Bless their little pointed heads, AAA is helping Colorado motorists yet again

Did you know that the fine folks at AAA Colorado have arranged a Great Battery Roundup so that we can dispose of those spare batteries we have laying around the garage safely? Yes they have! It will be on Earth Day, April 22nd in Colorado. Check www.aaa.com for a location near you.

So long, farewell, MyTrafficNews ... well, sort of but not really

Hey, it's about time I said a belated but sincere good bye and thanks for all the memories to MyTrafficNews. And an extra special thank you for fixing it so we have a very capable sitter to take over and keep us out of trouble after you're gone (traffic.com ... go sign up right now if you haven't already). We'll miss you a little, but not too much since you've thoughtfully arranged to be sticking around to amuse us in the new world. Thanks, Scott!

The study says yes

Well, it seems that according to a recent study by the NHTSA, we're 17% more likely to be killed in states with secondary seat belt laws than we are in states with primary seat belt laws. So unless we prefer the greater opportunity to be killed, I guess we'd better all be encouraging our state legislators to go primary. Or we could move.

Primary Seat Belts? Elementary. Just buckle up!

Well, it's about time what with all the recent To Do about whether or not we should have a primary seat belt law in Colorado that Riders on the Road took an official position, don't you think? OK, here it is. We don't care. We always buckle our seat belts so it doesn't make a bit of never mind to us. We recommend that you do the same, then we can all get on with worrying about more important things. Health care would be a good place to start.

What are you thinking?

Egad! 32 mph on a perfectly straight, well-plowed and sanded stretch of two lane road. Hey, I've lost control and scared the daylights out of myself enough times on slick roads to have plenty of sympathy for you poor folks who feel the need to creep along at a snail's pace when the roads really aren't that slippery just because you're scared. Still, it isn't fair, now is it, to expect the rest of us to creep along behind you when we're OK with a more moderate speed? No, it's not. When you've got a line of cars stretching out behind you as far as the eye can see, that's a clue that if you can't work yourself up to a reasonable pace, you need to pull over and let the rest of us get on with our lives, especially when there are plenty of convenient spots for doing just that.

We don't want to scare you, we just want to get to work sometime before lunch. The poor guy in the BMW in front of me was so freaked out he put on his turn signal when he wasn't even turning. Yes, you're the judge of the right speed for you, and you need to let us be the judge of the right speed for us. Otherwise you're being incredibly selfish and rude, and you're not like that, now are you? Of course not! Just pull over for a minute, that's all we're asking. Thank you very much.

The Further Trouble With Trucks

If you've read Riders on the Road or been paying attention to the news, you know already that in October, federal regulations were revised to allow truck drivers to spend more time on the road without a break. They say this will make us safer out there. Do you believe that? Neither do I. I'm revisiting this topic today because I just heard a true story that needs to be shared. This story is about a truck driver, not one of the Riders, but a friend.

This driver had been on the road for several hours, and was getting sleepy. He held out for as long as he could, knowing that he barely had time to get his load to its destination on time, but finally had to call his dispatcher and ask permission to take a break because he just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. And how do you suppose his dispatcher responded? Did he say, "Sure pal, go ahead and get a little rest; safety is our first priority."? Uh, no. He said, "I don't care how tired you are, that load needs to be in yon big city five hours from now. Don't you dare stop."

So our obedient driver kept on trucking until just a few minutes later, when he was awakened by the commotion of his rig crashing into the ditch off to the right. Thankfully, he was only injured slightly, the cargo wasn't damaged too badly, and arrived just a little late. Especially thankfully, he went off the road rather than into a car carrying a very nice family. Still, it wasn't exactly the best of all possible conclusions to our little story, was it?

Had either of them only known, it would have been easy to come to the sensible conclusion that a slightly late delivery for a nap would have been far better than a slightly late delivery for an accident, but they didn't. What did they know?

The dispatcher knew that he was in trouble if the load was late, and may have thought he knew that the driver wasn't really going to fall asleep, but was just looking for an excuse to take it easy for a while. He may have given other drivers the same instructions in the past without the same unpleasant consequences. Who knows?

The driver knew that he shouldn't be behind the wheel, but also knew he was in trouble if the load was late, and that if he disobeyed his orders he would be. He also knew that was the kind of behavior that gets you fired.

Both of them should have known that risking the driver's life and limb, never mind that of the motorists innocently driving near him, was wrong. But both of them were working in an environment where the pressure of a timely delivery was more urgent than safety concerns.

Why? That's what I want to know. There's got to be something very wrong with a system that makes that kind of decision look like a good idea. Can you folks in the trucking biz shed any light on this for us? Any suggestions? Wouldn't we all like to be a little safer out there? Yes, we would.

Aren't motorcycles scary enough already?

Wow! Did you know that Honda is planning to put the first first air bag on a motorcycle this summer? That's amazing!

A Chatty People

Did you know that the NHTSA has figured out that 10% of us (that's 1.5 million!) are using our cell phones (or other communication device, whatever that may be) while we're driving at any given time? We are a chatty people, aren't we? I will save the lecture on paying at least a little more attention to our driving than to our chatting for later.
You're welcome.

Theoretically Unnecessary Advice

It's Duh Monday on the blog, so here's some advice that nobody should need and at least one somebody does, as observed in my travels today:

1. It's always appropriate to turn right on green, unless there's some idiot pedestrian in the way, or an idiot driver running the red light, or an emergency vehicle. OK, maybe always was a little too strong. Let's downgrade that to usually.
2. When you're going 40 in a 75 mph zone, use your flashers for heaven's sake!
3. When you use your blinker to signal your intention to exit the highway, do it before you're halfway down the exit ramp; we've pretty much got it figured out by that time.
4. Remember your passing duties when you're first in line behind a slowpoke on a two-lane road. It's not fair to expect the rest of us to pass both of you.

I guess that's enough for one Monday. Stay tuned...

Dang!

Remember my favorite bumper sticker (Go Fast)? Well I'm sorry to have to report that it's all about an energy drink and not about driving. I'm very disappointed. Still, I see no reason at all not to go right ahead and practice its driving application, whether or not we drink the stuff, don't you agree? Right!

Hey, let's help them out

You know, it didn't occur to me until I read about it in a magazine recently, that there are others out there that are suffering even more than we are due to high gas prices. You may not have thought of it either, so I'll clue you in. There are organizations that are devoted to helping out the elderly and the disabled, like Meals on Wheels for example, who are working on pretty slim budgets, and whose wheels don't roll without that very expensive gas any more than yours and mine do. So think about looking up such a worthy organization in your neighborhood and sending a few bucks to help out, will you? Thanks!!