It's time for UDOT to learn to think outside of the box! and just you remember that you heard of it here first!
For quite a while I have felt that the Diamond LANES (HOV) on our highways are wrong, that the new toll system is a rip off of the public, in that the people are being charged to use something that they have already paid for and are being taxed on with every gas purchase (can I sue for miss-use of funds, taxation without representation etc.?,) That the HOV lanes and the people who tend to use them are causing accidents (and possibly road rage and deaths as alleged in the previous column)! ad naseum ad infinitum!(so on and so forth for you texting types).
Well I was always taught not to complain, if I didn't have a better solution! (this advice needs to be followed by more people! we all could probably benefit from some old time wisdom!)
So here is my solution..... Get rid of the HOV lanes and that kind of thinking. Instead we need ECO-LANES!
On roads of 4 lanes width or more, ECO-LANES would be for slower drivers only use, or for HOV use with a maximum speed limit of 15 mph lower than the highest posted (denote these type lanes on the road with green paint and road signs). Users of ECO-LANES who have a RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) (Like the veterinarian puts in your dogs neck.) transponder as do the singles using the present HOV lane, would receive a tax break at the end of the year, for consistently using the reduced speed lanes in excess of 3 exits (so you can really be sure that they ARE Eco-friendly and not cheating for the tax-break) (would be a realized benefit of highway reduced maintenance costs) as well as a personal decrease in personal maintenance costs and reduced fuel costs! (remember 55 m.p.h.!) Users would be restricted to use of right hand-only lanes, display a rear window warning decal and must maintain a 20ft.mandatory minimum following distance from the preceding vehicle.(This distance would allow merging traffic and exiting traffic to seamlessly pass thru and would increase vehicular safety, a double benefit!)this could catch on big across the country and with all the greener types immediately!
...Now what to do with the money already spent on the left hand lanes? Simple really, Just repaint the diamond markers with a yellow circle and mandate a minimum speed limit of 65 m.p.h. to a maximum of 80 m.p.h. with RFID and PHOTO-COP verification. If you don't have an RFID then you are speeding and get a ticket, that should make the insurance companies happy.(cameras and sensors are already in place)
The fees for program registration and the fines from violation of either type lanes, if consistently checked and enforced, should more than make up in increased income, for the costs of implementation of the new program and an increased police presence!( lets get the locals out on the freeway to!)
UDOT should be happy as they get a brand new toy to play with, they would also get more money and influence, greater recognition and maybe a little bit of respect. Our legislators would be lauded as "green" visionaries who would be looking out for the health and well being of generations as yet unborn. Insurance companies should be happier as their bottom lines would increase and they wouldn't have to spend more money lobbying (re:bribes?), the public would be happier as they can drive, as their conscience and wallets allow, and their would be a significant decrease in road rage incidents and the accompanying psychological turmoil!
Sounds to me and the other people who have helped me to plan this out, like a win/win proposition for all involved! Now what would you want to bet, that somebody with a little political power, a low I.Q.and a desire to use something like as a rallying point, will come up with a cock and bull reason why little Sally can't be left behind and why it was good that they are watching out for us. After all it wouldn't do, for people to get the idea into their heads, that they can come up with realistic and reasonable work-arounds that would benefit everybody and they can' make money off of it!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment