State of New Jersey to Issue Traffic Texts
The State of New Jersey will begin issuing “traffic prediction” texts to motorists on the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway starting next year. The State is spending $650,000 to use advanced technology which will predict traffic bottlenecks and jams, which will then be emailed or texted to motorists, in effort to allow the motorists to avoid the backups. This technology is already in use in Singapore and Stockholm.
Well, two things. One, I thought texting was dangerous. I mean, how are you going to get this information to me where it’s useful? I’m in the car. So, I guess they’re going to text me…. POTENTIAL TRAFFIC JAM BETWEEN EXIT 15 AND 16. But I can’t read the text, because Ray LaHood tells me it’s dangerous. And then, two, I thought the State of New Jersey was bankrupt? Well, I guess they have money for this, though.
NYC To Spend $27.5 million Replacing Signs
Apparently, New York City is being required by the Federal Highway Administration to replace its street signs. It seems the Federal regulations require the street signs to be in both Capital Letters and Small Letters. New York City’s signs are in all CAPITAL LETTERS. So, the Feds are going to force NYC to spend $27.5 million to replace the signs.
Insane. Absolutely insane. Hey, it’s not like the government’s a gabillion dollars in debt or anything. Or that we have 15-20% unemployment. By all means, let’s print another $27.5 million to replace perfectly good street signs. Well, I guess NYC has to cough up the money, but they don’t have it, so they’ll come right back to the Feds…. that is, you and me, to get it. Could I at least get some of the old signs I’m replacing??
Texting Ban Causes More Crashes?
This just in from the Highway Loss Data Institute: the texting bans may be causing more crashes than it prevents. The HLDI compared insurance claims in California, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Washington before and after their text bans went into effect. According to the HLDI, in 3 of the states, the rate of collisions went up slightly.
The HLDI attributes this to people now hiding their texts while driving. Apparently, the preferred method of texting while driving is holding your phone at eye level. Since it’s now illegal to text and drive in these places, the HLDI surmises people are texting in their laps, thus taking their eyes off the road for an even longer time.
Is this true? Who the hell knows. As Mark Twain said, “there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Which means you can make statisitics read any way you want them to read. That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if it was true. The government is the king of unintended consequences. Maybe it means you can only regulate human behavior so far before people ignore the rules.
More CSA 2010 Thoughts
Well, as we get closer to this thing, I learn more about it. I talked to two DOT people last week. One swears it’s going to revolutionize how the DOT does business. The other says its not much different from the system they’re using now. I sort of agree with the 2nd person. One thing I learned this past week is DOT is focusing even more intensely on the roadside inspections, including citations which were not Out of Service. This is a departure from the current system. For example, even if your logs at the office are in compliance, if you have a bunch of “log not current” cites on your roadside inspections, DOT is going to harass you.
It is important to take every DOT roadside inspection, and address every last citation on every one of them in writing. For example, your driver is written up for not wearing his seatbelt. Make a note that you made the driver watch a video on the importance of seatbelts. Or that you talked to the driver. Or that you pointed him to page 32 of your company manual which says seatbelts must be worn. Or that you fined him $50. Etc.
It might not be a bad idea to come up with a disciplinary policy geared specifically for roadside inspections. Maybe something like for every violation, you get a warning letter…. if you get too many, we suspend you, or fine you. If you pass a roadside inspection, we give you $25 or $50. More on this later….
