Car owners have a reason to smile, based on the latest CarMD Vehicle Health Index. Why? Because auto repairs are cheaper than they have been in years.

In its 2012 report, CarMD found that the average repair job cost consumers $334 last year. That’s 20 percent cheaper than in 2006, when the average job cost $422. Wow. Not a bad trend for people’s pocketbooks.

So here’s the Reader’s Digest version of that report, along with CarMD’s Top 25 list of the most common repairs that resulted from “Check Engine” lights flickering on last year.  If you’d like to see the complete study, click here for the 2012 Vehicle Health Index.

Ready for one last quirky item from CarMD’s report? The most common repair found in 2011 vehicles was this: A damaged or loose gas cap. Kind of interesting.

It can be a frightening experience letting your teen take the car keys and roll out of the driveway for the first time.

And with good reason. That’s when teens are most likely to experience their first crash. But there are things you can do as a parent to better prepare your young driver for the road ahead.

It may be as simple as downloading an app that keeps your teen from texting while driving. It may be imposing a rule that limits the number of passengers your new driver can have in the car.

Here are some steps you can take to keep your teen from running into problems – or other vehicles – on the road.

Did you know?

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens. In 2009, about 3,000 teens, ages 15 to 19, were killed in car crashes. Another 350,000 were treated in emergency rooms for injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
• For each mile driven, teen drivers are four times more likely to crash than older drivers.
• The first month of driving is the most dangerous for teens. The AAA Foundation found that teens are 50 percent more likely to get in a crash during their first month on the road than after a year’s worth of experience.
• Young drivers suffer more crash-related injuries than their older counterparts. Although young drivers, ages 15-20, comprise only 14 percent of the nation’s population, they are responsible for up to 30 percent of the money spent on injuries.

How to protect your teen and others:

Avoid distractions: Discourage your teen from talking on the cell phone, changing CDs or eating while driving. Each of those behaviors could take your teen’s mind off the road long enough to cause an accident. You may want to consider a variety of cell phone apps that either disable calls or texts on the road.

Limit passengers: The chance of your teen being involved in a crash goes up when a teenage passenger is in the car, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And that risk gets even higher when there are two, three or four passengers in the vehicle. Put limits on how many passengers your child can take with them in the car.

Keep gender in mind: If your teen driver is male, pay extra attention to his driving habits. In 2006, the death rate for young male drivers was twice that of their female counterparts, the CDC reports. Teen boys are more likely to speed and provide less spaced between their car and one ahead of them.

Encourage seat belt use: You may not be able to watch your teen all the time, but getting him or her to wear a seat belt could guard against an otherwise deadly collision. Seat belts reduce the risk of a fatal crash by 50 percent. Unfortunately, young males are the least likely to buckle up.

Say no to night driving: Driving in the dark is a high-risk activity for beginning drivers. Per mile, the crash rate for teenage drivers is three times higher after 9 p.m. than during the day, according to the CQ Researcher. Overall, about 40 percent of teen motor vehicle fatalities happen at night.

Keep tabs on your teen: Don’t be afraid to monitor your teen’s driving. Take a ride with your teen. Talk about his or her driving habits. And maybe consider a gadget that will keep tabs on your child’s driving while you’re away. There are technologies out there as invasive as a driving cam, or as innocuous as a plug-in monitor that will track speeds and hard-braking incidents.

Just for fun:

Really? Dish soap ruining your paint job? Has anyone heard of that happening?

Here’s a common question that comes up: How often do I change my oil? The general rule is once every 3 months or 3,000 miles.

They seem safe. But driveways can be a deadly place for children who find themselves in the paths of parents’ vehicles while riding bicycles or drawing with sidewalk chalk.

Unsuspecting motorists run over an estimated 50 children a week in residential driveways and parking lots across the country, according to the children’s advocacy group KidsAndCars.org. At least two of those children die.

What makes those accidents even more tragic is the fact that seven out of 10 deaths are caused by a direct family member.

This video really puts things in perspective. And don’t worry, it has a happy ending. Hope you enjoy it.

Found this interactive map that tracks all deadly crashes in the U.S. during the past decade. Kind of cool, but sad. It’s a good reminder to be a little more careful on the road.

You wouldn’t bump into someone for strolling too slowly through the vegetable aisle, would you? Or flick your middle finger if a shopping cart cuts in front of you on the way to the potato chips?

And yet people are misbehaving just like that on America’s roads.

People are honking, tailgating and even bumping into each other when patience wears thin on crowded roads. So what do you do? How you can protect yourself against a road-rage phenomenon that causes fear and fatalities on the highway.

Here are some tips that might help:

Did you know?

• More than half of all deadly crashes (56 percent) are caused by some form of aggressive driving, whether it be speeding, recklessness or failure to yield the right of way.
• Not surprisingly, the most aggressive drivers tend to be young men, ages 18-24. But did you know that people who chat on cell phones are more likely to be aggressive than those who don’t. And drivers with children are typically more aggressive than those without children.
• More motorists worry about road rage than about drunk driving (42 percent versus 35 percent), according to a Gallup poll.
• Three out of four drivers rank aggressive driving as one of the most serious traffic safety problems, according to a recent AAA Foundation survey. However, nearly half of those respondents admitted that they violated the speed limit by more than 15 mph in the month before the survey. A substantial number also reported honking at drivers, tailgating and accelerating to beat traffic lights.

How to protect yourself and others:

Attitude is everything: Driving is not a competitive sport. How much is “won” by cutting ahead of another car? Stay calm and try to forget about time if you’re running late.

Trouble takes two: It’s hard to get into a fight alone. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into a confrontation.

Remember your turn signal: Make sure drivers aren’t surprised by your maneuvers on the road. It may sound simple, but 57 percent of drivers don’t regularly use their signals, according to a recent survey.

Don’t cut in line: Cutting off drivers is a sure-fire way to raise tensions around you. Give yourself plenty of room when changing lanes.

Keep up the pace: Slow driving in the left lane is asking for trouble. Regardless of the speed you are traveling, move to the right lane if someone wants to pass you.

No tailgating: Not only does tailgating make it difficult for you to respond to an emergency, but it can annoy other drivers. Don’t do it.

Avoid the middle finger: Don’t make obscene gestures. Avoid any visible sign that you may be angry.

Allow some room: If someone cuts you off, slow down and give them some room. Their aggression may escalate if you respond in kind.

Say sorry: If you make a mistake while driving, try to apologize with an appropriate gesture.

If all else fails: If you think that you are in serious danger, get help. Call the police or drive to a heavily populated area. Do not drive home and do not get out of the car until you feel safe.

Just for fun: