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Masshole of the morning
By roadman on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 8:22am
Tries to beat signal, then stops - fouling tracks. At least they had the sense (and the room) to back clear. BTW - pavement was wet but clear.
Albion Street, Wakefield @ 8:04 AM
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Comments
They should write on the gate
They should write on the gate in really small font, "If you are close enough to read this then you are dangerous fool who could have killed a bunch of people. I hope this gate damaged your SUV(its always an SUV)."
The gate originally landed on their roof
just above the windshield. You can see the smear of snow on the right side of the windshield from where the gate fell as they backed up. But I get your point.
But they didn't have the sense
to clear the snow/ice off the roof of their car. Masshole indeed.
Given a bit of a change in circumstance...
...there's no doubt the snow would have been cleared off the roof. And the hood. And the bumper. And the rear quarter panel...
EDIT: To be fair, I just went out to clear my car off. Stuff's really frozen on it.
Masshole
I noticed that too! That there's worth double points!
Not to excuse their other
Not to excuse their other behavior, but the snow this morning was more like a hard thin crust of ice. So it doesn't need to be removed from a car roof, and in fact there might not be a way to remove it from a non-glass car surface without doing damage.
Start the car up. Once the defroster clears
the windows, switch the heater to the inside vents and run the fan at max setting. Within five minutes, the heat will work on the roof from inside so you can remove the ice/snow from the roof with a brush. You have to remove the ice layer carefully to avoid damage to the finish, but it works.
Another trick....
Is to give the cars a good wash then wax in the fall. The snow just slides right off a waxed car.
Works for snow
But not necessarily ice.
You left out a step
Then complain about the price of gas.
You don't need to idle a car for fifteen hours for a ten minute drive - just use a damn broom or a shovel with a non-metal edge.
Note that Roadman was talking about ICE
not snow. A broom will not remove ice from a cold car roof. And a shovel with a non-metal edge can scratch the finish just as easily as a metal one can.
Yes, you do this with ice
It was the predominant form of frozen precip where I grew up.
A good waxing works well! You can spritz some vinegar water solution on the roof, too.
If you are running the car to clear the windows, that should be more than enough to create some water under the ice on the roof. Hit it with a shovel (back side or front side of a non-metal one) and it will crack and bust loose.
Idling your car forever wastes fuel, causes pollution, and reduces the life of your car.
I came to a realization
earlier this year: Massholes actually aren't the worst drivers in the country (Wisconsin may actually win that title), but the most selfish drivers in the country.
More supporting evidence.
totally agree
As a transplant (been here about 20 years) Boston drivers aren't bad drivers, they consciously and (often) proudly make selfish decisions. It is exasperating that with just a bit of thought on the part of drivers this could be a great place to drive.
"It's all about me"
..they say to themselves, beat you in line or let the door slam in your face...
It's basically the same
It's basically the same "block the box" mentality you see at intersections all over the city. It is indeed selfish.
In this instance
it's not so much a "block the box" mentality, but the driver attempting to ignore a "No Turn On Red" restriction. And, unlike with many intersections in Massachusetts, the NTOR restriction from Albion Street east to North Avenue south (North Ave is behind the train I shot the photo from) is actually posted for a legitimate reason (the railroad crossing).
Just once I would like to see the box blockers ticketed.
It's infuriating.
Meanwhile, in Manhattan, I was in a limo about 10 years ago where the trunk didn't clear the box. NYPD traffic cop walked right over, told the driver to pull over after he cleared the intersection and issued a $300 fine on the spot. Driver tried to argue, and the cop, in true NY fashion simply said, "I don't wanna f&*^ing hear it! You block the box, you're getting a f%#&ing ticket!"
The amount of revenue that Boston is missing out on by not enforcing the intersection blocking law is huge (hell, the Seaport and the ingress and egress intersections therefrom are worth tens of thousands of dollars a day alone). The number of headaches that could be alleviated by encouraging compliance (by fining the S&^@ out of offenders) is larger still.
You had me up to the point you mentioned revenue
Once "how much revenue can we get from this" is factored into enforcement decisions, the enforcement is automatically corrupted (just look at Boston's parking enforcement system).
Not really
A few tickets an hour justifies the manpower.
Eventually drivers at one particular intersection realize that they will be ticketed, so the rule gets obeyed. Then it is not worth the costs to enforce there, freeing up law enforcement to go to what was the next worst intersection and start again. If drivers start reoffending in the original intersection, enforcement returns. Conversely, the police department could keep track of the worst 10 intersections and randomly assign officers to ticket.
As it is, at least in Boston this is not enforced. Even in the Longwood Medical Area, which has signage and good reason for enforcement, intersections get gridlocked.
You are correct, at least in theory.
However, my post was in response to this portion of the previous comment:
Doesn't sound to me like they were contemplating officers writing only a few tickets a hour.
Well, yeah
Keep on writing the tickets until people comply. Same thing with parking- no one has to overstay their metered spot or park in a bus stop, but they will until it is fiscally prudent not to.
When it is just the wrong thing to do (and I am looking at you, people who block the ambulances at Longwood) people may or may not comply. When it is money out of your pocket, you will be more inclined to stay on the proper side of the intersection.
And who knows, someday people won't block the box, and the cops can move on to something else.
Cities and Towns don't see that money
Please correct me if this has changed, but there is a reason that traffic enforcement is very low on the priority list for police.
Cops can write thousands of tickets, but the local departments only get $25 or so for each one. The state claims the rest.
This means that there is no incentive to increase penalties to keep up with income increases over decades, and there is negative incentive to send officers out on patrol for traffic violations.