Today I’m switching gears and bringing you an interview with someone who is not lawyer, but who nonetheless can give us legal types some great insight into what it takes to be successful online. Matt McGee is a hyperlocal blogger who has been really successful in using blogging to promote his wife’s real estate business, and by doing so, has made himself a bit of an expert on hyperlocal blogging.

While some attorneys blog solely about legal issues, and while blogging about legal issues is one effective way to market a law practice, building a relationship with the community through hyperlocal blogging can also be effective. Matt was kind of enough to offer us some insight into the world of hyperlocal blogging, and how it can be used to successfully promote a business. If you’re hungering for more of Matt McGee after reading this interview, be sure to check out his site, Hyperlocal Blogger, where you can also find links to the real estate blogs he and his wife use to promote her real estate business.

GJEL: What inspired you to start hyperlocal blogs for your real estate market, and what were your initial goals for them?

Matt: The idea at the beginning was mostly to promote my wife’s real estate business, but it was also somewhat of an experiment in local blogging and a learning experience of sorts. The goal for each was to have a site for each of the main cities in our area that anyone thinking about moving here could follow along and learn about the community, while also setting up my wife as the local expert for each area. I’d love to say we started the blogs with purely altruistic, serve-the-community ideas in mind, but it was as much a business idea as anything.

GJEL: Have those changed at all as you’ve gotten into it more?

Matt: Well, the goals are still the same, but we haven’t really executed as well as I’d like. My wife is too busy to blog about real estate as much as she should, so I’ve done most of the writing about community news and events. So, I’d say the goals are still the same, but the focus has changed due to the reality of the situation. Instead of being about the town and about real estate in the town, each of the blogs is mostly about the towns … with just a little real estate in the mix. I don’t know if that’s good or bad; it’s just not what I was expecting. We’re probably about 90%-10% in terms of general content vs. real estate content. I’d prefer it to be about 70%-30%.

GJEL: How do you walk the line between blogging about your business and blogging about your community?

Matt: Well, I guess I answered this one to some degree already, but let me reply in general on the idea of self-promotion and local/community blogs. When we launched all four blogs, a reader would have had to do some digging to find out that they were, to some degree, business blogs. Sure, each has “real estate” in its name … but the content was all community-based. There was no advertising of my wife’s real estate business. Aside from a mention on the “About” pages, we downplayed the real estate connection completely.

We did that because we wanted to attract readers from across the community – not just readers who were looking to buy or sell a home. We also did it because real estate has a big spam element when it comes to online marketing, SEO, etc. So we decided to hold off on any real estate promotion for a while, to allow the blogs to build up some readership and some trust with the search engines.

I think any small biz person that’s thinking about starting a local/community blog should keep in mind that, generally speaking, if people are looking for information about your business, they’ll visit your business web site or blog. They come to a community blog looking for community information. An occasional business-related post is probably fine — say, for example, if the business is supporting some local event or charity — but general business blog posts should probably stay off the community blog.

GJEL: Tri-Cities isn’t quite as big a market as the Bay Area, obviously, but are there common types of content you look for, or places you look, when you’re trying to figure out what to write?  Do you think the size of the area where a business draws its customers from should affect any of that thinking?

Matt: Well, there are different types of local blogs. Some are very much into hard news and crime, and so in a bigger city you’ll get more opportunity to report that. We live in a fairly low-crime area, and since our blogs are mostly designed to promote the area and indirectly promote a real estate business, we generally stay away from reporting crime. That said, there was a burglar in our local mall a year or so ago, and we posted about that — and that post got a LOT of traffic.

I think in most cases, a successful hyperlocal blog will share a lot of community news and information that traditional media skips. Posts about upcoming events always seem to do well on our blogs. The newspaper might only give an event 2-3 sentences, but if the event is important to people, they’ll be looking online for more information.

GJEL: Are there any ideas for content themes, or categories, that you would recommend as a “default setting” if you were just starting a blog?

Matt: All of our blogs have a similar set of categories that seem to work well for us: Business, Events, Life, News, Real Estate, Schools, and Sights. Most of those should be self-explanatory, but maybe not Life and Sights. With the Life category, that’s where we post stuff like a trip to the local museum, or “wouldn’t it be great if we had one of these in town?” posts. And the Sights category is where we post photos from around town, like a nice sunset or a shot of people trying to cool off in 100+ degree heat. So far, everything we’ve written has fit into one of those categories.

GJEL: It seems like hyperlocal blogging would work really well for a real estate business, because getting people interested in real estate means getting them interested in the community. Do you have any advice for people who are trying to incorporate hyperlocal blogging with another type of business (i.e. law )?

Matt: It definitely is a natural fit for real estate professionals, but I think it can work in the legal industry and others, too. Again, I’d say the key to making it work is to focus on making a community/neighborhood blog, not an industry blog. It’s all about focus. If you blog about what’s happening in town — school news, new businesses opening up, local events, etc., it doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer, plumber, shoe store owner … whatever! People are online and looking for local information, so it doesn’t matter who you are.

The problem is in turning blog visitors into customers, and that’s still a gray area for us. In the interest of building readership and trust, we held off on any promotion of my wife’s business for about the first year the blogs were online. At that point, we added a template to the bottom of each post that shows her photo and says something about “if you’re here looking for real estate help, please contact” her and gives her phone number. I’m still hesitant to push much further on self-promotion because I think it’ll turn people off.

All of which is to say that, if you asked me what the direct and certain benefit has been of our local blogs on my wife’s real estate business, I’d be hard-pressed to tell you. But I can say this: When she asks people how they found her, many clients say “You’re all over the Internet!” They may not remember which blog, web site, or PPC ad it was, but we know the visibility is good. And the blogs tend to rank well for her primary business keywords, so if nothing else they’re taking up space in the search results that a competitor might have had.

GJEL: How have you incorporated Twitter, if at all, in meeting other bloggers in your community?  Do you ever do any offline meetups in Tri-Cities?

Matt: My wife has been to about 4-5 local tweetups, but I’ve only been able to get to one, I think. They’re good, I think, for meeting people — especially that tend to be online influencers to some degree. They’re active on Twitter, Facebook, and with their own blogs, so it’s nice to be part of a local network like that. And word-of-mouth marketing is important for all small businesses, so hopefully as these people get to know you better, they might be more likely to tell a friend — “Hey, I know a real estate agent you should call.”

GJEL: HyperLocalBlogger.com is obviously THE place to go for local blog techniques and ideas. Are there any other websites or eBooks you might recommend to people who are just starting local blogs?

Matt: If you’re just starting, I think the focus should probably be on blogging in general as opposed to local blogging — I mean, in terms of reading and learning. As you learn to create a great blog, it’s pretty easy to make your focus on local content. Problogger.net and Copyblogger.com are two great ones for blog advice. Remarkablogger.com is another great one. And there’s a ton of great articles going back three years in the Blogging category of the SEMMY Awards - that would be a treasure-trove of material for a starting blogger.

This week brings with it more interviews of the people who are at the very top of the game when it comes to online presence. Today I bring you an interview with John Day, a prominent attorney who has been blogging since 2004. I met John at a Beer for Bloggers event hosted by Kevin O’Keefe of Lexblog following the Avvocating Conference, and was quickly impressed with his early adoption of blogging, and acceptance of the idea that an attorney needs to have a strong online presence. We got to talking, discovered that we grew up only a few miles from each other and knew some of the same people, and somehow I managed to convince an already busy John that he should do an interview for this blog. So here it is, one of the legal industry’s early bloggers, sharing his thoughts on the topic.

GJEL: John, you were one of the early adopters of blogging in the legal field. Can you explain how you found out that blogging was something that could be beneficial to you and your practice, and how you decided to start blogging?

John: I discovered blogging in late 2004 and thought it would be a great way to share important, timely information with my fellow lawyers on an informal basis.  I started the blog in Feb. 2005 and 1712 posts later I still use it for that purpose.

GJEL: You use Lexblog as the platform for your blog. How did you decide to go that route?

John: Kevin O’Keefe was, and is, the leader in the field of lawyer blogging.  I went to him for the same reason I buy suits at Brooks Brothers.

GJEL: What were some of your goals for social media for your practice? Did you expect to network, find clients, improve your Google rankings, or something else? Do you feel that you’re achieving those goals?

John: My goal was to share information with the hope that referring lawyers would see that I was a competent lawyer who kept up-to-date in the field.  I hope that goal has been reached, but it is difficult to measure the effect of blogging alone when I also write books, articles, newsletters and do a significant amount of speaking in the torts area.

GJEL: The list of speaking engagements on your firm profile is quite lengthy, you’ve written a book, and you’re a practicing attorney. How on earth do you find time to blog?

John: I usually blog between 4:15 and 5:00  in the morning, although sometimes on weekends I will do several posts at once and schedule them for  publication later that week.  The  software used by LexBlog permits me to write a post one day and actually make it available for viewing later.  I confess that blogging takes time and when I am in the book updating mode (which is right now – the third edition of Day on Torts comes out in April) things get a little hectic.

GJEL: In addition to blogging, you and one of your colleagues edit the Trial Law Report newsletter, which covers many aspects of civil litigation in Tennessee. How did you decide to put out a newsletter, and what are some of your goals in doing so? Is the intended audience for the newsletter different from the intended audience of the blog?

John: I publish and write the newsletter with the goal of educating judges and lawyers (including myself) on changes in the Tennessee law of torts, civil procedure, evidence and trial.  I also do it to make money – I charge for the newsletter and basically get paid to stay current on the law while at the same time demonstrating to my peers that I do so.

GJEL: You and I met at the Avvocating Conference last week. Did you come up with any new ideas to expand your personal or firm presence on the internet? How do you feel about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms and their uses for attorneys?

John: I did not meet you at the conference – I met you in a bar.  You say you were at the conference and I will assume that you were.  On social media – lawyers, especially us old guys, need to understand that the cheese has moved.  Social media, a phrase that did not exist when I started practicing law, will continue to be a growing force as lawyers try to figure out how to market their practice efficiently.

Today I’m happy to bring you the wisdom of the fabulous Mark Britton, CEO of Avvo. Conrad (whose interview I posted here Monday) was the first person I had contact with at Avvo, and as head of Marketing at Avvo, he’s a great person to hear from. But I’m really happy to be able to have Mark’s input on how the internet and social media are affecting the legal industry, because Avvo is his brainchild. Mark is also full of good advice. Since not everyone was able to get it first hand at the Avvocating Conference, I’m happy to share the wealth.

GJEL: In one of your presentations at last month’s Avvocating conference, you mentioned a concept called “the long tail.”  Can you explain a little bit more about what that means for our readers?

Mark: People think of search as very general queries (e.g., divorce lawyer California”).  As the Web takes on more content and search engines become more sophisticated in finding that content, people are generating very specific search queries.  “I am looking for the best California divorce lawyer that can handle immigration issues – especially visa issues” is a long-tail search query, and Google is able to match it with 72,600,000 pages.  The more diverse, quality content you have out on the Web, the more often Google will serve up your page  in response to a long-tail search.  And that page does not have to be a website or blog.  It can be as simple as an answer to question on Avvo.

GJEL: How does Avvo’s Q&A fit into that concept?

Mark: perfectly, actually.  Without even trying, lawyers answering questions on Avvo are putting together all sorts of keyword combinations that the search engines will match with a long-tail search.  Q&A allows lawyers to build out thousands of keyword-rich, individual pages that are simply free advertising aimed at potential clients – whether they find the lawyer’s answer via Avvo or a search engine.

GJEL: What are the other benefits of participating in the Q&A section on Avvo?

Mark: There are many.  First, in addition to the new business and free advertising lawyers get through our Q&A, we give our top contributors free advertising in various places on our site.  Second, many lawyers use their Q&A to demonstrate their expertise during initial consultations – either over the phone or in-person.  Third, many lawyers simply like to help people and will answers many more questions than will ever turn into clients.  Finally, many lawyers tell me that answering questions is cathartic and fun.  They like to get on the site and simply answer a couple of questions to ease their mind; because, in reality, many of the questions are very rudimentary.  The questioners are so confused, and the simplest guidance can help them.

GJEL: Are there other portals that offer a similar opportunity?

Mark: There are Q&A sites all over the Web.  Most are quite small in comparison to Avvo.  Comparing the larger Q&A forums, we are different because we focus on the legal profession and we know that everyone who answers is a lawyer, which makes the quality of our Q&A much higher than, say, Yahoo’s or LinkedIn’s Q&A forums.

GJEL: In one of your slides, you showed an amazing number of legal portals — do you have any recommendations for small law firms like ours to maintain or monitor our presence on all or most of them?

Mark: Build and maintain or your Core Web Presence (“CWP”) (e.g., a website, blog or Avvo profile), and then pick four or five online social networking sites where you will spend most of your time.  You might meander now and then, but becoming part of a big site’s social network is key.  Then, from that social network, link back to your CWP as much as appropriate.  It will help drive traffic to and branding of your CWP, which is your calling card on the Web.  The social networking sites are the satellites to your CWP.

GJEL: Is there a good way to prioritize our efforts?

Mark: Yes, by respecting this “Core Web Presence” strategy and being a strong community member in a limited number of satellite sites. I often recommend LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as the best satellites to supplement your CWP.

GJEL: Most of the discussions I’ve had about Avvo have been with other attorneys about how it can be useful to us in terms of marketing and making our profiles available for clients to find. But it’s definitely worth considering Avvo as a service to consumers, not just as a marketing tool. I know, for example, that Avvo is starting some consumer webinars. Can you explain what value those will bring to consumers, and what else Avvo has in the works to help people with their legal questions and to help them find the right attorney?

Mark: When it comes to dealing with legal issues, consumers are lost – completely lost.  The more we can give them tools – whether it be our directory, our Q&A forum, or Legal Guides forum, webinars, etc. – the better consumers will be served.  The reality is that consumers think lawyers make things hard.  The more that a lawyer can use the Avvo platform to make things easier, the more likely they are to hire that lawyer to do their legal work.

GJEL: You also advised lawyers in Seattle: “Don’t fear the negative review.”  Can you explain a little more about why negative reviews aren’t necessarily a bad thing?

Mark: The modern Web consumer – which is a much more sophisticated consumer on average – wants transparency in all products and services they are researching for purchase.  Think of how you buy goods and services.  Let’s say you are buying a new bike.  You find a site called “Superbikes” and every bike is rated “Super” and all of the client reviews are glowing.  Are you going to trust that site?  No, you are going to search for another site that speaks to you more honestly – a site that is not simply a shill for advertising.]

GJEL: What percentage of Avvo reviews are positive vs negative?

Mark: 85% positive.  That is because most lawyers do great work – they are just really bad at telling their story – i.e., marketing.  The more they can tell their story and help consumers at the same time, it is a win-win for everyone.  Thus the essence of Avvo.

I recently decided I wanted to know a little more, and I wanted to share with readers some of the insights of those very people who understand this topic the best. So this week, I’ll be sharing interviews with some really bright people. The goals are to share with potential clients ways that they can use the internet to find the attorneys that are right for them, and to help attorneys understand how to put their best foot forward online so that they are the attorneys the clients find.

So today I start our GJEL interview series with Conrad Saam of Avvo. Conrad is the head of Marketing at Avvo. Avvo is a directory of attorney profiles that clients can use to find the right attorney for them. Clients can view attorneys’ Avvo rankings, reviews from other clients and attorneys, and answers to basic legal questions to help them decide which attorney to hire. For more on Avvo, see my past post.

GJEL: Conrad, there’s no doubt that social media is a great way to network with other attorneys and reach potential clients. Here at GJEL, we have a blog, and a Twitter account, which are great ways to build relationships—but what Avvo does is different. What advantages does the profile-based directory have over other forms of social media?

Conrad: Avvo provides a comprehensive overview of the legal industry – 90% of licensed lawyers have profiles on the site.  As such, we provide consumers with breadth and depth of information that they have never been able to access before.

GJEL: I mentioned that we have a blog and a Twitter account, but of course, we’re on Avvo too. Mark Britton, CEO of Avvo gave a great presentation on maximizing Avvo Profiles at the Avvocating Conference. Of course, not everyone could attend the conference, and many attorneys I know are still discovering the things they can do with their Avvo profiles. What would your top 5 tips be for them in terms of maximizing their Avvo profiles?

Conrad: 1.       Claim your Profile!  – take control of your profile by claiming it for free.  This enables you to add as much information as you want and interact with attorneys and consumers on the site.

2.       Add a photo – profiles with photos are 10 times more likely to get clicked on.

3.       Complete your profile – make sure you fill out the profile completely – consumers are craving information and the more information you add, the more likely potential customers are to pick up the phone and call you.

4.       Keep your information current – the award you won in 1984 is less relevant to your reputation (and your Avvo Rating) than the award you won yesterday.

5.       Participate in Avvo Answers – we get 20,000 questions a month from consumers seeking basic guidance.  Avvo Answers is a great way to demonstrate your expertise and connect with prospective clients.

GJEL: There’s some concern about the fact that anyone can leave an anonymous comment on an attorney’s profile on Avvo. Is there anything an attorney can do if a defamatory comment is left on his or her profile?

Conrad: Avvo is the gold standard when it comes to high quality client reviews.  First – every review is read by a human before it is published.  Reviews that don’t meet our guidelines are rejected.  Secondly, lawyers may challenge reviews that they feel are inaccurate.  In this case, Avvo acts as a mediator between the reviewer and the attorney.  If the reviewer affirms the review, it will stay up.  Finally, attorneys can comment directly on the reviews.  All of this human interaction is very expensive, but important to ensure a quality experience for both our attorneys and prospective clients.

GJEL: I’m a bit entrepreneurial myself, so I’m curious: how did the idea for Avvo come about, and when did you know you could really make a go of it?

Conrad: Our founder, Mark Britton is a lawyer and was taking a year off teaching finance in Italy.  While overseas, he kept fielding questions from friends and family who were looking for a specific type of attorney in a specific location in the US.  It became very clear that consumers were lost when it comes to hiring an attorney – and the idea of an unbiased, easy-to-understand legal directory was born.  When did we know we could make a go of it?  There was an overwhelmingly positive response, almost a sense of relief, from people in the early focus groups who saw unbiased client reviews, objective information and an easy-to-understand rating system in the Avvo prototype.

GJEL: Finally, it seems that Avvo is enjoying booming success and is growing much faster than other online lawyer directories like Lawyers.com. What do you think is the primary reason that Avvo is surpassing all the competition?

Conrad: Avvo became the most trafficked legal directory in just two years while competing against large, established corporations with sophisticated marketing departments and massive television advertising budgets.  The simple answer is, we have the only product in the legal directory space that takes the consumer’s perspective.  We provide more information and better guidance than they have ever had access to – which helps them make important legal decisions with confidence.  An extremely positive experience with the site is our primary marketing channel.

Most attorneys who are blogging or using other platforms like Facebook and Twitter are extremely careful about complying with ethics rules. They aren’t sharing client information and they aren’t making any false claims. But it’s important as attorneys to pay attention to not only the content we can control online, but to be aware when something is beyond our control. We trust social media platforms to only put out the information that we tell them to, and we trust them to only share it with those with whom it is meant to be shared. Usually, that’s fine–but not always.

Some attorneys use Gmail for their business and personal email. I personally love Gmail–it’s easy to use, very customizable, and has lots of great features and add-ons. Using it for work and for personal use has never been a problem because it was so easy to file the appropriate messages into the appropriate folders and maintain a separation between public and personal life. But with the advent of Google’s Buzz, all bets are off.

That’s because Buzz was sprung upon the Gmail-using masses without much concern for the privacy of those same masses. When it popped up under my Inbox folder, I was already following twenty people and ten people were following me. Who were these people? All of them were people I had emailed or received email from at one point or another through Gmail. Some of them were really my close friends or family, but some of them were people I didn’t even know personally–people I had received an email from as part of a cycling club list-serv. All of a sudden, those people could see my Buzz updates, my Gchat updates, and updates from four other sites that Buzz automatically linked my account to.

Fortunately, none of my sensitive information was shared with these people, and I understood that whatever I published in the future would be, unless I blocked those contacts. Also fortunate is the fact that most attorneys aren’t updating their social media statuses with sensitive information, either. But what if an attorney had said something he or she didn’t want clients (who might be on the automatic follower list because they email back and forth with the attorney) to see? What if an attorney had said something like “I hate my job, my workload is out of control, I’m not even sure I can handle all these cases properly!” We all have times when we want to complain about a long day at work, attorneys are no exception. That comment may have been meant just for close friends and family who also complain about heavy workloads, and in all likelihood would have been an exaggeration. But how might that affect a relationship with a client that the attorney had spoken with that day? The statement should probably not have been made in the first place, but the fact is, if it was made, it would have been seen by all the wrong people.

It is precisely because of this privacy issue that Google is facing a class action lawsuit that was filed on February 18th. According to Vator News, the lawsuit names Gmail’s 31 million users as plaintiffs.  And according to Ars Technica, Kurt Opshal of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said, “These problems arose because Google attempted to overcome its market disadvantage in competing with Twitter and Facebook by making a secondary use of your information {without permission].”

The major worry is that Google or other social media companies could use the information we give them as users for other uses without permission–uses that might be less benign that Buzz, and potentially more invasive. For now, it’s best for attorneys who are using social media to simply be careful about what they put out there, whether it be on a work account or a personal account. In the meantime, it will be interesting to follow the Google Buzz lawsuit and the fallout from it, to see what implications it has for the use of social media in the future.

Fixes for Recalls Announced

First, Toyota announced yesterday that they have a fix for all the floor mat and gas pedal recalls that were causing vehicles to accelerate uncontrollably. The announcement came in the form of a statement on the company’s website, and a television commercial containing the same information as the statement. The text of the statement on Toyota’s website is as follows:

Here’s the latest update on the recall:

1. We’re starting to send letters this weekend to owners involved in the recall to schedule an appointment at their dealer.
2. Dealerships have extended their hours – some of them working 24/7 – to fix your vehicle as quickly as possible.
3. Trained technicians have begun making repairs.

We’ve halted production of these models this week to focus on fixing the problem for the vehicles that are on the road.

Our entire organization of 172,000 North American employees and dealership personnel has been mobilized. And we’re doubling our quality control efforts across the company.

Ensuring your safety is our highest priority. We will continue to update you with accurate and timely information about the status of the recall in the days and weeks ahead.

Toyota Announces Prius Recall

Toyota has also announced that the company is instituting a voluntary recall of the 2010 Prius, citing faulty anti-lock brake software as the problem. According to Toyota’s press release:

“Toyota has responded to owner concerns with a running production change for 2010 Prius that was introduced last month, improving the ABS system’s response time, as well as the system’s overall sensitivity to tire slippage”

Toyota has said that the company will fix all the 2010 Prius vehciles that have already been sold, and will institute the production change for all cars produced from here on out.

Toyota Announces Camry Recall

On top of recalling the Prius for brake problems, Toyota has announced a recall of certain 2010 Camry models for a separate brake issue. This time, it’s not the anti-lock brake software, but rather the placement of a steering hose that can cause holes to form in the brake tubes, causing difficulties in braking the vehicles. From Toyota’s website:

“Separately, Toyota will conduct a voluntary safety recall on approximately 7,300 early production – 2010 model year Camry vehicles equipped with the 4 cylinder engine to inspect for a power steering hose that may be in contact with a front brake tube. This contact could lead to a hole in the brake tube and cause a brake fluid leak, increased brake pedal stroke and greater vehicle stopping distance.”

Many Were Aware of Acceleration Problems for Years

PBS News Hour is also reporting on their television program today that State Farm Insurance and NHTSA were aware of acceleration problems prior to this major recall. According to PBS News Hour, State Farm began warning people, including the NHTSA, in 2007, and NHTSA was investigating acceleration problems as early as 2003. According to the Canadian Press, both State Farm and NHTSA were made aware of the problems because both noticed an increase in complaints about the acceleration problems from these vehicle owners.

Toyota has not recalled the 2010 Prius with the problems, but they say that they have become aware the complaints via internet traffic and the at least thirty three complaints have been filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations’ Office of Defects Investigations. There is a possibility that Toyota will be formally investigated by the government in the near future. The complaints describe feelings of not being in control of the vehicle, and not being sure if the brakes will work in time to stop for pedestrians or stop lights. Most drivers have assume that these are brake problems.

However, Toyota officials have said that it might not be the brakes that are the problem. According to Toyota spokesman Mike Michels, “Everyone is looking at anti-lock brakes but there are other systems that could be responsible for the behavior people are reporting. We just don’t know.” Not being able to pinpoint the problem is potentially even more dangerous and frightening than what would likely be an easy fix if it were only a brake system problem.

Stay tuned, and I’ll continue to follow Toyota’s blow-up of complaints and problems as more news develops.

photo courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8204247@N08/ / CC BY 2.0

They responded, “yes, but not with you.”

They then explained that the money was for the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. Our own Amy McAllister coordinated with thePeople Oakland, an East Bay based danced party, to throw an awesome dance party to raise money for the victims of the earthquake. The money was donated to Partners in Health, an organization that has been working with the Haitian Ministry of Health to bring healthcare to every Haitian. The party was successful, and $1517 was raised.

When the partners here at GJEL heard about the fundraiser, they graciously offered to match any funds that were raised, bringing the total donation to $3034.

But I hadn’t heard anything about their offer to match. No one told me to blog about it, no one wanted to publicize their generosity (which is why I was so confused to see large amounts of cash being counted by Amy and Kim). But I think it’s important to thank people for doing good things. So thanks to Amy and thePeople for throwing a great party. Thanks to all who attended and gave some money to help those who so desperately need healthcare. Thanks to GJEL for matching those funds. Thanks to Partners in Health for putting those funds to good use and helping those who have been injured in the earthquake.

According to the New York Times, Toyota Motor Corp announced a recall today of eight models of Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Europe. That recall affects 1.8 million cars, bringing the current total number of vehicles affected up to nearly 9 million.

What’s Wrong With These Cars?

In the last two years, there have been five fatal accidents involving runaway Toyota or Lexus vehicles made by Toyota Motor Corp. In addition to those, there have been hundreds of other incidences of runaway Toyota and Lexus vehicles that didn’t end fatally. Why?

Faulty Floor Mats

Toyota has blamed several of the incidents on the vehicles’ floor mats, claiming that if the mats are not installed properly, they can hold the gas pedal open, causing the vehicles to speed up suddenly, and leaving drivers at the helm of an out of control vehicle. In response to a fatal crash in August 2009 (which killed four), Toyota asked that all Toyota and Lexus drivers remove their floor mats as an interim precaution. The floor mats are held in place by clips, which can easily come loose, causing the sudden accelerations. This recall is the largest in the company’s history. In fact, 3.8 million vehicles from models dating as far back as 2004 were affected by the recall, which was issued in late 2009.

Malfunctioning Gas Pedals

The January 2010 recall is in response to a malfunction of the gas pedal in certain Toyota models, not the floor mats. It started with 2.3 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles that were recalled on January 21st. It was expanded again today, with the addition of eight models of Toyota and Lexus vehicles found in Europe. In these cases, the electronic throttle mechanism became worn causing the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollably. In the United States nineteen people have been killed in accidents resulting from these defects.

The Problems Don’t End With Accelerators and Floor Mats

It seems Toyota may still have a few problems, despite the recall. Auto safety experts say that Toyota’s complex computerized engine control system doesn’t provide a sure-fire way to bring the car to a stop if a sudden acceleration happens, regardless of the cause. Toyota has considered remedying this by programming the engine’s computer to cut off all power when the gas and brake pedals are depressed simultaneously. Another possibility is redesigning the gas pedal and the floor mats to make it more difficult for the mat to lodge the accelerator open.

In the meantime, what should a driver do if he or she finds her Toyota or Lexus (or any car) suddenly accelerating to dangerous speeds?

• Try applying the brakes: The obvious instinct is to try to apply the brakes. In some situations this may work, but because of the design of newer braking systems, it might not. The brake failure happens because modern power-assisted brakes draw their power from a vacuum in the engine. If the throttle is fully open and the car is in full on acceleration mode, the vacuum pressure drops, leaving the brakes without power, and the driver without brakes. Without the power assist, it can take 225 pounds of pressure on the brake pedal to get a car to stop. Most drivers can’t get that kind of force on the pedal in the seated driving position.
• Shift into neutral: Many people who have grown up driving automatic cars don’t know what “being in neutral” does to an engine, and maybe that’s a driver education issue. But if you find your car suddenly accelerating, throwing the vehicle in neutral will slow you down
• Shut off the engine: Shutting off the engine will cut power. Without the engine running, it doesn’t matter how much gas is getting to the engine. No fuel will be combusted, and the car will slow to a stop.

All of these solutions require quick thinking on the part of the driver. The driver has to pay attention to traffic and steer to avoid an accident while simultaneously shifting or turning off the engine. And in higher end models (such as some of the Lexus models), these things are easier said than done. Some models have push button ignitions. To shut these off, the driver must hold the button down for more than three seconds–time that the driver doesn’t have if the car is rocketing through traffic at 120 miles per hour.

If your floor mats were recalled, remove them, and read your vehicle’s user manual. Most drivers don’t know how to perform an emergency stop if it becomes necessary, but if you find yourself in a runaway car, the information could save your life.

image courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjc4454/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

This federal ban expands the ban that was already in place in nineteen states and the District of Columbia, and the partial ban in ten other states that only prohibited novice drivers from texting. If drivers are caught texting, they can be hit with a civil or criminal penalty up to $2,750.

The ban does not, however, apply to devices that are found on board some trucks that allow dispatchers to send text messages to drivers. However, most of those devices already have a built in detection system that prevents them from working while the vehicle is being driven.

Of course, it’s not shocking that the Transportation Department is taking on texting while driving. It’s been proven to be more dangerous that drunk driving, and has played a role in serious accidents over the past couple of years. What is still shocking to me, is that there hasn’t been a total and complete ban on the activity. It seems to me that if a truck is barreling towards me with an inattentive driver, I’ll be plenty scared whether is weighs 10,000 pounds or not–it’s dangerous either way.  It’s like the Zen saying, “When sitting, only sit. When drinking tea, only drink tea.” I propose adding, “When driving, only drive.”

photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsaint/ / CC BY 2.0