Some Time Has Passed. So What's Been Happening?

OK, so it's been a while since I last blogged here. Well, there was a reason for that - I actually got a real job and have been doing it due dilligence. I'm back now, so everyone settle down.

It's been over 7 months since the new wireless headset law was passed here in California. As of this past January 1st 2009, a new law prohibiting even texting from a wireless device while driving activated. Basically the intent of the new law is saying that even if you are seen holding a wireless device while driving you will be ticketed. As was recently tested here in Los Angeles this past week, a cell phone in speaker mode held in you hand is against the law.

It really doesn't matter though. For every 10 people I see talking on their cell phone, I'd say only 1 of them are using the device without holding the phone in their hands or otherwise using a wired or Bluetooth headset.

CHP officers out there, you continue to miss out on a very lucrative revenue stream by not citing those drivers still refusing to follow the law.

Is the SmartCar Really Smart, or Just Insane?

Zooom! - Did you see that? Zing! - There goes another. These SmartCars are quickly becoming all the rage in Southern California. For about $9k less than a $23k Mini Cooper you can have affordable transportation that displaces a very minimal traffic footprint. Problem with these cars is that they don't offer really that much of an improvement in the MPG department and force the driver to suffer in the safety and sportability departments. I had the opportunity to test drive one of these contraptions. Here are my thoughts;

- The big time lag in the transmission would scare the typical driver used to something like a Honda Toyota automatic. It's almost like the car has to stop and think about what its next move is when going through the gears. Very scary if you are trying to pass someone or merge into traffic.

- It feels like you are driving a very fast golf cart. Good for the Country Club set, bad for the former owners of Hemis. It's got a small 3 cylinder efficient motor and it only seats two people, just like a golf cart as well. For a single person commuting daily, it probably wouldn't be so bad. I think I could get used to it if I had to.

- This thing offers very little protection should you be broad-sided or hit head-on by even the smallest sub compact currently on the road. That would make a Chevy Aveo or Toyota's Yaris titans compared to the SmartCar. Heaven help you if an Escalade doesn't see you and drives over the top of you.

For the US base price of the SmartCar, I would lean more towards the Toyota Yaris. Better performance, better handling, better road feel, more capacity, better basic amenities and the same to better gas millage. At least with the Yaris you would be a bigger fish (albeit slightly so) on the road and less likely to find yourself under a semi-trailer during a evasive defensive moves. Besides, let's all keep in mind why this car was originally designed and to whom it was originally marketed to; European commuters who wanted minimal power, better millage and a car that can be parked anywhere. As someone who has rented many cars in Europe and Asia, ease of finding a parking space in the larger cities is more important than getting the equivalence 40 MPG.

Jackass Candidates for President? And Why Not?

Press play after the pane loads you Jackass.

I like the whole idea of electing a Jackass President. I even like their viral Internet marketing campaign. What I don't like is all those bitch Jackass rubber neckers causing traffic jams everytime they drive by one of those billboards.

And just what the FUCK is a Ryan Hill anyway ?!?!?!

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Update JULY 28 2008

I've received a few emails asking me to to do the same video with someone named Abbie Wyndham Beaver. Although I think I appreciate the nature of the request, I didn't make the video. If you would watch the video clip to it's conclusion, you will see you can make your own and fool your "friends", just like Abbie Wyndham Beaver.

It's July 1st, New CA Cell Phone & Driving Law Begins

In a couple minutes, one full day of the newly enforced California hands free cell phone useage law will have passed.

Lucky for me, today I spent more time than usual on SoCal's freeway system. Lots of customers to visit, even more errands than usual tasken to task. This means I was able to witness first hand if the new law was having any effect on people's driving and cell phone usage habits.

Initial observations of the new "hands free cell phone" law; I don't see much of a change. People of all types are still holding the cell phone up to their ears and in front of their faces dialing or texting.

But what I did see gave me some hope in the long term.

There were many CA Highway Patrol officers pulling over a lot more drivers than usual. I don't mean one here and another there. I mean in one stretch of Interstate 5 south of downtown LA, I saw 9 CHP cruisers that had pulled over cars. Each officer in this mile of so stretch was either in deep discussion with the driver, or else he/she was in the process of issuing a citation. I saw similar activity on the 101, 210 and 405 freeways as well.

I had my suspicions confirmed a little bit ago when I saw a news story on TV outlining the CHP's activities enforcing the new law today. The on camera talking head spokesman said that citations issues were estimated to be up 300% for a single day average, which the CHP attributes to drivers not obeying the new law.

No duhhhh!

Hit & Run in Hartford CT and the Good Samaritan is No More

Here are prime examples of two very disheartening issues facing the public today. People driving like maniacs without care for public safety, and the public's evolved new attitude in aiding the human condition. One falls heavily on the side of Highway A-hole Superstardom, the other teeters close to the edge.

As a side issue; perhaps the placement of "public safety cameras" are doing real service afterall, and not just infringing on the the non-sequitor's rights. Read on and you be the judge.

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From KABC-TV Los Angeles and AP;In a frightening event caught on video, an elderly Connecticut man was struck by a car and was left lying in the street. What's worse is that vehicles continued to drive past the man, with no one stopping to help.

Surveillance video shows 78-year-old Angel Torres being struck by a car in Hartford. The video shows that no one walking by on the sidewalk, or driving past on the street, tried to help the victim. However, Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts appeared at a news conference on Thursday in which they said four people dialed 911 within a minute of the accident.

Police arrived to the scene shortly after the hit-and-run while responding to an unrelated call. The man was taken to Hartford Hospital for treatment.

The video has been enhanced by the Connecticut State Police Forensic Science Laboratory. An older model tan Toyota may have been chased by a blue or black older model Honda. Police say the cars ran a red light and crossed a center line before hitting the man.

Police are asking for the public's help in solving the crime.

Torres remains in critical condition and is paralyzed from the neck down.

The chilling scene - captured on video by a streetlight surveillance camera - has touched off a round of soul-searching in Hartford, with the capital city's biggest newspaper blaring "SO INHUMANE" on the front page and the police chief lamenting: "We no longer have a moral compass."

Pedestrians gawk but appear to do nothing. One driver stops briefly but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim before zipping away.
The hit-and-run took place in daylight last Friday at about 5:45 p.m. in a working-class neighborhood close to downtown in this city of 125,000.

In the video, Torres, a retired fork-lift operator, walks in the two-way street just blocks from the state Capitol after buying milk at a grocery. A tan Toyota and a dark Honda that is apparently chasing it veer across the center line, and Torres is struck by the Honda. Both cars then dart down a side street.

Nine cars pass Torres as a few people stare from the sidewalk. Some approach Torres, but most stay put until a police cruiser responding to an unrelated call arrives on the scene after about a minute and a half.

"Like a dog they left him there," said a disgusted Jose Cordero, 37, who was with friends Thursday not far from where Torres was struck.

Robert Luna, who works at a store nearby, said: "Nobody did nothing."

One witness, Bryant Hayre, told the Courant he didn't feel comfortable helping Torres, who he said was bleeding and conscious.

The accident - and bystanders' apparent callousness - dominated morning radio talk shows.

"It was one of the most despicable things I've seen by one human being to another," the Rev. Henry Brown, a community activist, said in an interview. "I don't understand the mind-set anymore. It's kind of mind-boggling. We're supposed to help each other. You see somebody fall, you want to offer a helping hand."

The victim's son, Angel Arce, begged the public for help in finding the driver. "My father is fighting for his life," he said.

The hit-and-run is the second violent crime to shock Hartford this week. On Monday, former Deputy Mayor Nicholas Carbone, 71, was beaten and robbed while walking to breakfast. He remains hospitalized and faces brain surgery.

"There was a time they would have helped that man across the street. Now they mug and assault him," police chief said. "Anything goes."

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Remember, without those cameras the media, and eventually the general public, wouldn't have seen both sides of this injustice unfold.

Topanga Citizens Take on Enforcing Speed Limits Themselves

Topanga Canyon Road, or CA State Highway 27, is a frequently travelled road for commuters and SFV/Malubu residents. For the most part, it's just a two lane road with a couple of passing lanes or turn-outs here and there. Almost half way between Woodland Hills to the North, and the Pacific Ocean to the South lies the ultra-hippie artisian community of Topanga.

Topanga's a very small community nestled in these Santa Monica Mtns of only a couple thousand residents, most scattered across the canyon sides and strung along the highway itself along with the local businesses. There are two traffic control lights on the road within town. One is by the elementry school N or town, the other isadjacent to a very popular Mexican Restaurant near the town center.

Earlier this year, the State of CA re-evaluated the posted speed limits on this highway and made some adjustments. Basically there is now a max 50 mph in the longer stretches of road, with 35 and 25 limits where needed inside the township of Topanga itself.

After the state made the limit changes, it seems there was a group of locals who voiced their opinion that the speed limits were not lowered enough.

A sign posted on the bulletin board of one of Topanga's grocery stores is drawing the attention of the locals. The sign says in big block letters; "FORCE THE TRANSIENTS TO SLOW DOWN!"

The sign goes on to say, in a very wordy delivery, that the State didn't go far enough to slow traffic on Topanga Road (Highway 27) and that the people of Topanga need to take the responsibility on themselves "to FORCE people to drive slower".

That's right, they actually used the phrase "to FORCE people to drive slower".

How do you suppose they propose to force slower traffic? By asking all residents who live in the area to drive 10 mph slower than the posted limits themselves when driving on the open highway, and 5 mph slower in the town center where the speed limit is already 35 mph or less.

Since passing slower is already nearly impossible, the locals feel they can force the public to drive slower by clogging the road themselves when they drive these public roads.

This means even though the legal posted limit may be 50 mph, a local resident is going to force you to dive 40 mph by driving slower themselves ahead of you.

The next time I am travelling on Topanga and I get behind a Toyota Prius with all kinds of left-wing stickers on it touting the words like "COEXIST", "Impeach Bush" and "Slow Down Through Topanga", it better be going close to the speed limit, otherwise the driver himself/herself will be labeled a Highway A-hole... over and over again, through my car window, at the top of my lungs.