NATIONAL MOTORISTS ASSOCIATION


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Greetings fellow travelers,

In early December we gathered in Burlington once again to celebrate Merry Significant Observance Day and a Happy Beginning of the Gregorian Calendar, and play with different LIDAR guns. Good time was had by all and once again, thank you Scott for graciously providing the toys.


Someone's Pocket Change

The governor's office announced it wants to reconstruct the interchange at Interstate 93 and Interstate 95 in Canton. And to begin with they are awarding a $5.7 million to an engineering firm in Burlington. So when do they start building anything? Well, we don't know. This almost six million dollars was awarded just to "to consider the best design options." No wonder in the end the project could exceed $120 million and is estimated to be completed in 2016!


What's so magical about 3 o'clock?

This is the scene on the Southeast Expressway at 2:30 every workday afternoon: traffic is heavy in both directions. The outbound side is heavy - well because it's the Southeast Expressway. And on the inbound side the traffic is heavy, because the zipper lane just took one lane away. While this extra lane is set up for the outbound traffic, there's no one using it. In fact, police are making sure cars that could be reducing some of the congestion are staying stuck for another half an hour exactly until 3 o'clock - and not one minute sooner. But it doesn't matter, there will be plenty of delays around the clock in the spring, when the state is planning to reconstruct a part of the expressway to the tune of $2 million dollars each mile.


Bright Future Ahead?

In a front page story on the upcoming changes to Massachusetts auto insurance the Globe painted a bright future for us with "more insurers jumping into the fray, slashing rates and offering beefed-up policies."

Did anybody ask why would any company do that? Why would insurers fight to be able to come here, set their own rates and design their own policies unless they saw big profits ahead, profits they are not able to get under the current state regulations?

Consumers beware! This unbridled enthusiasm may not include motorists.


A tale of two cases

On one hand we have a member's teenage son who got a speeding ticket, and on the other a 72-year old woman who ran over a pedestrian in a crosswalk and kept on driving. They both lost their licenses.

It turns out the problem where the teen was ticketed was the illegally posted speed limit, while in the old lady's case she admitted she never saw the man in the crosswalk in front of her. ("Something big hit my car but I don't know what it was. The damage made it difficult for me to see and I was lucky to make it to where I was going without anything else happening," she was quoted as saying after the police found her a couple of miles away.)

But what is really interesting about these two particular cases was the reaction of appropriate government officials.

About the teen caught in an illegal trap: "As you know, the new junior operator law was put in place to help curtail the tragic loss of life that has been all to prevalent, especially among teen drivers. I am sorry, there is nothing we can do for you," was the official response to illegal speed limits.

And about the accident caused by the old lady: "Area could be treacherous around sundown and at dusk, if the pedestrian is wearing dark clothes. We are looking at the feasibility of putting bright yellow sign in the middle of the street."

In other words, that teenager's ticket must've been his own fault, while the nice old lady drove over a pedestrian because there must've been something wrong with the area...


A Present from the State

The turnpike authority lost $600,000 in revenue from speeding fines after the July 10, 2006 Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapse as the Pike had to divert troopers from monitoring the Route 128-to-Boston corridor and use them on construction details to inspect and repair the tunnels.

And so the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority is now pushing troopers patrolling the 10 miles inside Route 128 to write $2.3 million in speeding tickets next year. That's up from $1.7 million the Pike raked in this year in speeding fines inside Route 128.

Additionally, to help pay for the mismanaged Big Dig, the board approved a series of toll hikes that will once again affect commuters from the western suburbs.

The final 3-to-2 vote paved the way for an increase of 25 cents at the Allston-Brighton and Weston tollbooths, to $1.25, and 50 cents at the Ted Williams and Sumner tunnels, to $3.50.

The increase also has to pay for the $1.6 million Allston U-turn ramp that's too tight for trucks, cabbies don't like, and the general public is not allowed to use, because the Turnpike Authority never filed for a review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act.

So Happy New Year to Turnpike commuters and good luck to all the other motorists in Massachusetts.

And a Happy 25th, NMA!

Ivan
MA State Chapter Coordinator


12/07

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