Not too long ago, I griped about the use of red-light traffic cameras, putting forth the opinion that they were driven by revenue rather than safety and may in fact make intersections less safe. Evidently, I'm not alone here in Texas, as a bill banning their use made it through a state House committee last week; it will now be taken up by the full House once it passes muster with the Calendars Committee. Early word has it that most of the state representatives are in favor of the ban.
They put a new one of those cameras at an intersection close to my house not too long ago. While they do have a sign warning of the camera's existence about a quarter mile beforehand, I find that traffic screeches to a halt even as soon as seeing the sign, which bolsters my argument about the whole thing making traffic less safe. With any luck, there won't be a lot of accidents like mine from a year ago because of it. I'll update as more info comes in.
The beast backs away slowly: The update on yesterday's sickness is that it's mostly gone away--sore throat gave way to an occasional cough, and I felt tired all day when I was teaching, despite having slept more this weekend than any time since Christmas. Tomorrow is a six-hour break from teaching, thanks to the dreaded TAKS test, which takes place at every single one of my schools, so there's no way to swap one out with another. That should allow for plenty of relaxation and maybe even the chance to do some of the stuff I put off yesterday.
Get 'em while they're hot: Lots of new comments on the hockey post from the other day.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Remember that staccatos are never accented! Use 1 taste bud, not 100. (From a comment sheet at last weekend's middle-school solo and ensemble contest; I've never heard the "taste buds" metaphor before. Seems like you'd need precision aim to use just one bud, but that's probably his point.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
A message board for the City of Frisco where I hang out had an epic thread last summer on the possibility of RLC's coming to our fair city. I am strongly against their use. I should probably stop now before launching a 2000-word diatribe on their many evils. :-)
--GP
I can only imagine. Got a URL for that thread?
Unfortunately, no. I tried searching the archives, but it's not there anymore.
The current hot topic, generating over 1000 posts in about a half dozen threads over the last few weeks, are a series of city charter amendments a group petitioned the city to bring to a ballot. The one causing the most uproar is one that would require homebuilders to maintain a $1,000,000 surety bond on new home construction and warrant the homes against defects for five years. The city has apparently shopped this requirement around to bond providers and no one wants to touch it with the proverbial ten-foot pole. The backers of the amendments are offering no solutions for how to get the bonds except to apparently think the Bond Fairy is going to drop out of the sky and provide them.
--GP
According to the Dallas Morning News, the ban passed the House today by a 109-30 vote. Do you have any idea what the likelihood of passage is in the Senate and with the Gov?
Speaking on behalf of RLC usage during debate was the state representative whose district includes East Garland.
The state rep's name? Joe Driver. For some reason, I find that kinda funny.
--GP
Know what's even funnier? Joe Driver's a State Farm agent. He sells auto insurance. No joke...
Post a Comment