University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, August 22, 1990
5
U.S. motorists like to drive
Survey finds New York City drivers worst in country
The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Most people in the United States like to drive, but they don't know as much about it as they might think.
Valvoline's second annual poll of U.S. motorists found that 81 percent of American drivers love or like to drive, and 16 percent said they dislike driving.
But when asked 10 questions about causes of accidents, how to avoid them and how to survive them, not one of the 500 licensed drivers participating in the poll answered all of them correctly.
Other findings in the poll, issued Monday by the automotive products subsidiary of Ashland Oil Inc., were that:
- Thirty percent of those surveyed rated New York City drivers the worst. Los Angeles was second, with 10 percent.
Fifty-four percent said they were better than other drivers, while 43 percent said their driving habits were worse than others as others in their cities and towns.
Nineteen percent said they always observed speed limits, and 58 percent said they did so most of the time. Seventeen percent said they sometimes obeyed speed signs, but 5 percent said they hardly ever did and 1 percent said they always ignored posted speed limits.
- Thirty-two percent said gender was not a factor in driving skills, 36 percent said men were better drivers and 28 percent responded that they had two percent of those surveyed were women, and 45 percent were men.
The 10 true-or-false questions on driving safety and accident avoidance included ones on where and when most traffic deaths occur (rural, and at night); whether accidents are primarily because of mechanical failures (no); and whether seat belts give you a better or worse chance of escaping a burning or submerged vehicle (yes, but better or worse? — just 28 percent got this right).
Drivers also got to express what drives them crazy about other motorists. At the top of the list was failure to use turn signals, cited by 24 percent.
Other bad habits mentioned were cutting off or pulling in front of other drivers, driving too slowly and tailgating.
On driving issues, 90 percent said motorcyclists should be required by law to wear helmets, and 79 percent said air bags should be standard equipment in passenger cars and trucks.
Only 30 percent said they did not want permissible blood-aleohol levels lowered to tough drunkenness. Only 20 percent said they wanted stricter laws.
fifty-seven percent agreed that alternative fuels, such as methanol and natural gas, are practical alternatives to gasoline.
The nationwide poll was conducted in June through random telephone calls by Fleishman-Hill Research Inc. of St. Louis. Its reported margin of error was 4 percentage points to 6 percentage points.
Fall TV drama looks at environment
The Associated Press
"I used to be a chemist, and I can still boil water." he said.
Gerard worked as a chemist in his native Arkansas after college. He said he was in line to become vice president of the company when he decided to become an actor.
In the series, which debuts Saturdays this fall, Gerard has an elite environmental group called E.A.R.T. Force. It stands for Earth Alert Research & Tactical Headquarters.
The group's mission is to protect the environment from criminals polluting the world's resources and from natural disasters.
person.
"When I first began discussing this project, I asked, where are we going?" Gerard said. "They said it would not be a crisis of the week. People get bored with that. We're here to show them the roles, with an overview of the environment. If we tell about an oil spill, the story will be about its effect on one
"We also want to show people how they can deal with a big issue like, say, depletion of the ozone level. People think they might not be able to cope." And they do, people watch the show and do something, it'll make a big difference."
The series, the fourth for Gerard,
also stars Joanna Pacula, Robert
Knepper and Clayton Rohner, and
two Australian performers, Tiffany
Lamb and Stewart Finley-McLennan. It is a joint American-Australian production and will be made in Australia.
Gerard plays Dr. John Harding, a heart surgeon and geneticist and a former Green Beret.
"There seem to be some people in the environmental movement who seem more intent in polarizing issues than solving them," Gerard said.
Gerard said he hoped to be able to go to Australia early enough to find a place on the beach to practice his avocation, scuba diving. He also hopes to be close enough to the Great Barrier Reef to get in some diving
First, he is off for several days at a training program in Georgia conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency. There he will study techniques of surveillance and gathering evidence.
Gerard made his series debut in the title role of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" on NBC in 1979. He starred in two other short-lived series, "Sidekicks" and "Nightingales." The latter show caused protests from nursing groups for its sexy portrayal of student nurses.
When Gerard decided to switch to acting, he studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. He drove a taxicab at night. He worked as an extra on the 1970 movie "Love Story" and the 1984 musical "The Dot." The next six years. He also had a role on the soaen poema "The Doctors."
He used his business experience to start a production company and star in a low-budget feature film, "Hooch." He moved to California to play Lee Grant's lover in "Airport 77."
A guest appearance on "Little House on the Prairie" led to starring in a pilot movie written, directed and produced by Michael Landon. The next year, he landed the title role in "Buck Rogers."
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