Look Under Your Wheels

Diner in Weston, West Virginia

Driving down the highway, tank full of gas, GPS on a clean windshield, some CDs in the player, and time spread out before me is still a lot of fun many years after my first time behind the wheel. The U.S. Highway System works so well for wandering. Signage of all kinds, guard rails, rumble strips, speed limits, patrol cars, and divided highways make it relatively safe. Rest areas and travel centers let us stretch our legs, walk our dog, and we find comfort and information inside. Truck stops and roadhouses that are easy to access have friendly waitresses, inexpensive meals, and often local color.

The System was in great shape when I was learning to drive in the mid-1960s, and it seems so still if you can use it before and after rush hour and in fair weather. On my recent 5,345 mile trip over 30 days and 11 different states in the eastern U.S. I was able to get from city to city without slowdowns, could exit for city centers and get back on easily, and cross rivers on beautiful bridges.

It’s a great system for leisure and exploration, but don’t go near it when it’s congested. The traffic dragon consumes millions of hours, millions of dollars in lost time, is the enemy of commerce and trade, and, no doubt, a huge contributor to one of our worst public health problem – stress.

Everyone’s talking again about the high cost of gas.  A small part of it is the 18.4 cents federal tax. (You’ll find what you’re paying in state tax per gallon posted at the pump; the average is $.30) In Europe such tax in about 20 times greater, but we’re not Europe, hey, and don’t want the federal government telling us what to do. That federal tax does cover about half of the cost of maintenance and improvements for our fabulous highway system, a system feeding our economy and our security that along with social security and a balanced budget, we want as our legacy. We could do much worse than re-vitalizing our infrastructure for the new century, increasing the incentive for more fuel-efficient transportation, and reducing highway stress.