by Oneaboveall » Wed 18 May 2011, 14:08:26
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MarkJ', 'T')he problem most of our local working poor have is the "total cost" of transportation, including purchase price, high-interest/high markup vehicle financing, insurance, poor insurance, maintenance, repairs, tolls, tickets, towing, impound fees, parking space rental, lack of warranty, uncovered damages, gas, oil etc.
Many of our working poor live in urban areas with zero, or limited parking, so they'd have to rent parking spaces, or pay tickets, towing and impound fees.
High gas prices are a drop in the bucket compared to total expenses, but they certainly add insult to injury and/or may be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Many lack the common sense, knowledge and skills to maintain their vehicles and/or perform relatively simple repairs, so the cost of new vehicles, or professional labor, parts and parts markup is often unaffordable.
I could (and have) given free vehicles to various income challenged workers and job seekers, but all of them ended up losing their vehicles due to the above mentioned expenses.
Much of our local working poor have never had a driver's license, or they have a suspended driver's license.
When we run DMV checks on many job seekers, many of them have had their license suspended for driving without insurance, registration, inspection, for driving with switched plates, for failure to turn in license plates, for failure to pay numerous tickets, failure to pay child support, or DUI.
Many can't afford past tickets, fines, registration penalties, legal fees etc, so they can't get their driver's license back, and can't register a vehicle.
When New York added the OBDII check to the annual safety/emissions inspection, they really screwed many of the working poor. I've seen many people that junked, or sold their vehicles since they couldn't afford the cost of emissions related diagnostic fees, parts, parts markup and labor.
Due to plate readers on squad cars, plus more and more roadblocks, substantially more drivers are caught driving without insurance, registration, inspection, licenses etc. Penalties and surcharges are much higher as well.
To work in many growth industries (home health care for example), job seekers and workers need reliable personal vehicles and clean driving records.
Many local job seekers can't even get a job delivering pizzas since they don't own a vehicle, they don't have a driver's license, or they have a poor driving record.
Many low income households rely on a single vehicle for transportation, so when they no longer have a vehicle, all working household members are screwed.
Since many areas aren't served by transit, many low income residents use taxi services, but these services are too expensive for many job seekers and workers, especially lower wage workers, or part-time workers.
Much of our local working population drives 100 plus miles per-day back and forth to work 5 or 6 days per week and/or between customers/clients homes in many service industry jobs.
I've always wondered how come the debate is framed in terms of greedy Americans wanting to drive around big gas-guzzling SUVs, but stuff like this is rarely mentioned.
When the banksters want something, our policymakers move with the speed of Mercury and the determination of Ares. It’s only when the rest of us need something that there is paralysis.
How free are we today with the dominance of globalist capital and militarized security apparatus?
. He wuz going 15 mph in a 30 mph zone. He then blocked me @ an intersection, we had a few words, then @ the next intersection he stopped and waited, when I went on his right side and made a right hand turn he peeled out got along side of me and tried running me into ppls lawns. Finaly I got close enough to him and started kicking in his door with my right foot. At this point he quit. I swear, If'n I wuz carrying, I would have drawn my gun @ this crazy person. 
