I have read many articles over the past weeks about potential laws “for our safety” some about seatbelts, some about not smoking near parks, another about not smoking in cars with children in them, then there is the one about not texting while driving. Yet another about state troopers trying to keep speeds down at toll booths… and the list goes on and on and on. The common theme on each of these articles is the people who comment on them, some in staunch agreement of each of them – they are for our betterment and for the greater good and most of all “for our safety”. and in striking opposition “here comes the Nanny believers again” . It seems that even thought most believe in the practice of these laws they don’t want someone telling them they HAVE to perform this behavior they already do automatically…
So the question I leave you with today is this – Is New Hampshire turning into a Nanny state? and if so is it something we need or should we be afraid of the outcome down the road?

Happy Birthday to the inspirations for our school.  Richard Peabody (3/15/62) and Roger Spooner (5/14/40) are having their birthdays and we are passing the presents on to our customers!!! In celebration of  their birthdays we are having a 15% off sale through the end of May.  All classes for March April and May will cost only $510.00!!!  That is a $90.00 savings over our regular price and we offer more classroom and driving time than any of the other schools in the area.  So sign up now while the seats are available and get in on the savings!!!

Wonderful. Here we go again. It is against the law in NH to use cameras to enforce traffic laws for a reason. The least of all the presumption of guilt befrore innocence. As the camera snaps the picture of the license plate, the company the receives the picture then finds out who the owner of the vehicle is, and sends them a ticket.

Wait, did you notice I said company? Not a police officer, not a motor vehicle employee, but an employee of a private company. This means

if the city hired a private company to process the tickets, that company would need access to the state’s otherwise private motor-vehicle database.

This presents a major security risk. As of now, the reason the motor vehicle database in NH is secure is because it is not online. At all. There is no way for any hacker to access the motor vehicle database in any way, shape, or form. Only employees of the department, and municiple agents, while performing their duties, are allowed access.

Once the dam gets a leak, it will be next to impossible to get it fixed.

Red light cameras are a bad idea in NH. Better traffic enforcement is a better idea. I know, there are not enough police officers out there to enforce the traffic laws, blah, blah, blah. If the laws were better enforced by the officers in the first place, as well as the judges, this would not be the circumstances we find ourselves in now.

R&R

This bill will help commercial driver’s schools because it will tighten the definition of a driver’s school:

“Drivers’ school” shall not include a business or other person giving advanced instruction, with or without compensation, when the instruction is not intended to meet the requirements of basic driver training under RSA 263:44 through RSA 263:51 and the instruction is given only to licensed drivers.

That’s the good news. This bill will also make it so the Social Security number is not displayed on the front of the license. Apparently there are certain people that have not been around for the past dozen or so years, and have not noticed that the Social Security numbers have been removed from the front of NH driver’s licenses for at least that long.

The bad news is no more free address changes.

3 New Paragraph; Driver’s License Fees; Change of Address. Amend RSA 263:42 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:

IV-a. For a new driver’s license because of a change of address, $3.

That’s right, to change your address requires a newly printed license at a cost of $3. Oh, wait, make that two newly printed licenses if you go into a substation to change your address. Why two, you ask? Because the new system makes you get a temporary at the substation (Concord is considered a substation, BTW) and the permanent is then mailed to your address. So it makes one wonder how much the printing of 38,000 licenses per year will cost the state in order to increase revenue by only $104,000…

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of Safety states this bill will increase state highway fund revenues by $104,400 in FY 2010 and each year thereafter.

This is at a request of the Department of Safety. Apparently, the clerks at the substations do not already have enough to do they need to reprint licenses for change of addresses.

R&R

Once again, there is a permit bill in the New Hampshire House. HB 579 is before the House to require our 15-1/2-to-17-year-olds to have a permit before they get into the driver seat of a motor vehicle. This is a good idea, as it also requires these same teenagers to have to read the New Hampshire State Driver’s Manual before they get into the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle as well. In order to obtain said permit, the teen must pass a written test.

Too many of our teens get into a vehicle with no idea of the laws and begin to drive. They do not know what Right-of-Way means, nor do they have a clue where to stop at a stop sign. They know what the sign means, but not where. Then, after 4 to 6 months of this, they come to a driver education program. Some of the teens we need to rename the program to Driver Re-Education. This is the first time they have even seen the Driver’s Manual.

This bill also increases the number of hours the teen must have for home practice. Currently, teens must practice twenty hours at home. After this bill passes and is signed into law, teens will be required to practice a minimum of forty hours at home. this bill also requires ten of those hours to be done 1/2 hour after sunset until 1/2 hour before sunrise – not all at once. Not easy during summer, when these hours are approximately 9pm to 5am…

Additionally, HB579 increases the teen driving curfew. Currently those under eighteen are not allowed to drive between 1:00am and 5:00am, unless the teen is coming home from work, a school function, etc. If this bill becomes law, the curfew becomes 12:00am (midnight) until 6:00am unless accompanied by a family member 25 or older. No other exceptions to the night driving curfew.

Lastly, there are to be changes to the allowed passengers in a motor vehicle. No more being the family chauffeur. Teens are now only allowed one person in the motor vehicle unless accompanied by a family member 25 or older. This restriction is to be in place for one year after obtaining a youth operator license.

These are all good restrictions. Good for the new driver, good for the other drivers on the road, good for the police to enforce. Lets get the encouragement out there for our state to pass this. HB579 – Call your state rep, state senator, Gov. Lynch.

R&R

The DMV substation currently located at the Harris Pond Office Park in Merrimack is to move to the Welcome Center off exit 6 by 2011. Hopefully this will alleviate some of the backup that happens at the Merrimack location. Bigger facility, more manpower maybe?
The sad news, however, is that at least two substations are looking to be closed. Rochester and Alton (where is the Alton location?) are to be closed according to Gov Lynch.
Perhaps the personnel from these closed facilities will be shuffled around to other areas.
Budget cuts are necessary, but at the cost of the teens trying to get their license? The lines are already enormous and if the substations close the lines will only get longer because those people need to go somewhere.
Well, I don’t have the governor’s ear…
R&R

The police used two 18 year old decoys to purchase alcohol from four bars in Merrimack. Included were the Jade Dragon and the VFW. This is not entirely the fault of the owners as it is the bartenders who actually do the selling.
But is it not up to the owner to know what the employee is doing? That employee is acting as an agent of the company, so the owner is not without fault. Personally, the bar should (if found guilty) lose their license to sell alcohol for several months.
Taking the license for weeks does nothing. Bars recover from this quickly. To really have an impact, the license needs to be taken for a minimum 2 months. Second offense should then be 6 months, and 2 years for third. Fourth offense should be indefinite loss.
At least this is my personal opinion.
R&R

This article is in today’s Lowell Sun. I remember this incident occurring back in 2007. It was not a happy day for Hudson Police Department. This officer was off-duty, but was still identified and crucified in the papers as one of theirs.

Now he’s resigned, three days after his arrest, in fact. Still, the papers have to call him an *Ex-Hudson police officer.* He was off-duty, and now he has resigned. He is officially a civilian. Just like the rest of us.

Trouble is, he was an officer at the time, off-duty or not, and reasonably should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us. He was out there to catch those that drank too much, got into a motor vehicle, and possibly caused injury. And here he is on trial after being arrested for doing just that.

Is he guilty? Not for me to say. If he is found so, then he should pay a higher price as his was a sworn duty to protect the citizens from such a person. If he is found not guilty, then so be it. However, remember that not guilty is not the same as innocent. If he is found innocent then he should be allowed to sign back onto the Hudson PD.

It is doubtful he will be found innocent, though. The crash, pushing the Honda Civic across the street into a row of mailboxes. Running from the police through three towns. It is probable that the police gave some sort of alcohol test once he was caught. He will most likely get a Felony Evasion conviction at the least.

So long to his career. Why is it that people have to make such stupid choices?

There was a driving instructor here in NH back in 2004 on his way to a driving lessonthat was intoxicated. The only reason he was found was because he hit the toll booths in Bedford and was reported by the toll clerks to the state police. He was located at exit 11 or 12 attempting to change one of his two flat tires by the state police.

These are the people we trust to put our children in their care?

Good thing we are not all stupid, as I like the fact the parents of my students can trust me. I continue to do what I must to win their trust, as if I fail – I am out of work.

R&R

According to the Lowell Sun printed today, Gov. Patrick of Massachusetts will not be setting up toll booths on the NH border anytime soon.

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick’s plan to dramatically overhaul the state’s transportation system will not include a proposal to add new tolls on the New Hampshire border, but will include other revenue-generating ideas like electronic metering to track the miles drivers travel on state and interstate highways.

He will, however, be instituting some other very foolish ideas. At least I believe them to be foolish. Such as placing GPS-type chips in the registration sticker on the license plate. This will allow the Massachusetts RMV to track the number of miles driven in Massachusetts by each Massachusetts registered vehicle. This will now also allow the Massachusetts government to tax those miles based on where the person lives in proximity to Boston.

Here’s the scary part, however. I am not a conspiracy nut, nor am I into the black helicopters. This scares me just a little, though. These chips will also allow the Massachusetts government to monitor the locations of all of their residents who own vehicles. If someone commits a crime and the police are looking for them all they need do is look for the vehicle on the GPS system.

Although this sounds like a good deal for law enforcement, there is a reason that New Hampshire does not allow monitoring electronically. State Troopers descend upon the vehicle with weapons drawn – and find out the persons mother is driving the vehicle.

There are other strange and silly tax proposals Gov Patrick is going to bring up, under the guise of *an overhaul.* Check out the full story in today’s Lowell Sun.

R&R

Yes, it has passed the NH House. The vote was 197/155. There were some that did not vote. Certain of those that stood out to me were Russ and Lynne Ober of Hudson, as they are two that have stood in the way of a permit law for minors last year. I guess they are not as bad as the 155 that voted NAY, however. If you wish to see if your representative was on the NAY list go here.

I for one am on the side of those that think it is about time for New Hampshire to adopt a primary seat belt law. If not for the lives it may save, but for the increase in federal funds.

Now is the time to get out the word to our state senators that we want that bill passed in the senate, as well. Do not let it get killed in the senate like the permit bill did. Make some phone calls, write emails, letters, whatever it takes – let’s get this bill passed this time.

R&R