Virginia Beach Dealers

Checkered Flag Toyota Teen Driver Series

Checkered Flag Toyota continues with Part 2 of Toyota Teen Driver.

In-Car Driving Practice

Parent Supervised Driving Tracking Chart



 
Make a chart like the one above, or, print this article and cut out the chart.

Teens can learn a lot from observing an experienced driver. Though young drivers have driven with adults countless times, it's a different experience when your teen takes the passenger seat ready to learn, observe and reflect.

Before you get on the road, sit down with your teen to set goals about what you want to accomplish for the day or what you want to accomplish before they take their driver's exam.

Set a total number of hours you feel they need to be confident in using different techniques, driving on different types of roads, and driving during different times of the day. As a parent, you should feel comfortable to set an exact number of hours that your teen must experience each of these conditions before you allow them to drive in them without your supervision.

Once this chart is filled out, you and your teen can keep a copy on record as they complete goals that have been set.

Parent Supervised Best Vehicle Behaviors

One of the very first things you can do is sit in the vehicle with your teen and talk about the things you do before you even start the engine.

Eliminate the opportunity for distraction for your teen driver. Discuss taking your cell phone and putting it into the glove box.
Address other distractions that might be in the vehicle as well (e.g. friends, the radio station, etc.). Remind your teen driver to limit their distractions to drive as safely as possible.

Explain the preparation steps you complete each time you get ready to drive:
    Adjusting your seat
    Depress brake pedal as far as possible. Should still have a slight bend in the knee.
    Arms should be the same-slightly bent (never locked but also not completely bent)
    Hands should be at 9 and 3
    Fasten your seatbelt
    Check and/or adjust the side and rearview mirrors
   
    From the driver's seat, tilt your head to left, almost to the window and adjust the driver's mirror so you can just see side of car. For the passenger side mirror lean your head to the middle of the car and adjust so you can just see the outside of the car.

    Gas gauge? Tire pressure? Turn cell phone off and put it in the glove box to avoid temptation, etc.

Take your teen for a drive around your community, first with you behind the wheel. Remember to limit the amount of conversation between you and your teen until the car has stopped to reduce distractions for your teen driver. As you drive, complete the following activities together. Once you have done this with you behind the wheel, changes positions and watch your teen driver try to model their driving behavior on the behaviors you executed.

    Explain that your eyes are constantly scanning and moving so that you are fully aware of your surrounding and are able to react quickly. Instruct your teen to scan as you drive: looking to the left, to the right, in the side and rear-view mirrors and then returning quickly to the road. Ask your teen to verbalize their observations as you drive, taking special notes of potential hazards. How do these observations affect your driving?

    Now explain that you should always have a minimum of a three-second following distance from the car in front of you. (Following distance can be determined by making note of when the car in front of you passes a fixed object. Once the car has passed this object, count "one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand." For a three-second following distance, your car should pass this same object only after you have reached "three-one thousand.") Have your teen calculate your following distance and modify your driving if necessary. Complete this activity as you drive through different speed limit zones and discuss how the change in speed affects your following distance.

    Once you have driven around your community, drive to the entrance ramp of a local highway. Explain to your teen that merging requires the driver to observe their surroundings and react accordingly. Ask your teen to silently make note of your actions and reactions as you merge. Once you have merged successfully, discuss your teen's observations. What did you do? What did the drivers around you do? What was successful and what could have been done differently? Now exit the highway at the next exit ramp and merge back onto the highway in the opposite direction. Again, ask your teen to silently make note of your actions and reactions. Once you have merged successfully, discuss the similarities and differences of this merge with your previous merge. Arrive at the conclusion that while all driving situations are slightly different, they each require you to be an alert, observant and defensive driver.

Stay tuned to Checkered Flag.com for more helpful teen driver tips from your Virginia Beach Toyota dealer.

4Runner Owner Gets Lucky in Drive Thru

Toyota seems to have some of the safest cars and trucks around.  Appearantly this is not only due to the features installed by the manufacterer, but Toyota has some really smart owners too. 

The news this week is really starting to make me chuckle-starting with an article about a Washington State woman who had her Toyota 4Runner stolen and later to have it drive up to the window of the McDonalds where she was working.  Isn’t that some crazy luck?

McDonald’s worker sees her stolen car in drive-thru
Tri-City Herald

KENNEWICK — A woman working at a Kennewick McDonald’s saw her stolen SUV in the drive-thru of the restaurant and called police, who arrested the driver.

The SUV was stolen from Virginia Maiden’s apartment complex on 4th Avenue Tuesday morning and hours later she saw it in the drive-thru at her work, said Kennewick police Crime Prevention Specialist Mike Blatman.

Police arrested the driver of the SUV, 22-year-old Katherine A. York, of Kennewick, at the McDonald’s on West Canal Drive. A male was also in the car with York, but he was not arrested.

Police found a large amount of stolen clothes from JC Penny and Sears in the SUV after York was arrested, Blatman said. Police are investigating the stolen clothes.

York was booked into the Benton County jail.

Source: [yakimaherald.com]

I love Toyota, the cars are much like loyal lap dogs, they just come right back to you.  That being said, having a really dumb criminal didn’t hurt at all.

Checkered Flag Toyota is proud to sell some of the smartest cars around.  Come in to the Virginia Beach dealership today and have one of the agents show you just how smart the cars and trucks really are. 

Call Hampton Roads Toyota source today at (757) 687-3447 to find out more about their incredible selection of 4Runners and other great vehicles.

ABT Tuned R8 V10-Sets Roads On Fire

Having some very fast friends is makes the Audi R8 V10 even more impressive a ride.  The Audi R8 is equipped with a V10 engine and is well versed in going fast (as a gross understatement), but with the help from some overseas tuners they have made the vehicle a beast of speed greatness.

Checkered Flag Audi is the proud to host some incredible vehicular masterpieces.  Read on to hear more about the work done to the R8 and what they were able to accomplish with ABT’s help.

Audi R8 V10 gets tuned up by ABT
By Jonathon Ramsey

Bavarian tuners ABT have done another job on the Audi R8 V10, pumping up the 5.2-liter FSI V10 from 525 horsepower to 600 hp, and torque from 391 pound-feet to 406 lb-ft. With 50 more horsepower than the R8 V10 Plus - but not the extreme weight-loss scheme - ABT claims a 0-62 mile per hour run of 3.5 seconds, the same as the R8 V10 Plus, and a top speed for the mid-engined coupe of 198 miles per hour "is no problem at all."

Managing all that speed are the aero tweaks provided by a comprehensive body kit including a rear wing, a lowered and beefed-up suspension, a stainless steel exhaust and 19-inch wheels in two different designs.

While ABT hasn't put a price on the Audi upgrades, but it's safe to say that nearly 200 mph in an R8 won't come cheap.

Source: [autoblog.com]

Virginia Beach Audi loves to hear about special Audi modifications and all that is available to the Audi owner.  Their parts department is available to help our Hampton Roads residents and Audi enthusiasts gain all that they desire in the way of power or speed.

For more information about what is available to you through Audi sales or parts and service, call them today at (757) 687-3447.  The knowledgeable agents will help make your vehicular dreams come true.

Jaguar F-Type ad has eveyone waiting for their turn

Have you seen the new red roadster on TV?  Every Checkered Flag Jaguar fan wants to get behind the wheel of the new Jaguar F-Type.  We can't wait for our turn.  Can you?



If you are unable to view the 2014 Jaguar F-Type video on this page, choose the following link and scroll down to this article.  Link: 2014 F-Type video

For more information about the 2014 Jaguar F-Type, contact our Jaguar specialists at (757)687-3447 or visit our Virginia Beach Jaguar dealership on Virginia Beach Blvd.

Checkered Flag Scion Brings the BigMother to VA. Beach

Virginia Beach is going to have BIG things going on come June 1st.  Checkered Flag Scion is sponsoring the “Bigmother Autocross and Car Show”. 

Come by and show your own vehicle, if you have that kind of ride, or come out and enjoy the hard work of others.

My favorite part of the day, it is free for spectators and Checkered Flag Scion customers.

Enjoy some great weather, amazing cars, and all that Checkered Flag has to offer.

Virginia Living Museum-Saved By Hampton Roads Support

The Hampton Roads city of Newport News got some amazing news today!  The Virginia Living Museum will be staying open.  The hard work of locals, the state and all those that sent in letters to the Newport News City Council paid off.

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM VLM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PAGE HAYHURST: I am thrilled to report that Newport News City Council adopted a budget last night that includes increased support for the VLM. Floods, the economy and the elimination of state support hit the museum hard and our community stepped up with both private support and now this critical public support. Thank you to all our members and volunteers who advocated on our behalf -especially Newport News residents who sent 1,000+ cards to Council --We are most grateful for all you do to ensure that we can continue our educational mission!

The Checkered Flag family of dealerships in Virginia Beach and Norfolk want to congratulate you for your news today and thank you for all the hard work you put in educating our community on ways to help keep Hampton Roads green and keep our animals safe.

Expect major delays at Midtown Tunnel in Norfolk

We have a traffic update immediately affecting Checkered Flag fans.  Beginning today, Thursday, at 3pm, the drivers using the Midtown Tunnel from Norfolk to Portsmouth are expected to hit delays.  Crews installing traffic sensors will have one lane directly outside the mouth of the tunnel closed down until 2pm this Sunday. 

VDOT is urging drivers to use the Norfolk Downtown Tunnel as an alternate route. 

Again, the lane closure will affect drivers leaving Norfolk headed toward Portsmouth.

For more Hampton Roads traffic updates, stay tuned to the home of your Virginia Beach Volkswagen store, Checkered Flag.com.

Virginia Beach listed in "Worst Traffic Cities"

Checkered Flag fans will not be surprised to find their hometown at the top of a newly published list.  The Weather Channel has just released their list of the 2013 Cities with the Worst Traffic.  And, guess who is at #22. 

According to the report, the average Virginia Beach area resident spends 18 hours per year sitting in traffic.  Yikes!  To make matters worse, they added that all that waiting in gridlock can have some terrible effects on the members of our community members.

“Not only can time spent in traffic wreak havoc on your emotional health and stress levels, but also it can damage your sleep cycle, lungs, heart and brain.

The air pollution from traffic has recently been shown to increase risk for heart disease and stroke, as well as lung diseases, such as COPD and poor cognitive performance. One recent study even linked traffic noise to an increased risk of ADHD in children.

Traffic can be so harmful to kids, in fact, that living near a busy road can cause enough lung damage to trigger asthma, making traffic pollution as harmful as secondhand smoke, a study published in the European Respiratory Journal found earlier this year.”

The top three cities with the worst traffic are Los Angeles, Honolulu, and San Francisco. 

Well, if you have to sit in traffic, you may as well wait in style and comfort.  Visit any of our eleven Checkered Flag locations to find the right ride to keep your stress level at a minimum.  We carry a full selection on environmentally friendly hybrid vehicles including Toyota Prius, Honda hybrids, and even BMW hybrids. 

For more Hampton Roads traffic news, stay tuned to the home of your favorite Virginia Beach and Norfolk used car stores, Checkered Flag.com.

Info and image source: [weather.com]

New Spock vs. Old Spock in Audi's "The Challenge"

How would we describe the all-new Audi S7?   In a word, fascinating. 

Check out what happens when Audi puts Leonard Nimoy against Zachary Quinto, in their new video called "The Challenge."




For more information about the all-new 2013 Audi S7, or to set up a test drive for any of our Audi vehicles, contact our Virginia Beach Audi store, Checkered Flag Audi, at (757)687-3447. 

Gas prices still dropping in Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads has something new to brag about.  Our local Hampton Roads gas prices are on a roll.  And, Checkered Flag fans will be glad to know, they are rolling in the right direction.

Local gas prices fall for fifth straight week
By Dave Mayfield for The Virginian-Pilot

Gas prices in Hampton Roads bucked the national trend this past week by dropping a bit, AAA said in its Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The local average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.35 on Monday, down about 2 cents from a week earlier. The local average a month ago was $3.53.

Last week marked the fifth consecutive week of gas price drops in the region.

The decline locally came in spite of a slight rise, to $3.52 on Monday, in the U.S. average for regular. A week ago, the national average was $3.50 a gallon. It was $3.61 a month ago, according to AAA.

GasBuddy.com reported Monday that Greenville, S.C., had the lowest price among U.S. metro areas, at $3.13, while Chicago ranked highest at $4.25.

So, get to the gas pumps, Checkered Flag fans!

For more helpful tips about saving your pennies from the pump, check out our blog about improving your fuel economy. 

Info source: [pilotonline.com]