, after the company
confirmed that it will stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications.
Ford insists that the matter is strictly a business decision.
Ford was threatened with a boycott by the Mississippi-based AFA back in May
according to the Associated Press, but the AFA announced in June it would hold off on its planned
action after the car company and some of its dealers agreed to negotiate the
issue. On December 1st, AFA announced the boycott was canceled. "They've heard our concerns; they are acting on our concerns. We are pleased with where we are," said
AFA chairman Donald Wildmon, in a prepared statement.
The AFA succeeded in its efforts in part because both Jaguar and Land Rover
appeal to a large segment of the culturally conservative community. There are
car companies and brands, however, that are less vulnerable to such
pressures. For instance, Subarus, Volkswagens, and BMWs appeal to political
conservatives and liberals alike, but their markets are less reliant on cultural
conservatives.
Subaru first ventured into the gay marketplace back in the early 1990s,
according to Paul Perales of GayWired.com. Lead by John Nash, an expert in the field of automotive advertising within the gay market, Subaru took
care to understand its gay consumers by conducting their own market research,
says Perales. The carmaker even so far as to have had national TV spots featuring out lesbian tennis pro Martina
Navratilova. The brand has, as a result, sustained a loyal lesbian consumer base.
Volkswagen's involvement with gay market allegedly occurred by accident when in 1997 it aired
its "Da, Da, Da" commercial. That commercial featured two men in a VW Golf picking up a discarded couch.
VW's marketing arm at the time, Arnold Worldwide, said the ad was not intended
to depict a gay couple. However, Volkswagen has not objected to such an
interpretation. Michael Wilke of the Commercial Closet is said to have
coined the term "gay vague" in describing the VW ad, since it's not clear
that the couple in the Golf are gay.
With their 2004 US print campaign, BMW created ads depicting what could
vaguely be interpreted to be gay couples. Perales points to one BMW ad caption
that read: 'Being out has never been so in.'"
Your Back Seat Driving comments can be sent to: Letter
to the Editor.
LA Car's Bill Wright and Newt
Gingrich (Grafman photo)
ROY NAKANO:
BSDNEWT, THE
CONSERVATIONIST
December 2, 2005
"We need to begin exploring modern approaches to decreasing dependence on
foreign energy sources across a range of areas." No, that's not Larry David
at the Earth to America program. It's former U.S. House Speaker Newt
Gingrich giving the keynote address at a recent industry event hosted by Rinnai
Corporation. Yes, it's the same Newt Gingrich that orchestrated the Republican
"Contract With America" back in the mid-1990s.
Hybrid advocates, Sierra Club members, and others who urge a decrease in our
dependence on foreign oil appear to have gained an unlikely but important ally.
"Becoming energy independent doesn't require huge sacrifices; however, it
does demand use of the best available energy efficient technologies, continued
innovation and a long-term commitment to changing the way America consumes
energy," says Gingrich. "If we, as individuals, begin to make wiser
energy decisions, we can change our country's course and have a safer, more
secure tomorrow."
In addition to Gingrich's remarks, guests at the industry event were presented
with the finding of a comprehensive study into what California's building
industry can do to be more energy conscious. For more information about the
study, go to energyvortex.com.
Your Back Seat Driving comments can be sent to: Letter
to the Editor.
Yours truly "back seat driving" the
2006 Honda Civic HybridROY NAKANO:
BSDTHE LA CAR BLOG
GETS A NEW NAME
December 1, 2005
I always thought LA Car Blog sounded a bit too generic. It also isn't
the most fitting description, since the LACB is more an op-ed column than
a traditional bulletin board-style blog (although for all intents purposes, it's
still a blog). Hence, a new name. Back Seat Driving, as
the name implies, will offer opinions when none are called for. It'll be the automotive equivalent of Monday morning quarterbacking.
So, good morning, LA Car readers. Buckle your seatbelts. We're going for
a ride, and you'll have your very own back seat driver. I hope to see you back here on a regular
basis.
Your Back Seat Driving comments can be sent to: Letter
to the Editor.
A
JOURNAL OF LOS ANGELES & ITS CAR CULTURE
That
was LA Car's subtitle when it started back in 1997. Since then, it became
Reporting From Car Culture Ground Zero, then From The Heart of Car
Culture, to today's The Cars and Culture of Southern California. At
all times, however, we aimed to chronicle the Southland's spirit - much like a
journal.
Now, the diary goes semi-daily. LA Car has always been a great source
to come back to from month-to-month, to see what articles and reviews have been
added to our rather staggering database. With Back Seat Driving, a.k.a.
BSD (note the similarity to two well-worn abbreviations, BS and BFD), we give you a reason to
come back more often (all opinions, by the way, are those of the respective
author).
So, go
ahead and bookmark www.lacar.com. We'll be
sure to always provide a link to the latest blog entry. In the meantime, welcome
to the journal and journey into the cars and culture of Southern California.
- Roy Nakano