A new service has been launched by a California company that it hopes will catch on. Prepaid traffic tickets. That’s right, pay for your speeding before it happens.

The company, Prepaid Traffic Tickets, founded by Keith Kelly, believes the tickets are a way to encourage safe driving. I think they’re just an invitation to speed.

“The idea came to me while playing Monopoly with my kids, when I drew the ‘Get-Out-of-Jail-Free’ card,” says Kelly. “As I picked up the card, I flashed back to a recent speeding ticket and resulting traffic school. A light bulb came on, the dots connected, and here we are.”

People buy vouchers in various amounts – from $50 to $200 – and for various lengths of time – from 60 days to 6 months. The retail prices vary from $10 up to $80 depending on the value of the voucher and length purchased. The company says one of the most popular vouchers is the $100 voucher, which costs just $13.33.

Will this catch on? And does it really promote safe driving? I doubt it, but Kelly certainly thinks so.

“Don’t get us wrong on this, please,” says Kelly. “We see these vouchers as a means of communicating the all-important message of safe driving. People who receive these vouchers, whether they keep them for themselves, or pass them along as a gift, should think of the vouchers like a string tied around their finger – as a reminder of something. In this case the message is: Drive safely, because it matters – to everyone.”

Prepaid Traffic Tickets is selling the vouchers to aftermarket automotive and motorcycle parts and accessory companies, but also sees traffic schools as a potential market. Really? We’re going to train teenagers to drive and then immediately give them a voucher that will help cover the cost of a speeding ticket and this somehow will promote safe driving?

I just don’t see how this “advancement” in safe driving techniques improves driving safety in any way? But, if anybody is looking for a gift for me this year, I could use a few vouchers.

I was flipping through an old issue of Fleet Owner – August 1990 to be exact – and what did I expect to find? Certainly not the story on truck weight limits on Page 10 by Thomas L. Moore, the magazine’s Washington Editor at the time.

The article, “Lifting truck weight limits,” read like it could have been written today. It detailed a report by the Transportation Research Board that recommended Congress relax federal weight limits and leave the determination up to individual states. The weight limit in 1990: 80,000 pounds, the same as today.

So, it was with great amusement that I read the article and saw all the same rational then that we see today for lifting the limits. The report talks about how raising the limit – it suggested 114,500 pounds for 5- or 6-axle vehicles with twin 48-ft. trailers and 131,000 pounds for vehicles equipped with nine axles – would improve productivity, save the trucking industry nearly $4 billion a year, and reduce the cost of moving goods – all positives.

It did note, as do the reports today, that the increased weight would put added pressure on roadways, but it suggested – ready for this? – higher user fees to recoup the money that would be needed to repair the roadways.

In fact, the report specifically stated that “unless revenues required to cover additional pavement and bridge costs are provided to highway agencies, the condition of the highway system will deteriorate, thereby increasing vehicle repair costs, travel delays, and accidents, while lowering fuel economy and adversely affecting driver comfort.”

The report added that allowing the heavier weights “would attract 23 million ton-miles of freight from rail to truck, representing a 2.2% reduction in rail traffic.”

There are now identical bills in both the Senate and House of Representatives that would boost the 80,000 pound weight limit to 97,000 pounds by adding a sixth axle.

And 20 years later, the same arguments still hold true.

A new survey by Manheim Auctions shows that only one out of every eight Britons trust their GPS navigation systems.

The survey found that more than 50% of British drivers own a GPS (or sat-nav in England). So why do so many people own something they don’t trust? According to the survey, 15% reported missing an important event, such as a job interview, because of the system. And 30% said they have had arguments with someone else in the vehicle because of the device.

And most interesting, more than one-third of Britons reported getting lost while using the GPS. I wonder how many of those instances were driver error – such as inputting the wrong address or missing a voice command.

“The sat-nav has revolutionized the way we navigate from A to B and has quickly become the car navigation gadget of choice,” said Craig Mailey, client services & marketing director, Manheim Auctions. “However, it’s always wise to exercise a degree of caution when using one and not follow it blindly. Some destinations cannot be pinpointed exactly and we’ve all heard horror stories of people stuck in dangerous places because they’ve only paid attention to the voice and not the road around them.”

I’d like to think if my GPS told me to turn left and there was a lake there, I’d be smart enough not to turn.

I used to hear people complain all the time about their GPS units, but not so much of late. My brother and sister once ran a “test” of their GPS units. Both set their GPS for the same destination using the shortest route criteria. Both were in the same vehicle. And yet each unit had them following a different route. Why? Isn’t there only one shortest route?

Whatever the problem is across the pond, the best advice I can give Britons would be to buy a map.

The Teamsters as an organization have received a lot of criticism over the years, but they are all human beings who support each other in times of need. It’s even in their official name – International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Well, the Teamsters family suffered a great loss two days ago, as did the state of Connecticut, when a disgruntled employee who had just been forced to resign his position as a truck driver at beer and wine distributor Hartford Distributors, opened fire, killing eight people and then himself in the state’s worst workplace shooting in its history.

The employee, identified as Omar Thornton, had allegedly been caught on tape offloading product from his truck into private vehicles, according to various local news reports. According to police, he was summoned to the facility on Tuesday morning where he was confronted with the evidence and told he could either resign or be fired. He chose resignation, and shortly thereafter, opened fired.

Among the dead were seven members of Teamsters Local 1035, including President Bryan Cirigliano, who tried to stop Thornton only to be shot himself. Steven Hollander, the company’s chief financial officer a member of the family which owns the distributorship, the largest in Connecticut, was also among those shot, luckily surviving the attack.

“My heart goes out to the victims and their families at this tragic time,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “Although no words can ease this terrible pain and loss, I hope those involved are able to take comfort in knowing that 1.4 million men and women are standing with them now and always.”

The victims:

William Ackerman, 51, Broad Brook

Bryan Cirigliano, 51, Newington

Francis Fazio, 57, Bristol

Louis Felder, 50, Stamford

Victor James, 60, Windsor

Edwin Kennison, 49, East Hartford

Craig Pepin, 60, South Windsor

Douglas Scruton, 56, Middleton, N.H.

To offer support to the families and community, the Teamsters have set up a memorial fund for the victims, several of whom were nearing or planning to retire soon.

Donations should be sent to:

Teamsters Local 1035 Hartford Distributors Memorial Fund

c/o Teamsters Local Union 1035

400 Chapel Road, 2-B

South Windsor, Connecticut 06074

As someone who lives in Connecticut, only about 30 minutes away from the site of this terrible tragedy, I urge anyone who can afford to make a donation of any kind to help out these families.