On The Road
...Catch the RAGE!
Angry that hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on new high tech tolls, but they never seem to have enough money for the roads? Tired of being sHOVed out of a lane that you paid for, just when you need it the most? Upset someone made you buy a car with an explosive device on the steering wheel? Tired of being treated like a child for not wearing your seat belt? Me too!
But what can we do about it? Well, we can start by getting our own web sites. And if you're lucky, a major newspaper might print the address, people will visit, politicians may notice, and maybe, just maybe, you can get results. It CAN happen! Check out my HOV page.
Citizens Against Tolls
My current project. Please stop by and help us eliminate tolls from the Garden State Parkway! From the Oxy-Moron department in Trenton: Let's put HOV lanes on the Turnpike to try to reduce congestion & pollution, yet stop each and every car and make them wait on line to pay tolls (...cough). Government solution: maybe if we throw another $500 million into EZ pass, it might get better (...gag). Earth to Trenton: wouldn't removing the tolls reduce pollution more, and save us $500 million? Funny, they never seem to have enough money to remove the tolls, but they have enough to add expensive, high tech new ones.
Gas Tax
People howl when politicians suggest a few cents increase in the gas tax. But how else are we going to pay for roads, Tolls? Talk about a waste of billions of dollars in bureaucracy and hardware, not to mention our time and sanity. Balance what the roads cost with the gas tax and no one can complain, because exactly the right people pay.
SUVs
They are safer ONLY when they hit something smaller (in other words, they buy safety at the expense of the people who are trying to do something for the environment by buying fuel efficient cars). And now Dubbya wants to open up Alaska for drilling for oil all so we can drive fuel inefficient cars. Shame on us.
HOV Lanes
It amazes me that anyone can think HOV lanes actually work. They depend on inefficient lane use as the incentive to carpool, they often create hazardous driving situations, they increase congestion for the bulk of traffic in the non-HOV lanes, they unfairly ask a handful of people to solve our congestion problems, and they cost a bundle. And do you really think people carpool to "get there faster"? (...just ask Dagwood Bumstead's carpool). What if you build it, and they don't come?
VICTORY! HOV lanes were removed from Rt. 80 & 287 on Nov. 30, 1998. I will leave this web page online for two reasons: 1) politicians seem doomed to repeat history (...HOV lanes failed on the Parkway in 1982 for the same reasons), and 2) the fight against HOV lanes continues across the USA. I hope NJ's example will help the cause.
Killer Air Bags
Anything that explodes with enough force to decapitate children, kill adults, and break the neck of a 280 pound man, has NO business on my steering wheel! These are not the slow motion pillows they show us on TV. Next time you're in your car, look at your steering wheel and think about it exploding at 200 MPH. Air Bags are expensive, they offer nothing over seat belts, and they can kill. But do I have a choice when buying a car?
Mandatory Seat Belt Laws
Well, I guess if we have mandatory air bags, we need mandatory seat belts to protect us from hitting them. I think seat belts are the greatest invention since, well, the automobile. But it's the government's job is to warn us, not punish or force us. We are not children. Where's my choice? What next? Get a ticket for not eating right? Spank us for not taking our vitamins?
Pollution Solutions
More carpooling? More bike lanes? A higher gas tax to encourage people to buy more fuel efficient cars? Just me brainstorming on how we might reduce pollution. Check out my Internet traffic map idea (...wups, it isn't my idea after all. It's already being used in Seattle).