Driving automobiles

All r.a.d. regulars can disregard.

See link: http://tinyurl.com/2fwced

>> Man’s sneeze forces his car into building
> It must have been a mighty sneeze.

Well, yes, that is one for the Headlines on Deadline Hall of Fame…

It occurred to me lo these many years ago that Driver’s Ed omits some
important things, one of which is how to keep the car going straight
(or keep it *from* going, as the case may be) when you unleash the
kind of sneeze that registers on the Richter scale.

An argument could well be made that Claritin has actually made me a
safer driver.  The previous alternatives, when  my few but intense
allergies were in season, were taking bedtimeforbonzoine (I forget
what’s in those, but one makes me want a nap, and the recommended dose
of two could stop a charging rhino) or occasionally sneezing hard
enough to delineate the boundaries between the plates that make up the
human skull.

Non allergy sufferers can substitute "muscle cramp" or "bee in the
car" or "something in your eye"  or other pain or distraction that has
to be worked through or down-prioritized until giving it some
attention is safe.  There’s  something for everybody.

> crashed into Design Specialties, a cabinet and stained glass shop

Life imitates art, including Saturday morning cartoons.  I hope he
watched carefully for banana peels, and for shadows the shape of a
piano that seemed to keep getting bigger and bigger as a strange
whistling noise got louder and louder, as he got out of the car.

Joe  "1.  Don’t hit anything. 2. If you violate Rule #1, hit something
cheap."  Chew

Have to love the new Volvo S80 (?) on the TV ads. The hapless busy driver
racing thru the city… BEEEEEP BEEEEEEP sounds the proximity warning of an
impending front collision. Phew, almost got it there while jabbering with
wifey at 90kph in the city streets. Darn blindspots? No problem, that hidden
motorcyclist need not worry, the blind spot warning thingy set off another
alarm, thus the inattentive uberbusy Darwin Award candidate perhaps drives
on another day. Oop, drat. The car now senses that there’s some unknown
hiding in the back seat, luckily, the car lets me know there’s another
heartbeat and it ain’t of America, lol. With the Mass Movement Sensor, Level
Sensor, Blind Spot Information System, "Home Safe" Lighting, Inflatable
Curtain, Side Impact Protection System, Volvo Navigation System, Occupant
Weight Sensor, Whiplash Protection System, etc, I am now in my own
$50.000.00, Tinfoil Thin Crushable Bubble of Obliviousness.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9005566792811497638

Ed calling it kooky conspiracy stuff in

                                          1
                                              2
                                                  3….

>From Tucson’s Arizona Daily Star:

"My opinion George F. Will: Highway congestion begs new solutions"
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/transportation/172839

Its a moderately interesting article, but I absolutely fell in love
with this argument and will use it liberally in future:

"The usual scolds – environmentalists, urban "planners," enthusiasts
for public transit (less than 5 percent of the work force uses it) –
argue that more highways encourage more driving ("induced demand") and
hence are self-defeating. [...] Furthermore, when new schools are
built because old ones have become congested, and then the new ones
fill up with children from families attracted by new schools, who
argues that building the new ones was a mistake?"

Beautiful.

Caught it on my way home from work today…

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7859094

I did email and suggest as a possible follow up that the reporter
mention the documented increase in rear-enders at RLC intersections, and
also directed her towards the NMA web site if she wanted another
anti-RLC view.  It was, however, nice to hear at least one opposing view
that wasn’t spun as kook ranting, and was actually factually correct if
a little short on supporting data.  It is perturbing that the media
still takes the IIHS seriously, however; IMHO they’re big on dollars but
small on credibility.

In other news, the 944 is back in my driveway after a lengthy (and the
first in a while) stay at a local repair (actually race-centric) shop.
Those guys do good work, but dang, it sucks when you keep getting bumped
for race customers.  I’ve been going through real car withdrawal for a
while now and the shakes still haven’t fully subsided.

nate

–
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Hi All,

Some Interstate photos will round out the evening @ the Worldwide Highway
Library, a Calrog.com component.  But before we begin, props are due!  A big
bienvenue goes out to Denis Kieft, who provides us w/ winter photos of
Interstates 15 and 80.  There are two methods to see his Utah and Wyoming
pictures:

http://worldwide-hwys.calrog.com :  Offers the best display available.
Reference the first column ("USA Interstate Highways") and look for those
corresponding routes!
———————————
http://worldwide-hwys.calrog.com/i-80-5c.html \  Analog links
http://worldwide-hwys.calrog.com/i-15_8.html  /

…For those who just want it now!

Cheers,

Carl Rogers
"Adding human experience to highway enthusiasm"
********
Calrog.com, http://www.calrog.com :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An integrated media arm in Turn-of-the-Century PC Development, International
Highway Research, and Interpersonal Psychology.  Has served your home
country and ninety-four of its worldwide neighbours since 2000, through
Internet downstream and published works.
********

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/16/1646.asp
<…>
A number of documents have surfaced exposing the country’s use of ticket
quotas to boost revenue. A Central North Island District police document
dated June 21, 2006 ordered officers to set up traps on high-volume
roads, "as it is the last week before the end of the accounting year for
us, it is a great opportunity to get our ticket count up to ensure we end
up the top group in Central."

Similarly, Levin police officers were urged to boost the number of
traffic tickets written or face a pay cut. Marlborough police were
ordered to issue, "a minimum of two notices" per day. A parliamentary
report in 2005 criticized the police focus on traffic tickets over
response to emergency calls, with an average police response time to a
burglary report of 22 hours.
<…>

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070309/BUSINESS01/7…

All Ford workers will get bonuses
Those who took buyouts also get one

After a $12.7-billion loss last year and widespread buyout programs,
Ford Motor Co. tried to boost morale Thursday by announcing that
everyone would be getting a bonus.

The bonuses will be $500 for UAW workers and $300 to $800 for
nonmanagement salaried workers, and most will be paid out next
Thursday. Salaried managers will receive slightly higher bonuses.

——————-
As one who works for a tier 1 supplier in the Detroit area, this is
insanity.    I have little hope for my state and for the auto industry.

Every stop light i’ve ever seen has a yellow plenty long for the driver to
get thru the intersection before the light turns red or else to stop.
Trouble is there are all these psychopathic drivers who see a light turn
yellow when they are still 10 car lengths from the intersection and think
they have some sort of "right" to get thru even though they could easily
stop. Then they are caught by an RLC and whine about how unfair the system
is.

Red light runners kill and maim kids every day and belong in prison.