Automobile Consumer Issues

Fuel Efficiency, Alternative Fuels, Safety

Web Sites

• AAA Fuel Gauge Report
  AAA's media site for retail gasoline prices. AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report is the most comprehensive retail gasoline survey available. Everyday over 60,000 self-serve stations are surveyed.
  • Fuel Cost Calculator
    Find out how much you'll spend on gasoline for your specific car on a trip from one US city to another.
• American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA)
  This professional association representing traffic safety educators is located at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Highway Safety Center, Indiana, PA. The website includes a collection of educational resources on driving safety.
• Consumer Reports
  Search for ratings, reviews, and news about thousands of products, including cars.
• Fuel Economy.gov
  A joint site by the US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency that allows you to compare the fuel efficiency of various cars.
  • Trip Calculator
• Green Car Journal Online
  Information on electric cars, hybrids and more
• GreenerCars
  An annual review of the energy efficency of this year's vehicles by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  Information on air bags, safety ratings of vehicles, new car safety features, child safety, search for recalls on your car, etc.
  • Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)
    contains data on all vehicle crashes in the United States that occur on a public roadway and involve a fatality in the crash.
  • SaferCar.gov
• Union of Concerned Scientists: Clean Vehicles
  Clean vehicle and fuel technologies can cut projected U.S. oil consumption in half within the next 20 years.
  • Hybrid Center
    Find out which vehicles make the most of hybrid technology for the environment, and your pocketbook

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Pittsburgh Region

• ChargeCar
  This new project at the CREATE Lab at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute collects data on commuting costs of electric cars and experiments with converting cars to electric.
• ParkPGH
  Find out which downtown garages are full and which ones have spaces. Also available as an app.
• Pittsburgh Gas Prices
  Gas prices as reported by volunteers in the Pittsburgh area.
• Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities
  An organization that supports local actions that reduce petroleum use by building the infrastructure needed for a strong alternative fuel and alternative vehicle market in Western Pennsylvania.
• Southwest Pennsylvania Ozone Action Partnership
  Check here for today's ozone forecast.

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Pennsylvania

• Drive Clean Pennsylvania
  A list of emission inspection stations by region and then county from the Pennsylvania Vehicle Emission Inspection & Maintenance Program.
• Pennsylvania Insurance Department: Auto Insurance
  This website from the State of Pennsylvania provides competitive auto insurance rates by counties under "consumer information"