Hands Off But Still Take Care

A generation or two ago the idea of chatting on a phone whilst driving was not just a dream of a distant piece of science fiction.

If they had existed they would have been impossible to use. That’s because back then, cars were extremely noisy and without any power steering always took two hands on the steering wheel just to keep on the road.

Mind you, there were far fewer vehicles on the roads and therefore less to distract the driver. Today cars have come a very long way in design and technical advancement. With heating and air-con as the norm and comfortable seats and surroundings it’s a relaxing environment for driver and passengers.

Music systems are at worst just average and at best are often better than that multi-thousand pound one back in the living room.

Bluetooth and hand free controls means it should never be necessary to take even one hand off the wheel when driving. Every safety survey carried out over recent years reveals how important this is.

The latest handfree car kits installation should be fitted in all vehicles today.

Most worrying and known cause of many accidents, is the mobile phone. It’s not just that one hand is needed to hold the phone, but often the call becomes the centre of attention. It may be some work related problem or a distressed call from a friend or relative.

And so it clearly makes sense that there are now high penalties for people using their phone or other mobile device whilst driving.

And yet many want to take this a step further and ban even the use of hands free phones. It’s become such an issue that car manufacturers are being asked by various transport as well as health and safety bodies for a method to cut all phone signals when a car is being driven.

But meanwhile, if you don’t want 6 points and a £200 fine for holding your phone whilst driving, get a hands free system fitted now.

Another Night Call

Fortunately car alarms are not as sensitive as they were many years ago. Living in the city meant being woken almost nightly with some nearby parked car’s alarm going off.

Just the rush of a passing car or even a strong wind could start them. The trouble is that they became almost meaningless. Nobody bothered to take much notice as there were too many false alarms.

They’re a lot better these days although there are other less anti-social ways to protect your car.
Immobilising the vehicle is one way and there are several different ways to do this. A key fob that alerts the owner without the potential thief knowing is another.

And perhaps all car owners should hide some sort of tracking device so that if the car is stolen the police will be able to track its progress.

Most car alarm installation and tracking devices are an after-market fit as original manufacturers don’t fit them apart from some very expensive and known brand targets. Many of these are stolen to order and some, just for their low mileage engine.

These end up in containers shipped to the other side of the world.

There was a story around many years ago of a smart thief that knocked late at night at the door of a stranger. You can tell how old this story is because he didn’t have a mobile phone.

He asked the owner of the house whether he could make a quick phone call to one of the motoring rescue operations he was a member of.

In that short time that he talked to the householder he learnt they loved the theatre. Well, they’d been targeted from the start. There was no broken down car. When front row tickets for the latest show in London arrived by means of a thank you they drove to a West End multi-story car park.

Whilst the show was on the engine was lifted from their brand new luxury car and best of all, an old one was neatly fitted back.

So no matter how hard we try to protect our vehicle there will always be someone clever enough to steal it.

Better Sounds with Added Safety

Car audio shops nearly all have the added attraction of selling security and safety products. When upgrading a car sound system you may as well look at some of these other goodies.

Even if your car has a reversing audio system factory fitted, it can be further improved with a visual aid in the form of rear facing cameras.

This is a particularly useful addition especially for RVs and other larger vehicles. And maybe all drivers should consider adding extra recording devices such as a forward facing dash camera and possibly another taking in all of the internal space in the car.

In countries like Russia nobody likes to drive without a forward facing camera and there has been recent debate in the UK about making it compulsory. If not compulsory then possibly offering those running one to have some sort of insurance discount.

At my local car audio Ilford shop they are selling increasing numbers of these cameras. They can save hours of investigation into why and how an accident occurred.

It seems logical that the day will come when cars are manufactured with these devices built in to record and act just like the airplanes black box.

By having a complete running record embedded in a memory chip Insurers and police will be able to see exactly the circumstances of the accident. Unfortunately, whilst these items are just a voluntary added piece of equipment there is human interference to contend with.

If a person has one fitted and is responsible for an accident then at the moment all they have to do is lose the camera or claim it had been left at home.

New cars have generally very good quality sound systems but there is always some room for improvement in all but the most expensive limousines.

They also leave room for acoustic improvement with the simple addition of sticking dampening material to all the panels from boot to doors as well as the roof of the car. That sounds like a perfect weekend job for anyone wanting to make the most of their car sound system.

Three Tips That Can Help You Improve Your In-Car Audio Experience

Did you know that the average person spends an hour-a-day in their car? That’s nearly 2 years for an average worker. Given that, we need to make sure that we make the most of it, and one way that many of us do this is by listening to our cat stereo, whether the radio, podcasts, audiobooks, or our own music library.

However, nothing can be more irritating than listening to one of these things on a poorly performing car stereo system. If you’re car stereo system is performing badly, then you will find the following five tips helpful.

Tip 1: Change factory-installed speakers & head units.

If your car still has the original factory-installed speakers and head units, then change them. With the exception of high-end cars, such as Audi, Bentley, and BMW, the factory-installed units are rubbish. For example, the head units only cost around £10. They really are as bad as you would expect.

Simply changing the speakers and head units to even bottom-of-the-range will be a vast improvement. However, spending around £100 on the head unit and £50 on the speakers will give you a very decent set up.

Tip 2: Buy sound-dampening material to install around the car.

Cars can be very problematic for sound quality. This is because they’re made of metal. The soundwaves bounce around the car causing problems with reverb and interference. To counter this, you can place sound-dampening material around the car.

You can buy this from your local car audio specialist. For instance, if you live in Romford, visit a specialist shop offering car audio Romford. They can give you valuable advice about where to place the material and how to attach it in a way that looks good.

Tip 3: Install a Sub-Woofer.

If you're into music, you'll love the addition of sub-woofer. It makes the entire musical experience so much better. Hearing that rumble pass through you is AWESOME!

If you would like to buy car audio equipment, then please visit http://www.incarmusic.co.uk/.

For Car Audio Think Multimedia

We used to be happy with a car radio and perhaps a CD player but these days the existence of advanced wireless technology and smartphones means we have to think multimedia.

The dashboard is looking increasingly like the cockpit of an air plane with entertainment, hands free phone and screens leading us to our destination.

Whilst driver less cars are still many years away you cannot help thinking that by the time they do arrive the car will simply be a mini-theatre and office combined on wheels.

There may be no need for windows and this is not too different from the old Concord. A friend flew to New York from London and was amazed that when the nose comes up at supersonic speed it completely covered the glass.

When he said to the pilot something about what happens if they can’t see an object like another plane coming towards them he was told if you see it it’s already too late.

Meanwhile, if your car does not have the full multi-media package it deserves then check out a car audio East London outlet that can explain what it all is and why you should have it fitted.

If you are not a practical type that is excellent with a bit of DIY then pay the bit extra to have them fit it all. Don’t risk messing about if it involves some extra electrical wiring, just let others more experienced do it for you.

Along with improvements you might also like to think about added security. With a lot of extra gadgetry in the car there may be a reluctance to leave it out all night. So discreetly hidden internal security may be an option.

There’s also a growing interest in vehicle journey recorders and with such a low starting price these are highly recommended. Your insurer likes them as well, as they can provide vital evidence in the event of any collision.

What Qualities to Look for from Your Car Audio Seller

If you want to install the best car stereo system that you can afford, then you need to make sure that you choose the right audio seller. The good sellers have specific qualities that are easy to discern. Below, we’re going to look at these qualities. Choosing the right seller will help you to create a stereo system that you can love.

•Experience: of course, your seller needs to be experienced in audio technology. If they aren’t, how are you going to rely on their advice? For this reason, it’s better to avoid the large national stores, as their employees tend to be trained to sell, rather than to have the technical knowledge required to provide accurate information. There are exceptions, but in general, stick to the independent, specialist stores.

•Locality: it is often better to choose a local audio centre. For example, if you live in Ilford, you should look for a car audio centre Ilford. This is because car audio systems are rarely straightforward, and you will often want to make tweaks and modifications later on. By sticking to a local shop, you can pop in whenever you need something. And, as you get to know them, you’ll find the relationship invaluable: they’ll be able to offer you plenty of help and advice.

•Stock: to get the best stereo system possible, you need to be able to choose between various makes and models. A car audio store that is under stocked is not going to provide you with the choice necessary to create a top-of-the-range system. This is also another reason why it makes sense to use a store that is dedicated to in-car technology. It usually means that they stock a better and bigger range than a shop that sells electrical goods in general.

If you would like to know more visit Incarmusic.

Three Key Features to Consider When Buying a Dash Cam

Dash cams are incredibly useful. They have helped to save many people from false prosecutions and fabricated evidence. In recent years, there has been a UK-wide spate of, what the police term, “cash for crash” accidents. Here, unscrupulous criminals create accidents whereby the victim appears to hit the criminal’s vehicle from behind. As you should know already, if you hit a vehicle from behind, you are automatically liable, unless you can prove that the other person really was at fault. Dash cams are helping to prevent these criminals from getting away with it.

As well as helping to save us from liability in the event of a crash, they also capture some fantastic scenes: incredibly sunsets, crazy drivers, unusual animals crossing the road, all sorts of things. Today, though, we are going to look at three of the key features that you should be thinking about when deciding on the make and model of in car DVR unit that you want to buy. It’s important to get these things right if you want the camera and recording device to function optimally and to provide you with the best experience. Here they are:

1.The angle of view: this refers to both the horizontal plane, so how much it can see from left to right, and the vertical plane, so how much it can see from top to bottom. It is important to choose a camera with wide-angle views. The RAC tend to recommend cameras with a viewing angle of 120o or greater. We agree.

2.Its memory capacity: because the camera is recording footage, and because you can’t always pull over straight away following an accident, or you might not consider to stop (e.g. someone else crashed and you took footage, but you didn't think to stop at the time as so many other people did), it’s important to choose an in car DVR unit that has a lot of memory. We recommend having at least 16 GB of memory. Make sure that the device makes use of common memory storage too, such as SD slots and USB slots.

3.Its portability: finally, you should consider the portability of the unit. If you buy one that you need to have specially fitted, it can be problematic if you need to use another car. Some people choose to buy two: a fixed one and a portable one. The choice for you depends on how long you expect to keep your existing car and whether you use other cars too.