The Associated Press: Study: As gas prices go up, auto deaths decline

The Associated Press: Study: As gas prices go up, auto deaths decline

Last week, I was theorizing on the changes that I've seen in ya road trip novels. One theory that I posited was that the rising cost of gas is making the car less accessible to teens, therefore while the car was once the metaphor for economic growth, it is now being replaced by other things. M suggested this might be a shift toward digital mobility rather than physical mobility, and I think she may be right. Recently there was a study that said that the rising gas prices are helping to cut traffic deaths

with the most dramatic drop likely to be among teen drivers.

I find this interesting for a number of reasons. In terms of actual teen drivers, central Illinois has had a really rough couple of years with teen deaths. Illinois has enacted a graduated driver's license program which hardly makes 16 the target year anymore.

Such a program is really interesting to me because of the ways that it mirrors the trend toward an extended adolescence. Most of my undergraduate students still identify themselves as adolescents on some level and the graduated licensing law seems to reflect such a perception of delayed adulthood.

What I find most intriguing about the study, however, is the fact that teen deaths are the most marked decrease. In ya lit cars are often used as punishment for non-adult behavior. You get pregnant, you instantly lose you car. You have sex, you (or your partner) are in a horrible car wreck. You fail to get/keep a summer job the car is taken away. Then of course we have the car removed for drug/alcohol/other anti-social behavior books a well. Cars do two things in ya lit: they enable adult behaviors (sex, jobs, mobility) and they serve as reminders for the ways in which adolescents must concede to growing up and to abiding by the rules of grown ups.

If actual teen deaths from automobile accidents are dropping, I would assume that authors will begin to find a new metaphor for the need to grow up (economically) and the consequences for unsanctioned behavior. Will this be cell phones or computers? I'm curious how this change will resonate in ya lit.

"Gang Hangers" on Bikes

If been accused of being lots of things, but up until this afternoon I'd never been confused for a gang member. That's right, in case you missed it gang members are now 5'3 blonde females who wear grey yoga capris and pink Relay for Life t-shirts along with their blue helmets and backpacks while biking to the grocery store.

The Context: It's been a long day. It was a very long morning and then this afternoon my car battery decided to die and due to scheduling conflicts won't get fixed until tomorrow afternoon. So it's me and the bike. Tonight I needed to go to the grocery store, and Greg was up at the Lake. With the Camry out of commission, my only choice was to bike. I contemplated ordering pizza because I didn't really feel like making the 4 mile trek in the heat, but I went anyway. We shop at Schnucks which is about 2 miles northwest of our house and requires crossing at least two fairly busy intersections. While neither our house or Schnucks are in a bad area of town, the locals like to talk about the Ghetto and the gang activity that they associate with any area of town that is ethnically diverse.

The story: I was almost to Schnucks and approaching the little bit of the trip that requires me to get off the bike trail and navigate a congested area which people like to use as a "short cut." Thinking I would be a responsible biker, as I approached the first congested area, I used a hand signal to indicate that I was slowing down and possibly stopping. When it was my turn, I then indicated that I was turning right and shortly after that signaled a left turn. I noticed that there was a white Buick that was keeping more than a safe distance from me and when they eventually passed as I was locking my bike I waved to thank them for not trying to run me over.

The Accusation: As I walked into the store, the woman who had been driving the car said to me "don't think that I'm not going to tell the manager that he's letting gang hangers (sic) shop in his store." I said "excuse me?" thinking that I had missed something and mentally picturing what exactly a "gang hanger" would look like. She said "I saw you "tossing" those signals just like they talk about on tv." I explained that bicycles don't have brake lights or turn signals, so we use hand signals. She laughed and said, "I bet you use bring your own grocery sacks so that you can shoplift too."

I guess I'm guilty as charged. I am an ecologically minded gang hanger, whatever that means.

Analyzing a Pantagraph Letter

I'm not quite sure why I continue to read the comments section of the Pantagraph, but I keep finding myself periodically clicking "most commented" just to see what the latest scandal is. Right now, there is letter to the editor title "Insurance Companies Encroaching on Freedoms." Since State Farm bashing seems to be a favorite topic of the commentors, I clicked on the article to see what the issue was and because I generally can't resist a letter to the editor that has freedom or right in the title.

The letter starts like this:

I have to take time out of my schedule next Wednesday to attend mandatory traffic court. What is my horrendous crime you may ask? I did not have the most recent piece of paper in my car verifying that I was covered by auto insurance.

How did we get to this point in our society? I was originally stopped by the police because my passenger was not wearing her seatbelt. Oh no!! Thank goodness another criminal has been convicted and properly punished.

I like how she buried that she was actually pulled over for a seatbelt violation in the second paragraph, but at this point I was trying to figure out how this was an insurance company's fault. Maybe they misprinted her cards, maybe they failed to send them in time. But no, she follows with logical acrobatics that are impressive even for a small local newspaper.

Who is responsible for these laws anyway? The insurance companies. Their lobbyists have convinced our lawmakers to punish people whom they have judged make their profits go down.

Uninsured drivers must be gold mine that can't be tapped without the creation of some laws. So in order to force these people to get insurance, we developed seat belt laws? Clearly, no one but insurance companies thinks that seat belts are a good idea and everyone knows that the easiest violation to spot while driving your own vehicle is the use of a seat belt. I knew that there was a seat belt conspiracy.

I am still trying to figure out what this has to do with freedom, since last time I check the constitution didn't protect the right to drive, nor did it call traffic court a cruel or unusual punishment. I'm pretty sure driving would be classified as a privilege, but then a helpful commenter explained everything:

FollowTheConsitution wrote on Jun 26, 2008 1:07 PM:

" Catching Wild Pigs

You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in The last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity. ....continued... "

At first I thought maybe the poster was trying to use the derogatory pigs/cops reference, but that wouldn't make sense. Unless he/she is drawing an analogy that cops are being domesticated by insurance companies, but didn't police forces develop first. I understand that he is describing the gradual reduction in freedoms, but of all of the issues to pick--seatbelts, really?

Clearly all of the talk about the war, the economy, the enviornment, etc, has been misguided. I leave you with the "wisdom" of the end of the letter:

Land of the free? Hardly! We have lost our ability to make choices for ourselves and our families because businesses like State Farm and Country Companies aren’t making enough money to suit them.

The Great Seat Belt Conspiracy of 08 must be exposed!