MASSACHUSETTS PAGE

Dear MA Motorists,

The Fall of 2005 turned out to be relatively quiet.

SEAT BELTS:

The legislators debated primary enforcement of seat belt laws again, which would allow police to stop any vehicle under the pretense an occupant in not buckled in.

Although we have the lowest traffic fatality rate in the nation, we also have the lowest rate of seat belt use. Maybe the two are not related and seat belts don't really save lives. Or maybe it's our "Boston-tea-party" response to heavy-handed government tactics. Anyway, why is it that as of July 2005, 30 states allowed adult motorcyclists the freedom to decide for themselves what, if anything, to wear on their heads, but at the same time all but one state had mandatory adult seat belt laws?

And why do so many people who want low speed limits for their streets when they all exceed them elsewhere? Why don't they oppose red light cameras when they routinely run lights that just turned red? Why do they want stop signs that they roll through? Why do people support tougher drunk driving laws when they themselves drive home after drinking?

I think the answer is when we get on a bike we unite against the sworn enemy of motorcyclists, more commonly known as automobiles. But when we become "cagers" ourselves, we turn on each other. And I think that's the reason why it's only a matter of time before the primary seat belt measure passes in Massachusetts. Oh, I almost forgot: that and the millions of dollars promised by the federal government.

INSURANCE RATES:

In Massachusetts, how much we end up paying for car insurance is a result of political dickering between the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Insurance companies' lobbying. Depending on who has the most political clout with the legislators, we may get either a 18% reduction the Attorney General wants, the 9.5% reduction the Governor proposed or a 1% decrease the insurance industry agreed to. Nevertheless, the three negotiating parties announced this year's premium decline is not a result of any political ambitions; It's because we've been blessed with "good weather."

RED LIGHT SCAMERAS:

What the bean-counters are pretending they don't know is that there are a number of problems associated with their greediness:

• The program is illegal in Massachusetts. Except for a very few specific situations that do not apply here, a traffic law violator must be handed a ticket in person by a police officer and not by a robocop. (The Turnpike had to get a special law passed to be able to mail out notices to toll violator.)
• Excessive red light violations are primarily the result of poorly designed, poorly maintained, or improperly operated traffic lights. Simple engineering solutions have been used to reduce the incidence of red light running.
• Ticket cameras typically increase, not decrease, the number of accidents at controlled intersections, particularly rear-ended collisions. The public justification for red light cameras is reducing accidents caused by driver error. If accidents caused by driver error increase, then cameras are failing.
• All the studies supporting red light cameras were funded by ticket camera vendors or units of government interested in justifying camera-based traffic enforcement.

HOLIDAY PARTY:

Ivan
Massachusetts State Chapter Coordinator

AND NOW A NOTE FROM JOHN CARR, THE MA ACTIVIST:

• ROUTE 9:
  Five years ago I wrote a letter to MassHighway about the unreasonably low speed limit on Route 9 at Speen Street. The traffic engineer in the Worcester district office agreed that the speed limit was too low and recommended posting 55. MassHighway left the speed limit at 40 to avoid offending Natick politicians and depriving the town of its favorite speed trap.
  After a large volume of complaints over the previous year, MassHighway finally gave in last summer and posted 50 on most of Route 9 in Natick. While the limit is still low, the Speen Street interchange is now merely an ordinary speed trap.
  
• ROUTE 146
  Over the past several years the state has been extending Route 146 into Worcester and improving the existing Route 146 in Millbury. A MassHighway engineer determined that Route 146 in Millbury should be posted 65. This recommendation was vetoed but the speed limit on the new highway north of Route 122A was changed from 50 to 55.
  
• ROUTE 3
  MassHighway finally admitted that 55 might be too low a speed limit for the new Route 3 from Burlington to New Hampshire and promised to investigate increasing the speed limit to 65. Since the increase has not happened several months later the bureaucrats are probably hoping that the issue goes away without their being forced to take action. Additional letters might help make the change.
  
• ROUTE 2
  With the median barrier installation project complete the Route 2 Concord bypass is now a divided highway. The 33 year old "temporary" speed limit reduction to 45 due to lack of a median barrier remains. Work on a new interchange at Crosby's Corner could begin in 2007, with a replacement for the rotary to follow.
  
• ROUTE 44
  In December the new Route 44 bypass from Carver to Plymouth opened. This seven mile limited access highway is the longest new road to open in Massachusetts since the 1980s. The road is designed for safe travel at 70 miles per hour. You can bet the speed limit isn't that high.

Route 146 and Route 44 may be the last new highways ever built in Massachusetts. The 20 year transportation plan allows no new highways and very little widening of overcrowded roads. It does recommend diverting billions of dollars of highway money to fund transit projects in Boston.

The plan is not immutable though it has inertia on its side. With Mitt Romney retiring the race for Governor is wide open and the spring campaigning season would be a good time to let candidates know what you think about transportation policy issues.

John Carr
NMA MA Activist

1/06

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