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Slowing down and stopping for traffic lights isn’t just the law, its common sense. Why risk your life and those around you because you are in a hurry to go somewhere? Check out this video. Luckily no one was hurt but look how close this driver comes to causing a serious accident.

Possible injuries to watch for: the bicyclist crossing in the crosswalk, three individual cars that stopped or slowed down in time to miss this lunatic, the people walking across the crosswalk, and not to mention all the others who would’ve become involved had an accident occurred. These are the types of people that need to be taken off the streets.

One of the more unusual driving developments over the past decade or two has been the advent of road rage. Road rage is defined as aggressive driving, usually in retaliation for a minor or major traffic inconvenience inflicted on a driver. What happens is that someone gets cut off or treated similarly on the highway or freeway, and then chooses to retaliate by tailgating, passing and cutting off of the original offender, or it can even escalate to something worse like physical violence.

Here is a story about a man who attacked someone who honked at him with a chrome bar because he couldn’t enter the driveway of a local business. The man is now looking at assault charges.

And then there is this story about a man who actually gouged at another man’s eyes over whether he should shut his car door or not.

Road rage is a serious issue and is being dealt with by law enforcement very seriously. High jail terms and major assault charges are associated with most of the more violent cases. Prosecutors will continue to charge these violent criminals with major charges, so it would be in everyone’s best interest to just calm down when driving.

Compliments of the California Department of Transportation comes these tips for driving beautiful highway 1 through the Big Sur section of the California coastline.

* Drive defensively.

* Wear your seat belt. It’s the law.

* Obey posted and unposted speed limits. State law provides that, unless otherwise posted, the maximum speed limit is 55 mph (about 88 kph) on two-lane undivided highways such as Highway 1 in the Big Sur region. Do not drive faster than is safe under the road and weather conditions. The maximum safe speed may be slower than the posted speed limit.

* Motorcyclists must wear helmets. Bicyclists under age 18 must wear helmets. It’s the law. (All safe and sane cyclists of all ages wear helmets anyway.)

* It is a good idea to drive this highway with your headlights turned on at all times, regardless of the time of day or weather conditions, to make your vehicle more visible to oncoming vehicles. (Turn your lights off when you turn off the ignition!) The California Driver Handbook advises that you should never drive with only your parking lights or fog lights turned on and that your headlights must be turned on whenever weather conditions require the use of your windshield wipers.

* Keep your eyes on the road. If you want to enjoy the scenery, and you will, use one of the hundreds of marked and unmarked turnouts.

* If there is no vehicle immediately in front of you and five or more vehicles are immediately behind you, state law requires that you pull to the side of the road, where you can do so safely, and allow the vehicles behind you to pass. When pulling over, avoid quick stops on unpaved shoulders.

* The law aside, you do not lose face by pulling off the highway and allowing other traffic to pass you. This is not a driving competition. You are in Big Sur. Relax. There are hundreds of places along the highway that allow you to stop and look. Do so often.

* Do not cross the center line to pass vehicles ahead of you if the center line is double yellow or is solid yellow on your side, or if your visibility ahead is impaired.

When traveling this beautiful section of highway, or any other for that matter, always drive as safely as possible. Keep the roadways safe for not only yourself, but the other drivers and their passengers who are out there.

Partly in response to the requests of many communities wanting to install the infamous “red light cameras”, an Arizona company is analyzing intersections in which there are more than 15 red light infractions per 24 hour period. Installation of the cameras improves roadway safety and is also easier on the law enforcement budget in that an actual policeman doesn’t have to be there to see the infraction. The system remains controversial, with many citizens saying that they have been ticketed wrongly while making the “free right on red” maneuver. Analysis seems to show that this isn’t the case, with many people not completely stopping before crossing the line and taking the right turn.

High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes are lanes on specific roadways that are designated for multiple passenger vehicles. Some areas require there to be three or more passengers in a vehicle while others require two or more passengers be in a vehicle to qualify as a car pool or high occupancy vehicle. But, what is the purpose of HOV lanes.

The intended purpose of HOV lanes is to allow buses and vehicles with groups of people in them to bypass areas of congestion. This is used as a way to encourage more people to be on the roads in less vehicles. Many benefits, from the commute time of travelers to environmental, come from having the least amount of vehicles necessary on the roadways. With less vehicles on the road there are also less chances of accidents, both minor and serious. Think of HOV lanes as a reward for driving smart.

Road construction is a nightmare that every morning commuter dreads seeing on their way into work. It can cause traffic delays which make people either rushed or late for work or wherever they’re going. This causes people to sometimes drive in a manner that endangers themselves, other drivers, or even the road construction workers and safety personnel on the scene.

Here are some tips for driving in work zones:

-Don’t do anything except drive while you’re in the work zone
-Don’t use your cell phone
-Don’t eat or drink
-Don’t change CD’s or radio stations
-Don’t tailgate! Leave plenty of room between you and the vehicle in front of you

So, slow down and take a deep breath. Don’t risk injuries, or worse, because unexpected road contruction might delay your trip.

When we need safety barriers or guardrails along our state highways, the Department of Transportation comes in with their large machinery and puts up heavy duty barriers to protect the public. What if you need temporary retractible barriers that can be used for any number of things, like blocking of a parking lot or driveway?

TrafficGuard.net offers a unique line of retractable barriers to help in this exact type of situation. Collapsible and portable, these security barriers work well in almost any traffic control application you need.

Whether for entry and exit, or parking purposes, the barriers available at TrafficGuard.net can solve your problems.

The Proper Vehicle Maintenance For Winter Driving

You can avoid many of the hazards and annoyances of winter driving by just having your vehicle maintained properly. If you’ve analyzed the weather and you and your vehicle’s capabilities and have still determined that making the trip is the proper course of action, your ability to succeed will be greater if you have inspected the following:

Battery
Filters
Brakes
Brake Fluid
Lights
Antifreeze
Defroster
Motor Oil
Tire Pressure
Power Steering Fluid
Windshield Washer Fluid
Windshield Wiper Blades
Belts
Heater
Hoses

If your vehicle is properly maintained and ready for adverse winter driving conditions, then you will be one step ahead of not only the weather, but all those people waiting in long lines to get their vehicles serviced when the first snow falls.

Much has been written recently about the legal issues, privacy issues, and revenue generating issues regarding so-called red light cameras. These cameras are placed at intersections and set to take pictures when motion sensors determine a car to have entered an roadway through a red light.

Some people indicate that this doesn’t make the streets any safer. There are studies that indicate placement of these cameras has cut down on the amount of cross-traffic (broadside impact) collisions but they may have raised the amount of rear end collisions (fender benders). Fender benders are usually less fatal than a broadside collision, so this is seen as a valid trade off.

Some drivers claim this is a right-of-privacy violation while other claim you have no assumption of privacy while you are on the public roadway.

Others claim that this technology is either part of a “Big Brother” campaign to monitor citizens’ movements or is purely put into place to generate revenue. The latter argument is solved if people stop running red lights. If no one runs red lights then no one pays these extra fines, if no fines are paid there is no increased revenue.

While these are all arguments heard over and over in recent years, a new issue is being brought to light by a number of people ticketed for running red lights (here is one example letter to the editor). The issue is the proper length of time a light should remain yellow. In truth, yellow lights should be somewhat standard in terms of their length. Training people that they have 2 seconds, for example, to safely enter the intersection when the light turns yellow and then having some lights operate on 1 second delays could actually cause more accidents or tickets. Some more complicated intersections require longer yellow lights to make sure traffic can get completely through the intersection safely before cross traffic is released. An interesting issue that should be followed closely.

Hillsborough County, Florida drivers are the latest commuters in the country that have to be ready for the much-talked-about red light cameras to come to there area. The recent announcement that these cameras would be installed caused some controversy as they have in other communities they’ve been installed in as well. Some studies show that these cameras do indeed cut down on the dangerous broadside collisions that cause serious injuries and fatalities, but increase the less serious rear-ender or fender bender accidents. What it comes right down to is this… it shouldn’t be an issue if you obey the law and stop when the light is red.