Boston's Abysmal Driving and The Best Story Of The Year

In Boston you take your life in your hands when you are on the road. As a quick comparison - when you are in NYC, you know everyone is going to try and screw you but at least they are paying attention, it's fun in its own way. In Boston, correctly guessing what a driver will do next is pretty much like winning the lottery, and just as likely.

Today the city council is meeting to discuss ways they can improve the driving situation. Proposals include (and I am honestly not making this up) putting up signs so people know where they are going. I am not sure what paragon of innovation came up with that blue-sky idea...

Yeah. Really. The city council is THINKING about putting up road signs. You know, just in case there is someone who has not memorized the entire fucking city. Given historical precedent though, I think the likelihood of that proposal being adopted is slim to none.


But Boston driving stories get even better today.... Here it is, the best story of 2012:

Highway Safety director bumped due to bad driving record

"The state’s Highway Safety director will be “reassigned” from her $86,520 a year job after it emerged that she had a lengthy, checkered driving record, littered with moving violations — while she is still on leave from the latest of seven accidents, state officials announced today."

Sheila Burgess’ four-page driving history contains 34 incidents since 1982, including 7 car crashes and 4 speeding tickets, according to Registry of Motor Vehicle records.

Her most recent mishap was in August, when her vehicle collided with a boulder in Milton.

Sneaky fuckers, boulders

I'm sorry, but in Boston that is just hilarious. It has to be the only city where they would hire a Highway Safety director with 34 moving violations.

But it gets better and better...


The Globe reports that Ms. Burgess had no experience “in public safety, transportation, or government administration” at the time of her hiring.... yeah... and there's more:


"After The Boston Globe reported on that record, Massachusetts Public Safety Secretary Mary Elizabeth Heffernan said that Ms. Burgess could not expect the public’s trust, or Ms. Heffernan’s own, and that it was clear she should never have been hired as the public safety chief in 2007.

Mr. Patrick declared that Ms. Burgess’ 2007 appointment had been a “serious screw up,” and vowed to investigate it.


In spite of their statements Sunday, both Ms. Heffernan and Mr. Patrick said that once Mr. Burgess returns from her current medical leave, she would be reassigned to another position in the state’s Highway Safety Division."

Yes - REASSIGNED within the highway SAFETY division...

So.. how could someone such as the incompetent wreck machine Ms. Burgess manage to land a job which pays more than $87,000 annually??? It is not difficult to understand. According to reports, Ms. Burgess was formerly a consultant for U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, whose office recommended the state hire her in 2007, although not for a particular position. In addition, she was a principal of a consulting group that did work for Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray when he ran for mayor of Worcester.

Oh Boston - beacon of liberty, protector of freedoms, land of graft, kickbacks, and soviet-level corruption.