Eye 5

Traffic uncertainties got you down on your way to work (or back home) and you don't have access to the Internet at that time? Well never fear.

Starting April 1, Spokane CityCable 5 is going to carry live pictures from the Washington State Department of Transportation's I-90 cameras. The feeds will run from 6-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. weekdays.

The channel will cycle through the different cameras, so you may have to wait a few minutes to see the one you want. But the good news is that you'll be able to listen to KPBX Public Radio while you wait, since that station's providing the audio.

Eventually the CityCable5 may also carry images from traffic cameras on other routes, like Division Street and the Maple Street Bridge.

And remember you can always link to traffic cameras from this blog, including cameras on SR395 and SR2!

Posted by Amy :: 10:57 AM Mar 31

I-90 bottleneck

UPDATE II: ALL LANES ARE OPEN AS OF 3 PM.

UPDATE: The right lane is now open, but the left lane is closed.

Watch out today if you're heading westbound on I-90 near the Idaho state line.

Crews are installing weigh-in motion equipment to monitor trucks, and the right lane is closed from the Idaho line to milepost 298 -- about a mile. The right lane is scheduled to remain closed until 2 p.m.

Posted by Amy :: 10:46 AM Mar 31

Fuel gauge

Say you want to plan a roadtrip and you need to know how much money all those fill-ups are going to cost. AAA has a handy calculator that does it for you.

Just enter the make, model and year of your car plus the starting city and destination, and it will use current regional fuel price averages to estimate the total cost. The only bad news is that the list of cities is limited and Spokane isn't one of them.

According to AAA driving your 2003 Ford F150 (two-door) truck from Seattle to Las Vegas and back would set you back about $320 right now. Better hope you do well at the blackjack table.

Posted by Amy :: 03:31 PM Mar 25

Stud deadline approaches

CORRECTION: Well, Getting There got some bad information from the Department of Transportation. The actual fine is $101. (Posted April 1)

Studded snow tires may have escaped Washington's legislative session unscathed this year, but their days are still numbered. It's time to get them off for spring.

You have until March 31 to do so. After that it could cost you an $86 ticket. That would really deflate a good mood on a sunny spring day.

Posted by Amy :: 06:11 PM Mar 24

Gas prices gone wild

It's official. U.S. gas prices hit a record high today according to AAA. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded nationwide is $1.738. That's 1/10 of a cent higher than AAA's previously recorded high on Aug. 30, 2003.

Here's a little gas humor courtesy of Slate to get you through these troubled times.

Posted by Amy :: 05:50 PM Mar 23

Risky business

If you took to the roads after September 11 because of safety concerns about flying, you weren't alone. But you also weren't any safer. You were taking a bigger risk. Driving creates a greater chance of a deadly crash than flying.

Wall Street Journal reporter Sharon Begley wrote today about U.S. Department of Transportation statistics which show that traffic fatalities rose nationwide in the three months after September 11, 2001 because of increased traffic on U.S. highways and byways. All told, fatal car crashes rose by 8 percent during October, November and December compared to the 2000.

Here's a link to the story (subscription required).

Posted by Amy :: 05:29 PM Mar 23

Car envy therapy

Sick of hearing about all those famous celebrities' glorious cars? Wish that punk down the street would learn a lesson in why he can't drive his Porsche like a madman?

Here's a great website for you to let your green-with-envy feelings run wild without actually taking a key to that BMW in the parking lot.

The site features ``wrecked exotics'' and weird crashes.

Oh, and by the way, that Hummer can't get you everywhere.

Posted by Amy :: 05:32 PM Mar 18

Tough trucks

The redesigned Ford F-150 tops the federal government's list of pickup trucks in recent crash tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It was the only 2004 pickup truck to get a five-star rating for both driver and front passenger in a frontal crash.

Others did well, but some, like the Toyata Tacoma Extended Cab 4x2, received just three stars in some categories. In the Toyota Tacoma's case, a side crash had a ``high likelihood of pelvic injury'' for the driver. Ouch!

Here are the truck ratings.

Plus the NHTSA also has some cool crash test footage.

Posted by Amy :: 06:02 PM Mar 11

Bionic man

This is some scary stuff. The University of California has come up with a new device to make soldiers and firefighters super warriors who can carry as much as 70 pounds of equipment and feel like they're carrying just five pounds.

The BLEEX, the Berkeley Lower Extremities Excoskeleton, is a system of leg braces attached to a backpack with a power device. It uses multiple sensors and calculations to find the way to most evenly distribute weight.

What's next?

Posted by Amy :: 06:29 PM Mar 10

It's not your imagination

An interesting story in the Wall Street Journal today reports that auto recalls are skyrocketing. One in 12 cars was recalled last year.

While some people said the recalls are good because they mean free repairs, others said it just shows that automakers are getting sloppy. Guess they don't build 'em like they used to.

Posted by Amy :: 10:25 AM Mar 4