Posted on 08/24/2016 8:06:12 AM PDT by KeyLargo
U.S. Traffic Fatalities Continued to Surge in First Half of 2016
Deaths rose 9%, extending a trend that began two years ago as the economy improved and travel increased Traffic fatalities were up 9% in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year.
By Beckie Strum
Traffic fatalities rose 9% in the first six months of 2016, compared with a year earlier, as a stronger economy and falling gas prices encouraged Americans to spend more time behind the wheel, the National Safety Council said on Tuesday.
Traffic fatalities have been trending upward since 2014, when the price of gasoline plummeted and a strengthening economy spurred more travel. The average price at the pump has dropped more than a $1.30 per gallon, or 35%, since this time two years ago, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
States including Vermont, Oregon and New Hampshire have been particularly deadly since the upward trend started in 2014, according to preliminary estimates compiled by the NSC, an Illinois-based nonprofit that collects data from state authorities.
Deaths on the road nearly doubled in tiny Vermont, population 620,000. The state recorded an 82% increase this year compared with the first six months of 2014.
Vermont is so small that even one bad crash can send its year-over-year change skyrocketing, said Scott Davidson, chief of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. It had 57 fatal accidents in 2015, he said. “If I have a bus crash, my numbers go through the roof,” said Mr. Davidson.
In most states, Vermont included, people are simply driving more, leading to more crashes, Mr. Davidson said. “Nationally, there’s just more miles being traveled,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Unless you're a gov't bureaucrat. Then there's money to be made in prolonging the issue as much as possible.
The 51 chev had a booster pump for when manifold vacuum was too low.
All I know is we didn't have that setup. The '51 had been upgraded slightly, in that we replaced the old 216 with a 235, ran a split exhaust manifold with dual exhaust, and upgraded to 12 volts. But the vacuum line from the wipers went to manifold pressure, not sure if it was a port on the manifold, or if it was on the carburetor, but we didn't have the booster on the fuel pump, or the wipers hooked to it.
Of course, we also didn't wire the fuel gauge to 12 volts either, or put a regulator in to drop the voltage to the gauge, so we had to rely on the odometer for fuel ups, so we could have bypassed the fuel pump booster, too. It was my dad's truck before it was mine, and I helped with it, but all the work was done 25+ years ago, and my memory has faded a bit. We had so many car projects over the years, they've kind of blended together at points, but I do remember the wipers slowing or completely stopping on acceleration.
Maybe a difference between cars/trucks? I don't know. It's been nearly 10 years since I had the truck, but I could dig out some old photos of the engine bay to do a look-see.
Well, our conversation encouraged me get in contact with my dad on the pump. Apparently, there were a few varieties of fuel pump available, and the one my dad chose had the glass bubble to see the fuel through (he liked the looks of that one over the all-metal, dual-action version), so he wound up running the vacuum from the manifold. He said the original pump on the 216 was the dual-action pump, he just preferred the glass bubble version when he re-did it.
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The fuel pump for the 235 had the same booster arrangement unless it was a 55 or later, but the old pump model fit all of the 235s too.
Maybe someone got lazy doing the hook-up.
The original had the dual-action. This one didn't. My dad liked this style better.
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That’s the pump I had on my ‘29 coupe.
The double-decker with the vacuum booster will bolt up to that same flange.
US drivers licenses still come out of cracker jack boxes. Really, we’re the worst drivers in the civilized part of the world. We’re grossly under trained, our drivers tests are a joke, and then we’re shocked we get into all kinds of accidents.
Yeah. I saw that when I was looking for the style we used. Like I said, when I asked my dad about it, he mentioned he just liked the looks of the one we used better. It wasn't a daily driver, so getting caught I the rain wasn't a major problem. If I had it today, I'd swap the double-decker in there.
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