Waterloo Automotive

The next month and a half is supposed to be considered the most wonderful time of the year because of the holidays. But we all know that also means a lot of time with your family. For those of you college students coming home for Thanksgiving and winter break, you may have a big wake up call in regards to your personal space and your freedom. Here are some tips to help balance your expectations with your parents’ expectations. Prioritize – You will want to see your friends during the holidays but you also need to prioritize family time. If you go to a local college, prioritize seeing friends who may have moved out of state and are back for a short amount of time. If you went far away from home for college, consider getting a group of friends together so you get to see many people at once to limit the amount of time you are away from home.
Remember that your family will want to see you just as much, if not more, as your friends do. Your parents are u
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We just finished up with National Car Care Month in October but we are still looking to share ideas to keep your teens safe by simply maintaining your cars. Parents primarily focus on texting, distractions in the car, drinking and driving and using seat belts (and for good reason) but there are other dangers to your teens while they are out driving on their own. Teens are not educated enough about proper maintenance of their vehicles so we would like to share AutoMD.com’s top tips for teens (and parents) to keep their cars running well and staying safe on the road. Know your car’s maintenance intervals and keep up with service
Each vehicle has a maintenance schedule, outlined in your owner’s manual. Be sure you read and understand the schedule. Items that require regular maintenance include the car’s fluids, tires, brakes, and oil and filter changes, too. Oil and air filter changes are particularly important to keep the engine runnin
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Every year, teens across the country celebrate Halloween in one of two ways: innocent and fun or reckless and dangerous. Once they outgrow the desire to dress up like their favorite cartoon characters and go trick-or-treating, they often develop a spirit of adventure—one that can lead them into trouble if they’re not careful. That’s why, when it comes to making sure their teens stay safe on October 31, it’s important for parents to talk to their teens about all the evening will entail. The first and most important thing to do is to get the details. Know where your teen will be and when, who will be with them and how they can be reached. Other details including the presence of alcohol and method of transportation are also key. Parents, it’s your right and responsibility to establish rules for and with your teen in order to ensure their safety, so don’t be afraid to put your foot down if you feel uncomfortable with any situation. Remember, they’ll thank you for it later ... read more

Fresh information hit the news last month when Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) revealed the results of a survey regarding the amount of influence a parent’s driving habits has on the ones of their teenage drivers. According to the survey, which polled 1,700 teens from across the nation, adults are engaging in poor and risky driving habits while their teens are in the car and, in the process, doing more than just putting their families at risk. By engaging in behaviors such as texting, speeding and driving while intoxicated, parents are setting poor examples for their teenage drivers and causing them to follow suit by repeating the actions in nearly equal amounts. Not surprisingly, the most common destructive driving behavior modeled by parents was talking on a cell phone while driving. The second-most repeated offense was speeding, followed by texting, driving without a seatbelt, driving while intoxicated and, finally, drivin ... read more

Here in the St. Louis area, fall is in full swing. The leaves are changing colors, the Rams are back in action, and temperatures are falling once more. It’s a beautiful time of year for family gatherings, outdoor events and cozy nights, especially with the sun setting earlier by the day. With the decrease in daylight, though, also comes the need for some motorists to spend more time driving in the dark. And for many folks—young and old—this leads to added anxiety behind the wheel, as well as an overall increased probability for accidents. Statistics show that even with 60 percent less traffic on the road, roughly half of all fatal car accidents happen at night. Some of the reasons for these accidents include the decreased visibility and perception of motorists, higher numbers of drunk and drowsy drivers on the road, and a greater number of speed-limit breakers. And, for one reason or another, drivers are also less likely to wear their safety belts at night, w ... read more

Apparently, we as Americans are starting to get the picture when it comes to parenting. According to a study conducted by two economists from the University of California San Diego, the amount of time parents are spending with their kids today has risen dramatically when compared to earlier generations. The study, which analyzed how Americans used their time during different periods from 1965 to 2007, revealed that, since the mid-1990s, the level of parental involvement with their children had almost doubled for both men and women, working or not. And when it comes to the health and well-being of our kids today, that’s wonderful news! Time and time again research has shown that children whose parents take an active role in their lives experience tremendous emotional, mental and physical benefits. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, teens whose parents were present when they went to bed, woke up and came home from school were less likely to ex ... read more

ICE can do a lot more than make your drinks cold. When it comes to driver’s safety, ICE can actually save lives. No, we’re not talking about applying it to injured areas. We’re talking about the three-letter acronym for In Case of Emergency, and it’s a simple abbreviation that can be life-saving in distressing situations—especially for teenage drivers. For the past few weeks, we at Meyer’s and Waterloo Automotive have been talking about teen drivers and their safety behind the wheel. As auto service providers, we don’t like reading the statistics that show just how many of our young men and women are losing their lives on the roads every year. As the leading cause of death among teenagers in America, auto accidents are a very real threat to their safety and their lives. That’s why this week we’re talking about the ICE method. Now, if you’re a parent, you may have already heard about this practice. If that’s the case, we’re happy that you’re using it! It’s a helpfu ... read more

Parents, do your teenagers know what to do if they’re involved in a car accident? Whether we want it to happen or not, it’s a real threat. There are more than six million car crashes in the U.S. each year, and many of them involve young men and women who are just learning the rules of the road. As the leading cause of death among teens in America, car crashes can be more than just costly, they can be deadly. At Meyer’s Automotive and Waterloo Automotive, we hope this never happens to your child, but just in case it does, it’s best to be prepared. So, parents, it’s time to sit down with your teenagers and help them understand what to do if they find themselves facing the situation. Who knows? You might need a refresher course yourself. First, the important thing is to try and stay calm. Yes, it’s going to be a scary situation. Be prepared for that. It’s going to be emotional, and it’s going to shake up all parties involved. That’s okay. The important thing ... read more

Fact: Underage drinking is a problem in the United States. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a recent survey found that an estimated 10 million people under the age of 21 had consumed alcohol within the previous 30 days. SAMHSA also reported that 10 percent of high school students who drank chose to drive afterward, and 28 percent got in a car and rode with an intoxicated driver. Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the U.S., and alcohol is one of the main reasons why. When combined with inexperience behind the wheel and the distractions of passengers, music and cell phones, alcohol can be the deadly component that sends a teen driver to the emergency room. Or, worse yet, the cemetery. It’s not a fun subject to address, that’s for sure, but it certainly deserves our attention. And the best place to start the discussion is in the home. Parents know that open communication ... read more

As school gets closer, we at Meyer’s and Waterloo Automotive have been using our blog to talk about teen driving safety. Soon they’ll be hopping into the driver’s seat to make their way to and from school, practice, work and, let’s face it, social activities. (Sometimes we parents like to forget that one.) Because auto accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers in the U.S., however, we want to make sure they are as prepared to hit the road as possible and have the best chance of making it safely to their destinations. This week it’s all about seat belts, and, of course, we’re starting with stats. Not surprisingly, as an age group, teenagers are the least likely to wear seat belts both while driving and riding in a vehicle. The biggest offenders are teenage males who choose against seat belts 4% more often than females. According to teendriversource.org, some of the common reasons teens choose not to buckle up are because they aren’t c ... read more