HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/6/2017 - STAFF REPORTS - 001
Cindy Berardi
From:Terri Milton
Sent:Thursday, September 07, 2017 5:40 PM
To:Kathie Hart; Cindy Berardi
Subject:FW: PS City Council meeting 9/6/2017, Agenda Item Q
From: Red [mailto:rfindley@twc.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 5:36 PM
To: Chris Mills; Geoff Kors; Ginny Foat; JR Roberts; CityClerk; Robert Moon
Subject: PS City Council meeting 9/6/2017, Agenda Item Q
Hello All,
These were my comments from last night. The highlighted part at the bottom
is the part you didn’t hear because the clock ran out. The final sentence brings
meaning to the other comments.
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HI, I’m Robert Findley and I’m NOT running for City Council.
Agenda Item #Q
OTS (Office of Traffic Safety)
TACT (Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks) – Pilot program
STEP (Selective Traffic Enforcement Program)
WSP (???)
The pilot program was based on a biased concept: That passenger car drivers
are responsible for most, if not all, accidents involving commercial vehicles.
I say this for four reasons: (the italicized parts are quotes from the TACT report)
1) “ . . . the research itemized the number of collisions involving commercial
motor vehicles . . .”
2) “The TACT steering committee examined several years of citation data (and
considered anecdotal evidence from the trucking industry and law enforcement
representatives on the steering committee) to determine the type of behavior
that the campaign should target.
They decided that “cutting off trucks” was the unsafe behavior to target (in the
TACT pilot project).”
2
3) “The enforcement mix for the TACT pilot project included law enforcement
officers riding in aircraft and commercial motor vehicles provided by the
trucking industry.”
4) City police departments and county sheriffs’ offices that had jurisdiction
used marked patrol cars to respond to calls from WSP aviation units and
WSP troopers riding in trucks. They cited only passenger vehicles because
most officers did not have the training needed to cite drivers of
commercial
motor vehicles.
This is called:
SELECTIVE TARGETED ENFORCEMENT!
I used to drive a truck so I’ve seen BOTH sides of the coin.
This program seems to be attempting to prove that the passenger car is
ALWAYS at fault.
The people behind this program collected “selected” data that would support
their initial beliefs.
That’s like saying “The earth is FLAT . . . and we’re going to collect enough
biased evidence to prove it.”
Personal story: Last week, while driving North on I-15 on my way back from
Temecula, I was
following traffic in the #3 lane. I was passing a semi in the #2 lane when the
driver, suddenly and
without signaling, decided to move into my lane. If there had been a car in the
#4 lane, I would have
been caught between them. OUCH.
I’m not arguing against accepting the grant money, but, if we’re going to accept
this money and institute
this program in Palm Springs, we really need to rethink the objectives and
methods FIRST.
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Just my opinion, for what it’s worth.
Robert “Red” Findley
619-886-6737