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Posts Tagged ‘mud’
There are speeding tickets and penalties for driving drunk. But if an obscure provision in Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget proposal becomes law, motorists in Maryland will have another sanction to worry about: a fine for bad driving.
Get caught going 85 on the highway twice in two years? On top of the $1,080 in traffic fines you’ve earned, you’d owe the state $1,500. There would be a new fee for drunken driving too: A conviction would cost an additional $500 every year for three years.
A driver who didn’t pay the surcharge could see his or her license suspended.
via Extra fine for bad driving part of proposed state budget – Baltimore Sun.
(Now this is really odd. Vallario, also a Democrat, was vehemently opposed to drunk driving penalties that involved installing breathalyzers in repeat offender’s cars. His pal O’Malley would like to tax them. and hard. I suppose he sees a revenue stream. Statistically the gov-man knows drunks will drink and drive again and then owe more taxes. He also already knows that drivers in our state have developed bad habits that could – help with revenue! O’Malley and his pals would seem like heroes zapping the bad guys. the think so because they believe the right thinks so.
Well, if you have not yet guessed it, I DID NOT vote for Mr. O’Malley and his henchmen. He’s a progressive. The means justifies the end and if he can “justify the means” he believes he will achieve his end.
Yes drunks and bad drivers deserve what they get, but I believe that that the MUD license tag is a better idea. Hitting the bad driver in the pocket book is just the cost of driving and will not in any way effect behavior.
Behavior is changed by people who want to change their behavior. At STOP the MUD we insist that people will and can change their behavior when enough good examples surround them.
What is O’Malley going to do about the state government employees that drive recklessly? How about the police? The off duty police and their families with FP and FOP plates? The firefighters? I’m guessing the good old boys will protect themselves unless HONEST police and fire managers step in to change things.
At STOP the MUD we believe that MAN CAN GOVERN HIMSELF without the help of people like O’Malley. It is high time Marylanders decided to drive safely for safety and to protect themselves from Annapolis.)
“Just before Thomas Johnson bridge to St. Marys county. 45mph zone that nobody sees or cares about. State and local boys set up shop on south bound shoulder just after curve in front of Navy Recreation Center. Have seen as many as eleven squad cars at once!”
(A VERY revealing insight into the mind of the Maryland Unsafe Driver:)
via Solomons Maryland Speed Traps | The National Speed Trap Exchange.
The NMA website has a sister site that lists popular locations of police radar enforcement. They call them speed traps. While I hate to use this language, the moron who left the above comment regarding frequent police presence on southbound Route 4 at the Navy Rec Center is too removed from reality to understand the reason for the 45 MPH speed limit at this location. The comment is telling about the mindset of the majority of drivers in our state. The mindless drivel of this contributor makes us wonder how the guy matured enough to even get a driver’s license.
As you enter Solomons, Maryland you must slow to 45 MPH. The Route 4 posted speed limit is 55 MPH but colloquially the speeds are 65 plus with a large percentage at well over 70. Drivers DO NOT slow down at the speed limit change. Drivers continue on as though no hazards and no populated community even exists.
As drivers pass the firehouse on Route 4 the jockeying for position at high speed begins. Drivers in the number one lane tighten up their distance from each other to prevent drivers from the number two lane from merging left. A merge is required to continue travel over the southbound lane of the Thomas Johnson Bridge into St. Mary’s County. Aggressive drivers in the number two lane are more than willing to change lanes quickly without signaling.
The aggressives ignore or hassle drivers traveling locally. Solomons is a local shopping and residential area. It is also the location of Southern Maryland’s largest senior community, a major Naval recreation community, and an extremely popular boating, fishing, and harbor location.
The idiot writing the description of the “speed trap” hasn’t put all of this together. The right turns, left turns, the boats being towed on trailers, the traffic forming up for the bridge, the presence of a major fire house, and the fact that Solomons is a major recreational and tourist location does not play into this moron’s way of thinking. Driving safety doesn’t apply only his desire to drive as he pleases regardless of everyone else.
The police are there because this stretch is a very dangerous location where few drivers obey the traffic regulations.
So is this guy your hero? He isn’t ours. At StoptheMUD we are happy that the police cite law breakers at this location. What might be as productive is citing the tailgaters and aggressive drivers that drive through here on an hourly basis.
You can watch the MUD on a state camera positioned on the St. Marys side of the bridge if you are curious.
How we think of traffic regulations needs to change. The regulations are there not because the state is trying to control the masses for no good reason. The traffic regulations and laws are there to remind drivers that if we all observe them we might LIVE to reach our destination. We would wager that a number of residents of the Solomons do CARE about the driving behaviors moving toward and off of the bridge. They might even wish the moron would take the long way around if he minds so much that he has to drive safely in their community.
Vallario, a Prince George’s County Democrat and a defense attorney, has long been viewed as the chief
Politician
obstacle to passage of tough drunk-driving legislation in Maryland.
(The politics of Maryland Unsafe Driving. Vallario’s MUD.)
Responding to public criticism, the superintendent of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police defended on Monday fines against two men who rescued a deer from the icy Patapsco River.
via DNR defends fining of two men who rescued deer from river – baltimoresun.com.
(The Sun also has an interesting opinion on the “rescue” that I agree with. The e pair of “rescuers” jeopardized their lives to rescue a wild animal in an unsafe manner.
Not to be cynical, but it seems to me that every Marylander interested in helping save the deer population could drive slower (safely) in areas where deer tend to cross roadways and perhaps we would have fewer deer on the side of the road.
StopTheMUD supports our DNR officers in this matter.)
Drivers faced a long slog through the darkness as slippery roads made the ride home dangerous and delayed those those who depend on public transit.
Michael Bolden aka/Dr. Gridlock wrote about yesterday’s commute home after our say long snow. Read it at the Washington Post:
via Dr. Gridlock – A rough commute home.
(I was in the mess driving from Solomons to Huntingtown. I witnessed a jerk tailgating a snow plow. Yes a snow plow. The plow was in the fast lane pushing dangerous snow off the road but the moron behind him has to aggressively show his impatience anyway. So what did the MUD do? He pulled his tiny car into the MIDDLE of highway 4 straddling the center line and stayed there. He cause a line of traffic in the slow lane to slow suddenly. As I did the sign of the cross, the plow turned left moving away from the MUD. The MUD drove on well above 50 miles and hour while the rest of us continued praying. The rest of the commute was not much better. Some of the worst driving I have seen – again. This included the “hero” in the big gray pick up truck less than a car length off my rear bumper on Plum Point Rd. I finally performed the PORK maneuver allowing him to speed off and hurt someone else besides me.
During the twenty-five mile trip home I never saw one police officer. Marylanders do not appear to be afraid of the consequences of unsafe driving. Sadly, most of us should get MUD in our stockings this year or Santa should just fly by and ignore Maryland.)
In Maryland, Prince George’s County leads the state in traffic fatalities.
Karen Bune at policeone.com wrote an article that should get every Maryland resident’s attention:
via Traffic safety grant helps Md. PD crack down on DUIs.
(At StoptheMUD we think our fatality problem is more than just DUI’s. Perhaps if people believed more strongly in traffic safety laws generally and violating those laws was un-cool, perhaps folks would think twice about driving drunk?)
The Diamondback’s editorial cartoon, a blatant shot at Pete DeSouza’s injury. Via Patrick Stevens and Jeff Barker. The team is, uh, mildly upset about it.And I agree; it’s just classless. The guy broke two of his legs and could’ve died. Aside from just being unfunny what’s the point of the joke, is she saying that football players are now naturally inclined to crash on scooters?, it’s extraordinarily insensitive.
(StoptheMUD agrees! The cartoon is tasteless, insensitive, but telling. Marylanders appear to be more ready to joke about the proximate causes of injury and death on our roads rather than do something about it. What the heck is funny about this? How about getting students together to let them know what happened and why so that collisions like it never happen again. There is nothing funny about a collision that breaks someone’s legs. We give the author a grade of F. Fail!
And excuse me school paper, where is the University on scooter policy now? Reading the comments on this article at Testudo I read that some students are fed up with the athletes driving scooters in an unsafe manner. Is that true? What is being done about it? We are back to StoptheMUD’s “example setter” argument. Athletes should be setting an example in school. Perhaps if they do the world will have fewer bad examples in professional sports. The University had better investigate this and share with everyone the final results. As a taxpayer I want to know and we believe the parents of students ought to know. Bottom line if you cannot drive safely on campus then you will not drive on campus.
Our prayers for a recovery go to the victim of this tragedy and to all of his family and friends.)
For the past two years StopBigBrotherMD.org has been documenting the expansion of speed cameras in Maryland. Last year a bill sponsored championed by Governor O’Malley authorized the use of speed cameras in school zones and freeway work zones anywhere in the state. We argued that this new power would be abused, that it would diminish the legal rights of drivers, subject drivers to mass surveillance, and that it would be viewed as a cash cow by local governments and a way of taxing out of town drivers.
Read the ENTIRE article at StopBigBrotherMD.org:
(StoptheMUD.org (no affiliation) has mixed feelings. On the one hand, unsafe driving in Maryland is pandemic. Aggressive behavior is common. Few people stop at red lights and stop signs especially for right turns. Traffic deaths remain in the 500-600 range every year. Then on the other you have politicians that look more to traffic cams as revenue generators after having skipped education and traffic enforcement. Red light cams make enforcement less personal and that’s good for the politician because then the politician does not have to support the police and really tick off constituents.
There are way too many bad drivers but StoptheMUD believes the problem is best fixed by our citizens deciding to obey the law. There would be NO REASON for traffic cams if most of us drove safely and not the other way round. Our energy should be directed at changing behaviors that are killing people. )
The trooper explained that Roylance had just run afoul of a new law, which took effect Oct. 1 and has been woefully underreported by myself and others, requiring motorists to move over by a lane or to slow down when passing an emergency vehicle on the side of the road with its red or blue lights on.
via Flashing lights say: ‘Move over’ – baltimoresun.com.
(STOP the MUD agrees with Michael Dresser that this new law was woefully under reported. Maryland now requires, as does West Virginia that we are aware of, drivers to move left (or right as the case may be) or slow down (if movement is not possible) when passing emergency vehicles on the side of the road. Maryland SHOULD BE using roadside signs to warn drivers as West Virginia is doing.
Stop the MUD hopes that public safety employees both on and off duty will extend the SAME safety conscious behavior to Maryland drivers. Maybe it can even be done by not having to legislate the requirement. We’d like to see:
- Public safety vehicles driving the speed limit when said vehicles do not have their emergency lights activated.
- Public safety vehicles beginning to stop for yellow lights instead of blasting through the intersection.
- Wise use of lights and siren and department policies limiting the number of units using lights and sirens going to the same event.
- Mandatory emergency vehicle training for law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical employees.
- Drivers of public safety vanity plates OBEYING the traffic laws.
- Public safety vehicles stopping at red lights and stop signs.
- Stop tailgating vehicles in the number one lane at excessive speeds and allowing other vehicles to tailgate the public safety vehicle.
We want YOU to start setting the example on Maryland roads and highways now that you have legislated YOUR safety – and really didn’t go out of your way to tell us.)
Last May, Rhonda Callahan was critically injured after a teenaged driver struck her 1934 Chevy Street Rod on Route 301 in Bowie, Md., police said. Callahan’s husband of 30 years, Doug, was killed.
Police say the teen involved in the crash ran a stop sign and was likely texting at the time.
Read the ENTIRE story at NBC Washington:
via Tragedy Precedes Maryland Cell Phone Ban | NBC Washington.
(STOP the MUD’s initial observations after October 15, are not good. In an hour’s time on state highway 4 in Calvert County two drivers, one male and one female were seen yakking away. We have speed laws and stop sign laws that are rarely observed. What will the laws change?)
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