Week-long Safety Games targets area middle schoolers

How many feet does it take a car going 20 miles per hour to stop on a dry road? How often should you test the batteries in your smoke alarms?

These are just a few of the questions middle school students in the Communities in Schools CHAMPS program learned the answers to this week during Safe Kids Cleveland County's Gear Up for Safety Games.

This week Safe Kids celebrated its 20th anniversary, and, in honor of that, Safe Kids Cleveland County focused on safety education for "tweens" - children ages 10 to 14.

The Gear Up for Safety Games focused on water, motor vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian and fire safety. Kids took part in activities and were given information on those topics.

"Nationally these are the main injury risk areas," said Judy Hawkins, co-coordinator of Safe Kids Cleveland County.


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French April New Car Registrations +15% On Year

PARIS (Dow Jones)--French car maker PSA Peugeot-Citroen (12150.FR) turned in a strong performance in its home market in April, with registrations of new cars surging 19% on the year, according to the latest data released Friday. By comparison, Peugeot-Citroen's cross-town rival Renault SA (13190.FR) recorded a 7.7% rise on the year, according to figures from the body that represents French car manufacturers. Overall new car registrations in France rose 15.1% in April from the same month in 2007, to 198,618. However, the increase was 4.6% after an adjustment to take into account the number of working days. -By Jethro Mullen, Dow Jones Newswires; 33 1 4017 1738; jethro.mullen@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires May 02, 2008 06:03 ET (10:03 GMT) Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. .


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Alpharetta deploys car with plate reader

Alpharetta deployed a police car last week with a new piece of technology that some in the department are thinking could completely revolutionize the way they do business.

It's called the Mobile Plate Hunter 900, and it does the work of 1,500 police officers a minute. Mounted strategically on the body of a police car, the $22,000 computer and infrared camera system scans every license plate in every direction of the car and runs them through updated criminal databases. It can do the aforementioned 1,500 license plates in a minute.

When it gets a hit in one of five national databases -- stolen vehicles, wanted persons, suspended driver's license, suspended tag registration and no insurance -- it alerts the officer by popping up on his in-car laptop, who can then pull the person over.


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More than one way to buy a car

Even in these slow economic times, we still have to spend money. The washing machine gives out, our clothes become out of date (or too small), or the clunker we've been driving for nearly a decade needs to be replaced.

With the price of just about everything going up and credit harder to come by, this might not be the best time for a big-ticket purchase. But sometimes it makes more financial sense to buy a new car when maintenance on the old one is getting out of hand.

But now more than ever you need to do your homework.

With just about every car manufacturer seeing diminished profits, there's a big push right now to sell. Dealers are offering lots of incentives such as cash back and financing options.

One deal that may sound appealing, but can get many of us in trouble, is the 84-month car loan.


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AFS Trinity, Ricardo Announce Joint Extreme Fleet Program to Slash Gasoline and Diesel Use by Car, SUV and Truck ...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This page contains 3 different videos about AFS Trinity. Please scroll down the page to watch each.

SEATTLE and LONDON, May 2 -- AFS Trinity Power Corporation and Ricardo plc today announced creation of Extreme Fleet(TM), a joint program to offer Extreme Hybrid fleet vehicles that use no gasoline at all on most days without sacrificing vehicle size or power.

Many fleet operators are expected not only to save up to 75% of what they are now paying for gasoline and diesel, but also to dramatically reduce fleet maintenance costs.

On Sunday, May 4, fleet managers from around the country will be introduced in person to the Extreme Hybrid at the 2008 NAFA Institute and Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah. On Monday, May 5, they will be able to drive the first Extreme Hybrid prototypes-two XH-150s -- as part of a NAFA Green Ride and Drive event.


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Better to buy or lease new car?

As the summer driving season nears, many people are no doubt thinking about getting a new vehicle, which raises the old question: Should you lease or buy? Many online tools can help you with that decision, but as Consumer Reports Money Adviser points out, those calculators often don't factor in such costs as insurance, acquisition and "drive-off" fees, and upfront sales taxes. So CRMA's Money Lab ran the numbers using a 2008 Honda Accord and discovered that buying a car actually beats closed-end leasing in total costs over five years.

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Getting a Great Deal on a New Car

Whether you're aiming for luxury -- or a base model -- the process of buying a new car can seem like more hassle than it's worth.

But whether you're a born negotiator or not -- we've got some tips that will hopefully turn negotiating from an art into a science -- courtesy of the Federal Citizen Information CenterWhat do you need to say to get the price you deserve?

Start by being confident -- something that may be easier over the phone -- and compare five or six different dealerships.

Talk directly with managers -- they have the most authority to give you a deal.

But how do you know what price is a good price?

Ask dealers to give you their offers in relation to the factory invoice price, and not the MSRP -- or manufacturer's suggested retail price.


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