English Senior Caught Speeding By Camera, Politely Accused Of Being A Man

Caught by speeding cameras doing 52mph in a 40mph zone, 59 year-old Kent native Pauline Synnott was dismayed when she received a traffic citation in the mail. Photographic evidence had clearly recorded her violating traffic laws, however, and Synnott reluctantly admitted to police in a responding letter that she was indeed guilty as charged. Prepared to pay the $100 fine and accept the three penalty points that would be assigned to her driving record, Synnott was shocked when she received a second letter from the police suggesting that she was misrepresenting herself as a woman.

According to an excerpt of the letter, published in The Sun, Kent Police, “From the copy of the photograph, it appears that the driver was male. I have therefore enclosed herewith a further set of forms and would ask you to complete them again with name of the driver.” [Pictures of Synnott in original article at TheSun.com]

Apparently, the vehicle Synnott was driving at the time she committed the infraction was registered to her partner, 65-year-old Roy Watkins, and her admission of guilt to the police didn’t jive with the driver information they had on file. Understandably, both Watkins and Synnott are outraged over the indignity, and Synnott especially is downright embarrassed over being mistaken for a man. Although the police apologized for the mistake, the couple is currently seeking “compensation”, and Kent officials have admitted they are “Working with the couple to resolve this matter.”

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Better Than Public Transportation Part 1: Car Sharing

Public transportation sucks. That just how it is. It’s a rigid, poorly run system that very commonly goes into debt. But everyone in the city can’t own a car, it’d be a congestion nightmare. There needs to be a solution, a free market solution that doesn’t rely on the government to mess it up. Luckily one is starting get popular.

I’m always interested in free market solutions to social problems…like pay-as-you-drive car insurance and privately owned bridges and streets. So I love hearing about how popular this new idea is getting. Instead of the bloated system of buses and trains, many people are turning to an efficient, well run alternative that allows you to go anywhere for a very small fee, Car Sharing. Car sharing is growing exponentially in some major US cities.

How car sharing works

Car share companies are basically car rental companies, except they allow people to rent their cars for very short periods of time, down to an hour or less sometimes. Different car sharing companies work in different ways, but generally it’s a decentralized system, with no major hub. Most of the financial transactions are done online. Sometimes there’s a monthly fee, and you generally pay online in advance. You reserve a vehicle in advance as well, although often times the car is available the moment you make the reservation.

The companies usually have arrangements with various parking lots around the city so they can be used as pick up and drop off points. The rates for car sharing companies are generally similar. For example, a popular service in Philadelphia, Philly Car Share, charges $3.90/hour or $39/day, plus 16¢/mile, they offer free rides on rail transit, and everything is included (even gas).

Car sharing strikes the perfect balance between the convenience of owning a car, and the cost savings of using public transportation. It gives you 24-hour access to a network of great, reliable cars and trucks without the hassles of owning a car. Gas, insurance, cleaning, and maintenance costs are all included in the carsharing fee.

There are eco benefits to car sharing as well. As more city dwellers turn to car sharing instead of owning a car themselves, there will be less harmful emissions and less traffic. Plus the cars that car sharing companies use are newer, more fuel efficient cars; that in itself decreases the impact on the environment. Car sharing means less pollution, less traffic congestion, and more available parking. It also means more transportation options for people who can’t afford to own a car. It’s a great solution to a common problem in all major cities, all thanks to the free market.

Next Free Market Solution to the Public Transportation Problem: Jitney Transit

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Joshua Schulman’s Advice on Driving in Mexico City

Last summer, I visited Mexico with a few friends. One of those friends was the internationally famous musical sensation Joshua Schulman from the band “Thunderbang!“. Josh was the driver and I was primarily the passenger. I sat back, drank Pernod, and took in the beautiful scenery and heavy aromas. I was also in charge of the radio, and bribing officials when we encountered trouble. Bring lots of extra cash to Mexico.

Now, driving in Mexico City is insane. We rented a car, a Nissan Tsuru (although we were given a Chrysler Town & Country), to visit the Toltec ruins in Tula, and on the way back had the misfortune of getting lost north of Mexico City’s historic district, where, among other mistakes, we drove through a market and almost killed a number of extended families.

Josh was nice enough to highlight some of the choice bits of driving wisdom he learned from this harrowing experience in Mexico City:

- Cars will not stop at red lights. They will only stop when traffic with the right of way inches up enough to block them off. This happens at major 6-lane intersections.

- Cab drivers will cut off three lanes of traffic to pick someone up at the side of the road.

- Cab drivers will also antagonize other cab drivers. We were passengers in one cab on our way to the airport, when another cab came in alongside us, trying to enter an on-ramp. Our driver said to the other driver very calmly, “Chinga tu madre, ¿sabe cómo usar sus direcciones?” which translates loosely to “Fuck your mother, do you know how to use your turn signals?” This resulted in us getting cut off half a dozen times.

- Nothing matters at night. Drivers will blow red lights behind cops who just blew red lights.

- Left turns on red lights are okay, as long as you look both ways. The key word here is “look” - oncoming cars are irrelevant.

- Hundreds of naked protesters will distract you while trying to find a gas station on a major thoroughfare.

- Children will walk backwards into oncoming traffic, often while holding their parents’ hands. It’s like a bizarre, real life David Lynch movie

- A drunken local will stand in the middle of a crowded market intersection, directing traffic to try and ease congestion. When you don’t follow his directions because an entire family is running out into the path of your minivan, he will call you ‘the faggot’.

- Don’t enter traffic circles. Someone will die.

- There will be traffic any time of day. This will not stop anyone from escaping said traffic by driving 75 mph in reverse onto an on-ramp in order to get to a side street.

- DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, enter a traffic circle.

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