Daylight Savings Time Ends November 6: Be safe in the dark

Daylight Savings Time ends for most of the United States at 1 AM on Sunday November 6.

As we fall back the sun will set earlier in the evening. By by the end of November, the sun will set as early as 4:51 PM.  This means a lot of people will Keep reading >>

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When is idling wasteful?

Idling, or letting the engine run while the car is parked, is a  point of argument. How long is too long? At what point does the engine use more gas than if you just turned off the engine and restarted?

Families, couples, and friends go back and forth on this, Keep reading >>

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New cellphone laws may be coming soon

Last week, the California legislature passed a bill that may make you think twice before whipping out your phone.

If signed into law, the fine for driving and texting/talking without a hands free device will jump to $309 (up from $189). Violate the law a second time, and get a Keep reading >>

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Get ready for an all-electric car sharing service: Car2go

We’ve posted all about hourly rentals and carsharing with GetAround, RelayRides, ZipCar, and City CarShare, but get ready for a new all-electric car share program – Car2go.

Car2go uses sleek, all-electric cars. Imagine trying to parallel park one of these cars – piece of cake!

The Car2go model is Keep reading >>

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Ask 511CC!

Here on 511CC, we’ve assembled the finest collection of bike mappers, smog alerts, driving tools, and other resources to get you out from behind the wheel and enjoying beautiful Contra Costa County.

Our goal is to have all of the answers, but sometimes, we need you to Keep reading >>

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Dump the Pump Photo Contest

Gas is expensive. In other news, water is wet…

Seriously though, gas is expensive. Californians are buying less of it, but many of us still need a car to get around sometimes, and use BART and public transportation when we can.

If this describes you (drives sometimes, BARTs Keep reading >>

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Remove your carpool stickers at Mr. Roadshow’s Prius Party on Sunday

If you have a hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle, and enjoy HOV lane access with your yellow “Clean Air” sticker, we have bad news for you. The yellow Clean Air stickers will no longer allow HOV lane access – effective July 1.

You might as well have fun taking off Keep reading >>

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Don’t cause a bicycling statistic, either

The only thing worse than being hit by a car on a bicycle is hitting someone else with your car while they’re on a bicycle.

For starters, meet the “sharrow”. A sharrow, or “shared arrow” is shown on the right. This design indicates that bicycles and cars should share full Keep reading >>

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Safe and Sane Use of Highways

Though the times and cars have changed, the danger is the same. Check out this illustration of the damage a car could do to your fragile body at 20, 40, and 60 miles an hour.

The manual “Safe and Sane Use of Highways”, published in 1934, offers a basic introduction Keep reading >>

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Nissan will own the batteries in your next Electric Vehicle

From Autopia Nissan’s Electric Leaf Spreads the EV Gospel (via The Transportationist)

“You don’t worry about the battery,” Ghosn said. “We worry about the battery.”

Company CEO Carlos Ghosn is among the industry’s loudest EV evangelists, and he firmly believes the four-door, five passenger Nissan Leaf will usher in Keep reading >>

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