Sunset Ford Dealer Blog

If you spend a lot of time commuting in your 2008 Ford Focus or other smaller car, you might feel like you’re wasting a good portion of your day. Here are some things that you can do during the commute to make the most out of your travel time:

• Use a hands-free device with your cell phone to catch up on phone calls with friends and family. While you probably won’t be able to do this on the commute in to work, you can certainly do it on the way home.

• Bring your MP3 player and an FM tuner. You can catch up on podcasts that you regularly listen to, or listen to your favorite type of music. There are even audio books available in MP3 format today.

• Learn a new language. Language lessons on CD (or MP3, for that matter) are perfect for your commute.

• Expand your horizons a bit. Find some classical music CDs, or some other genre that you may not regularly listen to. Consider Jazz or Opera, or something wild and exciting like Techno Pop.

• Use the commute to relax. Spend some time focusing on the good things in your life. Visualize your dreams. Think about all of the positive things in your life, and about how successful you’d like to be today. Prepare your positive mental attitude on the way into work.

• Consider a portable car seat massager. Make sure, of course, that it doesn’t interfere with your operation of the vehicle.

• Use a voice recorder to record ideas, brainstorms, plans for your day or even a grocery list.

• If you participate in an extracurricular singing activity, such as a barbershop quartet, community theatre or a choir, practice singing during your commute. Just be aware that other drivers may be watching you!

Above all, just try to enjoy the ride. Your Ford Focus is built for the commute, so sit back, relax and realize that you’ll be to your destination in no time.

A surprisingly large number of accidents occur every day, and many of these occur when people are on their morning commute. The morning commute can be frustrating and dangerous for many drivers. Here are some things you can do to help make your commute as safe as possible:

Avoid distractions. When we think about distracted driving, cell phones often come to mind. The fact of the matter is, however, you can be distracted by any number of things inside and outside your vehicle. Passengers, eating, the radio or even putting on makeup can all distract you from driving. Fortunately, there are ways to get past most of these distractions. If you have a Ford Focus, for example, you can get the Sync package, developed by Ford and Microsoft. This package provides you with Bluetooth cell phone capability as well as voice-activated stereo and MP3 player commands. On top of that, make a commitment to yourself that you won’t eat in your vehicle; it’ll keep it much nicer in the long run, anyways.

Get some sleep. One of the major causes of freeway accidents is people falling asleep at the wheel. Estimates suggest that as many as 100,000 crashes each year are due to drowsy driving. Make sure you’re getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night, especially if you have a long commute.

Use your seatbelt. It’s common advice at this point, but the fact of the matter is that seatbelts save lives and prevent injuries. No, they don’t prevent accidents, but they do offer protection for when there is an accident.

Drive defensively. Be aware of the other cars around you. Pay attention to every sign and traffic light, even in familiar territory. If you’re commuting in the early morning when it’s still dark, be especially alert.

Come and see us at Sunset Ford today. We can show you the amazing Sync system in the 2008 Ford Focus, and answer any questions you might have about vehicle safety.

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