Transportation

Google Glasses Show Why It's Too Late to Ban Texting and Driving

By Chris Sweeney Fri., Feb. 24 2012 at 11:15 AM
Categories: Transportation
texting-while-driving-adults_full_600.jpg
​By the end of the year, Google is expected to start selling glasses that display up-to-date information about the nearby environment on a tiny screen embedded in the lens.  

The glasses, according to the New York Times, "will have a low-resolution built-in camera that will be able to monitor the world in real time and overlay information about locations, surrounding buildings and friends who might be nearby."  

This marvel of Terminator-like technology --  expected to cost $250 to $600 -- makes the proposed ban on texting and driving that's getting kicked around Tallahassee seem antiquated. The number of distractions behind the wheel is increasing rapidly, and targeting just one aspect -- texting, for instance -- is like slapping a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.


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Department of Transportation, Google, sexting, Texting and Driving
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Transportation

Florida Mulls Texting and Driving Ban While Feds Ask Auto Industry to Limit In-Car Distractions

By Chris Sweeney Tue., Feb. 21 2012 at 6:00 AM
Categories: Transportation
texting-while-driving-adults_full_600.jpg
​Lawmakers in Florida -- one of the most deadly states when it comes to driving -- are squabbling over whether we need a specific law against texting from behind the wheel. 

It seems like a no-brainer when considering, as reported by the Associated Press, that there are "drivers who text take their eyes off the road for almost 5 seconds," enough time to pilot a several-ton machine the length of a football field at 55 mph without ever noticing. 

Still, those opposed argue that such a ban is too intrusive. And, anyway, Florida has reckless-driving laws that can be applied to texting drivers.


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Accidents, Department of Transportation, Driving, Texting and Driving
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Getting High

Florida's DWI Law Revision Could Lead to Conviction of Sober People

By Rich Abdill Wed., Feb. 8 2012 at 8:35 AM
Categories: Getting High, Politics, Transportation
marijuana_leaf.jpg
Warning: Not for use by people who plan to ever drive a car.
​Under proposed revisions to Florida law, drivers could be hit with DWI charges even if they were totally sober while they were driving, according to an interpretation by a Broward County DWI lawyer.

SB 1810 is sitting in several Florida Senate committees and would revise the state's law regarding driving under the influence in several ways: It changes the name of the offense from "driving under the influence" to "driving while impaired" and adds provisions for blood and urine testing, which sound like relatively minor changes when you consider the big change: what authorities are testing for.

What they're testing for is drug metabolites, which means if you smoke a joint on Friday and get pulled over the following Tuesday with evidence of it in your urine, you could get hit with charges of driving while impaired even if you were stone sober on the roads.
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Florida Senate, Michael Dye
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Transportation

School Bus Cameras: A Whole New Way of Getting Tickets

By Chris Sweeney Tue., Feb. 7 2012 at 6:20 AM
Categories: Transportation
schoolbus.jpeg
​A big yellow school bus could be the source of your next traffic ticket. 

Officials with the School District of Palm Beach County are weighing whether to install high-def cameras on buses to nab the license plates of drivers who ignore those little stop signs that extend from the side of the vehicles. 

As the Palm Beach Post reported, the district is testing the cameras on two buses, but they're "not sending out any tickets or warnings, just taking video of cars that blow through the 'stop arm.'"


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American Traffic Solutions, driving, red light cameras, school bus
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Holy Crap, That's Big

Negotiations Are Under Way for Expansion of Fort Lauderdale Airport's Terminal 4

By Stefan Kamph Mon., Jan. 30 2012 at 11:40 AM
Categories: Holy Crap, That's Big, Transportation
We told you last week that Broward County has broken ground on a $791 million runway expansion at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International that will send planes up a six-story ramp over Federal Highway and the FEC tracks.
airport-t4-rendering.jpg
Broward County Aviation Department
​In tandem with that project, Terminal 4 (home to Spirit Airlines, as well as flights to Colombia and the Caribbean) will get a major expansion of its own. Only half of the project has been approved by the airlines, for which construction is estimated to cost around $25 million.


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Broward Commission, Broward County Aviation Department, construction, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, Turner Construction
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Transportation

Six Ways to Avoid Red Light Cameras

By Chris Sweeney Mon., Jan. 30 2012 at 6:30 AM
Categories: Transportation
MonkeyMasksmall.jpg
​There's not another person on the road. And sure, you see the "No Turn on Red" sign, but that's just a suggestion. So you go for it. Then, boom -- the back of your car is illuminated by the flash of a covert camera. Your stomach sinks knowing that a fine will soon be arriving in the mailbox.

With those pesky red light cameras propped up at dozens of intersections -- and possibly more to come -- the market for products to beat the system is growing. Some are gimmicks; others seem viable. None is foolproof. 

Here, a look at six ways you can try to evade those ticket-spewing Cyclopes.


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American Traffic Solutions, red light cameras, speeding
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Transportation

Red Light Cameras May Increase Fatalities: USF Study

By Chris Sweeney Thu., Jan. 26 2012 at 9:21 AM
Categories: Transportation
redlightcamera.jpg
​Everyone knows red light cameras suck. But now a new study from the University of South Florida indicates that they might actually be dangerous and lead to an increase in red-light-running fatality rates in cities that use them.

The research, published in the Florida Public Health Review, tore apart a study released last year by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety -- an industry group funded by insurance companies -- that said red light cameras could have prevented 815 deaths if installed nationwide.

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car accidents, red light cameras
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Transportation

Red-Light Cameras Capture Highlight Reel of Florida Car Crashes

By Chris Sweeney Thu., Jan. 5 2012 at 6:47 AM
Categories: Transportation
redlightcamera0409.jpg
​Place a few all-watching eyes at intersections throughout South Florida and reckless driving takes on a whole new meaning.

American Traffic Solutions -- the Big Brotheresque company that operates about a dozen red-light cameras in Broward and another 26 in Miami-Dade -- scoured its footage for the best accidents and close calls in Florida for 2011. The results, as expected from the deadliest state in the nation for pedestrians and bicyclists, are impressive.

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American Traffic Solutions, car accident, red-light cameras
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Transportation

Fort Lauderdale Airport Has the Third-Cheapest Average Airfare in the Country

By Matthew Hendley Tue., Dec. 13 2011 at 3:38 PM
Categories: Transportation
Simple-Airplane.jpg
airplanepicture.org
Hey, Spirit Airlines is good for something (probably) -- making the average airfare from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport the third-lowest in the country, at $266.

The ranking was done by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which found that only the airports in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Long Beach, California have cheaper trips than Fort Lauderdale.

The nickel-and-diming may have may skew that, though, based on how the BTS put this list together.

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Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport, Spirit Airlines
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Transportation

Passenger Rail Coming to Downtown Fort Lauderdale and Its Soon-to-Be-Obsolete Bridge

By Stefan Kamph Thu., Dec. 1 2011 at 10:34 AM
Categories: Transportation
traincrossing sign-thumb-560x361.jpg
Eric Barton
​As long as we're talking ferries and bikes, we may as well point your attention to another exciting mode of alternative transportation that's making its way to South Florida's urban centers.

That's right -- the people who dream up such things say that passenger rail is on its way. That means the FEC tracks, which run along the coastal ridge parallel to the beach, could see a lot more traffic... and the railroad drawbridge that crosses the New River in Fort Lauderdale is sure to be a choking point.

Two plans are in the works to bring passenger service to the FEC tracks.
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Amtrak, FDOT, Florida East Coast Railway, New River, SFRTA, trains, Tri-Rail
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