The stories about the Ferguson, Mo., police using big fines from trivial traffic violations, especially against African-American drivers (who are, it is true, a majority in that city), as a major municipal revenue source sounds like a variant of some communities in New England. East Providence, R.I., is one of those "speed traps'' that works very hard to get as much revenue as it can from hapless drivers who find themselves into that confusing labyrinth, with its notoriously bad signage. Some forward-looking drivers might want to avoid that burg entirely.
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What is it about the arrogance of SUV drivers that makes them speed through streets narrowed by snow banks and push everyone else aside -- people in normal cars as well as pedestrians?
Is it because they're sitting so high above the street and that they think they can use the sheer size of their hideous gas-guzzlers to force everyone else off the road? Or do they think they're better than other drivers because they have been able to afford one of these disgusting vehicles?
And they're even worse at night because SUV's have blinding lights. Where is the National Transportation Safety Administration when we need them? But wait a minute. A lot of lobbyists have these things.
--- Robert Whitcomb
