Jonathon Ramsey

Correspondent, AOL Autos

Jonathon Ramsey is an international automotive correspondent. …His work has appeared on AOL Autos and Autoblog.

What's This "Eco" Button In My New Car?

Published Jan 28, 2011 By Jonathon Ramsey

If you've shopped for a new car in the past year or two, you may have noticed a new feature that's creeping into all sorts of models: The "eco button." Manufacturers are installing the little, illuminated squares of plastic in everything from hybrids to sporty coupes, high-horsepower sedans to V8-powered SUVs. ...

Do Out of State Speeding Tickets Follow You To Your State?

Published Nov 28, 2010 By Jonathon Ramsey

If you get a speeding ticket while traveling, does it stay on your record back in your home state? We receive this question from friends and family (and readers) all the time, so we looked into how the tangled web is organized. When it comes to how a ticket in your home state affects your driver's license status in another state, the answer is complex and changing each year. If you want to know ho ...

Low Rolling Resistance Tires Are Saving You Money

Published Nov 18, 2010 By Jonathon Ramsey

Tires take one of the top spots on the list of Important Things. Yet they also rank pretty high on the list of Things You Never Think About Until They Break. Other items live in that overlap, like spleens, bridges and light bulbs, yet it really is a shame for tires to be there because it is not overstatement to call them crucial – you can get from New York to Los Angeles with a car missing a ...

Are Small Cars Really Safe?

Published Oct 22, 2010 By Jonathon Ramsey

The American car market is being inundated with small cars. The new models abound, from the Nissan Juke to the Ford Fiesta, Fiat’s 500 to Mazda’s 2. There are even more coming: Saab has a 9-2 in the works, BMW plans a sub-1 Series car, and the next generation of Mercedes compacts currently available in Europe will be getting makeovers for American buyers. The force behind the wave is o ...

Police Can Put A GPS Device On Your Car Without Your Consent

Published Aug 31, 2010 By Jonathon Ramsey

Is your vehicle private property? The answer seems obvious: of course it is. But depending on where you parked it, you might give up some rights in actually keeping it "private." Police can place a tracking device on your car without a warrant, according to recent judgment in California. Earlier this year, an Oregonian named Juan Pineda-Moreno was convicted of growing marijuana after police tracke ...

Do Red Light Cameras Reduce Accidents?

Published Aug 27, 2010 By Jonathon Ramsey

The first red light camera ticketing system was put in use in New York City in 1993. Since then, 24 states and the District of Columbia have installed red light cameras, while another 15 have banned automated ticketing systems that include red light and speed cameras. You generally don't find that kind of love-hate relationship without something murky going on, and murk is exactly what you step in ...