joe.apex's blog

As of this writing, marijuana use is legal in several states even though technically it is still unlawful at the federal level. There are 18 states, dating as far back as 1998, that have legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. And in the last election, two states (Colorado and Washington) legalized marijuana for recreational use. In the face of rapidly changing marijuana laws in the U.S. Driving Under the Influence (DUI) laws are lagging behind.

2013 is just around the corner and its time to get with those New Year resolutions. Of course, at this site we focus on the top "driving resolutions" that we think everyone should consider. There are so many to consider and we left out the driving items talked about on a daily basis, such as "don't drink & drive" and "no distracted driving". Most of the recommended resolutions in this article are glossed over in drivers ed where they really should be emphasized.

Santa Claus is known as one of the best sleigh drivers in the world. After all, he's been doing this for many years and I don't ever remember him being involved in a collision. That's a fantastic driving record. I'm sure that he learned to drive his sleigh long before drivers ed was available. Even though Saint Nick has been driving his sleigh for many, many years he still practices prior to the big day. In this picture we can see him working out with a few of his reindeer.

Its been a long time coming, but Tesla Motors is finally delivering the Model S, an electric car that can be used as a practical daily driver. And while they were at it, they moved the human interface into the 21st century as well. I've had the opportunity to drive a Model S around town over the last few days and thought I would report on the experience.

In the last decade, red light cameras in the United States have popped-up in many cities. And they have also entered the spot light as one of the more controversial traffic enforcement methods. The current raging debate involves both the efficacy of these devices as well as the legality of surveillance devices in general. Anyone who has taken online drivers ed knows that you have to stop for a red light. And drivers running red lights are the cause of many injuries and fatalities.

Today we launched an updated igottadrive.com web site. To say it is an update is an understatement as we have added new content, made the site much easier to navigate, and added our online drivers ed program available in all 50 states. This article describes what is now available on the updated web site. Hopefully you will take a few minutes, check out our web site, and provide us with feedback via the "feedback" button.

Somtimes you have to wonder "What were they thinking" when you see a truly stupid move made by a driver. Here is the case of a driver who has made the move of passing a school bus using the sidewalk (yes, the sidewalk) a part of her daily routine. She was finally captured on video by the school bus driver one Tuesday morning while the school bus was loading children. She was eventually cited for not stopping for a school bus, but clearly this was a very dangerous move to both the children entering the bus as well as an pedestrians in the area.

The future may be coming to a road near you and will include some interesting features. Conceptualized by Dutch designer Dan Roosegaarde, smart roads will include special paints that glow in the dark and induction power for electric cars. These new road safety features will require only a minor update to current online drivers ed programs as they are mainly intuitive in nature.

The following video shows the application of glow in the dark paints and how the inductive charging lane would appear in future roads.

Black Ice, sometimes known as clear Ice, is a treacherous road condition that places drivers in a very dangerous situation with little or no warning. As with any form of ice, black Ice is very slippery and greatly reduces traction making it difficult to stop or turn. Generally, the ice forms when temperatures are below freezing (32°F or 0°C).

USAA, an insurance company dedicated to military personnel and veterans, has recently released the Returning Warriors study which examined driving incidents of returning military personnel from 2007-2010. The study included over 171,000 deployments to various overseas operations and compared the crash rates post return to their pre-deployment driving history.