Go...transportation

I must have been having a day where I signed up for anything and everything I stumbled across online a few months ago.

In my email inbox at work I had a notification that the next issue of Go! was available, and I thought "what the heck is this? I wouldn't register with a women's magazine online..." And, indeed I didn't, for it turns out that Go! is all about transportation...for teens. I'm still trying to figure out why I even signed up for it in the first place, and while I was trying to figure that out I came across a few interesting tidbits.

MyKey is a new technology (currently available in the 2009 Ford Focus) that supposedly works as a self-regulator for bad drivers. "The transponder unit inside your key fob transmits and receives messages to and from your vehicle" and the car's computer adjusts what the car is doing when it hits certain benchmarks. Good driving behavior, according to this technology, involves not exceeding 80 mph (this would never fly in Germany) and maintaining a stereo decibel level no higher than 44.

When a railroad bridge collapses, the rail company that owns it is responsible for funding the repairs (unlike highways and freeways, which are government funded). The Northern Railway Company is responsible, for example, for fixing the downed bridges in Iowa (resulting from the recent floods) and, in the meantime, are seriously losing revenue from having to take the long way around.

A bicyclist in Ames, Iowa was issued a $50 fine for failing to yield at a train crossing (she yielded for the first train, but not the second that was traveling in the opposite direction). This, after she was hit by the train, thrown from her bike and suffered many broken bones. The folks at Operation Lifesaver continue to work to educate and reduce the number of accidents at railroad crossings.