I don't know what's worse: Dealing with airline hassles or struggling to carry around enough cash to fill up my car. Despite it all, I'm spending more time on the road. So that's this week's focus--finding out how much you spend on gasoline, a look at California's new cell phone law, and an irritating scam from Travelodge's Web site. Plus: A shocker from the TSA.

Estimate the Fuel Hit Before You Travel (Ouch)

Heading across the country in your RV? Or maybe you're just planning a trip this summer. Here's a quick way to figure out how much it'll cost you in fuel. (Hint: Lots. No, make that lots and lots.)

Start with Geobytes' City Distance Tool to determine the distance to wherever it is you're going. I looked at Pasadena, California to Cambria, California. (The site will calculate locations in Europe and South America as well.) Unless you're a crow, the mileage won't be on-the-money accurate, because the site uses latitude and longitude to measure the distance. A better idea, as my buddy Mike K. suggested, is to use Google Maps to get exact driving distance by plugging in the start and destination locations.

Now enter the distance into Cost of Gas Taking a Road Trip (or if you're commuting, Cost of Commuting by Car) on the DollarTimes site. You'll also need to supply the cost of fuel and the number of miles per gallon your vehicle gets. If you're going from one big city to another, try the AAA Fuel Cost Calculator. [Thanks, Zachary.]

BTW, if you're wondering if it's worth junking your old clunker, DollarTimes' "How much can you save with a more fuel efficient car?" can help.

Driving Aside: The advice you're always hearing about slowing down makes a difference in gas mileage? It's true. Bass International Testing Labs took the 2005 Subaru on that Pasadena-to-Cambria trip. We moved to the right lane and, hard as it was, drove 60 miles per hour. We sometimes got stuck between trucks and slowed to 55. At my usual 65-to-75 miles per hour, our highway average was 22 miles per gallon. But with the speed decrease, we got 27 mpg. Amazing...

Driving in California? Save $20--Use a Headset

The July 1 California law is in effect: Wear a headset while blabbing in the car, or face a $20 fine. I think that's a remarkably low price to pay for not having to fiddle with a headset.

Is it really safer to use a headset? Nope, it's not going to make driving any safer. Don't take my word for it; read "Hands-free cell phone use while driving won't make the roads safer, studies show. Why? Brain overload" in the Los Angeles Times. Stopping people from talking on cell phones altogether would do the trick, but that would be about as impossible to legislate as making hands-free makeup application mandatory.

I think it's absurd that the legislature skirted the dialing-the-phone issue, something I believe is far more

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