Have you ever been happy you were pulled over by authorities while you were driving? Some teens in Detroit certainly will be. Police in Macomb County this fall will be pulling over teen drivers who are driving safely and responsibly to issue them not a ticket, but a gift card! Teens will receive a $5 gift card to Taco Bell, Subway, or McDonald’s for their safe driving. The idea is an interesting way to incentivize good driving behavior in teens, and build good rapport with local authorities.
Later this month on September 27th Paris is going car free. They are not suggesting people keep their cars off the road, they are demanding it. For one day only, Paris will be completely car free. Locals and visitors alike will have to commute by foot or by bike if they would like to go anywhere. They are doing this a statement about the environment and to promote the possibilities of car free cities. As a tourist, I would think it would be a great time to see Paris, without all the noise and pollution of your typical city traffic.
Traffic can be caused by just about anything; an accident, construction, rubbernecking, weather. Those are some of the more common reasons for it, but truly anything can be the cause of your afternoon commute slowdown. On the M27 in England, for example, all lanes were shut down when a man decided to sunbathe on the highway! That’s right, the man had a flat tire and decided to lay shirtless on his back to soak up some sun while he waited for assistance. For the amount of danger he put himself in, and the amount of frustration he undoubtedly caused commuters that day, it better have been a reeeeaaallllyyy nice tan.
The more cars on the road, the better the chance of a motor vehicle accident taking place. Should you ever find yourself in such an unfortunate situation, the advice is to always stay calm. This advice is helpful, but much easier said than done in such stressful times. One UK man, however, had no issue staying calm after accidentally driving his car into a nearby pond. The eighty year old was reported to have sat in his car as it filled with water and smoked his pipe. The pond was on a farmer’s land, who threw on his waders and went into the pond to make sure the man was ok. The man then continued to smoke his pipe while he carried on a conversation with the farmer until rescue crews arrived. The man was unharmed, and clearly unfazed by the incident, but maybe he should leave the car home and jump in a carpool next time.
Traffic is the worst! Seriously, just about the only thing that could make it better is if you got paid to sit in it. Drivers on a Singapore expressway were stopping and getting out of their cars when more than RM10,000, or about $2,580USD, were found scattered across the expressway. No one knows where the money came from, but we do know it caused quite a disturbance on the expressway as people stopped to snatch it all up. It’s not really the same as getting paid to sit in traffic, but last time I sat in traffic all I got was late to work, so I guess this isn’t a bad option.
