The dangers of jacked-up vehicles ....

Semitrailer trucks and buses are not the only high-profile vehicles on the highways these days. There's a new "monster" on the road, with jacked-up pickup trucks and SUVs becoming an increasing safety concern.
Not only are frames of the newer trucks and SUVs generally built higher off the ground, but some pickups along the Wasatch Front and nationally are being raised above the legal limits — to almost resemble monster trucks.
They may look cool, but vehicles raised too high off the ground lose some of their braking and are more prone to roll, officials say. They also pose a greater hazard — especially to lower-clearance cars.
It's not that these jacked-up trucks are necessarily getting in more accidents, it is simply that when they do, the accident is more severe.
Thus, these vehicles are a danger to themselves and others.
Besides compromising some control over their vehicle by being raised too high, the bumper of these vehicles will thus usually be above the bumper of any vehicle they may crash into.
This means it bypasses the safety of a bumper and so the crash will put the other vehicle more likely inside the cab of the vehicle it crashes into.
A report by the nonprofit American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators states that other motorists can be at severe risk in a collision because a modified truck can ride over the top of and even crush a car.
(Now in fairness, sometimes this extra height is actually a plus. For example, my wife crashed into the rear of the jacked-up vehicle on I-15 a few years ago. She luckily wasn't going extremely fast and her bumper went underneath the raised SUVs bumper and thus sustained far less damage to the front of her car than if she had struck the bumper outright.)
Utah law states that motor vehicles with a gross weight of less than 4,500 pounds can have the lowest part of their frames 24 inches off the ground. For vehicles 4,500 to 7,499 pounds the allowed height is 26 inches, and it is 28 inches for vehicles 7,500 pounds or greater.
Violators face a class C misdemeanor, a fine of up to $750.
Look at some jacked up vehicles on Utah's roads and you can clearly single out some that are clearly in violation.
So, the smaller the vehicle, the less it can be legally jacked up.
How do they get such illegal vehicles inspected and registered?
1. They get their jacked up vehicle inspected when it has regular, low tires on it. After the inspection, they put oversize tires on their vehicle.
2. They convince a friend at an inspection station to pass them anyway.
The Utah Highway Patrol is supposed to enforce this law, but if they do (and that looks to be rarely), they simply send it back to an inspection station.
I'd like to warn all illegal jacked-up vehicle owners that if they get into an accident, they will be an easy target to sue, whether the accident is your fault or not.
Is that worth your extra cool look, to be sued for all you own, let alone the harm you may cause the occupants of a vehicle that crashes into you.
(The photo above is of a jacked-up vehicle I spotted in Farmington recently. Based on its small size, I believe it is almost certainly raised higher than the legal limits. Also note that it lacks a front license plate, another violation of state law.)


.

Grace, Idaho — A town that time forgot!

I've done a fair amount of traveling around the west in the past 3 decades and one peculiar town that stands out in my mind is Grace, Idaho.

Located in S.E. Idaho, north of Preston, southwest of Soda Springs and about 150 miles north of Salt Lake City, this town has changed LESS in the past 40 years than any other Mountain West town I've ever come across.

I had grandparents who had a big farm on the northeast side of Grace, just across the Bear River bridge and straight north of the "Grace" (Alexander) Dam.

My parents used to take the family up there about once a month, so I went there a lot in my early years. It was a second home.

I also worked two summers in Grace for an uncle, changing sprinkler pipe and other farm duties.

Those who live there would probably not even notice the lack of change, but as an outsider, I have.

Here's proof how Grace has changed little:

--Listed population of Grace is about 975 residents now. If I recall right, it had 400 or so people 40 years ago. That's just over double, but far less percentage change than the majority of the towns out there.

--The city has gained no new shopping complexes in that 40 years. The city's Main Street is virtually the same size as 40 years ago and less in some respects. No Wal-Mart will likely ever locate here.

--No roads have been widened here. (There is a 4 lane road going in 4 miles north of town, between Lava Hot Springs and Soda Springs, but that's it.)

--There are still no traffic signals in town.

--Traffic still seems as sparse as it did 30-40 years ago.

--The town's airport, north of Grace, is virtually abandoned.

--There are relatively few new homes in Grace, compared to most other towns in the west.

So, for good or bad, Grace remains a quiet, off the beaten track kind of town.

It is the kind of place where you want to stand and spend ½ hour or so in every visit, just pondering the open farm fields, the absolute quiet — few airplanes fly over, little traffic noise — and just soak it all in.

I'm not sure I could live there, it may be TOO quiet. But it is a complete contrast to the populous Wasatch Front to the south.

-ALSO, the top photograph above is a view looking north from the Rigby Farm in north Grace toward the end of the Wasatch Mountains. That view is essentially unchanged in more than 50 years -- no houses or extra development is there. Surely there are few places as unchanged as this.

AND,  to conclude, here are few Grace facts/fallacies:

--The mountains east of Grace are NOT the Bear River Mountains. These are the Wasatch Mountains, traceable directly to Utah. They are not a side range, like the Wellsville Mountains, either. These Wasatch Mountains dead end at Soda Point, north of Grace.

--Grace was settled by non-Mormons in 1865 and after Brigham Young sent church members to settle there in the 1870s, tensions grew. The Bear River became a boundary of sorts then. If you were Mormon, you were supposed to live on the east side of the Bear River; and non-Mormons the west side. In those days, the Grace valley was called the "Gentile Valley." It was not renamed Gem Valley until the early 20^th Century, when religious tensions finally eased.

--Where's Soda Spring? I mean, the Soda water springs? There's a Hooper Springs, north of town, but no Soda. Is it the geyser in town? No. Soda Springs, a springs, is now located under Alexander reservoir, which backs up the Bear River. Also, "Soda Springs" was not that water source's original name either. "Beer Springs" was what trappers first called it. Mormon settlers obviously changed the name later.

-Photos above are (top to bottom) : 1. The unchanged in 50-plus years view looking north of the Rigby Farm; 2. North entrance sign to Grace (and my mother, Norma);3. The north end of the Wasatch Mountains (also sometimes called "Soda Point); 4. The Last Chance Canal Arch/flume in N.E. Grace, along the Bear River.)

Waiting in long Amusement Park lines may actually be a good thing sometimes

The next time you may choose to complain about waiting in long lines, especially at amusement parks -- recall this personal story that happened to me and shows that sometimes the absence of lines or waiting can actually be detrimental!

My personal experience last April at the Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah illustrates what I mean:

Lagoon was unusually uncrowded that day. Essentially, from 10-11:30 a.m., there were no lines and only 100 or so people in the park at most.

My 13-year-old son, Taylor, and I did a personal record of 10 rides in less than 60 minutes. That’s five consecutive times riding Wicked, a world-class roller coaster; and single rides for the Spider, Colossus; Wild Mouse; Rock-o-Plane; and the wooden Roller Coaster. We narrowly missed the start of Turn of the Century, before the full hour was gone, or we’d have hit 11 rides.

(Our previous record was seven rides in an hour.)

We were the only two people on some of these rides. The downside is I started to get sick (headache, nausea) for the first time ever on amusement rides and even my son felt a little sick.

That’s because with no lines to wait for, you can literally ride yourself sick! No time to rest or recover in between. I had to go home, lay down and required several hours to recover from that compact span of riding. My son was recovered in 15 minutes, though.

So, the next time you complain about long lines, remember the possible alternative to no lines! They may have a hidden benefit.

(Photo is the Wicked Roller Coaster.)

NOTE: All the above is my own, independent opinion. Lagoon gives me no pay, perks or compensation.