[If they want to see non compliance with traffic laws they should come here.]
By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor
NEW HAVEN — Assistant Police Chief Kenneth Gillespie worked in law enforcement in Los Angeles for years, but he said he has never experienced the culture of noncompliance with traffic laws that he found in New Haven.
Gillespie was one of a half-dozen city and state officials Friday who held a press conference, again pushing for legislation that would allow cities to put up cameras that would automatically record cars running red lights so owners could be fined.
…
“When I came here, myself and (Police Chief James) Lewis were both surprised at the amount of hazardous moving violations that seemed to be an ongoing problem here in New Haven,” Gillespie said.
Continue reading “New Haven again urging green light for traffic cameras”

by Richard F. Weingroff

On October 3, 1993, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) celebrated
100 years of service to the country. General Roy Stone, the agency’s first
head, called the movement to improve the Nation’s roads a “peaceful campaign
of progress and reform.” Today, the 68,800-kilometer (42,800-mile) Dwight
D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways is the most visible
result, but the peaceful campaign continues as the FHWA adapts to the intermodal
demands of the 1990s.

Origins

In the second half of the 19th century, the railroads dominated interstate
travel, and the limited pre-railroad network of roads fell into neglect. In
the 1880s, however, the growing popularity of a new mode of transportation,
the “ordinary” bicycle — the type with the large front wheel — was the first
sign of change. The speed and individual mobility afforded by the bicycle
created a nationwide craze — complete with bicycle clubs, clothes, races,
and touring guides — for what appeared to be the next important mode of transportation.
With the introduction of the “safety” bicycle with two wheels of the same
size and the pneumatic tire in the late 1880s, the craze became an economic,
political, and social force in the United States. By 1890, over one million
bicycles were being manufactured in the country each year.

The biggest problem was that, outside the cities, the nation’s bad roads
made bicycling a laborious, dangerous process. As one contemporary slogan
put it, the roads were, “Wholly unclassable, almost impassable, scarcely jackassable!”
The Good Roads Movement was a response to this problem. Bicycle groups, led
by the League of American Wheelmen (L.A.W.), and manufacturers, led by Col.
Albert Pope, worked at the federal, state, and local level to secure road
improvement legislation.

Continue reading “The Federal Highway Administration at 100”

One year ago, 21 year old Tressa Russell ran over 66 year old Stanly Brown (February 11, 2009) when she drove away from a pizzeria. Last week she was sentenced to 3 years of probation, 240 hours of community service and a fine of $5,400.00. What bothers me is not the lack of incarceration but her utter deficient humanity, oh yeah I didn’t mention, she thought she hit a pothole so she kept on driving. She only returned to the scene after she called a friend who told her there were police and ambulances where she said she hit that pothole.
Link to the story from the Albany Times Union : https://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=896427
In an exact quote from her statement printed by the Albany Times Union, she plead guilty primarily, “so I could get my car back and to make the victim’s sisters happy for the loss of their brother.”
The article continued, “The defendant (Tressa Russell) appears to be more upset about the loss of her car and license than the loss of the life of the victim, Stanley Brown.”
In court, Russell’s attorney, Joseph McCoy, said his client was remorseful. He said his client’s decision to leave the scene in no way contributed to the victim’s death.
Just hitting Stanley with her car contributed to him dying.
I hope that our cultural apathy takes a break when hearing story’s like this, until that happens I’m going to continue talking about it.
Continue reading “This court outcome is considered a joke but it is far more severe then whatever could happen here”

Continue reading “"Shiny Red Bicycle" Watercolor”