Smartertimes reader Bob Hill of Coral Gables, Fla. writes in about a Times article about Marco Rubio's traffic tickets (and Mrs. Rubio's):
Dear Editor-
Since I am a New York transplant to South Florida, this article caught my attention. The fact that Marco Rubio, or anyone else, has 2 actual tickets over a 17 year period is a non-story, I think everyone can agree- particularly considering that one of them was in Duval County, near Tallahassee, up where the police have nothing better to do than write revenue-raising speeding tickets, as this article suggests:http://www.news4jax.com/news/lawmakers-aim-to-end-speed-traps/31642710. New Yorkers know that getting a moving violation in the city might indicate unsafe driving- getting a speeding ticket in Ulster County, not so much. Same thing here.
The fact that a red-light camera in Miami may have tagged him as an offender is also a non-story, as anyone who lives down here can attest- those red light cameras have been roundly condemned as unreliable, particularly going back to 2011, as this article illustrates: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article3423438.html
The fact that Mr. Rubio successfully hired a traffic attorney to fight a fourth ticket, for failing to obey a stop sign, is also a non-story; as those of us who actually drive can attest, tickets for 'rolling stops' can also be a sign of merely revenue-generating/quota-meeting behavior on the part of the police, rather than unsafe driving- particularly when they are successfully dismissed.
As for the fact that his wife appears merely to be as equally bad as all the other drivers here in Miami, this is a pretty rich critique, considering that Madame Secretary Clinton's spouse has probably not had to consistently drive himself since his days as Arkansas AG, going all the way back to 1978 (to say nothing of the fact that his encounters with the state police were rather more in the mode of David Brock's 'Troopergate'). And leave aside the fact that the candidate herself has been ferried around by the Secret Service since 1992...
The only real news story here is that a presidential candidate drives a Buick, himself.
Keep up the great work! I grew up in one of those families that studied every page in the Times like a daf of gemara, so I fully appreciate the work you do.
best,
Bob