We’ve talked to the benefits of car and vanpooling, and how it can save you money and trouble with your own car. Some people may think that those things don’t apply to them somehow. Well guess what, even superheroes are susceptible to the downfall of automobile parts. Last week on a highway in Ontario, Canada Batman himself (well, Canada native Steven Lawrence dressed as the Bat) broke down on the side of the road causing traffic on the Ontario highway. Maybe next time he should consider leaving the Batmobile at the cave and instead, carpool with Robin.
The Tesla Model S P90D helped to put electric cars on the radar of sports car enthusiasts. With a zero-to-sixty time of 2.8 seconds it’s a worthy competitor to some of the most elite sports cars. A group of students from Germany’s University of Stuttgart wanted to one up Tesla’s acceleration so they built the Green Team Formula drag racer. Although this fully electric isn’t street legal, its all-electric engine boasts an amazing zero-to-sixty time of 1.7 seconds! Not only are electric cars great for the environment, but also they are quickly becoming a real force in the sports car scene.
A study done at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is looking at some of the potential effects of driverless electric taxis on the environment in 2030. It was reported recently that Uber was in talks with Tesla about getting 500,000 driverless electric vehicles by 2020. The study showed that an electric car in 2030 would produce 90% less emissions than a gas-powered vehicle from 2014. You can already see the impact Uber’s potential purchase could have. The study also showed that by 2030, if there are 800,000 driverless taxis on the road, it could cut the demand for gas by almost 7 million barrels of oil a year!
It’s no secret that we preach the benefits of carpooling here. One thing we don’t talk about is how to do it correctly. Mainly because we assume most of you know how carpooling works. The short version is; you and some like-minded people decide to leave cars at home and take one vehicle to work (or whatever the destination). Turns out a Toronto man needed the explanation. He was driving with two other people in his car, so he was using the HOV lane. Problem is, the two other people were mannequins! This guy clearly doesn’t understand how the benefits of carpool work. To this man’s credit, all occupants of the vehicle, living or otherwise, were all wearing their seatbelts. At least he understands how safety works.
Laws should always be followed, when it comes to driving or grammar. Failing to follow laws often results in situations not going your way. For example, Ohio native Andrea Cammelleri failed to obey parking laws and was issued a citation for having a motor vehicle illegally parked. There is a perfect example of how not following parking laws will cause the situation to not go in your favor. How about a grammar example now, you ask? The law that was cited on Andrea’s parking ticket was missing a comma. The law listed types of vehicles that were not allowed to park where Andrea did. The list included “motor vehicle camper,” however it was supposed to have a comma and read, “motor vehicle, camper” and continue on with the list. Andrea took it to court and argued that her vehicle, a pick-up truck, was not a “motor vehicle camper” nor was it any other vehicle on the list, and her citation was thrown out. So the moral of the story is to always dot your I’s and cross your T’s…and obey the rules of the road of course.
