Michigan Republican To Stop Bridge Cards Being Issued To Dead People, And The Dead Aren't Grateful

Courageously risking the loss of a politically active and regularly-voting population in this state, Republican State Rep Tim Kelly is taking quite a chance in proposing legislation to prevent the issuance of Bridge cards (the modern food-stamp replacement) to deceased Michiganders.

The Detroit Free Press: Michigan lawmaker: No more Bridge Cards for the dead

The bill proposes to require what Human Services should already be doing: checking the death rolls monthly for anyone that may have died. If you're dead, no bridge card for you.

Whether this is the final straw that drives the dead to seek out human brains for sustenance is yet to be seen.

One thing is certain: This Republican sponsored bill certainly won't end, and if anything reinforces, the dead and undead's trend of voting straight-ticket Democrat.

Bearly Obvious

From this post on The Volokh Conspiracy on bears, I was pointed to this site on Bear Safety with this pretty obvious bit of advice:

· If the bear cannot be deterred and is intent on attack, fall to the ground as close to contact as possible and play dead.

· When the attack stops, remain still and wait for the bear to leave. If an attack is prolonged or the bear starts eating, you it is no longer being defensive.

Don't know how anyone could have figured that out. Of course for those following the advice above, I think by the time you realize the bear is eating you it is just a little late to shift tactics.

This must be a rhetorical headline: Detroit Free Press - How to avoid state seat belt crackdown

Umm, how about the blindingly obvious -- Wear your seatbelt?

Kind of self answering don't you think?

Apparently this is noted by the Detroit Free Press seatbelt inspection enforcement / checkpoint week in Michigan.

I saw one such zone this morning on Orchard Lake by Telegraph on the way to court this morning. Other than really slowing traffic by having a nice sign up saying "Seatbelt Enforcement Zone" (as if you don't have to wear them elsewhere)and an officer standing outside his patrol car diligently looking into everyone's window and presumably radioing seatbelt scofflaws to officers further up the way, it wasn't all that much.

Given that wearing a seatbelt is a major life saving device it only makes sense to wear it when you're driving, not to mention its required - outside the seatbelt enforcement zones and within.

Thank You, Car Captain Obvious

Minicars at risk in crashes

This headline wins the week's bleeding obviousness award, and its only Tuesday. (We can expect tomorrow's headline ("Your taxes are due today" or alternatively "Long lines at Post Office as people file their taxes at the last minute") to posibly beat it out.)

The sub headline is also a master of the obvious: Study finds smallest vehicles perform poorly in head-on accidents

That we need such a study is a triumph of the scientific method to confirm that which we all should certainly know (but in this blighted age of scientific ignorance probably don't) - when big and heavy hits small and light, typically small and light will come out the worse for it.

David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
The smallest cars on the road are at a high risk for damage and personal injury in frontal crashes with midsize sedans, a study released today finds.

And, the death rate in one- to three-year-old minicars -- vehicles most automakers are building or considering bringing to market -- was almost twice as high as the rate in very large cars in multiple vehicle crashes, according to the report from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an industry-funded group that prods automakers to improve the safety of vehicles.

The IIHS crashed a 2009 model Toyota Yaris into a larger Toyota Camry; a Smart Fortwo into a Mercedes C-Class; and a Honda Fit into a Honda Accord. Each vehicle was traveling at 40 mph. All three small cars performed poorly, while the larger vehicles were rated good or acceptable.

Frontal crashes are the most dangerous traffic accidents, causing about 15,000 out of roughly 40,000 U.S. traffic deaths annually.

"There are safety trade-offs with buying minicars," said Adrian Lund, IIHS president. He said larger, heavier hybrid vehicles may be a better choice, since they often get similar gas mileage but fare better in head-on collisions. "Though much safer than they were a few years ago, minicars as a group do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes."

This is called a trade-off - impressive fule economy in return for higher risk of injury in accidents, pushed by governmental CAFE standards and mandates.

Automakers are betting on smaller cars in the face of last year's $4 a gallon gasoline prices and higher government fuel-efficiency standards, which are pushing automakers to bring lighter, smaller vehicles to market. Federal fuel rules call for a 35 percent fleetwide average increase in fuel efficiency by 2020. To that end, Ford Motor Co. is bringing the Fiesta to the United States and General Motors Corp. is introducing the Chevrolet Cruze next year. Chrysler LLC is trying to finalize a deal with Italian automaker Fiat SpA, which would provide it with small vehicles. Volkswagen AG is considering bringing its minicar to the U.S. market as well.

Small cars are good for decent weather, intra-urban driving. On the highways or in Michigan snow, not so much.

The bootrom line: if you've got the cash for a fuel efficient car for in-city trips and enoguh for another for a vehicle that can actually haul your kids around, handle snow and offer some decent crash safety it might not be a bad idea to have a Smart or such as a second car. Solely having a Smart or similar unless you're an unattached, childless hipster that doesn't need to haul much around and doesn't need to travel much outside of the city streets probably won't make a lot of sense or safety.

Mind you, Obama may just change the nature of things by legislative Fiat and force all cars from now on to be built small.

Update: Instapundit has a link to Autoblog that refers to the same story and even has links to video of the crash tests. Some of the comments on Autoblog are truly priceless.