Viral Video Of The Day

Real? Road rage? Prank? WTF?

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

Viral Video Of The Day

No set up needed. Language is very not work-friendly.

Use Yah Blinkah

Via Boston televison:

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation no doubt got the attention of thousands of motorists Friday morning when their electronic highway message boards suddenly had a wicked strong Boston accent. In an effort to get attention to the Massachusetts law that requires all drivers to signal when changing lanes, the signs read "Use Yah Blinkah." The law, which clearly requires the use of a signal when changing lanes, is widely ignored by some Massachusetts drivers.

Atlanta Roiled By Ice Storm Blame Game

Quote Of The Day - Chris Christie

"What I've seen today for the first time is unacceptable. I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. One thing is clear: this type of behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it because the people of New Jersey deserve better." - Chris Christie, disavowing foreknowledge of the deliberate bottlenecking of the George Washington Bridge, which Christie's detractors say was done as retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, which lies on the Jersey side of the bridge.

RELATED: The GWB is the world's busiest bridge with an estimated 102 million vehicular crossings in 2013.

Quote Of The Day - Tom Comstock

"I told God, if he's going to save me from death from this and he doesn't send me a boyfriend, I'm going to call a party foul." - Portland resident Tom Comstock, after pieces of lumber speared the cabin of his SUV when he was rear-ended during rush hour traffic. Emergency room doctors gave him a tetanus shot and told him to go buy a lottery ticket. KATU-TV has video and more photos at the link. (Tipped by JMG reader Bobby)

NYPD Vs Skateboarders

Last night Reddit discovered a video about this.

Police attempted to defuse the annual skateboard marathon—known as Broadway Bomb—on Saturday, preventing the over 1,500 skateboarders from riding in the streets. The skaters’ plan was to ride down Manhattan’s West Side, from Broadway and 116th Street down to the Charging Bull statue in the Financial District. But like early birds catching the worm, the police arrived beforehand. They set up an orange barricade on West 105th Street, while a helicopter and squads of men in blue patrolled the area. The skateboarders were frustrated, but carried on by attempting to redirect the route down Amsterdam Avenue.

The clip jumped to 450K views overnight.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

WASHINGTON: Trucker "Patriots" Stage Rolling Slowdown On DC Beltway

Earlier this week some news outlets called the plan a hoax, but it appears that the so-called Ride For The Constitution is underway this morning on the DC beltway.

The Truckers Ride for the Constitution planned to start at 9 a.m. Friday, with truckers driving the 64-mile Capital beltway in eight hour shifts until Sunday afternoon. By about 8:45 a.m., Virginia State Police officials said that about 30 tractor trailers left a stop in Dumfries at about 7:30 with plans to head toward Washington. Meanwhile, in Dumfries, 15 more were spotted bearing the official Twitter hashtag of the ride - #T2SDA. The protest has attracted truckers from as far away as the West Coast and has more than 140,000 supporters on Facebook. “Anybody at all is talking about the truckers coming to shutdown D.C.,” says organizer Ernest Lee. “We've got to stand together. We've got to be united. Guys, we've got to keep it peaceful here. Got to keep it clean."

The group's Facebook page is here.

Cops Arrest Driver Who Posted "World Record" Lap Around Manhattan Video

A week ago a YouTube user with the name Afroduck posted the below video in which its author claimed to have set the world record for completing the 26-mile drive around Manhattan in 24 minutes. (Parts of the roads that ring the outer edge of the island are limited-access highways, but some of the distance is on surface streets with traffic lights.) The video drew over 300K views and the ire of NYPD chief Ray Kelly, who vowed to find Afroduck.  Yesterday, he was arrested.

Christopher Tang, 30, was arrested after posting a video on YouTube Aug. 28 showing his wild joyride as he raced around Manhattan in 24 minutes. He was charged with reckless endangerment, reckless driving, speed violation and traffic device violation, among other offenses. Cops also took away the 2006 BMW model Z4 — with a maximum speed of 155 mph — that the racing madman used for his stunt. The nut mounted a camera on his dashboard, which chronicled his 26.5-mile journey from the FDR Drive at E. 116th St. to Battery Park, and back up West St. until he reached his starting point again.

NYC Begins Holiday Exodus

According to AAA estimates, 5.6 million people will abandon the New York City metro area for the holiday weekend.  Highways and public transit are expected to be at peak capacity by mid-afternoon. For those staying in town, this year's fireworks display has been "curated" by pop star Usher, who has not only created the mixtape that will be simulcast during the show, but has designed some of the firework shells themselves.

"It was hard for me to articulate what I had in my mind, so it took a lot of them giving me sketches of how things could look in the sky and also giving me an idea of what kind of colors I could work with. We went out to the desert. I Instagrammed a few photos of some of the work that they fired off. Some things that are really special, I decided not to show you guys that. The first thing that I said was, 'This sure does beat the bottlerocket I was shooting off last year.' In addition to being able to have access to such an incredible moment to convey art and culture, I have something in the middle of it that I can say was specifically made for me."

Usher's musical selections include tracks by Kanye West, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Sheldon, and two songs by (shocker) Usher. The 37th Annual Macy's Fourth Of July Fireworks Celebration ® (yup) begins at 8PM on the Hudson River.  Prime viewing locations are on the West Side Highway between the West Village and Hell's Kitchen.

Wear Your Seat Belt

Gothamist reports:

The collision happened on June 29th at 5:30 a.m. One 29-year-old driver sustained minor injuries and was arrested for DWI. (No one else was hurt.) Roselle Park Police Chief Paul Morrison tells NBC New York, "I want people to realize what can happen when someone runs a red light. By showing this video, we hope people will realize running red lights can have tragic consequences."

RELATED: Advocates for red light cameras are already citing this crash as evidence for the need to expand the program. Those ticketed by such cameras have sometimes successfully fought their citations in court on privacy grounds. The ACLU has come out against them.

Contrary to popular belief, the major concern about red light cameras and privacy is not about cameras taking pictures of license plates, assuming that they do not also take pictures of the drivers. Rather, it has to do with the storage by a government entity of data regarding a driver's whereabouts, whether or not the driver was issued a citation (a citation is not automatically issued simply because a photograph is taken), and whether or not those citations are successfully appealed. Such data (which includes the date and time of a particular vehicle passing a particular location) should be inaccessible to anyone for any purpose other than issuing a citation (including for other law enforcement purposes or via discovery in civil proceedings), and it should be destroyed as soon as possible.

The Height Of The Lincoln Tunnel Is 13 FT

Source.

SAN FRANCISCO: Vehicular Manslaughter Charges For Castro Bicyclist

A bicyclist who reportedly blew through the intersection at Castro and Market streets will be charged with vehicular manslaughter. The 71 year-old man struck in the crosswalk died on the scene. Such a charge for a bicyclist is extremely rare. The case has roiled San Francisco's blogosphere since the April 6th incident.

The last time there was a fatal collision between a bike and a pedestrian the DA charged it as a misdemeanor. A source told the Chronicle that the DA has strong evidence that shows the bicyclist was grossly negligent. The wreck did prompt city officials to promise that there would be stricter enforcement of traffic laws. Part of the evidence the DA's office has is a motorist that saw the bicyclist, Chris Bucchere, blow through some stop signs and red lights before the accident. A conviction of felony vehicular manslaughter is punishable by up to 16 months in jail.

Here in mostly-flat New York City, I've long told friends that if I'm ever killed on the street, it won't be terrorism. It'll be kung pao chicken hurtling the wrong way on my block. Sometimes they're even on the sidewalk.

NYC Gets The "Smartboot"

New York City is about to begin using the "smartboot," which can be removed by drivers themselves once they've paid their overdue tickets and received the removal code by phone.

Under the program, a city marshal will be deployed with teams of PayLock employees. The marshal will verify that a car has more than $350 in judgments, then authorize PayLock to boot it. The scofflaw can then call a toll-free number and pay his bill immediately by credit or debit card. PayLock will give him a code to self-release the boot. Or the driver can travel to a city payment center and pay his tickets and fees in cash, then get the release code. A motorist who owes $355 in parking tickets, for example, will have to pay an additional $180 for Paylock’s “boot fee,” $70 for a marshal’s “execution fee,” plus a “poundage fee” of 5% of the entire bill. In this case, that would be another $30. And, if the driver pays by credit card, he or she will be charged a small additional “convenience fee.” Drivers would be forced to shell out nearly $300 on top of the original $355 in tickets. That’s virtually the same amount as under the current towing system — even though the city will be towing far fewer cars.

After drivers remove the Smartboot, they'll also get charged $25 for every day that they don't return the device to the parking enforcement department.

The Cure For Bridge & Tunnel

If the above 1934 plan had come to fruition, I guess West Chelsea would also be called East Hoboken. From a news article at the time:

In keeping with the Norman Sper plan, the ten square miles of land which would thereby be reclaimed from the Hudson would not only provide for thousands of additional buildings, but also for avenues and cross streets which would greatly relieve the congestion in present thoroughfares. Today there are ten avenues laid out along the length of Manhattan. These are crossed by 125 streets. It is the lack of up-and-down arteries which has given rise to the existing traffic crisis. Sper would double the number of avenues. His suggestions go still further. No use waiting, he says, until the entire area is filled in before starting underground improvements. Build your tunnels, conduits, mail and automobile tubes, and other subterranean passages indispensable to comfort in the biggest city in the universe as you go along. Do it in the process of filling the basin left by the drawing off of the water.

(Via - Gothamist)

Morning View - Locked Out Cop

HEADLINE: NYPD traffic cop locks keys in his car, asshole blogger snaps photo. (The entire scene provided much mirth for other passersby, not just me.)

NYC Launches Curbside Haiku

NYC's transit agency has launched a temporary "Curbside Haiku" campaign aimed at reducing pedestrian and biking injuries. I have a feeling we'll see the top-left mirror ball sign in Chelsea: "Cars crossing sidewalk / worst New York City hotspot / to run into friends." Giant PDF version here.

NOTE: The above campaign was created by openly gay artist and JMG reader John Morse, who announced his coming wedding to JMG reader Ross Pederson at the official DOT launch event for Curbside Haiku on Monday. John and Ross will become husband & husband this Friday. We wish them well!

Blackberry Outage = Fewer Car Crashes

Observers carefully note that last week's Blackberry outage "coincided" with a reduction in traffic accidents.

The National reports that traffic accidents in Dubai dropped 20 percent compared to historical averages during the blackout. In Abu Dhabi, accidents dropped by 40 percent, and there were zero fatalities. If you're thinking that this isn't a significant enough sample to show that smart phones and distracted driving are inexorably linked, consider this: There is an accident in Dubai every three minutes. Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim pointed out to The National that the accidents resulting from distracted driving "range between minor and moderate ones, but at times they are deadly." Officer Al Harethi took it a step farther, adding "the roads became much safer when BlackBerry stopped working."

So far I've only been rear-ended by a Food Emporium shopping cart. She did drop her iPhone, which was a slight compensation.

Squeegee Men Return To NYC

In what some describe as chilling evidence of the fractured economy, squeegee men are again descending on New York City's drivers.

Armed with buckets and $5 squeegees, a squad of men waded into stalled Times Square traffic Sunday to lather up windshields, swipe them clean and beckon for tips from drivers - some annoyed by the intrusion. A rare sight when the country's unemployment rate was a mere 5.7%, the reappearance of the crews is an in-your-windshield reminder of 9%-plus unemployment and the highest rate of poverty in 27 years. For some, they're a powerful symbol that the busted economy is bringing back the bad old days. "I'm walking and I see a man cleaning a car window. It took me back in time. I had to do a double take to make sure I was seeing right," said Reggie Thomas, 44.

Almost 20 years ago during NYC's last major economic downturn, Giuliani made eradicating the squeegee men an early priority of his administration. Drivers often felt extorted into giving tips, especially after news reports of door panels kicked-in by rebuffed window washers. The squeegee men typically target perpetually congested intersections, particularly the entrances and exits to Manhattan's tunnels.

Starting Today In Texas

In the spring, the Tea Party-dominated Texas legislature upped the speed limit on some highways to 85 mph, a change that went into effect today. Insurance companies are very displeased.

"Obviously, the two things that kill most people on our highways are speed and alcohol. Increasing it to 85, or even 75, will have a dramatic impact on the death and injury rate on those highways where it's implemented," said Jerry Johns, a spokesman for the Southwestern Insurance Information Service. He said drivers already exceed 70 mph highway speed limits. "But 85 mph is simply too fast to drive even on a flat road. Any little hitch can cause an accident at that speed. There is still traffic on those roads, and to drive 85 mph is simply ludicrous," he said.