Herald implies new 'Pike RMV offices are death traps, but doesn't say why

By adamg on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 8:28am

I probably missed an earlier story or something, but this Herald piece kinda rates a fail because it says the feds are investigating possible safety issues at new RMV offices at the Charlton and Natick rest stops without ever saying what those safety issues are. Anybody know?

Topics:

Media

Driving

Free tagging:

RMV

Massachusetts Turnpike

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Comments

I don't see the problem.

By NotWhitey on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 9:54am.

I don't see the problem. They have quotes from a Turnpike Authority and from a federal DOT representative. And "death traps" are your words, not the Herald's. I think a reasonable reading of the story is that any time you make changes to rest stops on interstates, the DOT has safety concerns. The story certainly doesn't say any more than that,and it doesn't imply death traps. The story does imply that the siting of RMV branches on the Pike was a rush job, and that the controversial closing of many branch offices was done improperly. The Herald story is factually correct, while your blog post, with its death traps, is kinda fanciful, no?

Hence..

By Trixie on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 9:58am.

Hence he used the word "implies" in the post.

I'd imagine the safety concerns ['Death Trap'] are from the pedestrian crossings at the rest-stops to get into the buildings and the fact that there inevitably will be a car doing 85 through the rest stop, regardless of the number of signs or how much common sense *should* prevail.

And that's the problem

By adamg on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 10:03am.

What is so potentially bad about these RMV offices that the federal government is investigating? We don't have a clue, at least, not based on that story.

Throw me a bone here: Are the offices built in the middle of the offramps? Constructed over old Superfund sites? Heated with rusting propane tanks? The Herald gave us the who, the where and the when, but not the why.

Sorry Adam - in your effort

By NotWhitey on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 12:24pm.

Sorry Adam - in your effort to badmouth the Herald, you went way too far this time. The story is perfectly reasonable, if trivial. It doesn't concern you, because you don't live in a community along the Mass Pike that lost its Registry office. Such stories are published all the time. Whereas your "death trap" lead is journalistic poo, and you know it. Every time you post one of these Herald-bashing entries, Universal Hub becomes less than universal, and more petty political pissing contest. Of which, there is no shortage on the internet.

So you can't answer the question, either?

By adamg on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 12:32pm.

What is it the feds are investigating?

It's really a simple question - which the Herald fails to answer in that story.

I wasn't aware that not living in Charlton means I can't expect a reporter to put such a basic fact in a story.

A badly reported news story

By Ron Newman on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 3:37pm.

is a badly reported news story, no matter whether it's from the Globe or the Herald. Sometimes it's the Globe that gets the story wrong and the Herald that has the real facts. A recent example is the suicide of EMC founder Richard Egan.

Uh oh!

By Spatch on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 4:02pm.

You can't possibly try talking rationally here, Ron! It goes beyond his simple, black-and-white "you're either for us or agin us" worldview. Universal Hub attacks the Herald only! It's always attacked the Herald only! And it's all political!