Hurtful words
If you call an accident a crash, does it hurt more? According to Denver police the answer is yes. The number of fatal “crashes” in 2018 was higher than the number of fatal “accidents” in any of the previous 12 years. To the surprise of police, politicians, and federal bureacrats, changing the name did not […]
Is the coverup a crime?
Obstruction of justice. The phrase is in the air recently. Two incidents, one reported in the press and one not, straddle the line between bad record keeping and a crime. The Massachusetts State Police destroyed evidence of its corruption. Massachusetts RMV hid evidence of police misconduct. Obstruction of justice? Maybe not. The recent string of […]
Three felonies a shift
It’s hard to commit just one crime. Voluminous indictments are routine in the federal system. A single act can be many crimes and a continuing crime can be divided into discrete events. So Judge Mark Wolf was skeptical when corrupt police officers were allowed to plead guilty to just one minor crime. The Massachusetts State […]
The game of life
We have another episode of “signs as toys.” The city of Medford, Massachusetts earned a lot of media attention by putting school children in charge of traffic control. A picture shows a row of children standing behind a row of ramps. As I see it, drivers are supposed to hit the ramps and fly over […]
Jumping to conclusions
“Flashing lights have boosted intersection safety,” proclaimed the headline on the local news site. After four months, flashing red lights on stop signs were declared successful. I was immediately suspicious. In Lincoln signs are for public relations and nobody understands intersection safety. It’s not impossible that a flashing light on top of a stop sign […]
Unfit to fit
In 2017 academic researchers got a lot of press when they showed putting a tiny sticker on a stop sign could turn it into a speed limit sign. The human eye was not fooled. Machine vision was. In 2019 ticket industry lobbyists got a lot of press when they turned a change in speed limits […]
The love of money
The word that got all the media attention shouldn’t have been a surprise to anybody. Quotas. A federal prosecutor said Massachusetts State Police had ticket quotas. Eight to ten tickets per four hours or they would have their pay cut. It’s only news if you’re not paying attention. The same situation was reported years ago. […]
Catch 22
We all know that failing a field sobriety test is evidence against you. The Massachusetts Court of Appeals reminds us that passing one can be too. At a DUI trial the prosecution has to show that you were intoxicated and that you were driving. That’s two separate facts. It’s not DUI if you’re not driving. […]
Ned Lamont’s nose
I wonder if anybody believed candidate Ned Lamont when he said he didn’t plan to toll cars. Other people, out of state trucks, not you voters. As election opponent Bob Stefanowski warned, he was lying. With the election won Connecticut governor Lamont revealed his true plan, tolls for all. Tolls are addictive. The first proposal […]
Formula for failure
A Massachusetts town got a bucket of money to grease some squeaky wheels. Connecticut towns got a forest of signs to make some squeaky wheels. Taking money and giving it back is how higher government justifies its existence. The town of Weymouth was rewarded for chanting a rhyming slogan. Part of the reward, paid out […]