Whose lane is it, anyway?
I thought the car parked across the sidewalk was blocking the old woman on a walker, but it was parked there for her to enter. Which is still illegal(*). Sidewalks are no standing zones as well as no parking zones. Traffic authorities make everything illegal and trust police to overlook little old ladies boarding, politicians […]
Obey or die!
Newspaper editors are a conflicted bunch. They tend to be socially liberal, but there’s one way most of them want the government to crush subjects under a metaphorical boot heel. That’s by speed enforcement. Editors at The Day want camera enforcement of speed limits I-95 in Connecticut. They sent a reporter onto I-95 with instructions […]
A look back at 2017
As 2017 ends, here’s a look back at some of the driving news. Some things don’t change. Around the country, a few VIPs got caught but most got away with saying “do you know who I am?” Our gas tax dollars paid police to write speeding tickets. States considered bills to keep drivers from blocking […]
Pick a number
The bag of cat treats had an oddly specific recommendation: a cat could have up to 17 per day. Why exactly 17, I wondered. In high school I was taught the difference between accuracy and precision. I would have had a red mark on my test if I made such a recommendation. Cats vary a […]
Welcome to the future
I’ve always liked dystopian fiction. I took May 3, 2010 off work so I could reread the classic SF novel Stand on Zanzibar (set on that day, four decades hence). In music, I like Billy Joel’s “Miami 2017” (also four decades ahead) about the decline and fall of New York City. Happily, overpopulation is not […]
Stand by your man
Can you name the bad police forces in your area? Off the top of my head I’ll pick Worcester, Springfield, Revere, Abington, and Stoughton. I’m not talking routine speed traps, I mean real problem cases. Robbery, burglary, major civil rights violations. How do they get that way? One reason is, it’s almost impossible to fire […]
Faith-based governing
A recent news release sounded like transportation officials had joined a 12-step program. “All Vision Zero cities acknowlege …” it declared. That article landed in my inbox shortly after I belatedly read Gabrielle Glaser’s award-winning article “The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous.” AA is one of the biggest faith-based programs out there. Have you been ordered […]
Do me a favor, die in a fire
Seventy-five years ago this week a fire in a Boston nightclub killed 492 people. In 1943 the National Fire Protection Association published a report on the disaster. The NFPA did not call for sweeping new laws. “We cannot believe, however, that this disaster is chargeable to any deficiency in the law.” The real problem was […]
They didn’t care who she was
A routine coverup blew up into big news in Massachusetts recently. State Police arrested a woman for driving drunk and under the influence of the heroin she had in the car. She said she traded sex for drugs. The officers put that confession in their report. She also said daddy would be furious. Daddy is […]
Manufacturing violations in Saratoga
The Mercury News described a typical crosswalk sting. Santa Clara County deputies went to Saratoga recently to enforce a law they made up. They say if a deputy steps into the street 90 feet in front of a moving car, the driver must stop. 89 feet, don’t have to stop. 90 feet, have to stop. […]