Gov. Patrick was right on blizzard driving ban

Governor Deval L.  Patrick’s decision last Friday to ban vehicular traffic on the commonwealth’s highways and byways during the blizzard proved to be a good turn in keeping the road clear for snow plowing equipment and reducing the number of injuries and possible deaths.

Police chiefs in the eastern part of the commonwealth Monday congratulated the governor for helping to remove the traffic and parked vehicles from the roads.

If Gov. Patrick wanted to duck any criticism, he could have asked Registrar Rachel Kaprielian, Registry of Motor Vehicles Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, to issue the “ban” statement.

The governor took the blizzard as a forewarning for future natural disasters whereby there is flooding, power outages, injuries and people displaced from their homes.

Maybe the governor did not have the law on his side, but he had the “common sense” and “good fortune” to ask residents of the commonwealth to stay home unless there were acceptable reasons to travel.

The coastal towns north and south of Boston that received the brunt of the blizzard of 2013.

There were complaints from some business owners in Berkshire County with reference to the ban, but by the end of the weekend ,the cash registers were ringing non-stop.

Most of the locals along with tourists were back shopping. The various ski areas were operating with locals and tourists alike.

What started as a nothing weekend here in The Berkshires turned into one of profit for many businesses.

While we may think here in Berkshire County that is was just an average storm, the governor’s responsibility is statewide.

***

We pause and offer our sincere condolences to the families who loss their love ones through apparent carbon monoxide poisoning either in vehicles or homes.

Sadly people forget about venting gas appliances and vehicle exhaust.

This is a wake up call to check one’s vehicle’s exhaust and one’s boiler and/or home dryer vents to prevent any future poisoning.

These reported cases are fluke incidents but nevertheless they (people) are a loss to their families and communities, which, in a word, can be devastating.

Posted by George C. Jordan III on February 14, 2013. Filed under Editorials,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry