Better buckle up! Next week is the start of the National Click It or Ticket campaign and Maryland officials are taking it very seriously.
They will conduct more than 100 checkpoints and seat belt enforcement zones to stop and ticket drivers who violate seat belt and child passenger safety laws.
In 2004, nearly 60 percent of vehicle occupants killed in nighttime crashes in Maryland were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. Because of that, a special emphasis will be placed on enforcing Maryland?s laws at night. Some jurisdictions have started to ramp up enforcement already.
Officers hiding behind trees or walls near traffic signals are monitoring whether or not drivers and their passengers are buckled up. If not, these officers step out and order the driver to the curb where they get a nice ticket.
I don?t know about you, but I don?t feel comfortable behind the wheel if I?m not wearing my seat belt. It?s a good thing to do, and I?d encourage all of you to click it.
After the column on the new method for paying fares this week, I received several e-mails from people wondering how this will impact them.
The first comes from Sean who wrote: “I?ve been enjoying reading your columns about transit issues. After the article on Maryland Transit Passes, I was hoping you might be able to answer my question about them. I have been unable to get an answer from MTA or from its Web site since I first heard about these a few years ago. Will the Maryland Transit Pass automatically calculate the lowest fare owed, does it charge the maximum allowed or somewhere in between? For example, if I ride an Express MTA bus in the morning, and two local buses in the afternoon, what amount is deducted from my pass? The cost of a day pass and 40 cents for the express ($3.90), or the full fare amount for all three ($5.20)? Thank you for any help you can provide, and keep up the great work!”
The program is designed to deduct the lower fare and to apply any discounts that apply. It will take into account transfers as well. As was noted, this program has been tested in the Washington area for a couple years now and, while there may be some kinks to work out, it seems to work well.
Of course, I don?t know all of the answers and haven?t yet been able to get an answer to Nelson?s question (until now): “I use a commuter bus service to Washington, which is operated by private bus operators who have contracted with the MTA to run these routes. Do you know if this service will be included in the Maryland Transit Pass system?”
It?s going to depend on how you pay your fare, Nelson. If you pay it directly to the MTA then yes, the system will be able to handle that. If you pay the contractor directly, which I doubt you do, then it might get complicated. If I can find out more, I?ll make sure to let you and our readers know.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected]
