- N.J.S.A. 39:4-36

 

 

 

 

 

 

New laws always bring question marks.

Why is it necessary, and what brought this to mind?

Why weren’t we smart enough to have thought of it before now?

Was this a knee-jerk reaction, or was it thoroughly considered?

Was there much opposition, and what were their reasons?

What are the risks if we hold off and give it more thought and time?

 

In April of 2010 a new law took effect which required New Jersey motorists to come to a complete stop if a pedestrian is in a designated crosswalk or face a minimum $100 fine and subsequent increases.  Normally, I am in complete agreement with anything that favors people on foot versus people in cars, but not this time.

Too many times I’ve been driving down a neighborhood street while followed too closely by another car.  If I were to have to stop suddenly for a pedestrian who turned on a dime from walking up the sidewalk to crossing the street, it would have been very likely that the car close behind me would end up not only crushing my trunk but probably would have pushed my car through the crosswalk, maybe even through the pedestrian.

I have already seen a car accident in which a car stopped for a pedestrian, but the following car did not notice the stoppage and crashed into the back of the stopped car.  Luckily, nobody was hurt, but hey – it’s early yet. 

The right of way should be given – sometimes – to whoever has less control in a situation of conflict.  A pedestrian has greater control over his or her body when suddenly turning to cross the street.  That pedestrian can more easily come to a complete stop than a two-ton vehicle doing 25 or 30 through the middle of town.  Asking the car to suddenly jam on the brakes is asking for trouble.  Asking the car to cut speed for the walker is asking for more pollution and more money spent on replacing tires, brakes, and gas.  I’m not saying that a car should be able to plow down anyone in the middle of the street.  I’m just saying that if someone is standing on a corner, they should remain standing until either the light changes in their favor or there are no more cars coming.

I wish I could walk everywhere.  I wish I could walk to work, at least.  I spent one year of college without a car, taking either several buses and leaving 90 minutes before class when the weather was poor or riding a motorcycle when the weather was decent.  In the name of global warming and carbon emissions, I wish we could all go back to riding horses or taking trains.  But since we can’t, then we have an obligation to make decisions based on protecting the health safety of everyone.  Yes, we want to encourage more people to walk instead of drive when it’s possible and reasonable.  But we also want to encourage policies that do the most good for everyone involved.  This law will ultimately do more damage than good.

- what not to do if your car breaks down

raise your hand if you’ve seen this before:

yeah, thought so.

anyway, i can’t help but laugh when i see something hanging out of the window of a disabled car.  it’s usually a small towel, or sometimes it’s a plastic supermarket bag.  i think – stress think - the idea of the dangling item is to alert passing vehicles that there is a car attached to the item.  i guess the driver of said non-moving car/truck/other fears that other drivers might not notice the disabled vehicle, and then the non-noticing driver might…what?  crash into it?  i imagine it would go like this…

teddy is cruising along in his honda accord,  rolling down 295 south near carney’s point on the way to cracker barrel.  suddenly, something catches his eye.  off to the right, a small white object seems to be floating.  teddy peers, trying to keep one eye on the road, one on the steering wheel, and the other is allowed to glance at the moving object.  “what the…is that…huh?  i think something is moving over…”  teddy speeds closer.  without time to think, teddy reaches for the brake pedal and screams, “holy, snot!  there’s two-tons of sophistocated machinery attached to that very small plastic bag or towel!”  yeah, like we’re not going to notice the car without the bag.

if anyone actually does find themselves in this situation, please don’t do the towel.  if it rains, the towel gets wet, and then the water flows through the towel and into the car.  you’ll easily get a small puddle on the floor of the car.  the floor mats will get soaked, and maybe the floorboards will rust and rot out.  at least you’ll get to play the flintstones and put your feet down and run in order to start the car.

moron (more on) studies and statistics

here is yet another example of studies that don’t realize that they make no sense. this is from the auto insurance industry.

Where Accidents Occur Most

Miles from home – Percentage of accidents

1 mile or less 23%
2 to 5 miles 29%
6 to 10 miles 17%
11 to 15 miles 8%
16 to 20 miles 6%
More than 20 miles 17%

please, let’s put this into perspective. every time you drive, no matter how far, at some point, you must be within one mile from home. if i drive across country or across town, at some point i must be one mile from home or less. every trip, every time. however, i am not always going to be 5 or 10 or 20 miles from home. if you were to add up the total number of driving trips you take each year and then list them by the furthest point you drove each time, the numbers would probably break down into the same percentage as those accident percentages above and on the link at the top.

this study makes it seem as if something strange is happening very close to home, and maybe it is. for example, some people start driving while they’re still getting their coffee, ipod, and seatbelt situated, or maybe they’re fiddling with the radio. i would guess that by the time we’ve driven one mile, everything is in place. still, as previously stated, every trip touches a mile or less. not every trip touches more.

have a nice day.