WASHINGTON—Some tolling authorities have found a way to give local motorists a discount on tolls while charging out-of-towners a higher rate for using the same roads and bridges.The E-ZPass electronic toll reading system used by 24 tolling agencies in 14 states in the Northeast and Midwest is able to differentiate where motorists bought their passes and apply varying prices.Motorists traveling the full length of the New Jersey Turnpike during off-peak hours, for example, pay $10.40 if they bought their E-ZPass from the turnpike's operators. If they bought their E-ZPass from another tolling authority, or if they're paying cash, the charge is $13.85. Rhode Island residents with an E-ZPass can cross the Pell Bridge for 83 cents, but out-of-state passenger car drivers with E-ZPass pay $4 ... Continue reading →
WASHINGTON (AP) — Driving onto an Interstate highway? Crossing a bridge on the way into work? Taking a tunnel under a river or bay? Get ready to pay.With Congress unwilling to contemplate an increase in the federal gas tax, motorists are likely to be paying ever more tolls as the government searches for ways to repair and expand the nation's congested highways.Tolling is less efficient and sometimes can seem less fair than the main alternative, gasoline taxes. It can increase traffic on side roads as motorists seek to evade paying. Some tolling authorities — often quasi-governmental agencies operating outside the public eye — have been plagued by mismanagement. And some public-private partnerships to build toll roads have drowned in debt because of too-rosy revenue predictions.Tolls ... Continue reading →
By JOAN LOWYAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The driver involved in a deadly New York bus crash last year may not have had the sleep he claimed in the days prior to the accident, according to evidence gathered by federal investigators. Federal safety officials have previously expressed concern about the prevalence of operator fatigue in all modes of transportation, including the motorcoach industry, which transports more than 700 million passengers a year in the U.S. - roughly the same as the domestic airlines. During the three days before the March 12, 2011, accident, driver Ophadell Williams' cellphone and rental car were in almost continuous use during the daytime hours when he had said he was sleeping, National Transportation Safety Board documents released Thursday show. The ... Continue reading →
WASHINGTON — Manufacturers would have to equip large trucks and buses with safety systems that help prevent rollover accidents through computer-controlled braking, under new regulations proposed Wednesday by the government. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's proposal would require electronic stability control in new trucks and buses, including motor coaches. The safety system senses when a driver may lose control and automatically applies brakes to individual wheels to keep the vehicle stable and avoid a rollover. It helps motorists avoid skidding across icy or slick roads or keep control when swerving to avoid an unexpected object in the road. The individual-wheel braking counters over-steering and under-steering. Government research shows the technology could prevent up to 56 percent of rollover crashes each year — the deadliest ... Continue reading →
DENVER - The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a mystery in the sky. A mysterious object flying over Denver nearly caused a mid-air collision Monday evening, First Coast News' sister KUSA has learned. As far as investigators know, the mystery object did not show up on radar Monday. Investigators believe this object, whatever it is, could pose a serious safety hazard to planes. Radio transmissions from LiveATC.net confirm a nervous-sounding pilot reported a strange object at 5:17 p.m. Monday. The pilot is heard telling air traffic control: "A remote controlled aircraft, or what? Something just went by the other way ... About 20 to 30 seconds ago. It was like a large remote-controlled aircraft. The corporate jet, a Cessna Citation 525 CJ1, was flying at ... Continue reading →
Pilot who helped fly crippled jet in 1989 dies By DON BABWIN, Associated Press – 16 minutes ago CHICAGO (AP) — Airline pilot Denny Fitch was hitching a ride home on a DC-10 in 1989 when heard an explosion somewhere in the back of the jet. He soon made his way to the cockpit to see if the crew needed help.Inside, he found three men desperately trying to keep the giant plane in the air after losing all hydraulic power needed to control direction and altitude. Fitch took a seat in the only space available — the floor — and helped operate some of the only equipment still working — the wing engines — to try to land the aircraft carrying nearly 300 people.Fitch, who ... Continue reading →
WASHINGTON — A teenage driver's risk of dying in an accident increases dramatically when there are other teens in the car, and plummets when there's an adult looking on, according to a study by AAA's safety foundation. Researchers have long known that the presence of other teens is distracting to novice drivers, but most previous studies on the issue are more than a decade old and don't reflect changes in state driving laws that began in the mid-1990s. Since then, every state has adopted a "graduated licensing" law that places some restrictions on teen drivers. The laws vary, but typically they restrict teens from driving with any passengers under age 21, or just one young passenger, and bar nighttime driving. The study by the Automobile ... Continue reading →
By JOAN LOWY The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Highway deaths declined again last year, reaching their lowest rate when compared to miles driven since such record-keeping began in 1921, according preliminary government data released Monday. Election 2012: Across the nation The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's early estimate of 2011 traffic fatalities released Monday said there were 32,310 deaths in motor vehicle crashes last year, a drop of 1.7 percent from the previous year. That's the lowest number of deaths in more than 60 years. Safety experts have attributed the historic decline to a variety of factors, including less driving due to a weak economy, more people wearing seat belts, better safety equipment in cars and efforts to curb drunken driving. Jackie Gillan, president of ... Continue reading →
