NJ Law Gets Tough on Fastlane Slowpokes

We have all been there – coasting on the freeway, a longdistance to go and cruising to get there in a reasonable amount of time, whenyou hit someone going 55MPH in the left-most lane. We didn’t buy a car with a turbocharger or supercharger just to sit behind this inconsiderate person driving 10 miles under the speedlimit. Most of us know the left-most lane as the “fast lane” – a lane fordrivers to coast at the maximum speed in order to cover longer distances. NewJersey has recently implemented laws that impose heavier fines for thesetraffic-causing individuals in an effort to keep them to the right.

These are usually referred to as “keep right laws,” and NewJersey isn’t alone in implementing them.  They are notable however in pursuing acrackdown and greater penalties for offenders. Speeding is much easier toenforce and more profitable in ticketing so police officers around the nationusually focus their efforts on ticketing speeders. The people of New Jerseyhowever have made this issue a priority to keep the traffic and road ragecaused by slowpokes in check. 

State Senator Donald Norcross (D) has sponsored the bill,telling the Philadelphia Inquirer "Being trapped behind a slower vehicleis one of the biggest triggers for road rage. Some people have told me thefines we're proposing are not high enough. They said, 'It should beexecution.’”

He has decided on a softer approach, increasing the minimumpenalty from $50 to $100 and the maximum penalty from $100 to $300. Theincrease in fines may help motivate police to pursue offenders, and thusencourage offenders to move to the right.

 Many offenders are from out of state, so the increasedrevenue from the tickets will help pay for new signs when crossing state lineswarning every one of the keep right laws in effect in New Jersey. I can onlyhope that this trend will sweep across the nation and that California will alsoenact similar laws – we all have places to go!

Essential Vehicle Maintenance: Batteries

The other day we discussed how to properly check all of thefluid levels in your vehicle. Keeping an eye on all of your fluids is extremelyimportant in ensuring the proper functioning and longevity of your vehicle.  You don’t need to break down what an encoder motor  is, or exactly how diesel injection pumps work, but there are other maintenance tasks  that should not be overlooked. The first onewe will talk about in this short series is the maintenance of your car battery.

Your car battery is usually located towards the front ofyour car. You will know if your car battery is critically low if your car ishaving trouble turning over. Checking the battery before problems occur is agood idea, but requires a trip to the local auto parts store, or a specialpiece of equipment – a handheld voltage meter. To check the battery life usinga handheld voltage meter, touch the meter leads to the positive and negativebattery terminals with the ignition key is OFF. A reading of 12.66 volts is afully charged battery, 12.45 volts is 75% charged, 12.24 volts is 50% charged,and 12.06 volts is 25% charged. If you don’t own a voltage meter, you canalways take your battery to a local auto parts store that sells batteries andask them to test it for you. They can tell you how much charge your battery hasleft, and if you should change it. 

You should also check your battery for corrosion around thepositive and negative terminals. If you have corrosive build up on your batteryterminals, it’s important to clean them. To clean them you will need eyeprotection, gloves, a soft brush (like a toothbrush), distilled water, andbaking soda. Keep in mind that adding baking soda to the acid build up on yourbattery terminals causes an exothermic reaction that produces heat – proceedslowly, adding the baking soda slowly and deliberately and do not get itanywhere but on the corrosion.

 Make sure to FIRSTremove the battery cables from the battery terminals. Remove the negative onefirst, then the positive. If there is excess corrosion you may also need a pairof locking pliers to wiggle and lift upward until the clamp comes off theterminal post. Treat the corrosion like crystallized acid, because that’s whatit is – don’t get it in your eyes or on your skin or clothing.

Examine the cables and clamps for excess wear or corrosion.If you find them severely eaten away, you should replace them. Secure the loosecables so they don’t accidentally flop over onto the terminals – you could getan electric shock. To remove the corrosion, pour baking soda directly onto theposts. Use a damp or wet toothbrush to scrub the baking soda into the terminalposts and cable clamps. If this isn’t doing much, use a battery terminalcleaner brush purchased at the auto parts store, or a plain wool pad. 

 Dry everything off with a clean rag. Apply grease orpetroleum jelly onto the posts – this will slow down the formation of corrosivedeposits. Replace the positive clamp and then the negative clamp. Use a propersized wrench to tighten them down. Replace the rubber boot or plastic shieldthat covers the terminal. 

With your battery checked and cleaned, it should lastseveral years and keep your vehicle turning over quickly, your headlightsbright, and have you singing along to your favorite tunes on the radio.

“Five Good Things” about the High Price of Gas

The price of gas is rising to an alarming level as of late.Just hearing the fuel pumpin the fuel pump assembly in my car kick on makes me nervous. It’s difficult to be anything other thandismayed at the current situation, but Insideline at Edmunds posted aninteresting take on five “good sides” to the insanely high price of gascurrently.

See how she's walking? Yay fitness!

 1. You can get in shape. With theprice of gas so high, you will supposedly forgo driving short distances towalking or cycling, so you can arrive a sweaty disgusting mess at work afterjogging 6 miles to get there.

2. You can learn to drive moreefficiently. You will no longer floor it to get around that special individualin a Prius on the freeway going 10 miles under the speed limit, because itwould cost you $1.25 to do so. You will patiently coast your vehicle behind thePrius and hope that you can safely and efficiently ease out from behind them byswitching lanes, and then increase speed slowly…. And not think how worth it itwould be to pay $1.25 to cut that special individual off.

3. You can “say goodbye to stress,traffic tickets, and accidents.” Theory is, practicing the above referencedefficient driving you will no longer be wildly weaving in and out of traffic,and your former habits of speeding will magically cease.

Take out a loan to fill this sucker up.

 4. You will be more inclined tosupport energy independence. Not being able to afford gas, you will bemotivated to take public transportation, ride a bicycle, or because you’re sobroke, fork out tens of thousands of dollars for an electric car (that useslithium batteries we are still dependent on other countries to source). Or youcan beg your boss to telecommute as an act of patriotism, because no one fearsfor their jobs already in this economy.

5. You now have a built in excuse foranything. Don’t feel like fulfilling familial obligations? Sorry Grandpa, Ican’t afford to drive to your birthday party. Friend asking you to move? Sorry,can’t afford to cart your stuff back and forth.

There you have it. Five excellent things about gas prices beingso high. Take them or leave them… I think I know which one I’m going with.