We offer a hearty Weber County Forum Tip o' the Hat to Utah House Representative Neil Hansen this morning, for the progress of his House Bill 255. This bill would, at long last, ban the evil practice of requiring Utah police officers to write a specific number of traffic tickets within a set period of time. It's high time we think, for the Utah legislature to jump on the bandwagon with this.
The Standard-Examiner reports that Rep. Hansen's bill cleared committee yesterday. The next step will be a vote on the house floor.
We urge our gentle readers to contact their House Representatives, and demand the banning of traffic citation quotas in this state. Not only do ticket quotas distract Emerald City's Finest from doing real police work, they provide an unfair and arbitrary foundation for municipal revenue. Ticket quotas also tend to promote the issuance of citations for frivlolous violations, deprive police officers of necessary discretion in close cases, and undermine citizen-police agency trust.
And make no mistake. A system of traffic citation quotas remains in force in Emerald City. Ask any street cop. A set number of traffic citations is part of every Emerald City police officer's monthly performance evaluation. This includes plainclothes detectives and officers on "special details."
Arguing in opposition to the bill yesterday before the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee were Boss Godfrey munchkins Mark "Justice Court Cash Cow" Johnson, and Assistant Chief Wayne Tarwater, the Std-Ex reports. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they testified (with completely straight faces, we suppose) that Emerald City standards for traffic citation issuance have nothing at all to do with raising municipal revenue, but are intended merely as a means of evaluationg officer performance.
Uh-huh, we say. Tell that whopper to the lady who emailed us last summer, complaining of being ticketed for a "rolling stop" violation, as she crept out of her quiet Emerald City neighborhood cul-de-sac at under 1 mile per hour.
The Salt Lake Tribune's Kristen Moulton reports an interesting nuance regarding yesterday's house committee hearing:
"Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner, a new member of the Utah Senate, attended part of the committee hearing, but left early."
Sometimes it's possible to measure who is NOT in actual opposition to a bill by noting who didn't actually testify against it.
So let's all get on the stick and contact our state representatives. For those readers with extra time on their hands this morning, there's nothing stopping you from contacting every House representative on the above House roster. What the heck. We know our state legislators crave our citizen input, especially those House Reps in Utah's "outback."
The floor is open for anybody who'd like to throw in their own 2¢. Frivolous ticket horror stories, anyone? Is there anyone who reads this board who hasn't received a frivolous ticket? Anybody who feels they were victimized by Emerald City's ticket quota policy last summer, when some of Emerald City's Finest upped their attention to ticket writing, as a "demonstration" of a ticket quota policy in action?
Let us feel our readers' pain.
The floor is open.
Update 1/27/07 7:43 a.m. MT: We provide this link to a KUTV News clip of last night's TEEVEE broadcast on this topic. We think Rep. Hansen makes an exellent point: If they (opponents of the bill) don’t have quotas why is there a problem with the bill?
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28 comments:
I was sitting in Mt. Ogden Park one day last summer with a group of Emerald City chums. We watched one Ogden City officer write up his full day's quote within about an hour one morning.
One poor lady was driving so slowly, I swear everyone thought she'd run out of gas.
Yep. She got written up.
And yep. The infamous van was parked right down the street, so she could read the sign while she waited for the officer to fill out the form.
Very effective demonstration, in that particular case.
Is this the same Neil Hansen who is running for Ogden Mayor? I don't know him but this legislation is the kind of thing that could warm me up to him real fast.
It's sad the number of times Ogden has had to be overruled by the legislature! I remember when Glenn Mecham's plan to send zoning Nazis into to rental houses to shake down landlords was made illegal by the legislature. Then Godfrey became the poster boy for legislation that stopped confiscation of entire neighborhoods to be turned over to Wal Mart or whoever. Now Hansen wants to overturn Godfrey’s ticket quota.
Godfrey, back when he was still human, would have opposed these totalitarian measures as well. What happened? What is this disease that overcomes Ogden elected officials? It appears to have infected Bill Glasmann in only a matter of days. Kent Jorgenson was rife with it when they hauled him off. Rick Saftsen and Brandon Stephenson are like Typhoid Mary – not just carriers, but spreaders. Why hasn’t it infected Amy Wicks or Garcia yet? (As far as Jeske, VanHooser, and Stephens they are still too new to tell if the disease will develop in them.)
Perhaps we should call in the CDC to investigate.
The most interesting part of the story for me was the testimony by police officials that without some kind of performance standard [i.e. quota] for officers on traffic duty, their officers will not write tickets [presumably because writing tickets can involve them in a lot of time consuming extra court work?]. And the claim that the current performance standards have reduced accidents.
The idea of arbitrary ticket quotas rankles people, justly, since it suggests that at least sometimes some officers will write frivolous tickets to fill their quotas. But the matter is, as usual, more complex than that. Some, our Honored Blogmeister included, seem to think that every reader of WC Forum, or nearly so, must have received at least one frivolous ticket. The problem is that many folks think any ticket they get is undeserved. From what I can see driving round Ogden, we have here far too few tickets being written, especially for speeding, and running red lights and stop signs, not too many.
The quota system is not right, but if it turns out that the deputy police chief testifying is correct that without some performance standard, officers will not write tickets, we'll need to look at this again. If enforcement standards have resulted in lower accident rates, then eliminating them should result in increased accident rates. We need to monitor this if Rep. Hansen's bill passes, as I hope it will. If the rates do rise, we'll need to revisit it.
And to answer your question, Rudi, yes, there is at least one WCF denizen who has never had a frivolous traffic ticket. Me. But then, maybe I don't count, since I've not so far had any traffic tickets of any kind anywhere. Sorry 'bout that....
We think that last post was "posting policy" borderline, Danny.
Mr. Safsten has graciously begun a civil diologue here, and has evidenced his intention to honestly share and interact with us. He should thus be accorded the same courtesies as we extend to other posters who post civally. It's unreasonable, we believe, for us to expect Mr. Safsten to continue participating here, and to voluntarily exchange viewpoints with us, if he believes he'll be subjected to continuing ad hominem abuse.
In the interest of free speech, we'll let that last post stand for now; but we urge you to please be careful. It's easy to get caught up in emotion here in the cyber-world, and to make utterances you'd never dream of making IRL.
We also offer our apology to you, Mr. Safsten, for what we perceive to be an inadvertant lack of discretion on Danny's part. We value your recent participation here, and hope that you won't be dissuaded in the future from offering your comments.
Indeed, I concur with Rudy.
I apologize to Rick and to Brandon et al, and also appreciate Rick's willingness to post here.
My intention was to indicate a strange and for me, disturbing change of mind that happens to people when they take office in Ogden city, not to infer any actual disease.
Furthermore, I often wonder if once they leave office they look back in horror at their own actions.
In any case anything I can do to insure civility and respect I would like to hear about it.
You can delete both posts if you choose.
I can only put in one posting, but Danny does open up an interesting discussion of, "What happens to politicians once they get into office?"
I find that the first thing that happens is extreme impatience. You find that nothing happens as quickly as you would like and your priorities are not always equally shared so getting things done becomes very difficult.
Here in Utah, the majority pride themselves on conservative government. As a city councilmember, I am shocked at the interventionism practiced by the state legislature. If Ogden wants to ban, or put up billboards, why would the state legislature care? If Ogden wanted to have ticket quotas, or ban them, why would the state care? What do Ogden City speeding tickets or billboard issues have to do with the state?
This leads me to the "disease" topic that Danny refers to. It is related to the propensity of government to expand and involve itself simply because some people don't like what others are doing.
One could rightfully argue the Ogden RDA is acting as an interventionist when it comes to property issues in Ogden. Putting several other issues aside, I would argue that, at least, it is city-elected officials doing something that is strictly happening inside the city.
With all the state issues going on, why does the state legislature insist on getting involved in county and city issues? Because it can.
Honestly, when someone holds public office awhile, they see things differently. They gain a perspective of the forces, realities and limits that others cannot. This causes politicians to do things that perhaps from the outside, look a little strange.
Politics is the art of compromise. I have held my nose and voted for things that I didn't love, but it was the best that could be done at the moment. I would never vote against my core values, but core values are not always involved in every issue. I can go to church on Sunday and still not be sure just how many parking stalls should be required for a business, for example.
In re: Mr. Safsten's comment: With all the state issues going on, why does the state legislature insist on getting involved in county and city issues? Because it can.
There's an old quip that goes like this: "Work expands to fill the time available for its completion." Perhaps we need to rewrite it this way: "Power expands to fill the areas available for its exercise."
Now we know Councilman Safsten's problem..
He hasn't been in office long enough to change his perspective.
Quoting Kris Moulton's SL Trib article:
"Wayne Tarwater, Asst. Police Chief, told legislators no average person would consider Ogden's policy a ticket quota".
This is the perfect example of the mindset of Ogden's police head honchos who have no clue as to what the average person in Ogden really wants from government.
I would say it is the mindset of the mayor and several on the City Council as well.
I speak for the average person who says Godfrey has had a ticket quota.
Rick it seems you’re like the rest of the politicians; who forget who they are and where they came from. Tickets aren’t going to solve the 100 million dollar problem that you seem isn’t enough money to give out to your business buddies.
Thank God we have State Legislators like Neil Hansen who don’t like this Local Government Abuse. Rick I’m telling all my friends to watch out for you in the next election.
Well, as I said, I hope the Hansen [D-Ogden] bill passes. I note that Ogden's Deputy Chief opposed it and that his boss, Chief Grenier [also state legislator, R-Ogden] was there to make sure his deputy's testimony was delivered as the Chief wished.
That said, the point Mr. Safsten was raising was a larger one. Most folks look upon a law or ordinance only in terms of whether they think the end desired is a good thing or not. [Guilty myself of that. Often.] They don't consider much whether it's also a good thing to have the problem solved that way, and what the consequences might be. Safsten's point was, seems to me, that we should think about whether this particular problem [ticket quotas in Ogden] is one that should be solved at the state level or right here at home in Junction City. Those who think it's a state legislative matter, at least some of us I bet, will be howling at the legislature's door sometime down the road complaining about legislative interference in our local affairs, and why can't they leave Ogden alone to handle its own business, etc.
So, he was discussing a larger, point. The question he raised wasn't "are ticket quotas in Ogden good?" It was "is this a local matter we should deal with in Ogden, or a matter that the state legislature should deal with? And if you think it's the latter, will there be consequences we may not like, down the road, resulting from inviting the state legislature to micro-manage more and more of Ogden's affairs?" That's not a trivial question, I think, and maybe it deserve a little more thought than it's getting.
here is the link to the committe hearing from the capitol building
http://cal.le.state.ut.us/JSP/BillView/BillPage.jsp?BillNo=HB0255
It is the second bill in the hearing!
to listen to it click on the thumbnail on the left that looks like this
Cmt Audio (HSTLAW)
If Mr Safsten really knew what his responiblities were as a council member maybe he would be representing the voters and not the mayors little wish list. If he has been reading the newspaper maybe he would be the check and balance on the administation and not in bed with the mayor on most issues. He has had 6 months to call the mayor and the police cheif on the carpet and to pass an ordinace to prohibit the ticket quota issue. It is no wonder that Rep Neil Hansen is the one to bring this forward to the state because we have people like you, that don't do what the people want. It just shows me who really understands how government works and Neil in my book,is the best elected offical I have seen in along time.
I may not alway agree with his politics but he does listen and acts in the best intrest of the taxpayer.
I for one will be supporting him for Mayor of Ogden.
Per Curmudgeon: "Safsten's point was, seems to me, that we should think about whether this particular problem [ticket quotas in Ogden] is one that should be solved at the state level or right here at home in Junction City."
Glad you brought this up. I was about to reply to Rick's question, paraphrased: "Why does the State legislature constantly mess with us locally, when we're just trying to carry out Boss godfrey's brilliant schemes?"
The Short Answer: Because you push the envelope of the municiple government franchise until people cmplain about your excesses to your direct boss -- the Utah State Legislature!
Here's how it goes:
American government is a government of limited and delegated powers.
THE PEOPLE (i.e., the citizens) are the sole source of all government power in American government. The power to self-govern originates and resides solely in THE PEOPLE.
Here's the short analysis:
THE PEOPLE of the State of Utah delegate a bundle of powers to the State Government, which law-making power resides first in the legislature.
The Legislature in turn doles out smaller "packets" of these delegated governmental powers to local enities, such as Cities and Counties, mainly.
From there, these packet-powers trickle down and are furthger distributed. For example, individual police officers in Emerald City exercise State-delegated police power, which extends from THE PEOPLE through this same declension to the average street cop.
Keeping in mind that THE PEOPLE are the ultimate source of political power in Utah (and all the other states and indeed the nation), it should come as no surprise to anyone who understands the theory of American government that the State Legislature should be required to "draw in the reins" on city governments who overstep their delegated powers, and draw the ire of their boss, i.e., THE PEOPLE, through their excesses and abuses of such delegated power.
When the letters of complaint about tyrants in local municipal government flow in to the legislature, the legislature is compelled to act.
In truth, we are a nation of checks and balances, each branch or tier of government being a check against the excesses of all the rest.
Having the state legislature "pull in the reins" on overbearing Cretin, Sociopathic Municipal Bosses is actually a healthy thing for the goveernment of Emerald City, Indeed it's a state legislative duty, we think, inasmuch as the particular Boss in question's idea of American-style governance amounts to telling THE PEOPLE to "go to hell; check back with my important ass every FOUR YEARS"
The only place in this country where people in little burgs consistently make their own law, without checks and balances are places like "West L.A., California," and outposts like Colorado City, Uah, (which is a less ostentatious example of the local government concept which you both seem to espouse.) And we know how well and functionally these selected comunities work in the Big Picture.
If you're both dwelling on the tribal village concept that all local decisions must be purely local, we'll just offer this: That's the political philosophy practiced in Somalia; and it doesn't quite square with the American "checks and balances" system of government.
Maybe it's time for you two to re-think the concept, read the US Constution...and perhaps a little John Locke.
Well said rudy, I think that Rep. Neil Hansen knows this and that is what makes him the best person for Mayor.
He also knows that this problem is more than just a Ogden city problem. it is a state wide problem.
Rudy:
Good lord, that's quite a rant. Filled with problems of course and shall we say... creative?... views of American government and how it works. But quite entertaining.
Where to begin. How about here: "you two." Checking over my post, what I seem to have said was that Mr. Safsten was, in the post under discussion, not arguing quotas good or bad, but raising the question of whether the problem should be handled here or in Salt Lake City. And I suggested it was not a trivial point to raise, and maybe needed some thinking through. [I will remined you of this next time the legislature "fixes" something in Ogden you don't think needs fixing.] That's all I said. Where "you two" comes in, I don't quite see. [You seem not to have noticed that I supported passage of the Hansen bill.]
As for the the Wisdom of the Elders in the Legislature being "compelled" to act to "save" the people of towns and cities.... Give me a break. If you and I had a buck for every time the legislature has, hastily, had to revise or repeal some law it passed the previous session becuase it turned out the law had done something the legislators had never intended it to do, you and I could enjoy a very long bender at the watering hole of our choice.
You being a Republican and having declaimed, here, against the nanny state in the past, I expect you'd recall that one used-to-be conservative talking point was the local control, by people who lived in a community [or state at the next level] was better, as a rule, than control by an outside body [the state legislature with respect to Ogden, or the Congress with respect to Utah.] But hey, gettin' hard to tell these days what Republicans believe anymore.
The solution for non-responsive and overbearing elected local governments generally is, in our system, the ballot box, not the state legislature. That solution seems to be working in Ogden. Recall the last Council election. [And here I'll note with just a smidgen of "I told you so" that fairly recently you were condeming the Council, the present Council as tools of Hizzonah, and I was arguing that this Council had by its actions indicated it was not a rubber stamp, that it was taking its oversight role seriously [rejection of Mr. Chapman's nomination for the PC; declining Hizzonah's desire to add two extra floors to mall office building, etc.] Given Tuesday's vote, whose prediction turned out to be the more accurate one? [Modesty prevents my answering that question.] So I'll move on.
You wrote: f you're both dwelling on the tribal village concept that all local decisions must be purely local, we'll just offer this: That's the political philosophy practiced in Somalia.... Sigh. No where did I suggest that all decisions have to be or ought to be local, that no state law should apply to Ogden. That would be absurd. However [if you want, as you seem to do, to play the "going to ridiculous extremes" game], it would be just as absurd to suggest that all Ogden city government decisions should be decided in Salt Lake City. But you didn't suggest that any more than I suggested none should.
And let us not forget, Rudi, that the Godfrey administration was not imposed on us by some Somalian war lord militia toting AK-47s. We elected him, Rudi. We, the people, elected him. Twice. He was the people's choice, as they say. And we elected the previous Council that seemed to rubber stamp most of what Hizzonah wanted. They too were the people's choice. Happily, the system provided for a mid course correction in the last Council election, and we will shortly get a chance to judge Hizzonah's performance, and part of the Council's, in office. That is how the system is designed to work.
As for Mr. Hansen's bill, as I said, I hope it becomes law. [Did I mention he's a Democrat?]
Government authority (power) descends from the people, through the state legislature to municiple government. Thus, the State legislature operates as a "vertical" check and balance against excesses at the municipal level. It's really quite simple, Curm.
Which part of "chain of legal authority" do you fail to understand? It ain't all that complicated.
We'd say the American system is a work of genius. Some commentators who are less secularly minded than we would even label it "divinely-inspired."
And yes... as with any system operated by fallable human beings, the American system of government falls victim all too often to the law of unintended consequences. Still, it's the best political system around, from the point of view of civil libertarians.
And yes... Neil Hansen is a Democrat, which is just what a politician ought to be, when occupying a District 9 House seat in Ogden. He's well-respected on both sides of the legislative aisle, BTW. And he's about as far from Ted Kenndy, Charlie Rangel and Hillary Clinton as ANY politican can be, philosphically.
He's lots purtier'n Hillary and Reid too. A little plumper than Pelosi, but his smile is sincere.
One thing about Neil...you could safely turn your back on him.
Mr. Safsten: If the Ogden City Council had teh courage to, itself, prohibit ticket quotas, then action at the state level would not have been necessary.
Two points:
First, in re Observe No. 1's post: Lord, it's funny. Folks start saying nice things about Democrat Neil Hansen and how does the delusional right respond? "Hillary, Hillary, yeah yeah, ok about Hansen, but what about Hillary?" I guess it's the latest version of the same group's response to everything the Bush administration has bungled over the last six years: "It's Bill Clinton's fault! Bill did it! Bill did it!" Too funny for words....
Second: Have been chuckling at Hansen's coup since I first learned of it last night. Have to wonder who went over the Deputy Chief's testimony he was to give as the representative of Chief Greiner's Ogden Police Department. Was it Ogden Police Chief and state Representative Greiner [R-Ogden] himself, or another Godfrey administration flack? Whoever it was managed to shoot a gaping hole in the Department's argument when they approved the line about Ogden having no quota. Hansen [D-Ogden] immediately noticed that the oppositing side had blown a hole in its own argument, mounted up and charged through it saying simply that if Chief Griener's Ogden Police Department had no ticket quota, as its representative insisted it did not, then Hansen's bill could have no possible effect on Ogden. Game, set and match. Sharp people, quick on the uptake these Utah House Democrats. Maybe we should send a few more of them down there next time.
Armysarge,
Yes...you have pointed out to Mr. Safsten the proper role of the City Council.
This CC has missed many opportunites to step up.
Personally I felt that Rudi's comments on government (above) where astounding. As a student of politics his comments were the first to give me pause to think, in years. By Jove, he's right. I’m going to save them so I can read them over and over as I go through life. I’ve never seen the like.
Those who argue with those comments seem to me to be displaying the sort of self-deluding sophistry that leads us slowly back to tyranny.
As I said, I read, and then sat, stunned as I realized that even now, I can have lifelong cherished views shattered by the light of truth (mixed metaphor or no.)
On another note, I got a really weird email from Rick Saftsen last night. I tossed and turned in the wee hours because of it. I just couldn’t figure it. Then it all became clear to me. Once I put it all in words (trying to be brief) I’ll set it out here for consideration. It seems like a breakthrough to me but I’m sure I’ll find out here whether it was just so much midnight musing.
BTW Watched the Hansen link. Never voted for a Demo, but he’s looking like the one who’ll finish the breakdown of my lifelong relationship with the Republican party now that GWB has sold out every value I’ve ever had.
There were two things that Mr. Safsten said above that I believe really defines him:
1. "I have held my nose and voted for things that I didn't love, but it was the best that could be done at the moment".
2. "I would never vote against my core values".
On the first, it seems to me that if he had to hold his nose when he voted on something then perhaps he should abstain from voting or vote against it. If you have to hold your nose then it must mean that it stinks to you - and goes against your core values - which in the second instance he sais he wouldn't do. (this by the way is not the first time I have noticed duplicidous behaviour with Mr. Saften.
The second thing is on his core values. Does this mean that his core values allow him to:
1. Mess with a hard working immigrant's ability to make an honest living by taking his license to sell 3.2 beer away because the mayor and chief of police were incompetent to control drunks on the street. They did this, and it made no difference in the problem that they used as their excuse.
2. Pass a law that targets the weakest and most defensless citizens that are forced to live in motels to load up all their worldlies in a shoping cart and trundle them down the road to the next motel every 90 days.
3. Participate in the mayor's grand bait and switch on the financing of the Rec Center and Mall.
4. Participate in the looting of the public treasury with the $45,000 give away to the departing Stuart Reid. Then "tweak" the laws in an attempt to retroactively make the crime legal.
5. Consistently backing the mayor on most every issue - instead of the citizens that elected him.
6. Mean spiritedly toy with citizens who come before the council in the so called "public input" sessions.
I could go on for quite awhile if I wanted to dig out the old news paper clippings, but you get the idea.
In my opinion Mr. Safsten's "core values" are right in league with the mayors - in the dump of the collective mentality of the Stalin regime.
After all, that is why he has the honorary title of Comrade Safsten!
Just what are one's "core values" if one has to "hold his nose" while voting?
Michael and Mercy:
IN re: Safsten on "politics is the art of compromise." If you find a congressman or state legislator who never, ever votes for something he disapproves of, you will probably also find him out of office very quickly because he will be unable to get for his constituents bills and concessions in bills that those constituents want badly. In all legislative bodies, a lot of horse trading goes on: I will vote for want you want [even though I don't think it's a particularly good idea] if you will vote for what I want [because it's very important to the people in my district.] It goes on, all legislatures, all levels, both parties, all the time. It's just the nature of the business. Then too sometimes legislators [all levels] find themselves voting for something they dislike, because it is better than the alternative that will be adopted if the one they are voting on fails. Sometimes their concern for the good of the public requires them to hold their nose and do the dirty deed and vote "yea" on something that they would rather not vote "yea" on. The old saw about you don't really want to know how sausages or laws are made has a lot of truth in it.
However, most legislators do have what Mr. Safsten calls "core values" that they will not violate, period. Think, for example, of a legislator who will not trade his vote on an abortion bill even for a huge new construction project that, say, his district needs and wants. Nothing Safsten said on this matter seems out of line to me. I'd be hard put to think of a legislator [either party] who doesn't operate, in office, the same way. In legislative bodies, if you want to be effective, you usually have to get along to go along.
As for the specifics you mentioned, Michael, I'd agree with you that on #1 and #4 the City and Council acted unwisely or unfairly. On #2 and #3 I'm not sure if they acted wisely or not. Arguements with some merit on both sides. On #5 you criticize Mr. Safsten for Consistently backing the mayor on most every issue - instead of the citizens that elected him. Well, we need to remember that those same citizens who elected Mr. Safsten elected the Mayor. Twice. And they will get a chance in about ten months to make it plain whether they are pleased, overall, with their performance in office or not. Then we will know if voters think Mr. Safsten and Hizzonah were serving the public's interest well or not.
As for #6, the Council members I've seen at meetings have dealt with citizen comments politely. But I haven't attended all the Council sessions and you may well have been there and seen things I didn't.
Curmudgeon:
Trust you to always be the sunshine in our hazy, pollution-filled days.
I think we are all aware that 'politicians' vote for things they aren't really in sync with at times....but for Mr. Safsten to mention his core values in the same breath as his 'nose holding', is a little like painting a bull's eye on his back. No?
Mercy:
Well, if I were a publicist for him [which I am not], and he had run it by me first, I might have suggested a different way to put it.... On the other hand, Mercy, this is a blog and the tradition is folks post pretty much what is on their mind at the time without a whole lot of editing, rewriting and vetting. And I've noticed that yields a certain tendency to... oh, let's just say rhetorical excess now and then. [Yes, guilty myself. Nature of blogs, I think.]
The astonishing thing to me is what Utah legislators are proud to take credit for. My favorite at the moment [always excepting whatever Sen. Buttars is venting about on any given day] is the guy who has proposed, as a way to improve traffic conditions and relieve congestion: (a)increasing speed limits on the interstates and (b) cutting the time you have to signal before you make a turn by one third [from three seconds to two]. To improve traffic conditions and help relieve congestion on the roads. With a straight face.
Oh, by the way, before you ask: yes, he's a Republican. [grin]
Hey Curm:
You and and I are, like, totally in agreement on Sen Jenkins...the Godfrey gadfly.
What an assinine bill! I heard him bloviating with Abby Bonell on KNRS this week all about his great solution to lousy drivers.
He said, "it's okay to raise the speed limit because people will drive the speed their comfortable with." Cripes!
They surely do....45 in a 55 mph zone...60 in the 'fast' lane, and never look in the rear mirror. One could be naked on top of their
car, and the numbskulls in front would never know it, cuz they don't look in their mirror...except to put on make-up or smile at themselves. Gotta see if they have spinach in their teeth, no doubt.
We already have bozos who signal WHILE making a lane change...and then only once!
I think that drivres should signal an impending lane change for at least 6 seconds...so that everyone sees it.
How do you like signaling your intention to move over, and THEN the jerk in front of you moves over first WITHOUT signaling? He didn't even look in his mirror.
Oy vey. Instead of going after 'fast' drivers, I wish the UHP and cops would ticket the slooooow drivers who sit in the fast lane (misnomer), placing traffic in a mile long holding pattern. The idiots who pull out from a side street right in front of the last car (so could have waited) and then pokes along under the speed limit...thus almost causing a rear ender?
And the cell phone yakkers. Now that's what needs to be addressed. These dead zone slugs hold up traffic, are 'asleep' at the wheel, oblivious to their surroundings and have no idea of traffic conditions.
THEY should be ticketed! The other slugs who should receive a $500. fine are the rubber neckers. I wish those traffic signs that warn us of road conditions would be 'on' alerting drivers to an incident ahead..that says..."incident on left shoulder...keep moving...rubber neckers will be fined $500.!!"
Sometimes the clogged lanes are ten miles long....just because the first few jerks sloooowed waaay down to watch two cops talking! Of course, everyone is forced to creep along too, til we pick up speed after viewing this exciting 'incident'.
It's enuf to make a saint drink!
In fact, if I was a drinkin' woman, I'd have a triple root beer, on the rocks.
Sen Jenkins is the same guy who did Godfrey's bidding last session and torpedoed our civil servants by pushing and passing SB229.
So speed up...don't signal, and keep yakking! We need more reasons to come to a stand still on our 'freeways' during the misnamed 'rush hours'.
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