Somebody this afternoon drove into Pets Supply Plus on the southbound side of VFW Parkway just before the Dedham line. Brendan surveyed the damage. WHDH reports no injuries.
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Comments
I miss Marty!
By Ari O
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 9:52pm
Now I could only write "if you're a pet store, you've got to understand, cars are going to hit you" if the pet store was also the site of a union drive, or something.
Drivers have caused trillions
By Kinopio
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 11:36pm
Drivers have caused trillions of dollars of damage in this country to people and property. That is why when a driver throws a tantrum about cyclists not paying excise tax or whatever nonsense you should tell them to shut the hell up and to stop driving into people and buildings.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
By John Costello
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 8:08am
I am just going to say EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE in my head every time I read one of your anti-car posts because really that's all they say.
What did you do, John Boy?
By Lee
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 3:25pm
Sounds like the guilt is really beginning to get to you. Better see a lawyer and turn yourself in.
And maybe see a psychiatrist too.
Edit.
By Lee
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 11:43am
Some people think John Boy is very intelligent.
Duplicate Post?
By John Costello
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 9:36am
Yes, the less smart people here have a habit of doing that.
Can you not?
By eeka
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 12:41pm
https://twitter.com/stevenspohn/status/13263107813...
What's your point?
By merlinmurph
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 8:35am
Nobody mentioned cyclists...
Is no one allowed to mention…
By Lee
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 9:17am
… trick cyclists without your say so?
Did you and John Boy need a trigger warning first?
Since you want to talk cyclists
By robo
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 9:54am
They should pay a registration fee for their bike to cover all of the road changes and engineering costs. Not 100% of the costs. Maybe 50% like car owners have to pay.
It’s only fair.
Actually, no
By merlinmurph
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 11:00am
Sure, why don't we introduce more bureaucracy where there is no need. It wouldn't accomplish anything.
Plus, I drive a car a fair amount.
Plus, I certainly pay taxes.
I have a goid cyclist friend, who has done fairly well financially. When somebody brought up the whole registration and taxes for cyclists thing and was getting particularly annoying, he would very calmly say, " You know, for what it's worth, there's a very good chance I paid more in taxes last year than you made". No smugness, no attitude, just a fact.
Ya, and to that I’d say that my wife and I most likely paid more
By robo
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 12:25pm
In taxes than your friend. We’re easily in the 1%. What’s your point?
Markers, paint, signals, studies are not free. Bikers should pay their share too and stop getting a free ride.
Not worth it
By merlinmurph
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 9:13am
Have you even thought this thru?
Markers? Paint??? OMG, where is all this money coming from? This must be of thousands of dollars. Besides, living out in the semi-boonies, I can't remember if I've ever ridden in a place where there is paint and markers and signals and studies. I ride on the road - and trails. Do I have to pay for all that infrastructure (thousands of $$$$) done in the city?
Just the cost of administration alone to register bikes would cost more than revenues from registration. What could you charge? $5? Millions alone just for the software update. Add a few of state employees and there's a million a year.
You're going to charge a 4 yo $5 to ride around their neighborhood? Really?
A family with 4 kids, that's $30 just to ride their bikes that are barely worth 30 bucks.
How would this be managed and enforced? Are you really going to give people little license plates to put on their bike? That will go over real well with avid riders and their expensive bikes, putting a piece of crap on it. If I got stopped, I'd just say I live in VT - no registration there.
Would you have to register every bike, every year? I know people with a dozen bikes, or more. That's their thing. They buy a used frame, build it up, try it out. Maybe keep it, maybe strip it down and sell it.
Is there a VIN number on bikes? Nope. How would you manage how/what bikes are registered?
Besides, whatever infrastructure that is out there is for the common good, like a city park, where the cost is minimal.
Really, try to think it thru.
68 miles of bike lanes in Boston
By robo
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 9:26am
And you think that cost thousands of dollars? Can I get the number of your painter?
Almost everything in this city doesn’t cover the entire cost - residential parking stickers, roads, MBTA, etc, but having people that use these things contribute is important and my main point.
Do you think we should do away with residential parking stickers? It’s a losing business model for the city.
Painted bike lanes
By merlinmurph
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 10:02am
So, Menino painted some sharrows on the roads years ago and PRESTO, we have bike lanes. The cost of that painting over the years is minimal. It really is inconsequential, and may have been paid for by some federal grant.
Yes, there's a lot of people that use some gov't services and don't have to pay for them. I mentioned parks. If painted bike lanes piss you off, I'd love to hear how feel about schools and their impact on a city budget. Out in the burbs, the school budget is typically just short of half of the total town budget. I don't even have kids and half my taxes go to the schools.
And again, how about all of us out in the burbs who haven't seen any of this paint you're whining over.
Again, think it thru. You clearly haven't.
This is a boston website
By robo
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 6:59pm
Go comment on the Lowell Sun’s website.
To answer some questions:
Schools serve a purpose that’s good for everyone - an educated population. I only recently had a baby, but I’ve always been a proponent of fully funding public education. With that said, BPS is failing our kids and taking a lot of money. I grew up in the burbs and had an incredible public education and they deserve every single penny they get from tax revenues.
Bikes don’t serve a common good. Just a select few in our Northeastern climate. They should pay their fair share. I don’t understand how there can be so much pushback for $100/year to register your bike. That’s less than a cup of coffee a day.
Like llb, you don’t live in the city and haven’t seen that there are traffic signals exclusively for bikes now. That’s not an inconsequential cost.
“Bikes don’t serve a common
By Lee
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 7:25pm
“Bikes don’t serve a common good.”
Of course they do. That’s why cities encourage their use.
For a select few*
By robo
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 7:41pm
FTFY
Take your blinders off. You’ll get it.
By Lee
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 5:22am
Or maybe you just willfully chose to ignore common sense. In which case I can’t help you.
I asked you in another thread the same questions
By robo
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 7:58am
And you ignored me. I bet you’ll do the same here, but I’ll try anyways -
Enlighten me, Lee. What am I missing about having bikes pay their fair share that you get and I do not? Because it seems very straightforward and fair to me.
Alas, better commenters than I …
By Lee
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 3:04pm
… have tried to enlighten you and failed.
If it's a Boston issue....
By merlinmurph
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 7:41am
...why have all bikes in the state registered?
$100/year to register a bike? Are you insane? A family has to spend hundreds of $$$$ just to ride their bikes? Their bikes aren't worth that much. I'm sure you're aware that not everybody dines out often at $500+ a pop.
Plus all the other issues I pointed out.
And, one more time, think it thru.
I can literally replace the word ‘bike’ in your paragraph with
By robo
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 8:00am
‘Car’ and you’d be ok with that. Because cars bad, bikes good.
Ok, only bikes in the city. Are you ok with the proposed fee now?
Actually, no
By merlinmurph
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 8:49am
Wrong. I'm no anti-car zealot. I can't be, I live out in the burbs and depend on one for necessities and recreation. So, wrong.
And again, $100 a bike? Seriously? For a 4 yo? A homeless guy? Hundreds for families? That's delusional.
And again....
How would this be implemented? Enforced? Proof?
Do people that ride in from Meffah need to register?
Think it thru.
Regardless of what Trump says, it's not always about the money. When you amortize those signals and all that paint over the years, it's next to nothing.
$100. Wow.
I love how you brought Trump into the narrative
By robo
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 9:24am
Are you a supporter? Because I absolutely hate the guy and everything he stands for.
Obviously, there would be exceptions to the registration. Look at how they handle MBTA passes for example. Why are you not up in arms about MBTA monthly passes that cost $90 per person? That’s way more than what I’m proposing.
You have a car so you get how car registration works. There are DMV’s everywhere and when’s the last time you went into a dmv?
Seems like I’ve thought it through, but you haven’t and keep trying to poke holes that are very solvable.
Bikes need to pay their fair share. You think they paint once and that’s it? Or that the plows don’t wipe out the markers every winter and need to be replaced? Or that new bike lanes are not being added every year? Or that new bike exclusive signals aren’t added every year and need to be replaced periodically? Who do you think is doing these things? City workers and they cost money too. These are reoccurring costs that are not insignificant.
T vs. bikes
By merlinmurph
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 9:33am
You're comparing the T with a proposed $2.3 billion budget to painting lines on roads and a few signals. Got it.
Enforcement?
Admin?
Etc?
I don't bike. It terrifies
By anon
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 9:21am
I don't bike. It terrifies me. But I fully support enabling other people to bike - every single person on a bike isn't driving a car or crowding onto the bus I'm trying to squeeze onto. Helping people who can bike, to do so, is a good by removing those people from the other forms of transit. It's not like those people would otherwise stay home during rush hour.
“ ….having people that use
By Lee
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 4:11pm
“ ….having people that use these things contribute is important and my main point”
So tolls for pedestrians at crosswalks to help pay to have them painted?
Getting people out of exhaust spewing killing machines and onto bikes, scooters, public transportation, etc, and walking benefits everyone, including drivers. That’s why you don’t penalize the people who do these public minded things with registration fees and onerous fares.
We definitely should do away with residential parking stickers. Not only because of the cost but because they are discriminatory. They are just a freebie politician throw at voters in hopes of winning the votes of the car driving ones.
Yes, let’s require pedestrians also pay …
By Lee
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 11:00am
… a registration fee for their shoes.
Because people who tear up the roads and other things with their motor vehicles are being crucified.
Those bike lanes and signals are not free
By robo
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 12:22pm
Pay your share, Lee.
Robo, the question is ….
By Lee
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 1:01pm
… do you pay your fair share?
It’s the first question that comes to mind when a self proclaimed 1 percenter throws a diversionary tantrum.
I dunno man, you tell me
By robo
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 1:09pm
We pay more than 35% of our income in federal and state taxes. In addition to paying taxes we pay very large excise tax bills and usually every other year pay a very large sales taxes bill on a new vehicle purchase. We spend a lot of money dining out too. Is that a fair share? Sure feels like it when we file our taxes each year.
Hmm
By lbb
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 2:45pm
Not that this doesn't have value, but I don't think that's actually paying into the common purse, is it?
7% sales tax
By robo
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 3:05pm
Adds up when a meal for two costs $500+. I will add that 16% of that 6.25% base sales tax goes to the MBTA so yes, it absolutely adds to the common purse.
Oh my the shifting goalposts
By lbb
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 9:44am
So, first you want to compare direct tax revenues with an expenditure for consumption, a percentage of which is taxed. Then you're calling it 7% and later admitting it's actually 6.25%.
I'll put it to you again: do you really feel that the $500 you spent on your dinner equates to the $500 that someone pays in taxes?
I know you don’t live in the city so it’s ok
By robo
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 6:44pm
That you don’t understand that local towns can add .75% to the sales tax that goes directly to the town. Must not have that in western Mass.
Taxes are a percentage of something - income, bills, capital gains, gas, etc. What exactly is your point?
Also, please explain how I shifted goal posts? You asked a question and I answered it.
I'd be happy to pay the same rate as car excise tax
By fungwah
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 5:25pm
At $25 per $1000 of vehicle cost, that's a nice...$5.
Hmm...doesn't really seem worth the time or energy to enforce and collect that, does it...
Tell you what, how about we ask vehicle owners to pay based on the amount of damage their vehicles cause to the road? That sounds a lot more fair and equitable to me.
That works
By robo
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 6:25pm
And you’ll need to register the bike every other year for $60 just like cars. Some of these road warriors are riding around on $3k bikes so tack on $75/year too.
Tell you what
By fungwah
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 7:16am
It's a good idea, but let's table it until the next time a bicycle crashes into a building and puts a big hole in the wall. Until then, I'm ok if we actually put our traffic enforcement to focus on the vehicles that are actually killing people and causing property damage out here.
Your tax dollars are paying to repair the building?
By robo
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 8:28am
Wow! That’s so noble of you!
You’re moving the goal posts here….
$3K gets you a set of wheels
By merlinmurph
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 9:18am
$3K? Ha! For some people, that gets you a nice wheelset. That's it. Walk into Firefly with $3K and you can't even get a frame.
Then again, $30/year??? That's more than a lot of bikes are worth. Seriously??
Again, think it thru.
Wheelset?
By robo
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 11:40pm
What is a ‘wheelset’? Are you talking about car wheels? I’ve literally never heard someone call a set of ‘rims’ or ‘wheels’ a ‘wheelset’. How old are you?
You lost me….
Wheelset
By merlinmurph
Fri, 04/15/2022 - 8:56am
Wheelset - cycling lingo for a set of wheels, the round things with hubs in the middle tied with spokes to rims. It's a real word, commonly used. I apologize for challenging you with big words.
Ever heard of Google? Bing?
And again...
By merlinmurph
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 11:08am
And again, what's his point, other than to spew hatred towards cars?
What would he like done?
Ban cars? Well, write to your congressman, I'm sure they'll get a good laugh out of it.
At least we agree on something
By robo
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 11:40pm
Cheers!
Off-leash driving
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 2:02am
But I'm sure the driver was under voice command ...
So you know it wasn’t caused by a medical condition?
By robo
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 8:45am
Maybe you should hold judgment until the facts are out?
Down, boy! Down!
By baustin
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 10:32am
Down, boy! Down!
It's a joke. Because it's a pet store. Like, if a dog was driving. And it got excited to go to the pet store.
Touche’
By robo
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 12:27pm
I stand corrected and definitely jumped the gun a bit there.
If it was
By fungwah
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 5:22pm
it sounds like a good reason to have less personally operated vehicles that weigh thousands of pounds out there.
If only all that was needed to clean up…
By Lee
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 11:02am
… driver’s messes was a pooper scooper.
Must have been one of those 'mistook gas for brake' crashes
By Gary C
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 12:59pm
That's not in the general flow of traffic, where someone could accidentally run into the building. I bet someone who was parked there just hit the wrong pedal.
or
By Deedle
Wed, 04/13/2022 - 3:03pm
or saw a squirrel.
Scary. The registers aren't
By anon
Thu, 04/14/2022 - 8:12am
Scary. The registers aren't that far from that door. We're in there several times a week and the people who work there are always nice and helpful, I'm glad nobody was hurt.
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