[blackshoe]

Driving ban? Sounds like "We believe it's incredibly stupid to drive in this weather. We also believe that citizens cannot be trusted not to be stupid. Therefore, we are prohibiting driving until further notice"? Or did they just, as has been the usual case in the past, suggest that people stay home?

[barmar]

It was a real ban, from 4pm Friday to 4pm Saturday. Violators could be punished with up to $500 fine and a year in jail.

http://www.eagletrib...out-really-well

[blackshoe]

From the article Barry cited:

Quote

In the few cases where drivers violated the ban, area police officers issued verbal warnings instead of citations or arresting the violators.

Sensible.

Quote

Exceptions for the ban covered public utility and health care workers, delivery truck drivers and members of the news media.

Why except the news media, other than fear of pissing them off?

Quote

A similar ban went into effect after the infamous Blizzard of 1978. Despite the ban being lifted at 4 p.m. today, state officials urged residents to stay off the roads to allow plows, utility crews and public safety officials to clear streets and restore power.

"This does not mean we're encouraging people to travel," said Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Richard Davey. "We're asking folks to use common sense if it's necessary to travel."

And clearly saying that the ban was put into effect because they didn't trust people to use common sense.

Before somebody points out that some people clearly didn't use common sense (or the police wouldn't have given them warnings), there's always some small percentage of obliviots around. Bans won't affect them at all.

[hrothgar]

blackshoe, on 2013-February-09, 21:10, said:

Why except the news media, other than fear of pissing them off?

The primary reason for the ban has nothing to do with driving safety, rather its an attempt to strictly limit the number of cars on the road so the plows can move.

Three or so years ago, there was an ugly storm in the Boston area that hit mid afternoon.
The roads were clogged with commuters who blocked the plows.
The entire system was gridlocked and folks were stranded on major highways for 12+ hours.

There are only a few news media, so they won't jam the roads.

[blackshoe]

Sorry, I was under the impression the governor said it was about the safety of people on the roads.

[hrothgar]

blackshoe, on 2013-February-09, 23:29, said:

Sorry, I was under the impression the governor said it was about the safety of people on the roads.

That's a perfectly valid secondary reason, as is reopening the roads open ASAP.

You asked for an explanation why the media was given "special treatment".
I gave you one.

[kenberg]

I guess I have been at both ends of the oblivious spectrum.

A long time back, twenty-five years or so, I was living in a condo complex with a large parking lot. There was a huge storm, nothing was moving, eventually I figured the local store might be open so I hiked to it. It was open. On my hike I saw some guys in top of something digging snow away with their hands. Getting up close, I saw the roof of a car beneathe the snow. On my way back there was a guy trying to drive in the as yet unplowed parking lot and was stuck in the middle of the lot. He needed help. I agreed to help him get his car back over to the side. I had no plans to get his car or mine anywhere until the plows had a chance to do their work.

But there is the other side. Maybe 1996 or so there was a big storm here. We were in Charlotte, North Carolina and coming home, unaware of what was on its way. We stopped for lunch near Chapel Hill and noticed that there was a lot of rain and it was just above freezing. By the time we turned north near Richmond, Virginia there was a lot of snow. When we were maybe 15 miles or so south of the capitol beltway some snowplows came onto the interstate and were side to side across the whole road going about ten miles per hour. I cut over to the parallel road, Route 1, and made it up to the beltway and crossed the Potomac on the Wilson bridge. I was now ahead of the plows and I was one of the few idiots still out on the road. As I got onto the Maryland part of the beltway, the overhead signs informed me that the road was now closed to everything other than emergency vehicles. Huh. Well, not much further and no one seemed to be out checking so I finished the trip. I suppose at some point I was supposed to give it all up and check into a motel, if I could find one with a vacancy, but it always seemed like "well, not quite impassable yet".

My other storm story is from just a few years back. Becky and I were exercising at the Y. It was starting to snow a bit as we were leaving but, what will be remembered as one of my stupidest ideas ever, I suggested we go to Starbucks for while before heading home. Oops. An hour or so later, when we headed home, the roads were covered with ice. A trip that usually takes about fifteen minutes took some two or three hours. We passed a school bus that had slid off the road, some schools just kept the students in class and fed them while wating for the roads to be cleared.

Anyway, good luck to you all up there. Back in Minnesota we had an expression to cover such things: "That's different".

[TimG]

I've spent the weekend in Gorham, Maine where the National Weather Service reports 35.5 inches of snow has fallen. With all the wind, there are lots of drifts, some of them over 5 feet (taller than my 5' 3" daughter), and some oddly bare spots. Snowstorms around here are almost always northeasters with nearly identical wind patterns, I've long thought that if I built some fencing in just the right spots I could funnel the snow, controlling the drifts, and significantly reduce the need for shoveling my driveway (except for the bank at the end the the plow leaves). I'm hoping this idea will be the inspiration for a school science project at some point in the high school lives of my kids.

[hrothgar]

The supermarkets are in bad shape. Between people stocking up before the storm, no deliveries during the storm, and natural spoilage, the produce and meat sections were looking very sad.

[blackshoe]

hrothgar, on 2013-February-10, 08:05, said:

That's a perfectly valid secondary reason, as is reopening the roads open ASAP.

You asked for an explanation why the media was given "special treatment".
I gave you one.

You hypothesized. That's fair enough, but your reason may not be the governor's. <shrug>

[hrothgar]

blackshoe, on 2013-February-10, 10:39, said:

You hypothesized. That's fair enough, but your reason may not be the governor's. <shrug>

This is hardly "my" hypothesis. This is a fairly standard topic of discussion here in Boston.
You know, the place where the roads were closed and people were directly affected.

Sorry if this inconveniences your pissy little bitch session.

[barmar]

I think the media was excepted for the same reason they're allowed into war zones: the public depends on them to report what's going on first hand.

I suppose one could stretch the 1st Amendment to require this exception. But then they'd also have to make an exception for people going to church (conversely, I think I remember a reporter saying that the archdiocese announced that parishioners could skip Mass this weekend if it's too difficult to get there).

[blackshoe]

hrothgar, on 2013-February-10, 10:59, said:

This is hardly "my" hypothesis. This is a fairly standard topic of discussion here in Boston.
You know, the place where the roads were closed and people were directly affected.

Sorry if this inconveniences your pissy little bitch session.

My bad. I keep forgetting how easily you depart from your "seemingly normal human being" persona.

[hrothgar]

blackshoe, on 2013-February-10, 13:45, said:

My bad. I keep forgetting how easily you depart from your "seemingly normal human being" persona.

I'd say compartmentalization is a much better description that "persona".

I'm perfectly capable of dealing politely on threads, but I simply don't have the patience to deal with your *****.

You seem to have the expectation that you can post crap and people won't call you on it.

Your gratuitously ignorant economic ramblings...
Your cynical nonstop complaints about government...
Your nonsensical attempts to justify political philosophies based on "golden age" science fiction authors.

These types of idiocy don't deserve to be treated politely or with respect.
A decade ago, I had a bit more patience, but not for a while now.