Traffic

Let’s Cut Our Oil Consumption and Improve Traffic Safety the Easy Way

There are many ways to improve our freeway traffic safety and dependence on foreign oil issues simply by implementing a few simple changes to the way we deal with driving in America. Of course the powerful corporate forces are hard at work lobbying with millions of dollars just to see that no one ever tries to accomplish the obvious.

Let’s start with the ridiculous number of soccer moms driving their SUV’s solo on the freeways of America in everyday go-to-work and shopping patterns. Why do they want to drive these behemoths in the first place? The SUV was created, invented, and spawned by the Jeep Wagoneer, Range Rover, and International Harvester Scout back in the Sixties. There was nothing wrong with a small minority of drivers piloting these gas-hogs on their camping trips. What is wrong is the sheer number of the descendants of these outback gas boars currently clogging our metro freeways. The one that really created this silly but harmful market was the Ford Explorer. The Explorer offered the car-like luxury that women wanted.

Why did they want car-like luxury in an SUV? They were sick of being frightened to death every time they got on the freeway with the many trucks they could not see through if the trucks were in front of their Accords, or even worse, when the trucks so blatantly tailgated them every time the trucks were behind them. I am not speaking only of the eighteen-wheeled freight haulers. I am including all of what used to be called full-size American pickups by the car industry. Many, but by no means all, of these are driven by what I have named flamers, short for Flaming Truck Assholes. I call them this because of the sheer arrogance of the way in which they flaunt their bad traffic behavior on the freeway. Most of them drive as if there were no speed limits, radar guns, or anyone else on the road. The ugly truth is that for them, these things exist in far less threatening numbers than they do for women driving Accords. All you have to do to see this ugly picture is to make mental notes every time you encounter one of these flamers, every time you run a radar trap, and every time you see a car or truck pulled over by the police. Do you know what you will find? The number of times you run a trap with flamers speeding all over the place within your vicinity, but not being stopped, will amaze you. The number of cars you see pulled over compared to the number of trucks pulled over will astound you. If there were no flamers, the case would be different, but it is not. Just by counting cars and trucks speeding by you on the freeway, you will see the disparity. The trucks will probably outnumber the cars three to one; yet when you count the cars and trucks pulled over, the numbers will reverse. What’s wrong with this picture?

Do you want to improve the oil consumption and traffic safety problems in America? The first thing you could do is to have every major metro area pass an ordinance preventing eighteen-wheelers from driving in the far left lane of the freeway. The next thing you could do is to encourage police departments to use their radar guns to really protect and serve by stopping the vehicles who not only are speeding and tailgating the most often, but also handle the worst and have the longest stopping distances! Police should also be arresting far more flamers for running red lights, failing to yield the right of way, and tailgating, all three of which are strong elements of the flamers’ standard driving repertoire. What would this accomplish? You would be absolutely, astoundingly amazed! Certainly the changes would require considerable time for the effects to filter through to the surface of the American freeway driver’s consciousness, but the results could only be very positive. Traffic safety on our suburban freeways would certainly improve almost immediately just from the sheer logic of science. The next improvement would come gradually over time, as more and more drivers, particularly women, notice the effects of these changes. Women drive SUV’s so they do not feel so vulnerable while being tailgated by flamers and eighteen-wheelers, and they drive them so they can see over the traffic ahead. The point is that they can get the driver’s position height, as well as the kid-hauling capacity, in a minivan, which gets only a little less mileage than a car. What these soccer moms need to do is to return to their minivans so America can reduce its rampant addiction to cheap foreign oil consumption. These drivers can see over the traffic just fine in the minivans, which brings us back to the original point: they are buying the SUV’s because they are overweight gas hogs. The presence of the flamers and freight haulers on our freeways can mostly be offset by the raised seat height of most minivans. The behavior of the flamers and long-range freight drivers is the rarely discussed element driving the soccer moms into the SUV’s. Control this behavior and the soccer moms will begin to look back longingly at the fuel consumption ratings of the minivans.

If Katrina and the presence of $3 gasoline do not wake America up, what will? What will it take for Mr. & Mrs. Average American Driver to realize the full effect of their own behavior patterns that have been created and warped out of all proportion by the Heritage of the Christian Republican Right Wing Red State Think Tank Spin Machine Foundation? Isn’t it time the real America left them all behind?

This piece is an extension of the story Speedtraps, from Plastic Ozone Daydream, by Floyd M. Orr, a screaming left-wing liberal who loves cars as much as he loves America. He drives his 30-mpg car whenever possible and his 14-mpg diesel pickup only when he has to haul or tow something.

From KXAN-TV News online – Austin TX

09/10/05 - 9:56 am
Fatal Crash Overnight

Early Saturday, Austin police responded to a fatal hit-and-run crash in the southbound lanes of Interstate 35. At about 2:30 Saturday morning, police say a pickup truck caused the crash involving four cars including an 18-wheeler.

Investigators say traffic slowed as they entered reduced lanes going into the construction zone - for unknown reasons, the pickup truck didn't slow down. That driver ran from the scene of the crash. Police say a man in the back seat of a Mitsubishi was killed, but no one else was injured. 

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09/12/05