No, but seriously

This blog has moved

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:14:00 +0000

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Lost your car when you parked?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:05:00 +0000

I don't mean to sound mean, but I had no idea there was even a market for this. Eddie Kim created a dead simple Android app for locating your car. Not when it's stolen mind you - simply for when you forgot where you parked. When you park, you tell the app to remember the current GPS location, then it can guide you back there later on.
I'm baffled by this though. Surely if people can't remember where they parked, then how are they going to remember to tell the app where they parked in the first place? I can drop my car in an airport long-term parking lot (you know the type - miles of asphalt with tens of thousands of cars in it) and walk straight back to it a month later. It's not difficult.
Fair play to Mr Kim for making money off his app - that's a great success story - but equally it's a terrible indictment of the human condition that there's even a need for this app. I suppose it goes hand-in-hand with the general malaise that surrounds driving nowadays. People treat driving as right instead of a privilege so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that they forget where they parked their cars.

Android Car Locator app.

Traffic light etiquette

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:25:00 +0000

There's a curious affliction that affects some drivers - they slow down when they see a green traffic light. More often than not this means you end up missing the green light because by the time you get there, it's gone red. I know some might argue that they're slowing down in case the light goes red, but that's not really a valid argument. That's like saying that it's OK to start driving through a red light in case it's about to go green. The same people also seem to have a problem when the lights do go red though - they begin to slow down way too early. I had this happen to me a couple of weeks ago. We must have been a good 100m from the lights doing all of 20mph (a dawdler) and they changed to red. Instantly, the brake lights on the car in front came on. Ok I expect people to slow down and stop when they see a red light, but not when they're two blocks away from it traveling at a snail's pace. I wondered if he might have read my blog some months ago where I talked about traffic flowing - about being able to modulate your speed on the approach to a junction but then I remembered that I did not write "jam on the brakes as hard as possible the instant the lights go red".
I think part of the problem is that around here (Utah), a great many people actually drive with their left foot on the brake pedal all the time. It's led to a 'cry wolf' driving situation where a lot of drivers just don't respond to brake lights any more because in a lot of cases they don't mean anything. I've followed people down residential streets and along motorways with their brake lights going on and off at random intervals whilst they weren't slowing down. It's because the brake light switch responds to the slightest pressure on the pedal - the weight of the driver's foot is enough to do it, even though it's not enough to apply the brakes. Now I know from talking to a few drivers who do this that they are under the impression that it makes them a safer driver. Far from it - in fact it makes them one of the most dangerous drivers on the road. They're uncoordinated because they're using two feet, and they create a situation where the traffic behind them is left unable to determine what it is they're trying to do. The brake lights are on but he's accelerating? Once again - learn to drive, and drive predictably. It makes the roads a far safer and less stressful place for the rest of us.

Making a bad junction worse

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:04:00 +0000

In a conversation with a friend of mine in the UK this week, I was reminded of an issue which plagues the road system over there - traffic lights on roundabouts. Roundabouts (traffic circles to the Americans) are a very clever intersection design that prevents traffic clogs by allowing the traffic to keep flowing (remember my series of driving mantra - traffic is like a flowing river?). Except that in too many cases now, local councils have littered roundabouts with traffic lights. This negates the whole purpose of the roundabout in the first place, and actually makes the whole junction far worse than it would be just to have traffic lights. Why? Because traffic backs up on the roundabout - stopped by the lights - which blocks the entire junction for those trying to get on or off. Worse - when the lights controlling the flow of traffic on to the roundabout are synchronised with those controlling the flow of traffic off, all it does is result in a constantly moving blockage. Nobody ever gets the chance to get on at the non-light-controlled entries because the roundabout is permanently blocked. This in turn results in huge tailbacks and traffic jams on all the roads leading up to the junction. I remember one on my daily commute when I used to live in England. It was in Bracknell at the end of the A329(M). It was a bloody nightmare because it was always blocked. Even on the motorbike it was hard to thread my way through the traffic. Councils need to learn that they need either traffic lights, or a roundabout, not both.

Stop/start engines

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:51:00 +0000

One of the current trends in hybrids and fuel efficient cars are stop/start engines. These are engines that stop automatically when you idle for more than a few seconds, then restart when you step on the accelerator. VW pioneered this in the 1990s with one of their Golf models - I can't remember the name - Ecomotion maybe? The problem at the time was the additional stress on the engine and starter motor resulted in much less longevity for those components. Starters failed after 15,000 miles, engines had excessive wear and various other issues cropped up, all related to the constant stopping and starting of the engine. I'm left wondering if it's really worth it. Are the newer generation stop/start systems that much better? What about all the additional complexity that is required? For example when you stop the engine, you can't stop everything else - heated windows, radios, electric components - windscreen wipers and headlights etc. So you need a hugely uprated electrical system and battery (or batteries). Then there's the heater / air conditioner which run off the coolant fluid or a/c compressor respectively. To compensate for stop/start, you'd need electric a/c and electric heating too. Can all the added weight and complexity really be good for the consumer? Is it reliable?
In Hybrids, it's not an issue - they've been designed from the start to have all these systems running on electric-only if the engine is off. But on non hybrid vehicles it does seem like a lot of complexity for not very much return.

I liked it so much I bought the company.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:23:00 +0000

Well not quite, but nearly. A while back I reviewed the ScanGauge II in-car computer. It hooks up to the OBD-II port on any post-1996 car and gives you all manner of readouts that your car might not otherwise be able to display. (See the Scangauge II review for more info.)
It's taken a while but I finally caved and bought one of these for myself. The original unit was given away in a competition, but I always regretted that. That being said, I make a point of never keeping any of the demo units I get for review. So a couple of weeks ago I parted with my own cold hard cash and bought my own ScanGauge II. It's been doing hard duty in my Honda Element ever since. I'm really glad I bought it. I've got mine reading out water temperature, instantaneous BHP, average MPG and instantaneous MPG. The MPG readouts are particularly interesting. In the same way that Prius owners unwittingly enter into competitions with themselves to get better gas mileage, I've done the same with the Element. The difference is, of course, the info is available to me now where it wasn't before. I'm proud to say I've added 1mpg to my average because of the ScanGauge II readout. Doesn't sound like much but in my boxy Element, that's a 5% improvement.
If you're a car nerd, or just like geeky, techy things, pop over to the review and decide for yourself if it's worth buying one. I would. And did.

A bad year for Toyota

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:52:00 +0000

The naysayers have been harking on recently about how the three vehicle recalls for Toyota spell the end for the Japanese manufacturer in America, and how Ford and GM will profit as a result. I doubt it. Have you seen the crap GM are producing? Ford isn't much better and their lot will only improve when the new Focus and Fiesta go on sale.
From Toyota's perspective, rather than letting lawyers and class action suits force them into it, the have (albeit late) acknowledged the problems and done the right thing. The floor mat issue was just silly. The sticky accelerator could be worrisome, but isn't especially dangerous - after all, we all have clutches and neutral positions in the gearbox. The software issue with the brakes on the Prius is more problematic but the scenario where you'd notice it is so remote you could probably own twenty Prius's and never have a hint of a problem.
The real issue here is when transportation ministers go on TV with comments like "if you own a Toyota, don't drive it". The general public seem to need little excuse to panic and reach for the lawyer they have on speed dial as it is. Making a sweeping and clearly false statement like that is known as pouring fuel on the fire. That alone could cause people to stop buying Toyotas and go for other brands. Sadly, that's how knee-jerk the public have become though. If Ford and GM benefit from this, it's not because they have a better product (they clearly don't). It would be because of panicking sheeple acting en-masse.
We need to have a level head here. Is your accelerator pedal sticky or juddery? If you've not noticed and now have to go and consciously go and check, then I guarantee you don't have a problem. Same with the brakes on the Prius - have you had a problem whilst braking on an icy washboard road surface? If you even have to think about an answer, again you're not affected.
Common sense dictates that if you own a Toyota, book it in for the recall, but continue to use it as you always have done in the mean time. If you want to see how this fits into the grand scheme of things, especially compared to the sheer volume of recalls for Ford and GM, check out a vehicle recall list (for example Ohio Lemon Law Recall List).

If you're nervous...

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:51:00 +0000

...what are you doing up here?
A couple of weeks ago, on the way back from skiing, we got stuck behind a flatlander who was clearly very, very nervous about mountain driving. She was barely touching 10mph in her minivan, and was driving with her hazard lights on. Even the slightest bend in the road caused the brake lights to come on. Now we have a law here that states that if you're holding up traffic on a mountain road, and there's more than three vehicles behind you, you have to pull over and let them pass. There were plenty of opportunities to pull over, but she ambled past every one of them. In the end, it resulted in people overtaking her in dangerous places, and you'd think she would have got the message when even the ski bus overtook her on a double yellow line. But no - she kept dawdling downhill, and by the time we got to the bottom, there were a good thirty vehicles behind her.
I did briefly consider that it might have been vehicle trouble that was making her drive so slowly, but as soon as we got out on to regular roads, she was off without any hesitation.
In other words she was selfish, irresponsible and unobservant. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll know I have very little time for drivers like this.
Use your mirrors. Understand the rules of the road. And if you're heading into territory you're nervous about, then here's an idea: don't go!

Turn left on red?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:17:00 +0000

My final blog post about the recent trip back to England : why aren't they allowed to turn left on red? The equivalent of turning right on red in America? It solves so many congestion issues at junctions and intersections and it's so obvious. Because I now live in America but go back and forth with some regularity, it's always difficult for me to not turn left on red for the first day or so when I go back. I'm so used to doing it at home and it comes so naturally, that I have to think hard to stop myself breaking the law in England. Although having said that there have been several occasions where I've done exactly that - absent-mindedly breezed through a left turn lane on a red light because nothing was coming. Fortunately I've never been spotted doing this by anyone in officialdom but I'm sure it'll happen one of these days.

Lane discipline

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:14:00 +0000

My recent trip back to the UK highlighted another foible of the British sensibilities when driving - terrible lane discipline. Technically, you're not allowed to overtake on the inside, but the problem is that people sit in the middle lane even when the inside lane is empty. By doing this, they reduce the carrying capacity of the motorway in that area to 30% or less as everyone queues up behind them trying to get into the outside lane to go past. It was like this up until 2001 when I left the UK and it's been like this every time I go back. At least here in America we're able to overtake on both sides without fear of recrimination. I don't know why that option has never been allowed in England - it would solve the irritation created by centre lane owner-occupiers for good.

38mph

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:27:00 +0000

This is a PSA for drivers in England: the speed limit is not 38mph.
I know some of you know this but my driving experience there over the Christmas break leads me to have to point this out. 8, 10 maybe 12 times over 4 days we found ourselves bumbling down a 60mph road at 38mph with no opportunity to overtake. And naturally, as we entered 30mph zones, the car in front carried on at 38mph until we reached the 60mph limit on the other side - where the 38mph dawdle continued.
Now I don't know if this is because people are simply petrified of being caught on one of the tens of thousands of speed cameras, or whether it's that people think that 38mph is just a good all-round speed to travel at.
But I'll say this: it's a good way to cause accidents, because faced with the prospect of 20 to 30 miles behind someone doing 38mph who isn't even towing a caravan, a lot of following drivers take huge risks to get past.
So read the road signs, read the road, take your eyes off the GPS, put the cellphone down and drive faster than 38mph.

The Dakar rally and Robby Gordon

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:49:00 +0000

I don't know how many people follow the Dakar rally in America, but it's been spectacular again this year. Set again in Chile and Argentina (because of political unrest in Africa), it's been a mad charge across all sorts of terrain from rocky river beds to soaring sand dunes. The quads, bikes, cars and trucks have all been exciting to watch, as usual. The sense of sportsmanship was alive and well with many riders and drivers stopping at the expense of their stage time to help others out. Early on for example, Luca Manca stopped and gave Marc Coma his rear wheel off his bike. Not on the same team, just because he knew Coma needed it and was angling for a win. Sadly, the very next day, Manca spiralled over the handlebars of his own bike and fractured his skull - that was the end of his rally, but that's what the Dakar is all about; extremes of hardship and victory in equal measures.
With one notable exception - again. American Robby Gordon was brimming with entitlement, assuming he deserved to win. He failed two years ago, he failed last year, and ultimately, he failed this year. He never stopped to help anyone out. He never had a good word to say about any of his competitors. And he always blamed his mechanics or his vehicle for each day's failure. The Dakar is about sportsmanship and a sense of community amongst all the competitors and the huge bivouac or caravan that supports the rally. For the third year in a row, Gordon treated the entire event with a level of contempt that makes me believe he should go home with his tail between his legs and never come back. He's an arrogant S.O.B who has no place in an international sporting event.

Schumacher returns to Formula 1

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:40:00 +0000

This is something most Formula 1 fans have been hoping would happen : Michael Schumacher is actually returning to F1. He's signed a one year deal with the new Mercedes factory team to race for them this year. Whilst this is good news in itself, the better side of this story is that we're finally going to get to see Lewis Hamilton race head-to-head with Schumacher - the greatest driver in F1 history. Hamilton is talented - very much so - but he's not had to face a true champion since he joined F1. Sure he's raced against Alonso and Raikkonen, but neither of those drivers really have their hearts in it. Alonso is just a crybaby - always complaining about something - and Raikkonen never really tries (which is why he's out of F1 this year).
So for one, I'm looking forwards to seeing how this pans out. It's a shame Schumacher isn't racing for Ferrari, but it will be interesting to see if he can help Mercedes - a newcomer - to get some decent victories in their first year.

Driving predictability.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:30:00 +0000

We were in the UK for Christmas and it served to remind me the different styles of drivers I see all over the world. Whilst I still maintain that UK drivers are as bad as it gets, at least there's an element of predictable aggression about it. That's what you need when you're driving - predictability. Here in Utah people are so vague and out of it when they're driving that I'm amazed any of them realise they're in a car. Just when you think you've got it nailed down, you find an all-new idiot maneuver that takes you by surprise. Not so much in England any more. Even now, 9 years after leaving, I can predict what 75% of drivers will do long before they do it - as can most UK drivers. The other 25% is the "learning experience" that we all undergo every morning when we get into a car or step on to a motorbike. In Utah it's the opposite - I can barely predict what 10% of these fools will do on any given day, and that I suspect is why they're such dangerous drivers. They're properly random, and in an organised, flowing system like traffic on a road, randomness is the pebble in the stream that causes accidents.
Would I rather drive in England or Utah? Neither. I'd rather drive in Holland where the aggressiveness and predictability are both so high that everyone is almost telepathically connected to everyone else. There, when someone fits their car into the half-car-gap in front of you, it's not a surprise and it's nothing to get bent out of shape about because in a moment's time, they'll be gone again - off in another lane. The most organised chaos I've ever seen? Singapore.
The most disorganised chaos? Malta.
Be predictable, people. It really helps.

New year's eve is upon us.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:23:00 +0000

2010 is just around the corner and with it will come the usual sense of freshness that any New Year brings. From a motoring perspective, the question is this : will we see any change to the status quo? Will the big three American manufacturers actually start producing a smaller vehicle? Probably not - well two of them won't. Ford looks like it's going to be the winner to me. If they follow through on the promise of bringing the European Focus and Fiesta to the US in 2010, they could reap huge rewards. I'm not a big fan of Ford - never have been. (Nor GM before that argument starts). But I know a decent car when I drive one and the current European Focus is decent. Not brilliant. Not outstanding. But decent in a way that few American cars can hope to achieve. Good handling, a reasonable interior, frugal with its petrol and a frankly great looking body all tie up to make a good package. Will the Focus be the car to sway the American public? Probably not. There's a hard core of drivers here that believe that size (both physical and engine capacity) is everything when it really isn't. Oversize American vehicles with archaic V8 engines are boorish and outdated. Come on people - grab the future. Move with the times. Embrace forced induction, small-capacity engines with excellent fuel economy. It's not like anyone over here ever drives at even 20% of their vehicle's capacity anyway so why do you need a 12mpg V8?
Happy New Year.

Christmas eve - I hope everyone is home and well

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:21:00 +0000

Just a quick note for any of my readers who are online tonight instead of being at home with their families enjoying the annual argument and crappy television : have a Merry Christmas.

Winter brings England to a standstill

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:24:00 +0000

It's amazing to me that a simple 2 inches of snow can bring an entire country to its knees. I'm in England right now, which is gripped in the midst of what the media are laughably calling "blizzard" conditions, meaning the entire transport infrastructure has failed. Trains have stopped running because of "the wrong sort of snow". Roads have iced up and frozen over because, despite thousands of tons of sand and grit being available in the transport depots, none of it has been used to grit or sand the roads. Bus services have stopped running, the channel tunnel is closed, ferries are running up to a day late and the four main airports are basically closed. Motorways are closed because chunks of ice are falling off bridges, and motorists are abandoning their cars everywhere. This of course has brought out the best of British. In one case, motorists abandoned their vehicles in a pub car park (rather than leaving them blocking the roads) and when they returned, found a clamping / booting company had clamped all the cars. Everyone was forced to pay a £150 release fee.
Because of 2 inches of snow? Seriously? Okay I realise that it doesn't snow like this in the UK that often but when this little snow can stop an entire country it's a pretty tragic enditement of the place.

Running the engine before getting into a cold car.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:14:00 +0000

At this time of year, plenty of people start their car and leave it to warm up in the morning before getting in. I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand, it lets the engine warm up and all the bearings and seals expand nicely before you start to drive it. And obviously the blower will be circulating warm air when you get in. But on the other hand, if you don't have a secure area to do this, you're practically asking to have the car stolen. Car thieves know this - they prowl suburban neighbourhoods on cold winter mornings because the pickings are plentiful and easy. And here's the other thing : when your engine is idling, it's essentially under no stress at all so it's going to take a while to heat up. If you actually just get in and drive it, the increased load on the engine helps it to heat up much more quickly. My morning commute has mild air blowing around the car after less than 1km and properly warm air in less than 2km. If you live somewhere where it's properly and consistently cold overnight, then the only true option is a sump heater or coolant heater. Sump heaters heat the oil in the engine sump so that it's not cold and gelatinous when you go to start the engine. Coolant heaters heat the coolant and circulate it around the engine to keep the block warm (not hot) so you get warm air out of the blower right away. For my money, this seems like a much better alternative to leaving the car running in the driveway while you eat breakfast.
Or you could just put on a coat and wear some gloves for the first five minutes and deal with it :-)

Winter is here for good this time.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:08:00 +0000

Winter weather blew into our area over the last couple of weeks. Daytime high temperatures just below freezing, with high winds and a combination of powdery drifting snow, and wet teflon. Naturally this means that everyone around here promptly forgot how to drive in snow conditions and the accident rate went through the roof. I've said it before on this blog, and I'll say it again : winter tyres. Don't mess around with all-weather tyres if you live anywhere with a decent amount of snow and cold roads - just do it. This year I'm sporting two-wheel drive, having given up all-wheel-drive for the weight and mpg advantage. So this morning I had my first proper test of a moderately chunky SUV with 2WD and snow tyres, on packed wet snow from a standing start going uphill. It passed with flying colours. As I quietly made my way past all the other cars who were nicely polishing the road to a glossy black-ice finish with their summer- and all-weather-tyres on the same hill, I noticed the traction control light flicker on a couple of times, but it was nothing dramatic. The super sticky rubber compound, aggressive tread and plentiful siping on the tyres was doing it's job nicely. Seriously people - if you've never driven on modern snow tyres in the snow, it's a revelation.

Finding an alternative window cleaner

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:02:00 +0000

After the dismal performance of Armorall's customer service, I've been looking around for a suitable alternative, and I stumbled across this : Lifter-1 ProGlas. I'd never heard of this particular company before but that seemed like an opportunity to try something different. What a pleasant surprise. Their product is an aerosol but once it's been shaken up, it sprays a relatively thick, gloopy foam that sticks to the windows pretty well. A quick wipe with a cleaning cloth and a buff with a dry cloth and the inside of my car's windows are spectacularly clean again. It did a sterling job of cutting through the plastic vapour haze that builds up after a summer of being parked in the sun, and it shifted all the goop from various placements of my GPS suction cup too. It did the job quickly, with very little fuss, and the after-smell was not at all objectionable. If you're in need of a glass cleaner for your car, give them a try and let me know what you think. I really liked the job it did on my Honda which is why I'm giving them the free plug.

The Toyota floor mat issue.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:22:00 +0000

You may have read about the ongoing problem Toyota has with some of its cars where the use of aftermarket floormats, or incorrectly anchored Toyota floormats, can cause the accelerator to stick fully open. Toyota are working on a fix for this problem - most likely the installation of shorter accelerator pedals, but this brings about an interesting question : should Toyota be responsible for the actions of people driving its vehicles? For example - if I stuck my hand in the way of the door and slammed it, should Toyota be expected to design a door that wouldn't injure me? The answer of course is "no" - so why are they having to solve a problem that they didn't create? If the drivers can't be bothered to use the anchoring system on the floor to hold the floor mat back, how is that Toyota's problem? It isn't. The issue is that Toyota recognise that America is a litigious society, and rather than people accepting responsibility for their own actions, they'll likely sue Toyota instead. It's sad that we've reached the stage in society where manufacturers have to change the design of a product to protect them from being sued by people who can't use the product properly. Of course Toyota aren't the first manufacturer to suffer this - any company that's ever built a ladder will tell you that 75% of the cost of the ladder to to you - the buying public - is covering the cost of lawsuits against the ladder manufacturer for people falling off their products.

The Amorall Guarantee - Pt.2

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:56:00 +0000

A quick followup to the blog post from a few weeks ago. Seems the Armorall guarantee is pretty much vapourware. They never responded to email or phone calls, nor even the returned pack of wipes I sent them with a letter. It's a shame - I've used their products for years, but in the face of lousy customer service like this, there's plenty of other companies out there that make competing products. It's a shame these people don't understand customer service any more. They're all in it for the quick buck at the expense of anyone who buys their products.

Chrome trim inside - why?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:25:00 +0000

I recently had the misfortune to rent the most awful car I've driven in a long time. It was a GM product but I can't remember which one. What struck me the most, apart from the bad ergonomics and incomprehensible onboard computer, was the sheer volume of chrome that had been used in the cabin. They'd outlined all the instruments, centre console and vents in chrome. Now I've never been a big fan of chrome - I think it looks tacky and cheap and is a quick way of attempting to gussy up an otherwise dull design. But putting it in the cabin of a car is just inexcusable and I'll tell you why:- the sun. More specifically, when the sun reflects off all the bling inside the cabin and blinds you whilst you're driving, especially at this time of year when the sun is low in the sky. I was constantly fighting reflections and highlights from the chrome bezels as I drove - it was distracting, it was annoying and frankly it was dangerous. Add that to the laundry list of reasons why GM are failing - you simply don't put chrome inside a car.

Too lazy to park in the right place.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:19:00 +0000

People with an over-inflated sense of self-importance are the worst drivers. They're so filled with perceived entitlement that they think they have the God-given right to drive wherever the heck they want and park wherever the heck they want. I have a lot of pet hates in motoring but this is my number one - people who are so lazy that they'll park in a clearly-marked no-parking area simply to save 10 steps. These people just have no common decency - no sense of the greater good or concept of - you know - following rules. Typically these cars are sporting handicap stickers but the people driving them are just friends or relatives of the person who's sticker they're using. That's low, but what I find intolerable is when the car in question actually does have a handicap driver and they simply can't be bothered to use the designated handicap spaces. In this parking lot in question, the spaces are the same distance the other side of the entrance door as this Jeep was parked. And they were all empty bar one. You can see them in the photo behind the lady with the shopping cart - they're the spaces with the blue paint. But no - whoever this person was just couldn't be bothered. I don't know if they were actually handicapped or not - I didn't see them park, but the Jeep was there for a good five minutes (empty, doors locked) before I took the photo. Selfishness like this makes me sick. I would say this person should be ashamed of themselves but if they park like this, chances are they couldn't give a flying rats ass about anyone other than themselves.

Texting public transport drivers

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:53:00 +0000

Well the message about texting whilst driving clearly isn't getting through, least of all to public transport drivers here in Utah. We snapped this pic on the way to lunch a couple of weeks ago. The guy looks very pissed off and for good reason - he knows he's been caught and probably suspected the picture would turn up online sooner or later. If you work for UTA or know someone who does, tell them their drivers need to concentrate more on driving the bus full of fare-paying passengers, and less on texting. You'd think with all the press this year about public transport drivers being involved in horrific crashes because of texting that things would change. Apparently this individual thinks he's more important than the safety of his passengers though.