Your address was "rural route" if you lived on a winding country road. As the term disappeared, so did the way of life it represented. This book will strike a responsive chord in the heart of those who warm at the thought of the "country".

Turn on a switch and from the nearest bulb out pours light from... somewhere; turn on a faucet and water appears. Wires, pipes, and roads support the lives we lead, but the average person doesn't know where they go or even how they work. In On the Grid, Scott Huler takes the time to understand the systems that sustain our way of life, starting from his own quarter of an acre in North Carolina and traveling as far as ancient Rome. Each chapter follows one element of infrastructure back to its source. Huler visits power plants, watches new asphalt pavement being laid, and traces a drop of water backward from the faucet to the Gulf of Mexico. He reaches out to guides along the way, both the workers who operate these systems and the people who plan them. On the Grid brings infrastructure to life and details the ins and outs of our civilization with fascinating, back-to-basics information about the systems we all depend on.

Following an in-depth review of the characteristics of road crashes in rural areas, the book proposes a series of safety measures, focusing on infrastructure management, enforcement, innovative tools, such as intelligent transport systems, and trauma management.

This book considers the problem of providing maximum access to transport services, and to roads for the rural population of the world's developing countries when limited funds are available. Access is a key factor in both social and economic development. It promotes social intercourse and opens up markets for both the rural and urban populations. Access connotes the ability to travel and to transport goods. The components of access include both the infrastructure and the transport modes or aids that use the infrastructure.

Drive to Survive: The Art of Wheeling the Rig provides an in-depth examination of fire apparatus vehicle dynamics. This is not your average “driver training” textbook. Fire apparatus operators must understand how a vehicle maneuvers at roadway speed, and more importantly…why does it crash? Just as a doctor cannot heal the human body without a thorough understanding of anatomy and physiology, an emergency vehicle operator cannot safely drive a fire apparatus without an in-depth knowledge of vehicle dynamics. Drive to Survive goes beyond talking about pump operations, aerial operations, and preventative maintenance; it fills in the gaps between vehicle dynamics and crash causation. After 15 years of training and research, Chris Daly developed a training program combining his fire service and crash reconstruction training experience. This book provides an in-depth knowledge of topics required in the following NFPA standards: --NFPA 1002 “Standard for Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator Professional Qualifications” --NFPA 1451 “Standard for Fire and Emergency Service Vehicle Operations Training Programs” --NFPA 1500 “Standard on Fire Department Occupational Health and Safety Program” Fire apparatus operators will learn the limits of driving an emergency vehicle and will understand that no matter how long they have been driving or how good they think they are, at some point physics will take over and the vehicle will lose control. We can reduce the number of emergency vehicle crashes throughout the world by addressing key issues and providing emergency vehicle operations course (EVOC) instructors with methods to convey these concepts. Concepts you learn in this book relate to more than just driving a fire apparatus. These principles apply to anyone who drives a vehicle, including your family members and loved ones.

For most people in the United States, going almost anywhere begins with reaching for the car keys. This is true, Christopher Wells argues, because the United States is Car Country—a nation dominated by landscapes that are difficult, inconvenient, and often unsafe to navigate by those who are not sitting behind the wheel of a car. The prevalence of car-dependent landscapes seems perfectly natural to us today, but it is, in fact, a relatively new historical development. In Car Country, Wells rejects the idea that the nation's automotive status quo can be explained as a simple byproduct of an ardent love affair with the automobile. Instead, he takes readers on a tour of the evolving American landscape, charting the ways that transportation policies and land-use practices have combined to reshape nearly every element of the built environment around the easy movement of automobiles. Wells untangles the complicated relationships between automobiles and the environment, allowing readers to see the everyday world in a completely new way. The result is a history that is essential for understanding American transportation and land-use issues today. Watch the book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48LTKOxxrXQ