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City cracks down on speeders at South Boston intersection where toddler was killed
By adamg on Tue, 07/31/2018 - 11:51pm
Eileen Murphy snapped the new speed-radar sign on L Street at East 6th St., where Colin Thomas McGrath, 2, was killed in a crash that ended with a van jumping a curb and hitting him and his sister.
Murphy reports watching ten motorists pulled over by police today, adds that the blue ribbons on the doors behind the sign are to honor Colin's memory.
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Comments
So if you want Boston Police
So if you want Boston Police/Mayor Walsh to do their job in your neighborhood you just have to wait for a kid to be killed there.
I'll be interested to see how long this lasts
Also I haven't noticed any increase in enforcement anywhere else in the neighborhood / city, so it seems like this is all just a show by the politicians and police to appease the masses until they forget and move onto something else.
Yup
I live on a side street between two very busy streets. We don't have much traffic, but when we do its fast and dangerous. Parked cars have been hit, accidents have occurred, but no pedestrians have been hit to my knowledge. We bring this up in community meetings with the police, and with representatives of our councilor and mayor, but nothing has ever been done. If and when someone dies, then I'm sure the politicians and police will respond.
A sad, cynical remark
Traffic violations are RAMPART throughout Boston. Über drivers are among the most reckless.
There are not enough officers to monitor the problem, but they do need a directive in place to ENFORCE traffic violations.
Without more surveillance cameras, it is hard to imagine this problem being dealt with effectively.
RAMPART?
Damned auto complete
Officers dont even try to monitor or enforce
any traffic violations in Boston a majority of the time. Many other cities have figured it out without the use of cameras, which have many problems of their own, including making intersections more dangerous, not less.
Traffic Calming
Speed Humps work better than Speed Bumps. Also, it is better for snow plows.
Could help, however...
That same week of this incident, there was a very similar one in Maryland. There is no perfect solution.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-moth...
You are right; there is no
You are right; there is no perfect solution but one way we can start (all over the US) is making it so cars aren't king. Cars should be 3rd in line behind pedestrians and bicyclists.
I know I'll get flamed here for saying this but cars have reigned supreme far too long in this land. It's time to shake things up and invest in infrastructure that gets more ppl off the road.
Driving is a privilege and people don't take it seriously enough.
you mean 4th
Busses, which are driven by professionals, cut down on emissions per rider, are the vital accessibility link for those not able bodies enough to walk/bike, and are constantly snarled in traffic created by selfish single drivers, should be part of that top 3 priority.
No one should get flamed for
No one should get flamed for valuing peoples lives over cars. I'll add that things like rapid transit buses should obviously get priority over cars too. A bus with 50 people in it should be treated as 50 times more important than a car with 1 person in it. That is common sense.
>> Driving is a privilege
>> Driving is a privilege
I think that is one of the most important things that needs to be drilled into driver's heads, along with "you're operating a 3-4-ton weapon so you better be in control". There's way too much "me, me, me" entitlement on our roads and too little enforcement. Without exaggeration, every morning I see at least 1 blatant red-light runner; yesterday it was 3. People do very stupid things like pull out in front of you and make you slam on the brakes... when there's nowhere behind you - can't you just wait 5 seconds? And it seems to have gotten worse in the last decade.
As much chaos as there is on the roads in Europe, France in particular, things work much better over there and wouldn't you know it, even in congested Paris cars actually yield to vulnerable users like pedestrians, scooters, and - my gosh - bikes. And, boy, if you run a red, you'll be in a world of trouble. Same in California - hundreds of dollars for HOV lane violations, $400+ for red lights. People still do stupid things on the highway but I haven't seen any red light runners there.
Boston? $50 for HOV violation. Ridiculous.
You've made some very good points, tofu.
Driving is a privilege, not a right, and it can be taken away from somebody who abuses it. The fact that people are allowed to get a driver's license at such a young age (16) also has a great deal to do with it, as well, and the kind of free-wheeling, cavalier attitude that a lot of kids that age have seems to carry over into adulthood.
The stuff that you're describing doesn't just happen in Southie. In fact, it happens pretty much everywhere, especially here in the Bay State, and here in the northeast, generally.
More to the point, I've noticed the same stupid-assed driving habits that people have on the large 4-laned state highways, as well, plus more; not only refusing to give another vehicle that they're passing enough room before returning to their lane, but deliberately speeding up and refusing to let people through when they need to change lanes to get off at an exit, for example. These kinds of behavior are especially noticeable on the Southeast Expressway, which is rather hellacious to drive on, at all hours of the day and night, but especially during the rush-hour periods.
It's not just teenagers. It
It's not just teenagers. It's all ages. Again, it is the thinking that it's a right and not a privilege.
To get your license in some countries in Europe is a serious thing with serious classes, driving hours, etc. It's our lack of training and enforcement here AND the fact that cars are thought of as #1.
So.....do nothing?
In the 80s, DUI laws didnt stop drunk driving but it sure helped reduce fatalities and made it more of a visible problem.
Neither has any business
Neither has any business being on a public way. They're poorly marked while we all love to laugh at pimped-out cars bottoming out on them, they can cause serious injuries to motorcyclists, scooter, and bicycle riders.
Really?
As a cyclist and occasional scooter rider, um, I have no idea what you are getting on about here. My husband also rides a motorcycle, and he's baffled by your assertions, too.
Care to cite some statistics?
I haven't been injured by
I haven't been injured by speed humps/bumps while cycling yet, but I certainly have been knocked around.
They're not as bad if they don't have the stupid granite bars embedded in the road. Those are horrible to bike over, especially as the asphalt starts to wear down.
I don't think so
I don't know any cyclist (motorized or otherwise) who has any issues with speed bumps or humps. If anything, they're kinda fun to jump off of with the right bike.
Yeah it's my 2 seconds of
Yeah it's my 2 seconds of motocross for the day
Will the display show actual speed or be capped at 39 mph?
Will the display show actual speed or be capped at 39 mph? One of the more unusual things I've seen in police work is that some Police Chiefs and Traffic Engineers make these displays "top out" at 39 mph so "kids" don't get into a contest to see who can go fastest. Absurd. If somebody is doing 50 mph or whatever in a 25 mph zone, all the more reason to take down their plate and call it in. The Registry, as inefficient as it has become under Patrick and Baker, still entertains complaints from private citizens who witness violations. I would like to know if the display has an "upper limit" of 39 as most ridiculously do.
If you're going to make such
If you're going to make such a ridiculous claim, you should at least try to back it up with some proof.
Or....
How about -- if the speed limit is 25 and someone exceeds that speed by X amount of mph a camera snaps a picture and you get a ticket. I'd vote for 7mph. 5 is too little, 10 is too much - especially on L St. I'd be in favor of speed cameras on A St, Day Blvd and Dorchester St as well. I walk to work every single day from Southie to Downtown and I have near-misses with cars flying through crosswalks (either going to fast to stop for me, or not paying attention) a few times a week.
Take your Orwellian fantasies
Take your Orwellian fantasies elsewhere. If someone is speeding and they're stopped by police, their mistake is immediately brought to their attention. A ticket in the mail weeks later doesn't produce the same effect. Seeing a police presence and traffic stops underway keeps other drivers honest. A camera lets drunk drivers, criminals, and those wanted for warrants continue along their way.
In other parts of the country, camera enforcement programs are rife with abuse, and police departments get addicted to the easy money. Once drivers get smart, they have to do things like tinker with traffic light timing and adjust speed limits to keep the revenue coming in.
Okay, then
How about technology?
My car knows the speed limits and displays them in the GPS screen.
If I'm over the limit, the display of speed limits turns red and flashes.
My car also can limit the speed via the cruise control.
Put those two together, and you have cars that can't speed. At all.
How does that sound?
As for "orwellian", well, see "no right to drive", above.
Who's going to pay
to retrofit all the older cars on the road without such systems? Will those of us with older cars have to sell them and buy newer models with money we don't have?
If the car in front of you is going the speed limit
You go the speed limit too.
No need to retrofit - just like there were never catalytic converter retrofits. Phase it in.
The one on Mass Ave. heading
The one on Mass Ave. heading toward BMC goes as high as 94 with stopped traffic. I guess they don't care about that stretch of street anymore since no one has come to fix it.
Thank God!
C'mon Southie, if we want Marty to pay attention lets all start tossing our kids under passing trucks!
What a boiling crock of putrid feces he is.
As they focused on one $#*@ing intersection elsewhere in Southie there are manbabies with manicured beards weaving their shiny 911's through double parked Range Rovers in front of Lincoln and leaning on their horns at old women with walkers trying to cross a street.
For the love of god, Marty. Please raise ALL the crosswalks in South Boston or gtfo of the way and we'll elect someone who isnt an empty suit controlled by rich developers.
No elected official will say the truth
No elected official will say the truth. That is we cannot have safe streets and also eliminate congestion. Slower vehicles mean safer streets. And in a major city, there really should be no expectation that you can just easily drive around. In the 50s? Sure. Out in the exburbs? Sure. But not in a major metropolis in the year 2018. That's just the way it is. If you want a safe, vibrant city life, you have to accept this. And it's better overall for the life of a city anyway. If you want to go vroom vroom all the time, you need to move out of the city. Cities are for people, not cars.
May this innocent child rest in peace and may his family somehow find some small solace in how many people are thinking of them at this time.
Cambridge has been honest
They don't even pretend that they can eliminate congestion.
Because you can't - not so long as so many people insist on driving!
They went for safety, knowing that congestion is a given.
P.S. you don't eliminate congestion by "freeing" roads from traffic control anyway. At best, you create induced demand.
Don't blame the cops
South Boston district court is notorious for dismissing traffic citations issued by the police.
So they shouldn't issue them
So they shouldn't issue them at all? Great solution.
Instead of speeding, city
Instead of speeding, city should focus on enforcing STOP lights. Starts with basics before moving on to bigger things.
A few thoughts....
1. Even sadder is I bet these cops were paid either overtime or detail pay to do this. It's somehow not in the budget as part of their day to day duties to enforce speeding. I learned this little factoid attending a meeting on speeding in Back Bay on Beacon Street. In that case, they use a federal grant to fund speed patrols - extra duty.
2. The speed limit feedback signs do that and nothing more. They do not take pictures. They don't do anything but display your speed. So - they are a joke.
3. You can't use cameras or any other technologies to give out speeding or red light running tickets. It is against Mass State law. Boston or any other Mass town cannot implement it. Right now the ticket must come from a police officer to you. Want it changed? Call your STATE legislature.
Barn door, closed. Horse,
Barn door, closed. Horse, long gone.