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Old 08-01-2013, 02:58 PM
 
Location: Bel Air, California
23,766 posts, read 29,102,589 times
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On-Star provides hands-free, real-time, traffic updates. Hardly ever use it tho because I know how to make a move whenever, or wherever needed
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Old 08-01-2013, 05:34 PM
 
Location: Minnesota
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Hands free isn't free. I just got finished reading a slew of MNDOT warnings. Wow. So many crashes. I wonder if that's just the normal situation on our freeways. Clear day, dry roads, and still the crashes. What is with people anyway?
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Old 08-01-2013, 05:41 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever View Post
Hands free isn't free. I just got finished reading a slew of MNDOT warnings. Wow. So many crashes. I wonder if that's just the normal situation on our freeways. Clear day, dry roads, and still the crashes. What is with people anyway?
They are probably too worried about looking at their GPS traffic reports to save 5 minutes then paying attention to the road....
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Old 08-01-2013, 07:02 PM
 
Location: Minnesota
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That's why I like these ideas (a) a radio narrative; or (b)Twitter with voice enabled. The second is really a digital voice doing the same job as the first. If the tweet is voice dictated, it could be nearly identical. By the way, since I just got this radio for storm readiness, I might listen to the afternoon drive broadcast to see what you actually get from KBEM.
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Old 08-02-2013, 10:14 AM
 
Location: Middletown, CT
993 posts, read 1,769,610 times
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Another place to get good traffic reports with estimated travel times on twitter is @MSP_Traffic.
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Old 08-02-2013, 11:46 AM
 
Location: Minnesota
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Yeh, I follow that.

Wow, I just checked the projects. Highway 169 is getting some sort of makeover this summer. Multiple projects! No wonder it is so red all the time. Current construction projects - Minnesota Department of Transportation
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Old 08-02-2013, 02:49 PM
 
Location: Minnesota
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Minnpost had an article today about drivers crashing through the fronts of stores. Apparently it is not a rarety. This is not a highway problem, per se, but it is an issue that overlaps safety on the highway. They tell of someone who unknowingly shifted into reverse. THEN stepped on the gas rather than the brake. Two major errors in a row costing someone inside the store their life.

Driving errors are probably involved in nearly every crash on the highway. It might be possible to crash without any error, but that exceeds the span of my imagination. Humans are error prone. When you go out to drive, somewhere in the back of your mind has to be the realization you are surrounded by vehicles controlled by a species that makes errors. Preponderantly, we escape harm from all the mistakes being made. In 50 years of driving, my mistakes must number in triple digits, just as a wild estimate. Out of those hundreds, I can count the ones that ended up with bent metal on one hand. And it isn’t just luck. My way of driving leaves a margin of safety.

The MN Dept of Public Safety is reporting a multiyear increase in traffic fatalities. It had been dropping for many years, maybe by 75 percent from its peak. Now it is on the rise. Is the rise temporary? Can’t really decide. BUT what MNDPS doesn’t put out there is there are some tectonic shifts going on that could lead to a trend upward in fatalities. http://www.startribune.com/local/217688271.html

The two major ones are: an aging population; and an increase in obesity. As the average age rises, the keen physical skills associated with youth decline. Older drivers are not the most risky. That is the 16 to 24 age group. But if more and more drivers are continuing to drive despite loss of necessary faculties, you can expect more fatalities.

The other trend is relevant for this reason: Fat people don’t sleep well. They are prone to have sleep apnea. That means those near misses could become crashes, some fatal. Diabetes is on the increase. A spike in blood sugar is as good as a drink in creating impaired driving. Sugar can create narcolepsy on the road. Even a momentary narcolepsy in difficult traffic can mean a crash. And if the person blinking out is in one of the popular megatrucks, the smaller vehicles around it are in trouble. Plus, I’ve seen a lot of chubby over-the-road truckers. If they lose consciousness, they can cross the median and flatten anything smaller. I really think these issues should be considered by safety authorities.

If MNDPS were to consider these things, they might get some hunch about how the longterm downward trend of fatalities is reversing itself.
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Old 08-02-2013, 04:22 PM
 
Location: Minnesota
5,147 posts, read 7,485,750 times
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Four crashes on meto freeways all posted on Twitter at the same moment. Suspect disruption throughout the system. The Star Tribune map didn't show it. But the tweet gave a link that showed it. http://lb.511mn.org/mnlb/roadreports...CAD-P130388849
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Old 08-02-2013, 07:49 PM
 
Location: Minnesota
5,147 posts, read 7,485,750 times
Reputation: 1578
Almost 9pm and DPS still tweeting crashes on freeways.
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Old 08-03-2013, 06:18 AM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,355,946 times
Reputation: 10695
https://twitter.com/TotalTrafficLA
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