Maryland Drivers are the Devil

Just about every month, the D.C. Council sits down for breakfast with the Mayor. It's a chance for the Mayor to brief the Council on important matters, and for the Council to voice their concerns. Yesterday, the two branches of Home Rule met to discuss bulletproof vests for people who hand out traffic tickets, and how to slow those "nuts from Maryland" who drive too fast.

After trading notes about running shoes with Council member Jack Evans (D- Ward 2), Mayor Adrian Fenty started the meeting by asking Department of Transportation Director, Emeka Moneme to brief the Council on the new Pedestrian Master Plan. It was the least Moneme could do, since his staff had already briefed The Washington Post on the plan a week earlier.

The Moneme highlights are worth noting:

1. "For the first time since the 1960s," Moneme said, "More District workers are walking to work than driving." According to Moneme "Thirty nine percent of those who work in D.C. walk to work, compared to 35 percent who drive."

2. DDOT is "aggressively looking at ways to slow traffic," Moneme said. Several Council members, including Evans, urged Moneme to switch major commuter arteries that are one-way over to two-way streets to make them more "neighborhood friendly."

"It's those Maryland people who drive like nuts," Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) told Moneme. In an interview after the meeting, Graham said the commuters from Maryland were "devils" that need to slow down. "They're the devil," Graham said "They really are. Quote me on that, please."

3. Graham had another suggestion for DDOT. He wants the Traffic Control Officers, the neon clad whistle blowers who direct traffic in major intersections during rush hour, to start issuing traffic tickets. He also worries about their safety when encountering the "devils" from the Free State, so Graham suggested equipping them with bulletproof vests.

Graham is not joking about the bulletproof vests. And while a DDOT spokesperson says, "We do not expect bullet proof vests to be necessary," Graham is not the only one who thinks it's a good idea. Baltimore is considering outfitting its traffic officers and meter maids with bulletproof vests, after several ticket writers were attacked in the Charm City.

4. Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) complained that MPD didn't do enough to enforce traffic laws. Moneme said police were doing their part. According to DDOT, in March 2008, MPD issued 161 tickets to drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk. That compared to 41 tickets in March and April of 2007 combined.

5. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin was on hand to brief the members on the distribution of smoke detectors the District residents. Rubin hopes to have "knocked on every residential door in the city with in the next 10 years." The Fire Department offers free smoke detector check ups and detectors to residents who call.

6. For those of you keeping score, the breakfast is scheduled to start at 9 a.m.

At 9 a.m. David Catania (I-At-Large) was the only elected official in the room. Fenty arrived at 9:08 a.m. and Council Chair Vince Gray (D- At-Large) came in at 9:10 a.m.

By 9:16 a.m. when Fenty called the meeting to order, Council members Evans, Tommy Wells (D- Ward 6), Bowser, and Kwame Brown (D- At-Large) were there.

Phil Mendelson (D- At-Large), Graham, Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), Carol Schwartz (R-At-Large), and Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5) showed up in that order over the next 22 minutes.

Council members Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), and Marion Barry did not attend. The meeting was over by 9:45 a.m.