Minnesota, Midwest Gas Prices Spike Before Memorial Day

Generally, gas prices spike leading into Memorial Day weekend, which signifies the start of summer road-trip season. This year, refinery issues in the Midwest are putting a bigger hurt on Minnesota and surrounding states than the rest of the country.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.65. On average, Minnesota drivers are paying $4.27 for a gallon, which is nearly 17% more than the national average, according to AAA. A year ago, Minnesota's average gas price was nearly 3% less than the national average. In the past month alone, Minnesota's average gas price has increased more than 24%.

They're not alone. Here's a chart of the biggest price spikes over the past week and month.

U.S.-Built Nissan Leaf Gets Mileage, Sales Jolt

Nissan is getting a lot of mileage out of its decision to move production of the 2013 Leaf to the U.S. from Japan — not just in terms of fuel economy improvements but in sales figures as well. The EPA has given the electric vehicle's 2013 version a 16-mpg bump in its mileage ratings thanks to enhancements made following the move stateside. Meanwhile, a price reduction helped propel the Leaf to its best sales month ever in March, bringing total U.S. sales to 25,000 since the car debuted.

The EPA now rates the Leaf at 129/102/115 MPGe city/highway/combined compared with its previous rating of 106/92/99; that amounts to a combined-mileage increase of 16 mpg. According to Left Lane News, a more aerodynamic front fascia and a 129-pound weight savings thanks to a new charging unit made the mileage boost possible.

Automakers Want NHTSA to Lighten Up on High-Beam Rules

Automakers are asking U.S. safety regulators to lighten up on headlight restrictions. They want to implement new headlight technologies that allow motorists to use their high beams without blinding other drivers. European and Japanese automakers, in recent weeks, have ramped up the dialogue on the issue with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in hopes of bringing to U.S. consumers headlight advancements already used on thousands of vehicles sold overseas.

Volvo in March announced that S60 sedans, V60 wagons and XC60 crossovers on sale this spring in Europe will have "Active High-Beam Control," which uses a camera and an automatic shading mechanism to avoid blinding oncoming drivers, USA Today reported. The system would need government approval before the automaker could sell vehicles equipped with it in the U.S. Audi and BMW also have similar technologies ready to deploy, but are still working with NHTSA for approval, while Mercedes-Benz's enhanced headlight-dimming technology isn't yet ready for the U.S. market, the newspaper reported.

NTSB Recommends Lowering BAC to .05

In all 50 states, driving with a blood alcohol content level of .08 or higher, which reflects the percentage of alcohol, by volume, in the blood, means you're legally drunk — but the National Transportation Safety Board is fighting to lower that number.

What's the agency's magic number? It voted to lower the legal BAC level to .05. According to the investigative safety agency, nearly 10,000 people die in alcohol-related car accidents each year, and 170,000 more are injured. The NTSB estimates that approximately 1,000 lives could be saved each year by lowering the number. 

Study: Traffic Worst in Los Angeles

As you gradually slip into gridlock-induced madness this week during your daily commute, try to think of it this way: At least people have jobs to go to. According to INRIX, an international provider of traffic information and driver services, spiking traffic congestion following two years of decline is attributable to a U.S. economy on the mend. The most bountiful beneficiary of this recovery is Los Angeles, where drivers waste the greatest proportion of their lives staring at someone else's brake lights.

INRIX's Traffic Scorecard Annual Report shows that in the first three months of 2013, congestion was up 4% compared with 2012, when it dipped 22%. Traffic was up in 61 of the nation's 100 most-populated cities, while seven of 2012's cities with the worst traffic experienced greater congestion (led by Boston with a 30% spike). Those increases accompanied a 1.3% rise in U.S. employment, the report stated.

Teen Driver Deaths Up as Summer Approaches

As the nation heads into the deadliest driving period of the year for teens — between Memorial Day and Labor Day — we do so amid some unsettling statistics: Teen driving deaths are on track to increase for the second consecutive year following eight years of decline. That's according to a study from the Governors Highway Safety Association, which shows that deaths were up 19% among 16- and 17-year-old drivers during the first six months of 2012 compared with the first six months of 2011, heralding another deadly year for young motorists if the trend continues.

USA Today reported that 240 highway fatalities of 16- and 17-year-olds occurred through the first half of 2012, up from 202 the same period a year earlier. During the same time, overall traffic deaths rose 8%. Research shows that motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15- to 20-year-olds, and that more than half of those deaths are passengers, most not wearing seatbelts.

Coda Becomes Latest EV Start-Up to Short Circuit

Los Angeles-based start-up Coda announced today that it is declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy and pulling the plug on its electric vehicle. The news echoes other recent high-profile struggles for EV start-ups like Aptera and perhaps most notably Fisker, which just last week met with Congress amid emerging details of continual financial failures.

The Detroit News reported today that the company's parent, Coda Holdings Inc., said it would restructure to focus on the energy-storage portion of the business, Coda Energy, formed in 2011. Coda, which made its bankruptcy filing in Delaware, announced that it expected to complete a sale of the company within 45 days and that its energy-storage business would remain fully operational during the restructuring, the newspaper reported.

Tornado Week: What to Do If You Get Caught on the Road

Since Kicking Tires last advised readers five years ago on what to do if they encounter a tornado while driving, the winds of change have kicked up quite a dust storm to cloud the issue. Meteorologists, severe-weather experts and safety advocates have found themselves vehemently at odds with one another since the Red Cross in 2009 changed its position on whether to stay in, or seek shelter anywhere but, a car in a tornado. The answer? It depends. What is clear is that now is a good time to learn how to survive a tornado if you're caught on the road.

According to USA Today, this year's tornado count was off to a slow start with only 155 twisters reported so far nationwide (resulting in two deaths), compared with the annual average of 286 by this time of year. However, this is all expected to change as we move into the heart of peak severe-weather season — mid-April through May — when the tornado threat is the greatest. In conjunction with this volatile time, The Weather Channel is promoting its twister-fixated Tornado Week programming all week.

Where's the safest place if you're caught on the road during a twister? There are a lot of variables behind the answer. The logic behind getting the heck away from your car in a twister is sound. Cars — like that tornado deathtrap, the mobile home — are not anchored to the ground and can easily be flipped by winds, scooped up entirely and bombarded with debris. But according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center and the Red Cross' Tornado Safety Checklist, when faced with a scenario that offers no "safe" choices, you must make your own calls based on your circumstances.

SUV's GPS Device Helped Capture Boston Bombing Suspects

Late in the evening on April 18, Boston marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev carjacked a black Mercedes-Benz SUV in Cambridge, Mass. Its driver escaped shortly after midnight on April 19; the ensuing saga left one suspect dead, another in custody and an entire city on lockdown.

It turns out the Mercedes played a significant part in bringing the Tsarvnaev brothers down. The Boston Globe reports that the vehicle, an ML350 SUV, was leased by its owner, a 26-year-old Chinese entrepreneur who wishes to remain anonymous. It had Mercedes' mbrace2 telematics system, complete with an app on the owner's iPhone that allowed him to track the vehicle's location.

What followed was a bit of GPS sleuthing that shows stealing a car with an active telematics subscription — whether it's mbrace, GM's OnStar or others — is a fast way to get caught.

'Couldn't See the Sign' Is Top Excuse for Cops

Well, gosh, officer. I didn't see that 35-mph speed limit. Or the yield sign. Or that no-turn-on-red.

That's the most common excuse drivers give when pulled over, according to a new survey by Insurance.com. Last February, the insurance comparison website polled 500 licensed drivers age 18 and older. Of those who said they tried to reason with the police officer — or just plain give an excuse — more than one-fifth said they couldn't see the sign that prohibited their actions.

"There were some striking differences" in answers between men and women, Insurance.com Managing Editor Michelle Megna told us. Of those who said they missed the sign, nearly two-thirds were women — a group that often pleads ignorance in such situations, the survey suggests. Men, by contrast, tend to argue extenuating circumstances or deny any recklessness.

See the rest of the survey's results for yourself: