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Tag Archives: automobile

Rational Choice and Traffic

This happens at least once every time I ride a bicycle in traffic: A driver will be momentarily slowed behind me. Once it is clear to pass, the driver will accelerate quickly (every now and then “getting rubber”) to a speed above the limit in order to pass. A short distance after passing, the driver [...]

Posted 01 August 2009 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (8) ° Also tagged: ,

Why We’re Doomed

The following television commercial says a lot about American car culture and why so few people care that about 40,000 of our fellow citizens die in car crashes each year. Again, that’s about one 9/11 per month or two jumbo jets per week.

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This one [...]

Posted 08 July 2009 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (2) ° Also tagged: ,

No Accident

If something bad happens as a predictable result of your bad behavior, then it isn’t an accident. Calling it an accident deflects blame from where blame properly belongs — with the person engaging in the bad behavior.
Just to cheer you up on this rainy Saturday:

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Posted 02 May 2009 † Andy Cline § ecology ‡ Comments (8) ° Also tagged: ,

Drive Now, Talk Later

Two bills before the Missouri legislature could make the roads a bit safer for cyclists (and everyone else). According to the Springfield News-Leader, one bill “seeks a ban from talking on a cell phone while driving altogether. The other would require a person to have a hands-free listening device, like a headset or Bluetooth wireless [...]

Posted 14 December 2008 † Andy Cline § news ‡ Comments (6) ° Also tagged:

More on (a / the) Tipping Point

I highlighted a few columns from the papers last Sunday that seemed to me to indicate a “tipping point.” That’s not the best term to use. It’s merely trendy and, perhaps, a bit optimistic.
Today I want to comment on How High Gas Prices Can Save the Car Industry, by Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon. The [...]

Posted 20 November 2008 † Andy Cline § business § news § policy ‡ Comments Off ° Also tagged: , ,

Tipping Point

Has the concept of a tipping point become cliché? Perhaps.
One problem with the concept is the image of a “point.” Social, political, cultural, and economic realities are just never neat enough to fit the confines of a point. This metaphor, however, does seem useful to me as long as we understand that the point at [...]

Posted 16 November 2008 † Andy Cline § ecology § policy ‡ Comments (8) ° Also tagged: , ,