The Friday Five

[Sabin17]

It's driving day here on the Friday Five..

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?
2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?
4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?
5. Ever been in an accident?

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?

1. Yes
2. Honda Civic
3. a Warning for speeding
4. Speeding, got a warning
5. Yes, hit a guardrail which totalled the car I was driving

Bonus: When I filled up last week it was $3.89.

 

[Jax]

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?
Yep. When I was young, my parents told us the car wouldn't start until our seatbelts were fastened *chuckles*..the habit stuck.
2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
'07 Chrysler Town & Country. Yeah, minivan hell, but I need the room with kids & grandbaby & an 80lb dog to cart around.
3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?
Probably a speeding ticket years ago.
4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?
Doing 95 in a 65 about 12 years ago..was dating a CHP officer at the time, which got me out of it. *g*
5. Ever been in an accident?
Several, but at the risk of sounding cliche, none were my fault.

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?
$4.41. You know it's sad when the gas pump's default shutoff point ($75) comes before your tank is full. :/

 

[fullnelson]

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?
Yes
2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
'98 Mazda Protege
3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?
Never gotten one.
4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?
I got a warning for 40 in a 25.
5. Ever been in an accident?
Nope

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?
$3.99

 

[J-Dubya 777]

It's driving day here on the Friday Five..

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?
2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?
4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?
5. Ever been in an accident?

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?

1) Since the mid 80's, yes...
2) 2004 Chevy Impala
3) 81 in a 55 - While I WAS going that fast, I was only moving with the flow of traffic.

4) After a severe storm knocked out power to where I was working, I was pulled over for 70 in 25, hauling ass back to work to get the generator running so specimens wouldn't spoil. There was SO much shit going on with tree limbs down, power outages, and windows blown out that I got away with a "Slow the fuck down! Get outta here!"

5) More than I care to admit, but only 2 were my fault...

 

[progmetaldan]

It's driving day here on the Friday Five..

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?
2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?
4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?
5. Ever been in an accident?

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?

1. Always
2. At the moment its a small Mitsubishi Lancer, which is my family's runabout car, I've only just got my licence, so now I'm looking for one of my own...
3. Never got one.
4. N/A
5. Not while I've been driving, but 2 as a passenger, but neither very bad...

Bonus: not too sure, I think around $1.50AUD per litre, though its probably gone up since I last looked...

 

[Burnout]

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?

Yep.

2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?

Honda Civic when I have to drive, I usually bike just about everywhere though.

3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?

Never been ticketed for anything.

4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?

Never been ticketed for anything.

5. Ever been in an accident?

Some old woman made an illegal right hand turn in front of me once. There are a lot of old people in my town and none of them know how to drive.

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?

$4.15+ I've only filled up my car about 3-3.5 times this year though.

 

[clover]

It's driving day here on the Friday Five..

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?
2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?
4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?
5. Ever been in an accident?

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?

1. Yes, it's compulsory here.
2. None, travel by public transport everywhere.
3. Two speeding fines many years ago.
4. None.
5. Yes, a car rollover on my 18th birthday. I wasn't driving though.
Bonus: it's hovering around AU$1.60/lt now... almost US$6/g.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

I forgot the bonus question: $3.97/US Gallon

Oil up $10 a barrel today, they say a 10-20 cent hike in the next 4 days.
$150/barrel by 4th of July. To me, just saying that gives the speculators the green light to push it $150! Somebody PLEASE end this madness!

My kingdom for a get out of jail free card.....or 2

 

[noble savage]

Yeah, I just heard about that.

The worst part is all of the products we buy are dependent on oil as well. When gas goes up, the cost of living goes up as well. GM cut 10,000 jobs today too... The unemployment rate jumped .5% percent.

This is going to be a horrible recession.

 

[Beelzebub]

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?
Yes.

2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?

Awww yeah.

3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?
I haven't driven in years, and when I did I never got a ticket.

4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?
N/A.

5. Ever been in an accident?
One.

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?
$4.539

 

[greenaxer]

Yikes. Something similar happened on our way home from my office Christmas party last year. My wife and kids were in the van in front of me, and I was in my car behind them, heading up I-40 approaching our exit. Then, I could see the headlights of a car coming onto the Interstate from our exit, going the wrong direction, and headed straight for my wife's van. Luckily, there were four lanes and no traffic, and my wife, and later I, moved way left to avoid the dumbass. But it was still flippin' scary as hell to think I could see my entire family go away right in front of me like that.

I almost swerved back over to the right shoulder (since by the time I was passing by the car they had realized what they'd done and stopped) so I could be the living snot out of the person; but, I didn't. Just called the cops instead.

Whoa, that sucks, man. It's one thing to escape a serious accident but it must be a whole other to see that your family could have been involved. I felt the same way, I felt like punching that little turd right there, but I was in shock and just waited while the police came. Glad you and everyone were alright. Down with drunken/inattentive/careless drivers!!!

 

[greenaxer]

Yeah, I just heard about that.

The worst part is all of the products we buy are dependent on oil as well. When gas goes up, the cost of living goes up as well. GM cut 10,000 jobs today too... The unemployment rate jumped .5% percent.

This is going to be a horrible recession.

And when you factor in that people's wages aren't necessarily, if at all, increasing, it's obvious that people will be struggling for a long time. Especially those that have to support an entire family. I give props to all of you family men/women.

 

[Burnout]

Yeah, I just heard about that.

The worst part is all of the products we buy are dependent on oil as well. When gas goes up, the cost of living goes up as well. GM cut 10,000 jobs today too... The unemployment rate jumped .5% percent.

This is going to be a horrible recession.

A recession is two successive quarters of negative economic growth, which we've yet to have. Things are slowing considerably, but growth was still positive last quarter.

And, to be fair, American auto companies need to make more of an effort to remain competitive. They need to adjust to higher fuel prices; the can't keep making SUVs and trucks the size of studio apartments and expect to succeed anymore. If that means they have to cut jobs, retool and adapt then so be it. Being dependent on foreign fuel so we can drive cars that border on self-parody isn't exactly an intelligent decision.

Edit: That and higher oil prices tend to fuel innovation, conservation and improve the economic viability of alternative sources of energy. As I mentioned above, I've been riding a bike virtually everywhere lately and gas prices have basically become a nonissue as a result (that and I've never been in better shape )

 

[1by4by9]

It's driving day here on the Friday Five..

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?
2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?
4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?
5. Ever been in an accident?

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?

1. Yes.
2. I own a Toyota Corolla but it doesn't work. So my answer is: a bicycle.
3. Never got one. Actually I've never been stopped by a police (have had licence for almost 6 years.
4. Never got one.
5. Yeah, once. It was my fault.
6. Maybe 1.53 euros/litre

 

[J-Dubya 777]

A recession is two successive quarters of negative economic growth, which we've yet to have. Things are slowing considerably, but growth was still positive last quarter.

And, to be fair, American auto companies need to make more of an effort to remain competitive. They need to adjust to higher fuel prices; the can't keep making SUVs and trucks the size of studio apartments and expect to succeed anymore. If that means they have to cut jobs, retool and adapt then so be it. Being dependent on foreign fuel so we can drive cars that border on self-parody isn't exactly an intelligent decision.

Edit: That and higher oil prices tend to fuel innovation, conservation and improve the economic viability of alternative sources of energy. As I mentioned above, I've been riding a bike virtually everywhere lately and gas prices have basically become a nonissue as a result (that and I've never been in better shape )

2 points I want to make here...

1) The economists definition of "recession" is absolute BULLSHIT. My reasoning for this is it doesn't include the costs of gas and food into it's equation.

2) Fuck fair; As mentioned somewhere above, cost of living increases are non-existant anymore. As a single person trying to maintain my home (whose mortgage is less than most city dwellers' apartments) it is getting more & more difficult to stay afloat. I haven't been able to save a single penny the last few months. I'm spending approximately $450/month on GAS. The vehicle I drive gets nearly 30 mpg, the area I reside in has NO jobs in my field, and while I'd love to sell, the housing market sucks buckets of ass right now, especially in rural WI. I know I'm not the only one in this situation, but the ever rising price of fuel is going to destroy our economy. The worst part is, there is NO shortage of fuel, and NO reason for prices going up. Yes, there is more demand, but the prices no longer reflect any of the barometers that were previously used to explain the fluctuating prices. Price fixing, and corporate greed by big oil are imo, our biggest problem. Time for our government to man up, and start getting to the bottom of this. There is NO reasonable explanation.

 

[Burnout]

2 points I want to make here...

1) The economists definition of "recession" is absolute BULLSHIT. My reasoning for this is it doesn't include the costs of gas and food into it's equation.

2) Fuck fair; As mentioned somewhere above, cost of living increases are non-existant anymore. As a single person trying to maintain my home (whose mortgage is less than most city dwellers' apartments) it is getting more & more difficult to stay afloat. I haven't been able to save a single penny the last few months. I'm spending approximately $450/month on GAS. The vehicle I drive gets nearly 30 mpg, the area I reside in has NO jobs in my field, and while I'd love to sell, the housing market sucks buckets of ass right now, especially in rural WI. I know I'm not the only one in this situation, but the ever rising price of fuel is going to destroy our economy. The worst part is, there is NO shortage of fuel, and NO reason for prices going up. Yes, there is more demand, but the prices no longer reflect any of the barometers that were previously used to explain the fluctuating prices. Price fixing, and corporate greed by big oil are imo, our biggest problem. Time for our government to man up, and start getting to the bottom of this. There is NO reasonable explanation.

There are issues of tight supply, geopolitical instability, spiking demand and declining returns from established fields. I think we need to remove excessive restrictions and allow oil companies to develop domestic supplies and work with foreign countries that are subsidizing fuel prices and artificially inflating demand. I'm not saying everyone can do with less, but there are people who could definitely make some changes and cut back on their fuel uses if they made the effort.

I do agree the speculation is playing its part in price increases; the dollar is dropping in value and investors are also taking refuge in commodities to protect their assets and driving up prices for everyone else in the process.

I feel for the people that are getting legitimately screwed by the housing situation, but a good chunk of people suffering were living well beyond their means, failed to read the fine print on their loan and are now suffering the consequences of that sector of the economy correcting itself. I'm really not sure what the solution to this is; I know there was a government department set up during (I believe) the Great Depression that bought loans from lenders at a discount, froze the rate and kept people in their homes while also managing to earn a profit, but who knows if we'll see anything like that return.

A lot of people have been living beyond their means and borrowing to do so for years and the economy had to correct itself at some point; the government's enormous debt is likely going to become an issue at some point too, as we can't keep selling treasury bills to China forever.

 

[Kenneth R.]

I would Bike if I didn't live in central bumfuck.

 

[noble savage]

In regards to the housing market. My grandparents put their house up for sale last year for $295,000 and just sold it yesterday for $185,000...

Definitely don't sell now!

 

[Meedleyx10]

1. Do you wear your seatbelt every time you're in the car?

Yes, and so does anyone who wants to ride with me

2. What kind of vehicle do you drive?

I borrow my parents' cars when I need to drive. I sold my glorious '85 Chevy Celebrity before I left for college. That car was unstoppable (until it was stopped)

3. What's the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten?

35 in a 25...that was also the only ticket I've ever gotten.

4. How about the worst traffic ticket you've ever gotten out of?

N/A

5. Ever been in an accident?

Not exactly. However to explain the demise of unstoppable car mentioned above....I advise that people DON'T throw their car into park when going 45-50 mph downhill. Unless, say, your engine dies and you lose your brakes and you don't realize it until you try to start easing on the brakes coming up to a brand new Benz stopped at a red light. Bear in mind that in this "hypothetical" situation, veering to the left throws you into oncoming traffic and veering to the left throws you down a cliff into the Missouri River.

Bonus question: How much does gas cost where you are?

$3.99/gallon

 

[Jax]

A favorite friday five..

1. Your favorite family member?
2. Your favorite item of clothing?
3. Your favorite holiday?
4. Your favorite food/meal?
5. Your favorite place to be?