A New Turnpike Exit?

There may be a new exit built on the Mass Pike west of Exit 10 – Route 290. Pike officials have given the go-ahead to the town of Leicester to look into the possibility of a new turnpike interchange at Route 56 near the Oxford-Leicester line. At this stage it’s merely approval to review the possibility of a new ramp, far from an approval of the project.

Permission for the study was granted by Alan LaBovidge, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, in a letter Leicester Selectman Thomas V. Brennan. The idea is to bring more commercial traffic to Leicester.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20080424/NEWS/804240534/1153/

Religious Specialty Plates

Here in Massachusetts you can get a specialty license plate for a wide variety of causes; whales, teachers, and the Sox, among others.

In Florida, they’ve taken it to another level altogether. In the sunshine state there are over a 100 specialty license plates available celebrating everything from manatees to the Miami Heat. The Florida legislature is now considering a first in the nation specialty plate explicitly promoting a specific religion. Being debated is a design that includes a Christian cross, a stained-glass window and the words "I Believe."

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9083RK80&show_article=1

Rep. Edward Bullard, the plate's sponsor, said people who "believe in their college or university" or "believe in their football team" already have license plates they can buy. The new design is a chance for others to put a tag on their cars with "something they believe in," he said.

If the plate is approved, Florida would become the first state to have a license plate featuring a religious symbol that's not part of a college logo. Approval would almost certainly face a court challenge.

The World’s Most Fuel Efficient Driver

It’s been quite a while since I posted anything about “Hyper-milers”. After putting $54 in my gas tank yesterday I feel it may be time again.

http://www.rd.com/special-reports/the-environment/ease-on-down-the-road/article55921-1.html

Each year there is a “race” to determine who is the nations most fuel efficient driver. Last year it was held in Madison, Wisconsin. Wayne Gerdes is considered the greatest driver in the hyper-miler world. He goes to extremes to reach 150 mpg in a Honda Civic Hybrid.

Like Nascar racing many of the techniques he uses in this “race” wouldn’t be appropriate for you and me. However, many of the things he does to save gas are, in fact, applicable.

The heavy footed way most of us drive is neither efficient, nor safe - nor does it save much time. One study found that fast starts and hard stops cut travel time by just 4 percent–75 seconds on a half-hour trip.

It’s great that people are starting to buy cars that get better gas mileage; however, if you’re driving inefficiently you could improve your mileage that much more.

Below are some tips on improving your gas mileage, not matter what kind of car you drive.

1. Drive the speed limit – You’re really not going to get there much faster by speeding. Really.
2. Stop using the brake – Look further up the road and anticipate stops ahead, whether due to traffic, stop signs or signals. Lay off the gas as ease to the stop or slowdown, what’s the hurry, you’re going to stop anyway.
3. Coast – If you think about it, there are a lot of places that you can take your foot off the gas and let gravity take over.
4. Clean your car – Every extra pound wastes gas. Clear your trunk of all that useless stuff.
5. Change your oil often – Engine friction wastes gas.
6. Check your tire pressure – It’s simply more efficient.

WCVB Story on Elderly Driving Program

Amalia Barreda recently did a story on a new program which provides advanced driver training instructions to older drivers.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/15960988/index.html

It's a partnership between In Control Advanced Driver Training (www.wedriveincontrol.com) and the Safe Roads Alliance (www.saferoadsalliance.org).

So much needs to be done to provide older drivers with the resources to maintain their skills as well as the ability to recognize their physical limitations. This program is an HUGE step in the right direction.

Blog About Massachusetts Traffic Laws

This may be my favorite blog for drivers - besides my own. I'll be checking this page on a near daily basis.

http://massdrivinglaw.typepad.com/

A Quincy attorney, Jessica Foley, has been blogging regularly about Massachusetts laws since the beginning of the year. She provides very detailed information on a wide range of subjects related to drivers. It's extra beneficial in that it's coming from a legal perspective, rather than me who generally posts on silly little tidbits that I find personally interesting.

I've said time and again that it's so important for drivers to be better educated about driving. That includes having a solid knowledge of the legal aspects of driving.

"Old Age" Suits Used to Help Design Cars

Nissan has developed a suit, which is intended to replicate the affects of old age. It's an attempt to get car designers to do more than just get into the heads of older drivers, but to actually put them into their bodies.

http://features.us.reuters.com/autos/news/T92249.html

Public Cell Phone Debate

Earlier this week a New Yorker was acquited of charges related to an incident where he tried to stop a fellow transit traveler from talking on their cell phone while on a train.

Around the globe efforts are underway to try to curb wireless usage while in transit, some are more successful than others.

The link below discusses some of those efforts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080417/ap_on_hi_te/cell_phone_backlash

An Uncrashable Car

There's a huge amount of work happening in this country to develop vehicular safety systems. Some scientists believe that in the future we will no longer be "driving" our cars as much as riding in them after programming our trip. The initial development of this is work on collision avoidance systems, which detect potential crashes, provide notification in advance, and also take over some of the cars systems to assist with avoidance.

The article linked below discusses the development of these systems in Europe.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080412175201.htm

A Proposal to Move Route 84

A lot of Bostonians driver Route 84 through Hartford on the way to NYC or points south. There is a proposal being floated to rebuild and move Route 84 away from downtown Hartford.

http://www.wfsb.com/news/15904065/detail.html?treets=hart

Photos of Old Boston Trolleys

The link below has some great old images of Boston trolleys on a Flickr account.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/londergan/sets/72157604557223195/

Thanks to http://www.universalhub.com/ and Stephan Londergan