Indefatigable Contributor Mike L. sends me this report from inside Deepest Blue America:
With Memorial Day just one week away, millions of people are expected to hit the road this upcoming holiday weekend. AAA has predicted travel to hit pre-pandemic levels and are urging drivers to make safe driving a priority as car accidents are at an all-time high in Massachusetts.
But:
A forced lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented many people from traveling. Drivers we spoke with believe that the roads are more dangerous today than they were before the pandemic.
Why is this? Have they forgotten how to drive — or, more importantly, if this is the case — why is it taking Massholes so long to get back into proper driving? This may be the answer:
“We talk a lot about the laws and regulations, about the hands-free driving law, which was instated right after quarantine,” said Juniper Holmes, director of Ja’Duke Driving School in Turners Falls. “They’re not allowed to actually hold their phone in their hands. They’re supposed to use a Bluetooth device to talk on the cellphone or, if they are over 18, then they can talk to Siri and use Bluetooth, but texting in Massachusetts is illegal while you’re driving.”
Holmes told us that distracted driving is a common issue they see on the roads while conducting their driving lessons, and it is something they are stressing now more than ever.
“People are staring at their laps, and when you see people whose eyes are not on the road, their eyes are straight down on their laps, you usually think that they are texting or they’re on their phone, and the law also states that you’re not allowed to be texting or making phone calls at a red light or stop sign, either,” she said.
Clearly, the answer is MOAR LAWS (which is the usual response Up There). Or maybe — gasp! — stricter enforcement of and higher penalties for said laws?
Nah… that would be rayciss or transphobic or something.
By the way — and I admit that I haven’t driven in Boston or anywhere in Massachusetts in a long time — I’ve found that Boston’s drivers are the most aggressive and impatient assholes in the entire country. They make Texas rednecks and New Yorkers look positively polite and British by comparison.
Here, it’s illegal to even touch the screen of your phone while driving, even if it’s in a holder, whether stopped or otherwise. Hefty fine, too. They have motorcycle cops with helmet cameras who come up on your blind spot and peer inside to see if you’re using the phone. They also have special overhead cameras at stop lights etc. to look through the windscreen.
Mind you, having almost been cleaned up twice now by dopey young sheilas on their phone, I have little sympathy.
Happened to me once too. A 19 year old airhead college student, with an expired driver’s license, no insurance and a car borrowed from her housemaid tore up my car from front fender rearward to the back fender. After she sideswiped my 18 year old cherry dream car, which I’d had and babied for 15 years, we pulled over, and when I asked for her driver’s license and insurance card, she had the gall to say “Just a minute until I finish this call.” Cops came, wrote her a ticket, gave me a subpoena to appear in traffic court.
The bitch did $7,000 damage to my car, and the judge fined her a mere $85. Several of the cops in the courtroom spoke to me, shook their heads and said “there needs to be a law” against using a cell phone while driving, said it was the 2nd leading cause of accidents after drunk driving.
Our legislature tried to do just that, and it failed to pass by 3 or 4 votes. It seems the law would unduly penalize women and minorities, which is exactly what that insipid creature was who took away my car for three months and got it listed on Carfax as being in an accident, which can cost the owner thousands or kill a deal for a classic car.
Third driving lesson was in downtown Boston!! Just came back from a short visit and so glad I moved away. there are far too many people there and many of them simply do not drive with the purpose of getting anywhere.
JQ
Thirty-five years ago I was told by a citizen of Boston that if you should be so foolish as to use your turn signal to indicate your intention to change lanes, the car you’d merge in front of will speed up to fill the gap so you cannot change lanes.
‘…. More laws and stricter enforcement”.
I’d settle for ANY enforcement. Seems to me that State Police that used to be a visible presence on the Major roads here in Mass are still participating in the “Work at Home” directive. I can’t remember the last time I saw someone pulled over by a statie. The signs still say 55 but the traffic moves at either 75 to 80 or 15. …..and that includes the people I still see fully masked up driving alone in their climate controlled Volvo with the HEPA filters also doing 75.
In addition, twice in the last month I’ve been passed by some idiots in 5 year old modded Hondas doing Triple digit speeds weaving through traffic.
….and the fastest way to obtain a Mass Driver’s License remains to be claiming to be a non English speaking illegal alien. ” Here’s your driver’s License and ID, EBT card, unemployment check, Housing voucher and voter registration card. Welcome to Massachusetts”
as local talk show host Howie Carr usually laments, “I just want to be treated like an illegal alien.”
Yup, Howie Carr, he said he doesn’t want any special treatment, just to be treated no better or no worse than an illegal immigrant in Massachusetts.
Howie Carr is great to listen to.
Listening to Howie while living in this liberal cesspool of a state is like getting a glass of ice water in hell.
“Work from home”…
Sad thing is, there was a HUGE scandal with the Mass state police, where many of them LIED about overtime. They said they worked overtime, some of them to the tune of 100,000 dollars of overtime, and they actually never showed up for those shifts.
Some were criminally charged, some were not.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/07/10/state-police-overtime-scandal-discipline
CORRUPTION runs RAMPANT in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts.
No wonder they don’t want the general, non-government employee population to be armed.
Massachusetts has become beyond scary to drive in. Last year, some old lady on high risk insurance pulled out in front of me after running a light, and then stopped. I stopped and did NOT hit her. Avoided that accident. Then, some idiot, very young, rear ended me so hard, my Toyota was totaled. Idiot got out and told me I stopped too fast. Said that he “had the brakes on, but you stopped to fast and caused this”. Fucking little shit. Thanks for wrecking my car dickhead. Speed limit on that road was 35 MPH. That asshole was found at fault, but what a headache to get my totaled car picked up by insurance, get the payout, shop for a new car. Took like 3 months to get that bullshit sorted out. All because some little shit was driving like a maniac.
Problem is, when someone damages or wrecks your car here in Massachusetts, usually the worst that happens to the person who causes the wreck is a ticket (one time) and some higher insurance premiums. Big fucking deal. That is the least that should happen.
The victim of the crash now either has to live with a car that was hit hard, wondering if the bodywork made it as safe as before, and of course, since the car was in a wreck, it will NEVER be worth the same amount of money.
And if the car is totaled, you have to argue with your insurance to get a payout that is worth anything, because you usually get lowballed at first, then you have to go and shop for another car.
Fender benders happen, I get it, we are all human. However, the accidents in Mass are really over the top.
The police in Massachusetts usually also do little to stop most of the aggressive driving. They’ll sometimes pull you over for going through a yellow light and say you caught it close to red or ticket you for speeding, however, wreck-less drivers seem to get away with anything.
A few years ago, some dumb masshole bitch crossed a solid line, into my lane, and also did not signal, and almost hit the front of my car. I had to slam on the breaks, and I honked my horn, as her lane was supposed to turn right only. You are not supposed to cross a solid line, and of course, again, no signal from her either.
A police officer saw this happen, (He was parked in a parking lot overseeing traffic when this happened) so he pulls up next to me. I figure, is he going to ask if I am ok? NOPE! Asshole says “what is your issue, why are you honking your horn?”. I said “This lady just cut me off, crossed a solid line, and almost hit my car”. Asshole police officer’s response? “Well, she didn’t hit you, so be on your way or I will give you a ticket for excessive noise! Have a good night”. I told him “you have a shitty night”. After I told him this, the useless officer rolled up his window and left. Fuck him, asshole.
I looked up the laws, and sure enough, Mass has a law, that officers of the UNlawful can issue citations for excessive noise. The noise is subjective, up to the officer of the UNlawful.
Just this week, there was a fatal motorcycle accident AND also a five car pileup not far from where I live on the same stretch of road, on the same day, within the same hour.
The drivers in Mass are insane, and so are most of the voters here. Democrats run the roost here. The few Republicans here are RINO’s.
Massachusetts caters to illegal immigrants, criminals, and all of the assholes. If you stand up to the assholes, you are treated as the problem here in Massachusetts.
This state sucks hardcore beyond belief.
https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/crash-on-i-91-in-west-springfield-causing-delays/
“According to Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Corey Mackey, at around 6:25 a.m. Troopers were called to a single-vehicle motorcycle crash on I-91 north in West Springfield. The motorcyclist, a 24-year-old Chicopee man, died due to the crash.”
“State Police say two additional and separate multi-vehicle crashes involving a total of five vehicles took place shortly after 7 a.m. in the same area. Three people were taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with minor injuries.”