Under a new law that took effect in January, South Carolina has joined other states in taking a simple, smart step to curb the fraudulent use of handicapped parking placards by able-bodied jerks.

The new South Carolina placard includes a small photo of the handicapped person to whom the placard was issued.

The photo makes it more difficult for, say, a handicapped person's lazy nephew to get away with abusing handicapped parking privileges in commercial parking lots and on-street parking spots.

This looks like a good idea for North Carolina to consider. It could help free up handicapped spaces near mall entrances for the people who need them. It could reduce the numbers of non-handicapped slugs who park on the street all day in downtown Raleigh.

North Carolina recently changed the law slightly, to provide larger type for the placard expiration date. That's a tiny, timid improvement.

While we wait for our legislators to really strengthen the law, there's something our DMV could do on its own: Publish simple, clear information that spells out who can use handicapped parking placards -- and who can't.

Here's how the South Carolina DMV explains this in brochures and on its website: ... [MORE]

View Triangle potholes, 2010 edition in a larger map

A new crop of potholes is popping up all over after the recent spell of snow, ice and freezing weather.

Don't just curse the potholes, call 'em in. And while you're at it, pinpoint your pothole on our collaborative Google map. Instructions are below.

The 2009 pothole map was viewed nearly 20,000 times last winter and spring, and folks from all over the world used it to plot pesky potholes.

Most of these have been repaired in the past year, so today I wiped it clean (except for one near my house, which has sentimental value). The 2010 edition of our Triangle pothole map is waiting for your contribution.

TO MAP YOUR POTHOLE: ... [MORE]

Attention, Toyota drivers: If yours is one of 2.3 million Toyotas recalled for repair of a faulty gas pedal, Ray LaHood says you should park it until your dealer fixes it.

[2/4/10 update: see today's story with reader comments.] 

"My advice is...stop driving it. Take it to the dealer" so that the gas pedals can be fixed, LaHood, the U.S. transportation secretary, told a House committee in Washington today. Toyota has begun shipping repair kits to its dealers.

Do you drive one of the recalled cars? Have you had any problems with the gas pedal? Will you keep driving it, or will you heed LaHood's warning?

I'd like to hear from you.

Please call me (919-829-4527) or e-mail me (bruce.siceloff@gmail.com) to talk about your Toyota, your concerns and your plans.

Be sure to leave your daytime contact info so I can reach you.

Here's the Toyota recall website. And here's advice for Toyota drivers from USDOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

A father and daughter spoke candidly about how they text and telephone while they drive, and they got a lot of readers talking -- mostly, talking trash about the two of them.

As Buckley Strandberg said Tuesday (see this week's Road Worrier column with reader comments), he and his daughter Tyler were flamed online and harassed in real life after they discussed their driving habits in a Jan. 24 story ("Two can't stop phoning while driving").

Online editors at The N&O disabled online comments in the Jan. 24 story, because so many of them violated N&O guidelines against personal attack. But so far at least, there are dozens of comments online with this week's follow-up report.

And when they were republished at the Charlotte Observer's website, the Jan. 24 story and this week's follow-up drew more than 100 online comments apiece.

A Charlotte reader called meh4669 said the Strandberg stories, and the photos of Tyler's wrecked cars, should make other drivers think about being more careful:

I am not defending using cell phones while driving.

However, instead of being so critical of these two people who are trying to help the general population with their stories, how about we try to help those around us by reminding them that accidents such as those caused by the Strandbergs can really happen. I'm 100% certain that your grandchildren, children, friends, or other family members text or talk while driving, so why don't we show them these pictures and do something about it???

View I-40 / I-540 interchange in a larger map

The state Department of Transportation will start work this spring, and finish work by December, on a long-sought project to ease congestion at one of the Triangle’s worst rush-hour pinch points: the cramped interchange of Interstates 40 and 540 near Research Triangle Park.

DOT is about to award a $7.6 million contract to C.C. Mangum of Raleigh to add an outer lane that will ease morning backups on westbound I-540 and westbound I-40. The added lane will start on I-540 just south of the Pleasant Church Grove Road overpass, continuing into the exit collector lane and the off-ramp onto westbound I-40, ending at the Page Road exit.

Currently, morning commuters who exit I-540 there are funneled into a single lane that combines drivers bound for I-40 west (toward RTP) and I-40 east (toward Raleigh). Drivers exiting I-40 onto Page Road sometimes are backed up on I-40 and up the single-lane off-ramp from I-540.

When the work is finished late this year, drivers heading for eastbound I-40 won’t be stuck in line behind I-40 west drivers. ... [MORE]

It turns out that North Carolina will get a bit more money for high-speed rail than we first reported this morning: A total of $545 million.

The Federal Railroad Administration says North Carolina will receive $520 million to fund nearly 30 projects between Raleigh and Charlotte that will increase top train speeds to 90 mph and double the daily round trips along the corridor.

And another $25 million for work on a planned new line between Raleigh and Richmond. At the other end of that track, Virginia will receive $75 million toward its work to improve rail lines between Richmond and Washington, D.C.

We don’t know yet what all this means for the future.

The Raleigh-Charlotte money covers more than one-third of North Carolina’s total request for that corridor. Between Raleigh and Richmond, the $25 million is only a few drops of the state’s total request for $3.7 billion to establish 110-mph rail service.

So how do we stack up, nationwide? ... [MORE]

President Obama will make the big announcement Thursday morning in Tampa, explaining to the nation how he will divvy up $8 billion in high-speed and intercity rail money for projects in 13 rail corridors across the country.

North Carolina will get a personal announcement at 1:15 p.m. Thursday from Lisa Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator. She will come to Durham's new Amtrak depot to talk about our state's share of the train money.

Durham Mayor Bill Bell and spokespersons for the state Department of Transportation, U.S. Rep. David Price and U.S. Sen Kay Hagan said today they don't know yet how much money will be coming to North Carolina.

“None of my peers and my compatriots around the country know the details yet,” said Pat Simmons, the state DOT rail director. 

North Carolina and Virginia are developing the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor from Charlotte to Washington.  North Carolina seeks a total of $5.7 billion to improve tracks and train service between Charlotte and Raleigh, and to build a new rail shortcut that would cut 35 miles off the train trip between Raleigh and Richmond.

Citing unnamed White House sources, Washington press outlets report this morning that President Obama has chosen a wide distribution plan for the first $8 billion in federal high-speed and intercity passenger rail funds: 31 states will get money to start developing new high-speed rail corridors or to upgrade existing lines for faster train service.

The grants, to be announced Thursday in Tampa, will include grants on 13 major corridors and smaller awards to improve existing lines.

North Carolina is among the contenders for rail money, with a request for $5.7 billion to build out its fast-train network from Charlotte through Raleigh to Richmond. Virginia is picking up the plan for getting the train from Richmond to Washington. The two states began developing the planned Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor in the early 1990s.

When Obama announced the plan to invest in fast train networks a year ago, he called the $8 billion allocated by Congress in federal stimulus funds a "down payment." He proposed an additional $1 billion a year for the next five years.

In this year's budget, Congress has approved a second dose of $2.5 billion for high-speed and intercity rail. That money is expected to be distributed in coming weeks.

Ray LaHood, the U.S. transportation secretary, today announced a new ban on texting by drivers of trucks, large buses and other commercial vehicles.

“We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the roads with them to be safe,” LaHood said in a press release. “This is an important safety step and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving.”

The new ban takes effect immediately, outawing the use of phones and other wireless devices to send or receive e-mail and other text messages. It applies to interstate truckers and to commercial bus or van drivers who carry more than 8 passengers.

Drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750.

"Our regulations will help prevent unsafe activity within the cab,” said Anne Ferro, administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). “We want to make it crystal clear to operators and their employers that texting while driving is the type of unsafe activity that these regulations are intended to prohibit."

Federal research shows that drivers who send and receive text messages take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting.

Also at today's telephone press conference on the new rules, The News & Observer asked LaHood if he plans to announce high-speed rail grants on Thursday. His answer:

"Soon. Soon. Very soon. Thank you for your interest in high-speed rail."

President Obama will deliver his State of the Union Address Wednesday evening, and Thursday morning he’ll go to Tampa, Florida, with his vice president and transportation secretary.

So there’s talk in Washington that Obama plans Thursday to announce the winners of $8 billion in federal stimulus funds for high-speed and intercity passenger rail projects – and that Florida, of course, will be one of them.

What about us?

North Carolina is among the contenders for rail money, with a request for $5.7 billion to build out its fast-train network from Charlotte through Raleigh to Richmond. (Virginia is picking up the plan for getting the train from Richmond to Washington.)

Pat Simmons, rail division director for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, says he is optimistic but doesn’t know what will happen. Presumably, an announcement in Tampa would mention all the winners and not just Florida.

“I plainly do not know the details of that,” Simmons said today. “And I have tried really hard to find out.” ... [MORE]