19
May 09
Apologies for the severe lack of posting lately, but here’s something that’s awesome: CAFE averages! Woooo!
In short, they’re going up. Trucks, in particular, will have to reach an average of 30mpg by 2016. There are all sorts of asterisks involved (one major one is that CAFE is, by definition, an average of each class’s fuel economy), but it’s a good start. Further out, it could push more ultra-sized or long-haul vehicles, which are generally ill-suited for electric powertrains, toward diesel or hybrids (or, dare to dream, a diesel-electric hybrid, which apparently made that guy really happy). Combined with Daimler’s new stake in Tesla, it looks like I’ll have some interesting options by the time I’m ready to actually buy a car.
02
Apr 09
Update: Fuuuuuuck.
After nearly missing the train this morning, I read this in the Sun:
A day after the Maryland Senate gave a hearty preliminary approval to expanding the use of speed cameras in the state, the controversial measure failed by a single vote Wednesday night – a turn of events that shocked proponents and opponents alike.
Unsurprisingly, I am happy about this turn of events.
07
Jan 09
It’s no secret that I hate speed cameras, red-light cameras and CCTV in general. Now there’s a radar detector that tells you where they are.
Cobra Electronics has taught its radar detectors a new trick: they also detect red light cameras and speed cameras.
The Chicago company does this by maintaining a database of intersections known to have red-light cameras and stretches of road with speeding cameras. The database currently has more than 5,000 intersections, speed camera locations and popular speed traps. But it’s being updated twice a day by Cobra employees who are tasked with finding and verifying new locations by calling various cities, police departments and local businesses near major intersections.
Garmin, I demand that you add this service to your GPS gizmos right now.
HT: Boing Boing
06
Jan 09
I have been toying with a variation on this idea for years:
[S]tudents from local high schools have been taking advantage of the county’s Speed Camera Program in order to exact revenge on people who they believe have wronged them in the past, including other students and even teachers.
[...]
Originating from Wootton High School, the parent said, students duplicate the license plates by printing plate numbers on glossy photo paper, using fonts from certain websites that “mimic” those on Maryland license plates. They tape the duplicate plate over the existing plate on the back of their car and purposefully speed through a speed camera, the parent said. The victim then receives a citation in the mail days later.
Students are even obtaining vehicles from their friends that are similar or identical to the make and model of the car owned by the targeted victim, according to the parent.
I hope thousands of kids start doing this. Fuck those punk-bitch accident-causing speed cameras in their unblinking eyes, and fuck the greedy cities who use them.
HT: Boing Boing