Will Massachusetts use cameras to catch speeding drivers or just raise revenue?

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Hey, without further ado, WBSM [music] presents the Barry Richard Show streaming live on WBSM.com [music] and the WBSM app. Call 508996500. [music] Text us using app chat on the WBSM app. Now, the Barry Richard Show. [music] And welcome back to the program. It is hour number two. It is a Monday afternoon. 5089960500 is our number. And uh there was a piece in boston.com uh or on boston.com the website um today written by Annie Jones and the point of the piece is to gauge reader opinion and um maybe we can do the same. We can use the piece to see if we can get your opinion on this. But uh this is about um the idea of using cameras to ticket drivers. And I got to tell you, this is one that really flies up my um patootie hole sideways. And I'm not quite sure uh whether you agree with me or not. I'm sure you've all been in situations where you're driving and and let me tell you, Rhode Island has this uh the cameras. And I don't know if you've ever been up uh what is it? Route 114 and Rhode Island up around the East Providence, Rumsford, um um Pucket area, Newport Avenue, all around that area. They have cameras and the speed limit is like 20 miles an hour and there are cameras and they there's plenty of signage. They tell you, "Yep, the cameras and um you know, they are enforced uh strictly enforced and and the cameras will take a picture of your license plate and they'll send you a ticket if you're doing more than 20 miles an hour." Now, 20 miles an hour is an unreasonable speed limit. It's very slow. Newport Avenue, I think the speed limit is 25. And um a lot of people get tagged and and I go that way a lot cuz my wife's got family up there. So we go up that way. We have to go that way. And um people get tickets all the time. Now these are not tickets that go against your insurance, but they are expensive speeding uh speeding tickets, but they don't go against your insurance. And there are many other places in Rhode Island that use the same system. Remember a couple of years ago when Gina was still the governor of Rhode Island and um Gina put the uh the camera things across the highways and everybody accused her of getting ready to install cameras that would um do this. You know, it would it would immediately send you a ticket. it would if you're going over the speed limit, it would it would take a picture of your your license plate and then send you a uh send you a ticket. Um but she said, "No, these are going to be just for uh for trucks. Instead of having way stations, we're just going to photograph truck license plates and and they'll pay their their duty for traveling our roads that way. We'll send them a a bill." And so far that has been the case. But on many city streets in Rhode Island, you have these. And I'm sure they're they're elsewhere in Massachusetts as well. No, they can't be. Massachusetts doesn't allow this. But um they they're talking about it and they're talking about it big time because you know how Massachusetts loves to get new sources of revenue. They want your money that much that they just So anyway, um the story here by Annie Jonas in Boston.com. Massachusetts lawmakers are currently considering a proposal that could change how certain traffic violations are enforced across the Commonwealth. The bill titled an act relative to traffic regulation using road safety cameras would allow cities and towns to use automated camera systems to identify and ticket drivers for specific roadway violations. The bill was filed by Senator William Brownsberger in January of last year, 2025. Under the proposal, municipalities would be allowed to install cameras at selected intersections and roadway locations to detect violations such as running a red light, making illegal right turns on red signals, speeding, and blocking intersections. When a violation is detected, the system would capture an image of the vehicle and generate a citation sent to your house. We had a conversation last week about Big Brother. A gentleman, one of our good uh regular callers, was was concerned that the Shot Spotter is being replaced by all cameras in Massachusetts, crime detection cameras in um in New Bedford. and um he felt as though his rights and all of our rights to uh you know be out and about without being spied upon were you know slowly but surely slipping away. This bill also includes privacy provisions that would prohibit images of the front of vehicles or drivers, focusing enforcement only on rear license plates. All photos and other personal information would also not become public record, and cities and towns would be prohibited from selling the data collected. Uh fines under the proposal would range from approximately $25 to $150 depending on the violation. Revenue generated from citations would be directed to the Massachusetts Transportation Trust Fund rather than remaining with individual municipalities. So think about this. It's a local option thing. The bill would give cities and towns the option to put these cameras up that would catch you speeding or or you know not coming to a complete stop at the light or whatever or turning on on red when you're not supposed to. And the state would get the fine money, not the city. The city votes to allow these cameras and any any fines would go to the state. and the cities wouldn't even see the money. Local governments would have discretion over whether to adopt such systems and where cameras would be placed subject to local approval process. Why would I, if I live in New Bedford or if I'm a politician in New Bedford, vote to put these cameras up if none of the money stays in New Bedford? I mean, how stupid is that? You're going to piss off your constituency by putting these things up, and the money doesn't even stay here. That's more money that gets sent to the state that they can deny sending back to us. So, if we put these cameras up to nail people running stops, lights, or or not coming to a complete stop or turning on red or speeding or whatever, it's not like we could take that revenue and reopen a fire station. or fund another position on the DPI. The money goes right to the state. Doesn't even doesn't even stop. We don't even touch it. We don't even see it. The bill also requires participating cities and towns to publish annual reports detailing camera locations and summarizing traffic safety outcomes. I'd be like, you know what that represents, right? Um the bill was marked under further consideration by the Senate Committee on Ways and Means in July of last year. However, with the legislative session moving forward, its future remains uncertain. So, it's not certain that this is even going to come up. It may die in committee as the session's coming to an end. But, you know damn well it's going to be back because that's how these things happen. Whether it be the all licenses for illegal immigrants or uh you know the the marijuana thing, whatever it they always come back. So boston.com is asking you to fill out um the form on its website or sending it an email asking your opinion on this. So um they're asking would you support a bill to add automated cameras to catch car violations? Uh yes, I would support it. No, I would not support it. I'm not sure. I would say flat right out no. Absolutely no. Absolutely not. I wouldn't support it anyway. Even if the city got the money, I wouldn't support it. I hate that kind of stuff. That is so Weasly. That's like when you're driving down the road and you see a cop car buried in trees just waiting to catch you doing something wrong. Or the the cop, you know, I used to see this all the time. Linda Morad used to fight for money to get it on Church Street when I lived up that way. You'd see the cop, you'd be coming around the corner and there's the cop standing there with a radar gun. It's like, and this was all paid for with grant money. It's like, you know, talk about just like ratting out and flinking out your people. You know what I mean? But I mean to rat out and think out your people and go after your people and then not even get to keep the money. Wow. 5089960500. We start at the top. You're next on WBSM. Good afternoon. On Newport Avenue. That's all in the school zones. That's in front of a um Catholic school and also in front of if you go further up Newport Avenue. Well, on on 114 it's on 114 the Catholic school is here. St. St. Mar Margaret's I think I say St. Margaret's that's on 114 and then you take the the right hand turn and you go on you kind of curve and go on to Newport Avenue. There's no school there. No, but they have it as far as where the light is cuz it's within a certain mileage of that Catholic school that they want to get. So the one that you're talking about when you get up a little bit further, it should be on the right hand side. I I think it's a school that that sets way back. There's a Domino's. There's something else right there. And there's a school that sets way back. Rhode Island's funny like that because the the mileage up there is about 3530 when you when you don't have the school zone. But uh downtown Providence, same thing. Red lights all within the whole school. It's all around the the schools, not any anywhere else. Yeah, but it's all it's all the way down Newport Avenue. It's the the entire length of Newport Avenue. There's only a section, Barry. No, it's No, it's not. I travel, sir. I'm sorry. You got to stop for a second. It's the entire length of Newport Avenue. My mother-in-law lives there. I I traveled that over the last 30 some odd years. I've traveled that street a lot. It's only It's only in the school zone, Barry. Next time, just just look at it next time. And when I'm through it, I'll take a video and then I'll just email it to you. Well, the where they have the the 20 where they have the signs posted, that is next to St. Margaret's Church in school. That's like right in that that section right there. Um, but beyond that, when you turn and you get on to Newport Avenue, the entire length of Newport Avenue all the way down to um all the way down to the Attleboroough line, it's it's a 25 mph zone. 2530 in at certain sections. Yes, it's a it's a 25. We're having we're having a really tough time hearing you. Your phone is make it's like you're in a a tin can or whatever, but believe me, I know that area very well. I'm very familiar. I used to live right near there and my mother-in-law uh you know, we're houses there and uh so we travel that have traveled that for over 30 years. So, um it is a money grab and again it's not even something that goes on your it's not something that goes on your insurance. So, I mean they they they can't be all that concerned about um safety, right? They claim, "Oh, it's public safety. We're going to No, you just pay a fine. That's it." If Now, if they were really concerned about public safety, and I hate to give them ideas, but they would they would give you a demerit on your insurance as well, and that would act that would be the deterrent. That would be the real deterrent. Thank you, my friend. I I just couldn't understand a lot of what you were saying there. Your phone was making a lot of noise and kicking kicking up a lot of stuff. So, um you're next on WBSM. Thanks for hanging on. Hi Mary. Hi. Anyways, I I agree with that because there's too much speeding going on and um people driving reckless in New Bedford going crazy and it's awful. That that part is terrible. I mean it's that's why I'm I'm for that because they will catch them. Where would you uh where would you put them? Where where in New Bedford would you put the cameras like that? Maybe they'll stop the speed and like Route Six is not a highway and they still do it. I asked for those uh signs that say your speed is this amount with the cop car there. They never wanted to do it. Uh they say there's a crosswalk there. That doesn't matter. They they got going so fast even when you press that button cuz I'm going there right now to the chiropractor and uh even if you press that button, some of them jump that light cuz they just don't want to slow down and they don't want to start. It's awful. I mean you're talking at the octopus area. No, I'm talking up on on Kemp Street up where um that D Salt and Zeter is in that area. Oh, okay. Up around near near 140. Yeah, they they go so fast on that road. It's pathetic. Another thing is just everywhere. Everywhere you go, it's awful. I don't know where they're going to, but even even on highways, they're like, it's crazy. I [clears throat] see them zooming by. They're going so so fast. It's unbelievable. They got to get slowed down. That's why these people are getting killed. They're speed and they roll over them them young kids. They They don't have They're so young and they're dying in their 20s. It's a shame. Yeah. Well, I think there's a lot. I I think speed is a problem with the kids. Absolutely. But they're also on their cell phones. They're texting and and uh you know, so are the grown-ups. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So are the grown-ups. You're right. Absolutely. Yeah. So, I'm for it. Let them catch them. Let them give them tickets and slow it all down because it'll save lives, too. So, do you think that the money any money that is collected in fined should go to the state or do you think it should be kept local? Maybe they can split it in half. Okay. I don't I'm not sure about that, Barry. Right now, I'm concerned more about the slowing people down and and saving lives. Yeah. All right. Fair enough. Appreciate it. Thank you. 5089960500 is the number. And um let me do the break. We're going to come right back on the other side. Stay tuned. And you are listening to WBSM on this Monday night. [music] The sun's shining, birds are singing, and all feels right in the world. Until the season changes, and suddenly everything seems darker, [music] less lively, and you lose your motivation to get out of bed. If you struggle with depression, you're [music] not alone. In fact, one in five people experience some form of depression. 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So, there's legislation pending in committee that would allow local communities like New Bedford, like Fall River, like the towns to uh set up um traffic safety cameras that would record your back license plate if you were doing something naughty like uh going too fast, maybe turning on a red uh you know, a stop sign where you're not supposed to turn or doing something like that. um it would put the eyes and ears of the police department um into new technology to do this. It's being done in many other places, but um not in Massachusetts yet. But here's the rub. If the city of New Bedford, for example, voted or the city of Fall River voted to allow this to happen in our community, first the legislation has to pass and be signed into law in Boston. But if New Bedford Fall River said, "Yeah, okay, fine. We'll go along with that. We'll uh you know, we'll put some uh uh you know, we'll put some safe traffic safety lights on William Canning Boulevard or we'll put them on uh you know, Kemp Street in New Bedford. Um the money, the revenue that would be generated would go to the state and the city wouldn't see a nickel of it. You still interested? 5089960500 is the number. Let's grab a couple of more calls and you are next on WBSM. Good afternoon. Yes, sir. Hey, I am diametrically opposed to speed cameras to begin with. They're unconstitutional. They've been voted uh excuse me, they've been deemed unconstitutional in Texas and yet Rhode Island uses them and now Massachusetts is trying to use them. Do understand an important point, please. There are already flock cameras in Massachusetts. Flock cameras are used to identify your vehicle anywhere that it reads license plates at a 360 degree angle. And as long as they're as long as they have uh block cameras, that should be good enough. The problem with speed cameras comes down to one specific thing and that's you cannot face your accuser. Solid point. I like that. Yeah. Well, it's illegal and you know um everything everything is about money. Um with these with these states they won't hire police. When they do hire police, they don't hire police to do their job. uh the old Bill Bellichic uh uh line, they just don't. And so instead of having police that do their job, they want mechanical uh electronic devices that will get your money and and well, that's the whole thing. To me, it's a money grab. if if they not not that I'm advocating for this, but I mean if they seriously were worried about safety, they would uh this would count against your insurance. Now, I don't know whether it does in this bill here in Mass, but I know in Rhode Island it doesn't. It's just Yeah, but no, it's just the ticket. two people um a number of you know that my my father-in-law passed away about a month ago and that yeah friends of ours came from um New Bedford from Massachusetts in into Pucket to you know go to the wake and they didn't know about the the speed cameras and they got $100 tickets $100 tickets$85 I got an $85 ticket in Central Falls okay on Christmas for taking a right on a on a light where I stopped. I I've been going through there I I don't know 5 10 years and um I never got one before. And the reason for that is because they put up a no right turn on red that I didn't even see. And the choice was pay the $85 or um have my insurance uh get tagged for seven years. Wow. I'm I'm not a happy person, but I'm also not stupid, right? So, I threw him the 85 bucks. The the the thing is this, okay? You can't you can't make fines easy. Okay, it I don't speed. I don't turn right where I'm not supposed to turn right. Obviously, that's a lie. But, you know, I mean, if you change things, and the other thing that they do not do, which I I think should be imperative, they if they're going to do something as awful in my opinion, is this, they should make signage that's different indicating that this thing exists, you know? Yeah. I don't know about up in you said Waka or Central Falls, right? I don't know about there, but I know that that one area that the other gentleman was talking about at 114 by by St. Margaret's Church, there is very clear signage there. That's not an issue. But I mean, you you take traffic that's going 354 m hour and you slow it down on a major thoroughfare to 20 m. It is Do you know how difficult it is to go 20 miles an hour? Oh, I I was we were talking about it yesterday because we were in Pucket. Okay. on Power Road. And in Pucket on Power Road, they have a school camera in a place where there's no school. [laughter] Okay. Yep. 20 20 miles an hour. First of all, you know, school cameras, you know, I'm not I don't I don't agree with cameras for fines to begin with. I just don't. Um, again, can't face your accuser. I don't care that your accuser is a machine. Uh and and then they say, "Oh, well, we have a police officer who reviews these things." Yeah, but he wasn't there. He doesn't know what was going on. Maybe maybe you were speeding because, I don't know, you were sick and you were going to the hospital. Maybe you were speeding or you know these things are my mother-in-law, right? My mother-in-law got a um she got when she was still driving, she got a ticket in the mail and it was for speeding um on the Mass Pike out in I don't know, Lennox or Pittsfield or whatever. And she wasn't even there. She wasn't even there. She's she's 95. She was when she did drive, she was like it would go from her house to church and then back literally. So she gets a speeding ticket out on the Well, we challenged this thing. She was just going to pay. Oh, I don't make any waves. I'm No, no, no. We're going to challenge this. So, it turns out that the camera misread the last number on her plate. Hey, and and if you and you're threatened with you either pay or you're going to be charged for seven years. Yeah. On your insurance. And how many people, you know, just pay that without even challenging it? Most people most people will just pay mo. See it? This is like This is like three card monty. This is like a shell game, okay? They keep on moving the shell around. You know, they move the shells around and below that little marble that's supposed to be there isn't there at all. Anyways, this is a game that that these these moneyhungry politicians want to continually force upon Massachusetts. And you know, just remember the most important thing cuz this is not it's not really about the cameras, is it? It's about the legislators. Yeah. And it's about getting the money. It's well, it's about having power over you, controlling you, making you do what they think you should do, but then grabbing the money out of your hand at the same time. Well, it's uh it's supposed to be representative. We've talked about this many times. It's not representative. Okay. It's not representative uh government. What it is is a bunch of people somebody gets paid. Also remember that only 80 of the $80 or $85 um I think it's uh 20% goes to this to the city or town. The rest of it goes to the camera company. Oh my god. Okay. Yeah. I hadn't even thought about that because you've got a contract. You're you're absolutely right. It's not free. Those those pieces of equipment are not free. It's listen listen if like I do everything I can do. I have to go because my mother-in-law lives over there. So I have to go over there. But I will not I will if I if I can avoid Central Falls completely, if I can avoid where I know there's cameras, no matter where they are, I will avoid them. I will take a side street. Yeah. I will do whatever. And so what does that do? The main roads are the ones that they're going to put speed cameras on. Yeah. So then it forces speeding on side streets where the people actually live. Listen, vote for the right people and we don't have to go through this. Okay? Vote for the wrong people and they'll come up with these hairrained ideas like this that do nothing but impose bad things upon good people to make money. Thank you, my friend. Good call. I appreciate that. 5089960500 is our number and I got to hold you there. I got to grab the next one. You're up next on WBSM. Thanks for hanging on. Good afternoon, Barry. Hey. Hey. I think I might be on the other side of the fence when from you on this one cuz uh the way I see it, the driving habits of the general public out there these days is so excuse me, so bad is very dangerous. And not only the general public driving, but the pedestrians and the bicyclists. I come up Gill Road in South Dartmouth. There's a there's a blind curve there just before you get to Concordia uh yacht uh boatyard. Yeah. And you cannot You're familiar with it? Yes, I I travel that way a lot. Yeah. So you cannot see somebody coming towards you like you're in the if you're in the westbound lane you're going up the hill and somebody's coming eastbound but in your lane around that curve you can't see them until they're like 5 ft away from you and generally people over there they're doing like 30 40 m an hour on that road. Yeah. There is no sidewalk. There's no nothing. But yet they will come walking or jogging or riding a bicycle around that curve and you have a choice of either jamming on your brakes or going into the opposing traffic lane which is a double yellow line I believe. [clears throat] So it's the pedestrians I I wish they get cameras for the pedestrians too. They're stepping off. They're supposed to not be in the in the in the street unless they're in a crosswalk. Anywhere they go they stand on the curb. They wiggle their toe and you're supposed to jam on the brakes. Yeah. And add add to that too, and I see a lot of this out that way is the um the electric bikes that people are riding. Um which I don't have a problem with electric bikes, but you see a lot of folks that are buying these things because they're trendy now. And it's like, oh well, let's get those. Those are pretty cool. And and so you got I see a lot of these like uh middleage people on these bikes that have no experience on them. They're wobbling all over the place out in the middle of the street. And I see that a lot on some of those country roads in Dartmouth. Um So the roads are pretty motorized skateboards. Mo, I see those, too. Yes. Absolutely. Dressed in black. Yep. Yes. Yep. And then the stop signs. I think I'm the only one around here that actually comes to a complete stop for a stop sign. Everybody else I see, they just like they if you're lucky, they tap the brake and they zip right through. And when they approach an intersection, you're supposed to slow down when you're approaching an intersection. That's that's how I was taught when I took the driving test back in 1642. Uh [clears throat] you're supposed to slow down when you approach a an intersection. They they all hit the gas. They all hit the gas when they come to an intersection. They go through the red light. Oh, and the red lights. Yeah. The lights. I mean, they go through the red lights because they they're the thinking the thinking that they have is that the light has been yellow. the the light turns green for the people coming across my path. Those people must know that people going to be running the red lights. So they take that as license to go through red lights for three to four seconds after the red light changes to red. They go through the red lights. They go through the stop signs, everything. It's absolutely horrible. So would you support the the use of these cameras? you know, it's it's it's a necessary evil or something like that. I know I understand the reasoning behind it is they they want money and they don't give a hang about the uh the pedestrians or anything. Typical Democrat. They really don't care about the the impact that the the policies have on anybody. All they care about is the end results for themselves, whether they get elected into office so they can get power again or they get more money to spend on illegal aliens, etc., etc., but you know, they're not they're not going to be funding uh additional police off police officers these days, they don't want to apply the traffic rules because I don't know, they get into court, the judge just throws it out or whatever, but they're very reluctant. They're very reticent to enforce any traffic rules. Used to be if I was going down Union Street near New Bedford, sometimes they would have a cop in the middle of the road by the National Club before you get on to Route 18 and he just checking plates, checking inspection stickers, seeing if you went through the light. One one time he caught me, I going through a yellow light and he I said, "Uh, geez, the light was yellow." He goes, "Well, if it was yellow that you were supposed to go through it, then you would have already been through it. Mhm. If you if the light is yellow, you're supposed to stop stop unless it is just not safe to do so. Yeah. But then they don't have track traffic enforcement like that anymore. Well, no. I mean, the the whole idea about the people perceive the yellow light is go like hell cuz it's about to turn red. And usually you wind up in the middle of the intersection when it's red and um that I mean, you know, that's I travel a lot on route six, too. And you see that all the time. you're sitting there and and the light will like maybe uh uh all right at Reed Road and Route Six, for example, there's a if you want to turn left under Reed Road to go toward 195, there's a red arrow there and you got to you got to wait for the arrow to turn green. That that arrow will go green and the traffic will go then it's yellow. People are still coming down that lane. They're going to turn. They're going to turn. It's red and people are still going through it and and it's like, you know, that light is red. You're not even and they just keep going. And I see that out here. I'm looking out on the neck as well. I see where the neck meets Route Six. Same thing. And um you know, it's very dangerous. I I wish they would get cameras that could go. I wish I I wouldn't be surp I wouldn't be uh averse to them putting cameras into the cars to get these people on the cell phones. I told you I almost got killed. Literally almost got killed by somebody on a cell phone. come up Elm Street and Pton Arum and just kept going straight and drove right into me, right into the middle of my car. She was on a cell phone, so I wouldn't be averse to them having cameras going into the cars, catching them on the cell phones or anything else and and writing them up. It's very, very dangerous out there. And not only that, but they drive around. I don't want to, you know, just turn this into a grousing session, but they drive around with the high beams on day and night. High beams. Yeah. It's just it it's like it's like South America. Well, between the high beams and those new uh Yeah. the LED lights that that flicker and blink and you you know what I mean? You know what I'm talking about? The new high-tech lights that they the parking lights. No, just the regular lights. I mean, you get you get one behind you and it kind of like they just it's not like a solid light. It's it's an LED light and it it just kind of it's bright. Something. Yeah. And it's it's I call them get I call them I call them get out of my way lights cuz what what do you need somebody's light on in the day daylight for if they're behind you? Yeah, I get you. I got to hold you, my friend. I got to get a break in. 5089960500. Uh what do you think about these traffic camera lights? Uh it appears the bill in Massachusetts is going to die in committee uh this year, but you know it'll be back next year, right? And each year it gets a little bit further, it gets a little bit further. It's like the illegal immigrants with the driver's licenses and so on and so forth until finally it passes and um so what do you think about this the traffic uh license I mean traffic cameras um traffic safety cameras they call them um you know again it's a bill that's proposed on the state level that would give local communities the authority to decide if they want to put these on their roadways but any fines that are collected would go to the state the city wouldn't even get the So, what is the point there? And you know, I argue about the ones in Rhode Island that I know because again, I've got my wife's family. We we're in Rhode Island a lot. And um you know, the when they tag you, you get a ticket. You get an expensive ticket, but it doesn't go against your insurance unless you refuse to pay the ticket. Um if you pay the ticket, fine. Nothing against your insurance. Now, not that I'm advocating for this, but if they if they went at your insurance, then you could say, "Well, yeah, they're they're making an effort to try to keep the road safe." But if all they want is the money, then they could give a damn about the road and safety, right? 5089960500. We're coming right back. Say back to Barry [music] Richard on WBSM. Call 508996500. All righty. Welcome back to the program on a Monday and the rain has begun to fall. Baby, the rain must fall. Uh Clive Davis has passed away. The legendary record executive, 94 years old. Um just looking at that on my uh I think Alan Greenspan has passed away too. He was the um head of the the Fed for a long time and he was 100 years old, passed away at 100 years old. That's pretty good age. you know, talking about the safety cameras and the last gentleman talked about the um you know, the safety on the roads and um how uh poor uh safety is on the roads. I had a piece in my stack today. Uh this was a Boston Herald piece. Uh Grace Zokovich wrote this for the Boston Herald. Um pedestrian fatalities in Massachusetts. One in five traffic deaths in Massachusetts is a pedestrian. One in five traffic fatalities in Massachusetts is a pedestrian. It's based on 2025 statistics. Uh, one in every five traffic related deaths in Massachusetts in 2025 involved a person walking. According to a new report from the Walk Massachusetts group, um, which is calling for action to improve road safety for pedestrians. We are heartbroken each year as we learn the stories of people walking who lose their lives in crashes that are often preventable, said Brendan Kierney, executive director of Walk Massachusetts. One factor continues to show up again and again, speed. Our streets are still designed in ways that allow people to drive too fast, making it harder for drivers to see and safely yield to people walking. Uh, Massachusetts recorded 354 total traffic fatalities, about 76 or 21% of which were pedestrians walking. The fifth annual fatal pedestrian crashes in Massachusetts 2025 report found uh the number is about even with the 78 pedestrian fatalities in 2024 and down from the all-time high of 101 in 2022. Older adults and residents in environmental justice communities. I don't even know what the hell an environmental justice community is, but um um often lower income neighborhoods uh also continue to be disproportionately impacted according to the report. 5089960500 Europe next on WBSM. Good afternoon. Hello Barry. Hi. Yeah. Uh, I think what's coming down the pike next, and it's been discussed several times in this state, to tax people by the amount of miles they drive. Oh, yeah. They've talked about that. Sure. And that's several times. Yep. And, uh, I'm afraid that's going to be next because they're looking for any revenue they can get. Yeah. Yeah. They they you're absolutely right. and and they're they're they're looking to do that and they're also looking to do like hightra zones if it's a a busy area that they will uh they will uh charge you to drive in that area during certain times of the day. That's correct. I had a friend that said, "Well, how are they going to keep track of the mileage?" I said, "When you get your car inspected every year, it shows how much mileage you've been for the year." Yeah. You know, people don't realize that, but like I say, it's reason we're called Tax Massachusetts. Yeah, absolutely. And um they will do anything they can. Now, this this bill that we're talking about here with the cameras, um this is probably not going to pass next year, but you know, each year that these bills hang around, they pick up more and more support and Yeah. So, thank you. Thank you very much for listening, Barry. Thank you. Thank you for listening. I appreciate it very much. 5089960500 is the number. And um we're going to uh take a break. We have the Do we have a break here? I believe we do have a break. Yes. I'm looking here and I'm not seeing anything. But I should be seeing something. Uh I just love computers. There we go. Now I can see it. All right. I can see it. Yes, we have to take the break and let's do that and we are going to come back after this. So stay tuned. You are listening to WBSM. Don't go far. And welcome back to the program 156. We're going to hit the news coming up in just a couple of seconds, a couple of minutes here. So stick around for that. Um just looking a little bit further into this report about the uh traffic fatalities being pedestrians. One in five uh traffic deaths in Massachusetts being a pedestrian says adults 65 years old and older have been over represented every year in Massachusetts. um 2025 they make up 43% of pedestrian fatal crash victims while only being 18.7% of the state's population. Uh more than half of all Massachusetts pedestrian fatalities also occurred in I I don't know what these idiots talk environmental justice uh communities. I have no idea what an environmental justice community is. You know, stop being stupid and and and just, you know, uh give us the information that we need. Um you know, here's the problem though with these with these fatalities. People have been walking on the streets forever. Forever. Back when I was a kid, we walked to school. We used to walk to a man. We walked to elementary school. Um, I didn't walk to high school because it was way across town and we had to get a bus. But, um, you know, people have been walking forever. Old people. You know why? Because we didn't have as many cars. You know, the thing when I when I my 95year-old uncle comes out with me and he's like freaking out with all the cars. I can't believe all the cars out here. Oh my god. Never never seen so many cars on the road. Well, it's true. There are more people driving than ever, but there is also less responsible responsibil responsibility on the road. Fewer pe we people are distracted on the roads. They go they're speeding uh because everybody's impatient. They've got handheld gadgets that they're fiddling and diddling with whether it be cell phones or some other kind of crazy stuff. and they're they're uh you know, people are are are texting and they're taking pictures of themselves and all this other kind of crap and they're just not paying attention. And I think that is a uh a huge part. It's not an environmental justice zone that is causing more uh accidents. It's people that are driving poorly. And you know, I've said this on the program before. I've never seen so many rollover accidents on city streets. I mean, a rollover was rare. You might see a rollover on the highway. You never saw so many rollover accidents. Have you? You know, on the highway, people taking the exit ramps off the highways. The highways haven't changed. 195's been there since the early 1960s, but people go too fast and they're preoccupied. and you go to make one of those turns, those sharp turns, and your hands on your cell phone and you're going too fast and next thing you know you're rolling. Same thing on a city street. So, I mean, that's where the problem is. It's not that a neighborhood is environmentally unjust, that there are more people there. There are more cars, more people driving badly and um and people have been want there probably fewer people walking on the streets than ever before because more people have cars. We have free buses. We have uh uh we have Ubers. We have lifts. We have all kinds of stuff to get people around. So if people are being run down a greater