I dont think your comment about HOV lanes considers my comment, but it should be made anyway.
Part of the political effort to bring self driving cars into the national fleet will be to allow them into HOV lanes no matter how many passengers there are. It will be like allowing hybrids in the HOV lanes in Cali even though only the driver is in the car. I’m not advocating this, just stating what I think will happen. I don’t have an opinion on it just yet.
So then why do the 16 lane highways in Atlanta clog up all the time? Adding lanes doesn’t reduce congestion. This has been shown time and again.
The problem is that they are funneling all of the traffic through narrow corridors. There is no other way for the traffic to go. They need smaller local highways spaced to cover the intermediate locations and take the load off the Interstates that also carry thru traffic.
So which do you want? Socialist roads that are free to use or non-socialist roads that you have to pay per use?
The gasoline taxes should be percents, not cents per gallon. Then they are indexed for inflation. The politicians want tolls to catch out of state drivers who don’t fill up in that state.
I especially detest electronic toll collection. I have seen too many cases where someone who has never been in that state was billed for passing the toll sensor and billed double for not having the transponder. They don’t seem to understand that two plates with the same number (but different years) can coexist simultaneously. I know someone who proved that the car was not his because the trailer hitch that was there when he bought the car was not in the photo.
So you’re in favor of tax increases. Good.
I favor gasoline tax changes. They should be a percent, not cents per gallon.
Greedy corporations. You need to do more research on this.
I know about the corporations. But too many governments have been caught shortening the yellow without corporate urging. They are too cheap to station a policeman to watch for real red light violations.
Ended in 1987. Where have you been?
I cited the 55 speed limit as the ultimate example of political speed limits passed for reasons other than traffic safety.
The problem occurs when politicians make traffic regulations for purposes other than traffic safety. All such regulations should be permanently banned. I disagree with ALL regulations made for political reasons instead of reasons of traffic safety. I also disagree with suspending driver licenses because someone owes the government money.
Not to mention that when I get rich enough to drop $140,000 on a Tesla, I stop paying gas tax and so once again the rich get away with using the commons without paying their fair share for them.
In the end, I care less about the motivation than the effect, and if the cameras make the roads any safer, I’m okay with the company or the municipality making money. That’s what I’d call a win/win scenario. After all, they’re not talking my money, because I stop at red lights.
Like it or not, “politics” is the process our country uses to form public policy. What you seem to have an issue with isn’t politics, it’s partisanship, but what I find interesting is that you’re engaging in partisanship while you simultaneously condemn it. It’s pretty evident you only have a problem with “politics” when things don’t go the way you’d like them to go. Well, in an indirect democracy, or republic, whatever you want to call it, things usually don’t go your way, and compromise means both sides aren’t completely happy, but in the end, compromise benefits everyone.
The good news there is a remedy for you: get involved. Stop complaining and do something about it. Run for office, volunteer for a candidate you like, or campaign on behalf of candidates you would like to see get elected. You’re not going to influence the system by griping about partisanship here.
Yeah, I don’t think they should tamper with the timing of the light cycle when they install the cameras, and where it increases the likelihood of collisions, they’re either doing it wrong or doing it in the wrong place.
Having said that, I prefer the right tool for the right job, which takes into consideration environmental variables. The reason “best practices” has become a dirty word in public policy implementation is that some things work well in one policy environment, but not in another policy environment, even when they implement the same policy the same way in both policy environments.
I’m guessing the increase in accidents would be mostly low speed rear enders with hopefully a decrease in red light running accidents which are more likely to result in serious injury or death. Years ago I read a list of “humorous” traffic accident reports. One example was: “As the light turned red the car in front of me unexpectedly stopped”! I failed to see the humor. I agree that many policies need some flexibility.
The government will probably get the electric company to collect some sort of tax for that case. The electric company already lists several types of taxes on the consumer bill that it must collect for the government.
What about solar panels? Somebody better get started outfitting the public with meters for that.
Never mind, as I write this, I realize that the meters will be on the vehicles.
Whitey
What you seem to have an issue with isn’t politics, it’s partisanship, but what I find interesting is that you’re engaging in partisanship while you simultaneously condemn it.
You are misunderstanding what I am saying. The term “political traffic rule” is an engineering term describing any traffic law that was passed for any reason other than traffic safety. It does not matter which party passed the rule. It matters that the rule was passed for some reason other than safety. I am against ALL political traffic rules, no matter which party wants it.
Examples of political traffic rules:
One county in my state passed a rule against using compression-release brakes (often called “Jake brakes”) anywhere in the county. An Interstate highway passes through the county, and truck drivers were getting tickets for using their compression-release brakes. Why? One of the county commissioners lives near the interstate highway and is annoyed by the sounds made by those brakes.
One county in my state passed a law that all speed limits on rural roads in the county are 40 mph. The only exceptions are state and US highways and city streets. They then took down all of the speed limit signs with other values, and told county residents that they had been given proper notice in the newspapers. The problem is that strangers to the area do not have proper notice. There is one wordy sign at the point where each road enters the county. But they do not know where they leave the county. The purpose of this rule was to save the county money on signs.
Several cities have traffic rules that vehicles of any size containing anything for the purpose of sales, business, or commerce cannot use certain roads.
Some cities have monopoly licensing of buses and taxis, and do not allow any other bus or taxi companies to drive on their roads. This became an issue in one city when taxis and buses carrying people from other nearby localities to see a large rock concert were ticketed. Some concert-goers also found the transportation home they had paid for was gone.
My county had laws requiring fire and emergency equipment belonging to the county to stay in the county. It also prohibited equipment from other counties from entering the county. This became an issue when a county resident’s house burned down because the road to this house comes from another county before coming to a dead-end.
My city prohibits parking vehicles with political advertising on them from parking on the street. The purpose was to keep politicians from getting extra signs by parking their vehicles in strategic places. But they ticketed a politician who has no off-street parking for parking his own painted car in front of his own house. They also ticketed politicians from all over the state for parking on the street next to the restaurant where they were holding a caucus. The restaurant was licensed to use nearby on-street parking for overflow crowds.
The city requires the vehicle of anyone who is arrested to be towed if it is parked on a public street, even if someone else is there to drive it away. This is solely for the purpose of filling city coffers with towing and storage fines. It also assumes the owner of the car was guilty of the charge,
You do realize that what you say here is written down, right? Care to define the other, uh, “engineering term” you used such that we no longer think you’re bringing partisanship into it?
I said it because liberals are the ones proposing most of the political traffic rules to force their environmentalist and anti-business ideas on all drivers. But I am against all political traffic rules regardless of party, including the Republican governor’s idea to toll all interstate highways to raise revenue and the Democrat odometer tax.
Did you know that ants have traffic rules? They are the opposites of what most liberals want. Loaded ants (trucks) have the right-of-way over unloaded ants (cars). Ants also don’t overtake and pass other ants, so they don’t reserve a lane for passing.