Price of GAS

Jungle primary - Ballotpedia

As long as the parties control the money, the money will control the parties.
I haven't voted straight ticket - ever, and I prefer a Jungle primary.....but we have what we have.

I sit on my county's election arbitration board (every vote is precious....sorta like...... )
It might have been a gateway drug for a higher calling (election commish...supervisor....etc) but I like being married and I grew up in a family infested with lawyers and local politicians, which is why I currently fix phones for a living.
It's more honest work.

Thusly I get to see how the 'sausage is made.'
Like most states, it's a mixed bag.
I live on free soil, so we require voter ID, and have a flexible but robustly monitored absentee system, but we DO get to vote in the primary that we choose to without having to register or declare for a certain party.
It's not as good as a jungle primary, but....it "sucks less"....

 

Agree...traffic is increasing around here...and apparently nearly everyone forgot how to drive properly during the covid pause.

 

Well...they do get 8 MPG regardless of how fast they go...

BTW - It has been pretty delicious following the Ford Maverick forums and such. Owners of the hybrid are already boasting about their MPG numbers...exactly what folks did here...a decade ago. Good to see....but it is causing some strife within the truck community.

 

haven't seen one yet, are they popular?

 

Lots of orders, very few deliveries , I would like to unload the ancient Dodge pickup of mine on one, sadly Putting money down and waiting 1-2 years was rather distasteful for me, also very disappointed Ford doesn’t really sell a non-compliance PHEV outside Europe, I would have put money down on a PHEV Maverick

As yet I’ve never seen one in person , I am tempted to drive 100 miles away to get a test drive

On the forums Already complains of 29mpg fuel economy driving 75mph+ in 15 degree weather

 

our '05 dakota w/ 29,000 miles iu up for sale, but we don't need another truck.

 

If you're looking for a Ford Maverick, try your search here.

Surprisingly, out of 16 in our area, 12 are used ?

Autotrader - page unavailable

 

that does not bode well

 

I've spotted three. I think Ford has already sold out the 2022 production.

I'd guess people are flipping them. The 'good price' AWD XLT with 20k miles listed there is around $9000 more than MSRP. The one listed for $42k is likely an XLT too. The starting MSRP of the Lariat is $26k.

 

Can’t say I understand the couple October Maverick listings that are nearly outside the power train warranty

Every used Maverick within 500 miles doesn’t have the hitch / tow option

1. Dealer “forgets” $100 trailer option on buyer preorders which is nearly impossible to install after purchase

2. Buyer who has waited a year gets told the news and rejects purchase

3. $19k truck becomes a $38k truck sold to an unwitting buyer who discovers the extreme difficulty of adding the tow package months after buying

4. Profit

 

We go to a metropolitan area to use a multi-use bike trail that is 25 miles long and winds throughout the metropolitan area.

Today we noticed many more bikers on the trail, many in working attire with saddlebags on their bikes. It looked like they are now commuting to work using the paved trail and their bikes. It wasn't just young adults but middle aged as well as older adults in the mix of riders.

It is a great trail and it was neat seeing so many using it. The perfect weather may have also influenced the number of riders.

 

More traffic here, too, and getting stupider by the hour. This morning, we were doing 50 in a 45 zone keeping a safe distance from the group of tailgaters in front of us. Got passed by a man in a Mercedes showing his pre-teen daughter (I hope that was the relationship ) how to drive properly in Florida as he passed us doing well over 75 mph. He soon caught up to the little convoy of cars a few hundred yards in front of us and followed them at the the same speed we were driving. They got to the traffic light at the end of the road and rather than stop and wait for the green, he whipped it left through a gas station charging 4-1/2 dollars a gallon for regular and went charging up the road while normal people waited for the green light.

Tuesday I saw two wrecks on the way home from work. One was on the road I just described.

It would be nice if they could have a special price for commercial diesel trucks and an even more special one for the show-off diesel trucks (as in $3.50/gal for the former and $7.50 for the latter). Then for gas, maybe just keep raising it till people slow down. It's apparently not very high yet or people wouldn't be driving like it's free.

 

Do people who drive on roads today really know slowing down actually saves fuel? I know it very well... but I still speed if I am pressed with time. I just take my PP instead of our SUV for most of the trips now.

 

idk what people know anmore, except where and how to get free government handouts

 

Barrelling through a gas station is probably no less hazardous than the guy passing me on the residential street, who ended up running through a very solid red light while traversing the intersection in the oncoming lane.

Bicycling along one of our Interurban Trails two days ago, I witnessed cars completely ignore stop signs three times in as any miles. The one who was taking a wide left turn the wrong way around a traffic calming circle into my path (on a specially designated pedestrian / cycling street) didn't see me approaching (no stop sign in my direction) until she was half way through her turn, and had to snap back to a path to the correct side.

 

Poor driving habits must be a very common occurrence. Our metropolitan bike trail is dedicated to bikers and pedestrians only.
However it does cross public roads in many areas and that is where the dangers lies. Bikes have the right away when crossing secondary roads in the designated crosswalk but you would have a deaths wish if you didn't get off the bike and walk it across the intersection of the path and secondary road. Main roads have stop light intervals and crosswalks for the bikes and pedestrians only - again you must watch carefully as impatient individuals are continually ignoring the light interval to make right turns after a stop even though the signs forbid it.

Many year ago a drunk driver actually turned onto the bike path and knocked over a concrete sentry post in the mistaken attempt to avoid the main roads and detection of his drunken state and severely injured a biker who was on the trail.

If metropolitan areas could afford it and politicians would stand for it, staffing Police Forces with a robust traffic enforcement staffing who wrote tickets could be an excellent stream of income that would not only pay for the Department but enrich the cities coffers and make it a safer place for others.

 

Here's Why You Should Slow Down To Save Gas According To An Aerodynamicist And Powertrain Engineer - The Autopian

 

I complain a lot here about the selfishness and incompetence on our roads, but it's not nearly as bad as the Honduran island where we lived for nine years. The taxi drivers typically take their half of the road out of the center (especially on blind curves) and the old joke about, "If you don't like my driving, stay off the sidewalk." isn't actually a joke.

 

The only problem with using high gas prices to quell speeding is that (as we're finding out as I tap this out) high energy prices tend to have a negative impact on the economy.
Otherwise?
They would not excise the cost of gas from "core inflation" when people try to lie to you about how good or bad the economy is doing.

One of the many benefits of rounding out my military career as a reservist was the time I spend with LEOs on deployment.
LEOs almost universally HATE to do traffic, and this was back before the recent "defund the police" movement.
Me?
I wouldn't solve this problem with gun-toting sworn ossifers.
I'd use greedy capitalism.

Red light cameras.
Photo speed enforcement.
Cameras tend not to be racially insensitive, union activists, they do not have anger issues, and you don't have to train them not to shoot each other with department issued weapons.

Don't want to fall for their evil plots?
Stop when the lights turn red and obey the posted speed limit.
Oh...and as much as I loathe the "overseas" argument???
Nations that do not rhyme with 'The Munited Stakes' tend to have effective methods for dealing with drunk drivers.....

Politicians and police officers have an exceedingly uneasy relationship these days...and most of the "made-for-court-TV" drama occurs during traffic stops....so I wouldn't count on using THOSE guys and gals to solve the crazy driver syndrome.
In fact....the reason that people are driving like they have diplomatic plates is because LEOs have slowed WAAAAAAAAAAAY down....on pulling people over as much.

Can you blame them?

 

ETC(SS), I think we have different approaches to solving the problem - Traffic Safety Officers vs Traffic Cameras but the same goals- negative consequences for disregarding traffic rules.

I prefer police because of the additional Police presence can also influence other undesirable behaviors but Traffic Cameras are an effective and certainly more efficient way of doing things. In the area of the country I live in Police are still respected and seen in a positive light and their presence is welcomed.

If I were in charge of the program:
1st offence = stern warning or if especially egregious offense the defined punishment
2nd offence = a minimum fine $100
3rd offense and every offence after that fine is doubled example 3rd =$200, 4th = $400, 5th =$800 and so on. Offenses continue on the doubling scale until the individual has gone 3 years with no citation.

If the individual says they cannot pay the fine due to economic hardship they must pick up trash on the side of road for the pay of $10/hour until their fines are satisfied.

If Police officers were employed I think they would have no problem generating 15 tickets in an 8 hour day.
15 tickets x $100 (minimum fine) =$1,500/day, $7,500 a week, $390,000 a year. I think this is a low ball figure as many of the fines would be more than $100 as well as the many additional citations for numbskulls who would be found to be uninsured and driving unregistered vehicles. Realistically I would expect each Officer to generate $500,000/year in fines.

So each Officer would generate $500,000/ year which would pay their own salary and help fund municipal projects all funded by individuals who refused to follow basic traffic safety laws and doing so endangered their fellow citizens.

And yes on the other nations have effective laws on drunk drivers. In our overseas briefings before temporary deployment, it was covered that a particular country dealt with drunk drivers via a firing squad. This may have change since the 1970's I don't know. It doesn't mean I agreed with it, it was just a fact passed on to us.