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How to “Count Off” a Safe Braking Distance

How to “Count Off” a Safe Braking Distance
Rear-end auto collisions are among the most common types of traffic accidents. They’re also one of the most avoidable, if you keep your distance from the vehicle in front of you. The “count-off” braking-distance test can be used anytime, at any speed. Simply watch for the vehicle in front of you to pass a sign…
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The Left-Lane Law is a Good Idea

The Left-Lane Law is a Good Idea
We’ve all been stuck behind that driver in the left highway lane who is perfectly pacing a car in the right lane, as if it’s a synchronized swimming event rather than a high-speed traffic situation. Traffic bottles up behind them, creating unnecessary hazards for everyone involved. We were all taught in driver education that the…
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Do the Zipper Merge

Do the Zipper Merge
No, it’s not the latest dance craze. The “zipper merge” is how good drivers navigate merging situations in traffic. As you might have guessed, it works like a zipper, weaving one car from the left, one from the right, one from the left, and so on, which allows traffic to merge more safely and with…
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A Professional Driving Trick That Could Save Your Life

A Professional Driving Trick That Could Save Your Life
Most of us have an amateurish habit of looking only at the car directly in front of us when we drive.  Our brains aren’t programmed to register danger more than a few feet away, so it’s literally a natural instinct to watch the cars closest to you. At driving speeds, however, hazards an eighth of…
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Windshield Repair Versus Windshield Replacement

Windshield Repair Versus Windshield Replacement
A common question at our collision repair shops is whether windshield repair costs less than windshield replacement. If it can be repaired, the answer is yes—assuming you get it into the shop soon, before the damage spreads and before dirt gets into it. Windshield repair can cut your costs by up to 80 percent compared…
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Play the “What-If” Game When You Drive

Play the “What-If” Game When You Drive
What if that oncoming Jeep swerved into your lane? What if the driver of the bus you’re following slammed on his brakes? What if a dog ran into the road ahead? Is this pessimistic thinking? Not at all. Playing the “What-If” game is one of the most advanced defensive driving techniques you can use, keeping…
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Direct Repair Program

Direct Repair Program
Direct Repair Program Means a Lifetime Guarantee on Body Work Yes, a Direct Repair Program (DRP) really does give you a lifetime guarantee on body work, and there are other benefits, as well. Fewer calls, less hassle, and you don’t have to go on the dreaded “wild estimate chase” to provide your insurance company with…
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How to Use the Online Auto Craft Estimate Tool

How to Use the Online Auto Craft Estimate Tool
Car accidents are hard, but getting a collision repair estimate is easy. Next time you bend a fender, get yourself safely to the roadside, call for the appropriate backup, then skip the visit to the body shop. Instead, use Auto Craft’s Online Estimate Tool:   Click your phone over to www.autocraftinc.com and select the Green…
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Keeping the Insurance Money for Your Auto Collision Repair

Keeping the Insurance Money for Your Auto Collision Repair
Sometimes collision damage doesn’t look like it hurts the structure of a vehicle. And sometimes, the vehicle looks cosmetically fine, or close enough to fine that you think about keeping the insurance money rather than having it repaired. You’re free to do that, if you own the vehicle outright, and the insurance check is made…
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I Know, You’re the Special One Who Can Text and Drive

I Know, You’re the Special One Who Can Text and Drive
Let’s be clear: this article is not talking about you. You’re a special driver with extraordinary talents, so texting behind the wheel comes easy to you. No safety risk whatsoever when you pull out an Android at 75 miles per hour. No, sir. No, we’re talking about everyone else when we say that the steady…
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