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Encouraging Heroes. You can be one too.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Zubie for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

 Heroes, I've just been learning about a fascinating service called Zubie that could be mighty helpful for parents of teen drivers.  We're facing a pair of new drivers getting their licences this year, and wow does that ever inspire fear.  It's one thing to ride in the car and watch their every move.  It's quite another to hand them the keys and let them leave without us. What if they drive recklessly or foolishly?  Will they keep an eye on the maintenance schedule for the vehicle?

I'd only had my license for a few months when I was driving to school one day and suddenly the car just quit.  It turned out that the oil needed changing and the idiot light hadn't turned on.  I had no idea that I was supposed to keep an eye on that, and the engine completely seized up.  My father had to find another one and have it put in.

So, yea.  Lots to worry about with young drivers.

Enter Zubie, a service that combines a matchbox-sized smart device that plugs into most every car and an app you install on your smartphone.  There are both Android and iOS versions available.

Zubie has 4 huge features.  There's a location tracking system called Always Smart TM that allows for location tracking.  You can get alerts when family members arrive at locations like home, work, or school.

Then there's the problem alerts feature.  Zubie will notify you of problems like an engine problem or dying battery and could help you avoid getting stranded.  There are also maintenance alerts.  Keeping track of maintenance can be difficult-especially for those of us who are easily distracted.  Getting regular reminders would certainly help me keep my car in the best of shape.  And, there is potential for savings here.  By keeping the car in good condition, I may avoid some expensive repairs later.

For those of us with young teen drivers, the Safe Driving feature looks priceless.  You can track driving practices like speeding, sudden acceleration or braking.  Kids can even earn badges for good driving that are sharable on social media.  I think the kid monitoring part is my personal favorite.  

The fourth feature is trip coordination.  You can actually network with other drivers to coordinate location on trips or while carpooling.  We went on a driving trip with family last summer, and it wasn't always easy to stay together in traffic.  Having a Zubie-based network would likely have eased some of the driving.  

Since it's January we're all still in New Year's Resolution mode.  Zubie can help with resolutions to be a safer driver and also with the saving money plan. Priced at $99.95 per year,  thats only about $8.33 per month.  And! order today with code SAVE20JANand SAVE 20% on one year of the service plus get a free Zubie key.  Got any Best Buy or Amazon holiday gift cards?  This is a great way to use them.   (Offer is good through February 28, 2013.  Shipping charges may apply.)

To keep up with the latest Zubie news, you can like on Facebook and follow on Twitter.

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