THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2006
Thursday Edition: Testing Mileage Boosters
Trust me, there is about to be a rush to cash
in on rising gas prices. You will see advertisements, for example, from tune-up shops that promise better gas mileage if you tune your car up.
The question,
of course, is whether or not you really need a tune-up. And how much
you could you save in gas mileage, compared to the cost of the
mechanical work? Do modern cars even need
tune-ups?
My mechanic tells me that, unless something is terribly wrong
with my car, I should just leave it alone. The spark plugs and other parts now are
meant to last a long time.
You will also start seeing advertisements for all sorts of things that promise to boost your mileage. Hydrogen boosters claim huge gas savings.
There are gadgets and gizmos that promise you better mileage. ABC News tested a "gas pill" that promised better mileage and found the pills didn't significantly help.
Green Bay, Wis.'s WFRV-TV reported that replacing clogged air filters can save up to 10 percent (28 cents) per gallon.
Here are some suggestions and resources from the U.S. Department of Energy:
Assess Your Cost of Driving
Spend Less on Gas
Buying a Car
More Information
Florists Get Their Day in Court
Here is an interesting legal issue. It is a lawsuit about whether
states should license so-called "harmless license exams" which the
Institute for Justice, a libertarian litigation group, claims is actually a way of protecting existing businesses
from competition. The case comes up in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 1, next Monday. The Institute for Justice said last year:
Louisiana (alone among the 50 states) has barred [aspiring florists] from pursuing careers as florists unless they can
pass a highly subjective government-mandated exam that is graded by
existing florists -- their future competition. Not surprisingly, more
than half -- 64 percent -- of the individuals who take the exam fail.
In
December 2003, the Institute for Justice filed a federal lawsuit in
Louisiana challenging the law. In March, U.S. District Court Judge
Frank Polozola upheld Louisiana's florist licensing scheme as a "reasonable" regulation to ensure public health and safety and to
protect consumers from bad floral arrangements.
But
unlicensed florists in ... other states create arrangements for
consumers every day with no "public heath and safety" issues or
consumer scares from poor design. Safety issues are not even tested on
Louisiana's licensing exam, and state officials who oversee the
licensing process cannot point to any health or safety problems. Moreover, unlicensed floral designers in Louisiana are permitted to
arrange and sell flowers with no supervision from a licensed florist,
as long as they work in the same shop. And even accomplished florists
from other states routinely fail the test.
"There is
only one real reason Louisiana bureaucrats insist on deciding who can
and who cannot sell flowers -- the licensed florist lobby wants to keep
potential competitors out of the market," said IJ Senior Attorney Clark
Neily. "It's a classic example of entrenched interests capturing the
power of government to stifle competition."
I have found other states that certification processes, but not licesnsing -- Texas, for example. Another is Oklahoma [PDF], which also requires certification.
While you may not have a license requirement for florists in your
state, it does raise the question of what your state does license -- and
why. What does the state do with the licensing fees? In what way are
regulations enforced? When was the last time that the license of a body-wrapper or hair-braider was revoked?
Disappearing Toll Workers
Al's Morning Meting reader Larry Higgs, staff writer at the Asbury
Park Press in Neptune, N.J., dropped me a note about a story that you
might consider:
We just did an article about electronic toll collection and how it
is resulting in fewer toll-taker jobs. A couple of interesting
points: E-ZPass use in New Jersey increased faster than official
predictions, despite a rough beginning with lots of bogus violations
for drivers. National experts said ETC isn't always cheaper because of
capital costs. The real advantage for ETC is in time saved by drivers
not lining up to pay manually, rather than in cost savings.
And for [the] toll
takers left, the real worry isn't losing their jobs, but being hit by
fast-moving cars going through E-ZPass lanes as they walk to their work
stations, or having the booth bumped by fast-moving trucks and buses in
the E-ZPass lanes next to them.
This article could be done any place there are toll roads. Neil Gray from the IBTTA said Illinois is getting rid of toll plazas and going electronic. IBTTA is the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association.
Here is Larry's EZ Pass toll-takers article. And here's the link to the story's sidebar, about dropping toll revenues.
Catching Toll Cheaters
While on the IBTTA Web site, I spotted this story about the fairly surprising number of people who try to cheat toll systems. In Pennsylvania, it works out to one cheater passing through toll gates per minute.
The story said that, in Pennsylvania alone:
About 80 percent of E-ZPass violators -- whose transgressions are
captured on videotape -- do pay up. Many E-ZPass violators are drivers
who use the specially marked lanes without a valid account and
transponder. About half of the $9.5 million in tolls and fees came from
people with valid accounts whose transponders did not work properly.
But those who refuse to pay generally are never prosecuted. What does your state do?
Who is in charge of enforcement? How much goes uncollected? What would the cost of collection be?
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a
compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a
variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When
the information comes directly from another source, it will be
attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is
fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the
original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
Posted at 2:42:02 PM
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