10 Reasons why $4.00 Gas is Good for USA

[Kamakazie Sith]

I don't see police departments going to bikes instead of cars. In large cities you need your patrol units to be in their cars so they can quickly respond to any emergency as soon as it comes over the radio, and that means they have to be in their cars.

Also, a car allows officers to carry a variety of important equipment that makes them more capable of dealing with a variety of situations.

[ArmorPierce]

The only big yelp would be from the high school sports crowd that would point out that practicing in the winter after 4pm just ain't cutting it but aside from the fact that this schedule leaves Friday's as a game day I don't have an answer for that problem.

Do they have to practice every day? You could probably work out an arrangement where the P.E. equivalent can be substituted for practice time.

You are correct. There is no problem. At my high school in brooklyn freshmans didn't start class until around 11 and didn't get out until after 4. For team sports they solved this problem by moving them back one class so they started a little after 10 and discarded with P.E (which makes sense). Also lunch was usually the first class of the day (which wasn't mandatory) for most people (only not so when they have no where else to put the kid at during that time slot) which further reduced the day. Of course I doubt that they would discard the lunch for a full day starting at 8.

[Starglider]

I don't see police departments going to bikes instead of cars. In large cities you need your patrol units to be in their cars so they can quickly respond to any emergency as soon as it comes over the radio, and that means they have to be in their cars.

Patrol cars do strike me as a good candidate for EV replacement. You'd need some extras (or removable battery packs) to ensure that there are always charged ones for officers to take out, but they don't have to go far and it's the kind of low-speed stop-start driving EVs are disproportionately good at.

[Lusankya]

I don't see police departments going to bikes instead of cars. In large cities you need your patrol units to be in their cars so they can quickly respond to any emergency as soon as it comes over the radio, and that means they have to be in their cars.

Also, a car allows officers to carry a variety of important equipment that makes them more capable of dealing with a variety of situations.

We have bike cops in Australia. Mainly you see them in the CBD, where they don't have to particularly travel far to get anywhere. In general, it's an adequate way to project their presence. They're more accessible than if they were in cars, and they can cover a larger area than they could if they were on foot.

It's not as though the police use bikes exclusively - there are still plenty of cops in cars who are able to respond to emergencies.

[Kamakazie Sith]

I don't see police departments going to bikes instead of cars. In large cities you need your patrol units to be in their cars so they can quickly respond to any emergency as soon as it comes over the radio, and that means they have to be in their cars.

Also, a car allows officers to carry a variety of important equipment that makes them more capable of dealing with a variety of situations.

We have bike cops in Australia. Mainly you see them in the CBD, where they don't have to particularly travel far to get anywhere. In general, it's an adequate way to project their presence. They're more accessible than if they were in cars, and they can cover a larger area than they could if they were on foot.

It's not as though the police use bikes exclusively - there are still plenty of cops in cars who are able to respond to emergencies.

I'm not against Bike Patrols. Salt Lake City has a bike squad, but they patrol downtown. However, vehicle patrol units are still sent out to calls for service like domestic violence...unless a bike unit is close enough that they can get there in a reasonable amount of time.

[Col. Crackpot]

To hell with bikes. There are very few things more intimidating than a Police Officer on horseback.

[Admiral Valdemar]

To hell with bikes. There are very few things more intimidating than a Police Officer on horseback.

Would that include robot horses that talk like in Galaxy Rangers?

[SCRawl]

I don't see police departments going to bikes instead of cars. In large cities you need your patrol units to be in their cars so they can quickly respond to any emergency as soon as it comes over the radio, and that means they have to be in their cars.

Also, a car allows officers to carry a variety of important equipment that makes them more capable of dealing with a variety of situations.

We have bike cops in Australia. Mainly you see them in the CBD, where they don't have to particularly travel far to get anywhere. In general, it's an adequate way to project their presence. They're more accessible than if they were in cars, and they can cover a larger area than they could if they were on foot.

It's not as though the police use bikes exclusively - there are still plenty of cops in cars who are able to respond to emergencies.

I'm not against Bike Patrols. Salt Lake City has a bike squad, but they patrol downtown. However, vehicle patrol units are still sent out to calls for service like domestic violence...unless a bike unit is close enough that they can get there in a reasonable amount of time.

It's also tough to put a guy into custody and have him ride on the handlebars, I would imagine.

[SAMAS]

No, more like Robot Horses that can transform to a humanoid stance and carry big-ass rifles like in Bravestarr

[Glocksman]

Well, $4+ gas has convinced this American to take the MSF beginner rider course and purchase either a maxi-scooter or small motorcycle (decision will be based on whether or not I mind shifting gears on the bike) for everyday use except when the weather is too bad.

Right now I'm looking at a Suzuki Burgman 400 scooter or a Suzuki Boulevard S40 motorcycle.
50-60+ MPG vs the 19 or so my car gets is very convincing.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Not considering an electric scooter at all, or not in your price range or other category? They're quite tempting here, least, if I could afford one and didn't like the idea of being on two wheels that can easily get sucked under four wheels.

[Glocksman]

The only electric scooter available (the Vectrix) is almost twice as expensive and there are no local dealers.

If there were a local dealer with a good service department, I'd consider the Vectrix, but right now a small motorcycle or maxi-scooter fills the bill.

[Coyote]

The only electric scooter available (the Vectrix) is almost twice as expensive and there are no local dealers.

If there were a local dealer with a good service department, I'd consider the Vectrix, but right now a small motorcycle or maxi-scooter fills the bill.

I saw something in Boise a few weeks ago, called the "E-go"; it looked like a beefed-up 'razor scooter' with an electric drive...

[The Yosemite Bear]

To hell with bikes. There are very few things more intimidating than a Police Officer on horseback.

I guess we are already ahead of the trend here in yosemite. Cops on horseback, cops on bikes, hybrid engines, oh and our desiel is recycled animal and vegitable fat.

oh, and I only drive once to three times a month.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I'd really just like to see a diesel electric hybrid based on the Corolla body with an electric motor driving the forward axle powered by batteries, an extremely small diesel to recharge the batteries that operates at a maximal-efficiency constant speed, and regenerative braking. What WAS the dumbass thinking at Toyota that produced the Prius with the engine still connected to the drive wheels? It's so goddamned inefficient. Make it a plug-in with flexi-fuel options, and you could, by using the existing Corolla frame, swamp the US market with them. Using the very newest batteries of the sort that Tesla Motors has adopted, such a vehicle might well be able to manage 60 miles on electric charge alone, and just a couple gallons of diesel could provide immense further range advantages--I would not be surprised if the combination, including the constant speed diesel, worked out to about 85mpg + in combined driving.

[Starglider]

What WAS the dumbass thinking at Toyota that produced the Prius with the engine still connected to the drive wheels?

Probably because at highway speeds, the diesel engine is already in the most efficient RPM range and running the power through an alternator and then a motor is less efficient than a simple driveshaft. Using the diesel as a pure generator only makes sense if the car is doing mostly town driving.

Using the very newest batteries of the sort that Tesla Motors has adopted,

Lithium batteries (state of the art ones at that, plus their control electronics) are still too expensive for economy vehicles.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

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Probably because at highway speeds, the diesel engine is already in the most efficient RPM range and running the power through an alternator and then a motor is less efficient than a simple driveshaft. Using the diesel as a pure generator only makes sense if the car is doing mostly town driving.

The Prius doesn't have a diesel, but a gasoline engine, so it makes much less sense. And city driving/stop-and-go on congested freeways is enormously important as a criteria in designing vehicles to appeal to commuters, at which point the constant-speed operation of a diesel at optimum RPMs needs to be 100% divorced from the wheels.

[Illuminatus Primus]

The transmission as far as I knew was one of the most wasteful components of the system. Next generation hybrids should be plug-in and flex-fuel, but also as far as I know feature independent wheel-hub motors/regenerative breaks requiring no transmission, for much more efficient energy transfer.

[Starglider]

And city driving/stop-and-go on congested freeways is enormously important as a criteria in designing vehicles to appeal to commuters

Granted. I suppose not everyone has the luxury of doing all their long distance driving in the early hours of the morning.

[Spyder]

Market Forces are forcing greater fuel efficiency and greener choices in transportation. Quite frankly I hope gas stays this expensive. If for no other reason than that of there being fewer douchebags in Escalades on the road.

Yeah. pity the government didn't regulate the supply of petrol, they could have kicked off those market forces sooner.

[Darth Wong]

Since when is $4/gallon gasoline so expensive that it will drive luxury SUVs off the road? We're talking about people who spend an extra $20,000 or even $40,000 on their vehicles just to feel like they're macho. Why should they be deterred by the idea of spending $100 each time they fill the tank?

I could see it hurting the lower-end SUVs (you know, the people who try to pretend that they're rich, but who in reality are just deep in debt). But the kind of people who buy the really expensive and really obnoxiously large SUVs?

[Colonel Olrik]

I could see it hurting the lower-end SUVs (you know, the people who try to pretend that they're rich, but who in reality are just deep in debt). But the kind of people who buy the really expensive and really obnoxiously large SUVs?

Fuck yes. Not to whine again about European fuel prices, but even with a straight 1:1 Dollar to Euro conversion I wish I was paying 5$/gallon, and you can still the likes of Porsche Cheyenne's and BMW X6 everywhere around here.

[Jaevric]

I think it'll start affecting the retardedly expensive SUVs eventually. A lot of the people I talk to at work who make very good money ($250,000.00 or more a year) and are falling behind on their bills are doing so because they've always spent every cent they bring in, and now that their income is down even slightly or their expenses are rising, they simply can't imagine cutting back.

I've had someone call in wanting us to lower his mortgage payments because his income is down to $25,000.00/mo and he can't afford his lifestyle. When discussing his budget with him, he casually mentions his $1,300 car payment, his wife's $800.00 car payment, his daughter's "junky" $450 car payment, the boat, the other house, the lawn service, the pool service, the housekeeper, the cook, and the fact his wife and daughters "absolutely have to have" $150.00 apiece haircuts every four weeks and he is certainly not going to tell them they have to go somewhere cheaper...

When I suggested selling the other house, selling the boat, getting cheaper car payments, negotiating with his credit card companies to lower his payments, and maybe cutting back on the staff (which I hated to suggest since I'm pretty sure the housekeeper and the cook need the money more than this jackass does) he started screaming at me that he doesn't need some "snotty kid" telling him how to manage his money. And that his wife works eight hours a day and it isn't reasonable to expect her to come home then cook and clean up the house after that. My suggestion that most people work eight hours a day and do just that, and that he could help with the chores, was greeted with stunned silence.

Yeah, my job breeds cynicism and hatred. This was the worst example, mostly because of the sheer hypocrisy of claiming he doesn't need someone to tell him how to manage his money when he's calling us to reduce his house payments because...he can't manage his money. It is not, however, anywhere near an isolated one.

[Civil War Man]

The only electric scooter available (the Vectrix) is almost twice as expensive and there are no local dealers.

If there were a local dealer with a good service department, I'd consider the Vectrix, but right now a small motorcycle or maxi-scooter fills the bill.

Trust me, we are busting our asses to try to fill in the map. As far as I know, the only Indiana dealer we have is in Mishawaka, over by South Bend.

[salm]

It appears to do something. VW is saying that they´re going to dump the plans of producing pickup trucks for Europe because of the high oil prices.