Posts Tagged ‘new york times’
Americans Support Texting Ban
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
According to a recent poll by the New York Times and CBS News, nearly all Americans now say that sending text messages while driving should be illegal, and around half say the crime should be punished at least as harshly as drunk driving.
Ninety-seven percent of respondents supported a ban on texting while driving, an unusual rate of agreement on any public safety topic. Eighty percent also agreed with a ban on speaking on hand-held cellular phones while driving.
“Someone who is texting creates just as much of a danger as someone behind the wheel who is inebriated,” said Michael Brooks, 38, from Limerick, Pa.
An additional two percent of those surveyed said that texting behind the wheel should be punished even more harshly than drunk driving. Forty-three percent said motorists who text should not be treated like drunken drivers.
Despite studies showing that hands-free use does not increase the safety of talking on a cell phone while driving, seventy percent of respondents have no problem with drivers using a hands-free phone behind the wheel. This is the same number found by a 2001 ABC News survey.
The nationwide telephone poll was conducted Oct. 5-8 with 829 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
To view complete survey results and methodology, click here.
Tags: ABC news, CBS News, driving and texting, new york times, texting, txting
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‘Cash for Clunkers’ revving up on Capitol Hill
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
Congress is close to agreeing on a one-year “Cash for Clunkers” plan that would give consumers up to $4,500 if they turn in their old cars, light-duty truck or work truck and put the money toward a new, more fuel-efficient replacement, according to Ken Belson in the New York Times blog.
But it can’t be just any kind of clunker to cash in. Your vehicle must be a car or light-duty truck that gets less than 18 miles a gallon. To get the full $4,500, your new car must get at least 10 miles a gallon more than your old one.
President Obama has endorsed the program, which is part of a larger energy bill, as a way to jump-start the troubled U.S. auto industry, remove 1 million older cars off the road, and begin to curb U.S. emissions.
“This legislation would give consumers an incentive to turn over their old, inefficient vehicles, saving 80,000 barrels of motor fuel every day,” Senator Collins said in the original January 2009 press release from the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office, which co-authored the bill.
BusinessFleet.com wrote that under the plan, pre-2002 work-truck pickups and 8,500 to 10,000 pound vans would also be good for $3,500 toward a new work truck in the same or smaller weight class, because newer vehicles are likely to be more fuel efficient.
General Motors said in a statement that similar scrappage programs around the world have proven to be successful in jump-starting auto industry sales.
We want to know what you think? Would the payout be enough to upgrade your fleet?
Photo copyright of Chrysler383 under the Creative Commons License
Tags: auto industry, Business Fleet, clunker, congress, Dianne Feinstein, emissions, General Motors, ken belson, new york times, president obama, Senator Collins
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