All this talk about gas, transit and back to school traffic (starts next week so watch out!) made me ponder a bit.  I wanted to hold an informal WWD! survey… a game of sorts (for you MLC & O&E fanatics). I’ll tally up the numbers hopefully at the end of the night and adjust accordingly for any later posts.

What I wanted to find out is this (and I’m sure it’ll morph into some other added info):

• Numbah of licensed drivers in da house
• Numbah of vehicles owned (running and using - not da kine junkalunka kine sitting in da yard)
• Wat kine you get? Car, truck, SUV?
• If you have multiple vehicles, is more than one out on da road? (Eh, no cast judgement if all five on da road ok? Maybe they work different kine places or gotta do something aftah das why.)
• How much (total) do you spend on gas weekly?

If you like add any oddah info, no shame geev’ um.

And if you tink too personal, no need answer.

The City and County has done a current and projected traffic study (useless fact tidbit: dat’s da two black tubes stretching across da road and everytime a car runs ovah it, da tally is added to da clicker in a box on da side in case you evah wondered wat da rubbah thing on da road was) and it doesn’t look good but if gas prices get worse, who knows if it’ll hold true.

Before we begin, I recall on a newscast a day or two ago dat recent car owners are now spending mo’ on gas den their monthly car payments….

Wassap Wit Dat!

Survey says….

2 licensed drivers
3 vehicles: car, truck, motorcycle
Motorcycle to/from work. Car sometimes if Da Wife schedule changes or if rain. Truck on weekends.
Gas: Car - about $50
Truck - about $75
Motorcycle - about $20

JUNKALUNKAH
(junk ah LUNK ah)

Haole Translation: Old, beat up vehicle - not in very good condition

Usual characteristics: broken something (window, door, etc), banged up, dented body or bumper, rust… but she still run and that’s all that matters.

Use: describing one ole’ buss’ up car

Sentence: “Brah, cause you no take kea yo’ car, came au’ junkalunkah li’dat.”

Sentence: “Ho, shame you going take yo’ date in your junkalunkah-mobile.”

Ha ha ha. Shweet.

Dis one I HAVE to share! 

You hear all of us bitchin’ and moanin’ about traffic and drivers who no can obey da laws and act impatient.

I dunno why but yesterday I decided to bring my (well, Da Wife’s) camera thinking there may be something interesting to take photo of…. ‘a’ole.

At least not until the drive home.

I guess I had a premonition or something but fo’ some reason I had the camera by my side near the stickshift, cover half way off and ready to go like a paniolo gunslinger. We drive up the viaduct and fly along. Then a truck - going slower than posted speed limit - decides to just change lanes right into our car pool lane slowing everybody down.  I start reading the sticker on the red Dodge Ram pickup, “Uso Powered” and noticed a really dark tint - ok, not going say nothin’.

Oh wait, the tint is moving. Oh. Get choke people in there with ehu hair blocking da entire rear window.  

So I change lanes to pass and get well ahead of them then as we hit the ZipMobile house notice again there isn’t any police there - hasn’t been in choke long time, the longest stretch evah like maybe two months. So I already know going get cheaters (wat’s new?).

Traffic slow down at the usual spot right aftah and moving along den all of a sudden da car in front of me gives us a hard break check…. WTF?!

I see dat! We all know wat dat means! Our trusty men - & women - in blue stay up front.

Noooooo! You dumb green Element! No let ‘em in! Nooooooo!

WASSAP WIT DAT! 

Stink eye time…..

Woooooo you fricka! You lucky dis time!

Ho! Wat da heck you doin’ tryin’ fo’…. cut back in?!

Wop yo’ jaw!  Ha ha ha!

BUSTED!

You still got pulled ovah!

Classic Brah!

If you look closely, even da cop stay laughing.

… Good thing I had da camera yeah?

I gotta say, kids do da darndest things.

After reading an article last week backing up what numerous Kwonics/Lanceformers/Lurkahs have already mentioned, enforcement is the key to help curb the road woes… or at least the “presence” of authority.

This keiki took matters into his own hands. (Sorry that the link didn’t work - the story is below)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Landon Wilburn, 11, has a future as a cop - a traffic cop. The youngster, who used to shout at speeders to slow down as they drove through the Stone Lakes subdivision in Louisville, now has taken matters into his own hands.

Dressed in a reflective vest, wearing a bicycle helmet and armed with an orange Hot Wheels brand radar gun, he points and records the actual speed of passing traffic.

Landon also carries a flashlight with a built-in siren.

“When I saw it happening, I got the biggest kick out of it,” said resident George Ayers, 61. “People were locking up their brakes when they saw him.”

Many in the subdivision are frustrated that motorists tear through the neighborhood at 55 mph despite signs posting a 25 mph limit.

Officials said the city will install speed humps in the neighborhood if 70 percent of residents agree and are willing to put up half the money.

Landon Wilburn, 11, points his Hot Wheels brand radar gun to see how fast an oncoming SUV is driving on Taylorsville Road past the Stone Lakes subdivision in Louisville, Ky. Wilburn has been charting the speeds of drivers near his neighborhood since June. Landon said he used to shout at speeders to slow down - then had a better idea. (AP Photo/The Louisville Courier-Journal, Charlie White)

He stepped up and actually Did Something About It (one of my very first “controversial” blogs - just fo’ you MoOgooGuypAN).

Not an adult. Not a senior citizen. An 11 year old keiki who had enough and stepped it up by doing what’s right. It happens in every city no matter what part of the country you live in where the 25mph speed limit sign is more of an eyesore than the law.

Then when “city officials” get involved they want 70% of the residents agreeing to put in speed bumps and front up half the money.

Wassap Wit Dat!

That “solution” is just wacked. You got drivers knowingly breaking the law and it seems like the “system” is backing the lawbreakers. 

What if someone here simulated a speed trap on the freeways? I betcha s/he guarns-bombarans would get a ticket instead yeah?

What if we had a citizens patrol camped out on known speedways doing “research” and once people get comfortable knowing that it’s not the police, switch it up and have a real officer there and BAM! Gotcha.

Has any keiki inspired you to do something? Anything? Give you any ideas?

Or think once adults get involved it’s all ovah?

Yeah just like it says.

Driving into work today there seemed to have been a few more cars on the road and as you all know by now, Da Wife and I car pool in. So we’re driving along changing lanes to get into the car pool lane and what do we see?

Three cars in a row zooming by with only one person! After getting into the car pool lane, I glance over to the zipper lane - two cars in a row with only two people.

“Eh, how come our lane moving so slow? Cars in front changing lanes…hmmm, get accident or wat? Ohhh! I hope get da cops pulling people ovah!”

Nope. As we catch up to the culprit, it’s a newer Toyota Camry (of course) driving 50 - yeah 50 in a 55mph zone!!! - in da car pool lane.

Here’s the kicker. Once we get onto Nimitz by McDonald’s we see a cop (two door blue Explorer - license plate withheld so I no get one APB issued fo’ me) driving in the zipper lane…with only two people!

wait……..wait for it…………. WASSAP WIT DAT!

So how does this work? Do we keep pushing the envelope until we get caught? Does no one respect the LAW any more - even da cops (da very select few)?! Why do people blatantly disregard the laws and rules of the state/country?

I guess the question should really be, “Can you get away with it?”

Are there degrees of it being “ok”? Or should it just be no chance ‘em.

And no bu’lai - I know EVERY single one of da 47 people dat read dis breaks da law everyday… I do (but plead da 5th if taken to court). You know dat black and white sign on the right side of the street dat says “Speed Limit 25″?

Just look at all da Lurkahs hea……… dey only read and get away without posting………….

Yeah, basketball is over but the state is behind the arc shooting ‘em three’s… carpoolers that is.

I bet the house that there will be more resistance than compliance but who’s to say how it’ll work out in the end? People living on the West side get affected the most - being that is where it starts - because I can only imagine how much more cars will be on the freeway instead of the zipper lane approaching the infamous H1/H2 bottleneck and the start of school isn’t too far behind either.

I say let it be. I think people forget that driving is a privilege, not a personal right. You have to earn that privilege by taking both a written and driving test and within the past few years, drivers ed too.

Is it hard to find the “extra” rider? Sure, no doubt. Is it worth finding? Heck yeah! Especially when I guarantee you that the zipper lane will fly now.

Do I use the zipper lane? Yup (we get on at the airport). Do I have three people? Nope, unless we can bring & count the dog so now we’re tough out of luck.

I support the idea that the state reward those who try to help other drivers out by not adding another vehicle to the road. Think of the benefits: save gas (for those not driving), helping our environment and most important, one less vehicle on the road! The tough stuff: more vehicles in the “regular” lanes, longer commute times and worse yet, wasting more gas in traffic.

Granted there’s a ton of people who cannot carpool regardless, but I say suck it up. You’re sacrificing “time” for YOUR independence to drive alone even if you have no other option. The city has made efforts afforded options to do so such asUncle Fasi’s limo - which some Lanceformers/Kwonics - have already chosen to do. Now there’s Uncle Mufi’s ferry too! A co-worker rides his bicycle to work and another who rides a motorized scooter so that’s already two less vehicles on the road. Mahalos eh!

Anybody have any great ideas? Upset now that you got “bumped” from the “bonus” lane? Sucking it up? Or no care cause you live in town already?

I wonder how come we just can’t add/build lanes where we can like they did in Pearl City? That has helped tremendously! Too much red tape? Too much work?

I still firmly believe it’s about enforcement because guarans-bombarans going get CHOKE single riders in the carpool lane now! And it definitely sucks for those who follow the law and ride with two and have to deal with impatient - or just no care - people that forget that it’s not their right to drive, but a privilege.

Wassap Wit Dat!