According to Wired magazine, not everyone in Britain loves the surveillance state. One British anti-camera groups claims its up-and-coming methods “will enable them to destroy a roadside camera in just a few seconds,” and illustrates with a burned-out camera. I wonder how many Americans are similarly motivated.
Yes, says state officer, in response to the inquiry of a citizen from mid-Michigan, who decided recently to stop wondering and start asking about a nagging traffic question. He emailed the Michigan State Police with the following email.
“Why is it that law enforcement vehicles never seem to observe the posted speed limit? Of course, not in an emergency; but then their flashers would be activated. Shouldn’t police at every level be conserving fuel and setting the pace on our highways, rather than discouraging conscientious drivers by whizzing past them in non-emergency travel? Perhaps this is something I should take up with my state representative? -John Hayden
The response of the Michigan State Police is available with the original source here:
When you’re caught in a traffic jam, you probably don’t know why. Is there an accident ahead of you? In most of the cases, the answer is no. And all the electronic devices installed in your car can’t help you. You’re stuck for a while — until the traffic gradually improves. Now, European mathematicians have solved the traffic jam mystery. The mathematical model they’ve developed shows that traffic jams are mostly caused by a single driver who brakes too much when faced to an unexpected event. Of course, the driver behind him also slows down, and so does the next one, until the road is totally blocked. But read more…
Electronic speed-limit signs along an 11-mile stretch of Interstate 4 have been covered as state road officials prepare to test their ability to display changing speed limits.
Taking a road trip home for the holidays this year? Be sure to go easy on the gas pedal, particularly if your travels take you up or down the East Coast. According to stats from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the I-95 corridor between the southeast and New England includes five of the 10 U.S. states carrying the highest fines for speeding–Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland and New Hampshire. All hit up speeders for a maximum of $500 or more for a first offense.
What happens when qualified engineers using standard practices assert that an intersection near a school doesn’t require a stop sign? Residents cheer leading for the stop sign think of other ways to control traffic. But this raises the question: why are people everywhere so obsessed with trying to erect stop signs where they don’t belong?
“In a blizzard or in especially icy conditions, we all support your good sense in slowing down and driving more cautiously. In normal day-to-day winter driving conditions, however, we do not enjoy slamming on our brakes, nearly spinning off the highway or into other drivers when you attempt to merge at 60 km/h while the rest of us are going the legal speed of 100 km/h.”
The claim that drunken drivers kill 15,000 people each year is simply not true (”Pet bill of MADD still lacks support,” Nov. 26). The majority of these deaths consist of drunken drivers killing themselves. Many more of the “alcohol-related” fatalities reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration involve drunken pedestrians struck by sober drivers, and accidents in which a passenger is drunk but the driver is sober. “Alcohol-related” is not tantamount to “alcohol-caused.”
“The current system looks at accident records and tries to predict problems,” Johnson said. “The problem with this is that they wait three years for 20 accidents and then have to wait longer to do something about it. We aim to find low-cost ways to predict a dangerous location before we get 20 accidents.” By proactively identifying dangerous sites, corrective actions can be taken at earlier stages and, hopefully, future accidents can be avoided.
Civil engineers scout out accident hazards to make roads safer
Runaway trailers are a little-known but persistent cause of crashes, deaths and injuries across the United States. The government doesn’t keep nationwide statistics on accidents caused by trailer decouplings. But a Los Angeles Times review of news reports and court files identified about 540 such crashes since 2000. They resulted in at least 164 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
