SO WHY ARE WE NOT SURPRISED?

From the Philadelphia Daily News Thursday, June 27, 2002

HEADLINE:  “Most in Jersey poll have dim view of officials”

Many New Jersey residents are skeptical of those in political and governmental positions.  In fact, they think they’re downright selfish and crooked.

One-third of the respondents to a Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers poll said there is “a lot” of political corruption in New Jersey, and 51 per cent said there is “some”.

Sixty-four percent said they believe most people go into politics for personal gain, and nearly seven of 10 residents feel that politicians look out more for themselves than their constituents.

Yet when asked how they would rate the quality of government in New Jersey, 43 per cent of respondents said it was “good”.

Forty-two per cent said “only fair”, 9 per cent said “poor” and 4 per cent said “excellent”.

OH, NO, NOT ANOTHER AC STOP??????

On Friday, December 28, 2001, the same bus (Panoramic #3) was stopped for the fourth time in two months.  C’mon, fellas!

ON THE PRIVATE PROPERTY AT THE SHOWBOAT CASINO. an NJDOT inspector stopped our driver just after arrival at the casino.

It was about 10:45 a.m.  There were three other buses on either side of P#3.  The NJDOT inspector asked our driver if he had been inspected before, and recently.

It meant nothing to the inspector that this was the fourth time in two months.

The inspector says the ICC and DOT numbers on the side of our bus do not match the NJDOT computer.  Our driver was ordered to drive to New Jersey Avenue for a safety inspection.

Upon arrival at the inspection site, now infamously well-known to our driver, there were two other buses already in line for another random inspection.  The NJDOT inspector boarded our P#3 to inspect the interior from 11:10 to 11:15 a.m. and then the undercarriage from 11:25 to 11:35.  The NJDOT inspector returned to our driver at 11:55 a.m. with paperwork.  We were allowed to leave after being given various citations.  There was one other bus being inspected at the time (11:55 a.m.) our driver departed.

The NJDOT inspector’s report states that the inspection started at 10:42 and ended at 11:42 a.m.

One citation was:  Drivers (sic) record of duty status not current/no record for 12/28/01 — and — Drivers (sic) record of duty status not current/no recorded (sic) for 12/24/01.  Our driver explained that as soon as he was approached, he started to complete his log for Christmas Eve day (when he did not work).  The inspector demanded to see the driver’s logs at that moment.  It used to be that state troopers and equivalent would allow a truck driver or bus driver 10 minutes to bring the logs up to date.  Things are getting tougher, apparently.

COURTS ARE SCARY PLACES

December 4, 2001

In connection with the New Jersey bus inspections, described in great detail elsewhere in this NEWS section, on November 1 GSS Tours received three tickets from a state trooper conducting an on-the-spot inspection near casinos in Atlantic City.  The court date was yesterday  (December 3, 2001).

The state troopers did not show up.

The Judge postponed the hearing.  The writer was advised to prepare for ANOTHER 70-mile trip to the City-By-The-Sea.  The Judge said his office staff had made a mistake.

According to the tickets, if you wish to plead “not guilty” (we did), you had to phone the Violations Bureau at least seven days prior to the court date.  On 11/15/01, the writer phoned the number listed on the back of the tickets.  The time was 3:40 p.m.  The automated system directs you to the appropriate department.

On this date (11/15/01), the phone rang and rang and rang.  No answer.

Another attempt was made 11/21/01 at 11:40 a.m.  This time, the call was answered.  We asked what the “fines” would be, and immediately the response was that this would be up to the Judge.  We confirmed that we wished to plead “not guilty”.  We said our court date was 12/3/01.  The woman in the Violations Bureau said we would need to appear on that date.

In court Monday, the Judge did not call the name of GSS Tours, which is listed on each ticket.  He asked if there was anyone present whose name was not called.  Several, including GSS, came forward.

The Judge wanted to inspect the tickets.  The “box” to be checked (“Court Appearance Required”) was blank, said the Judge.  We replied that we were instructed to be present in court 12/3/01, as the date showed on the ticket.

Having experienced the Courtroom One situation December 20, 2000 (described elsewhere on this website), we had no reason not to expect a one-day hearing.  In fact, the trooper had specified “1:30 p.m.” as the time of the NOTICE TO APPEAR.  If you do not have to appear, why was a time listed?

You have to understand that Judges are sacrosanct.  From their years as sharks, they have developed an air enabling their comfort with a completely dictatorial demeanor.  After all, it’s the law.  And they are schooled in it.

After inspecting the tickets, the Judge directed GSS to report to “Window Number One” outside the courtroom.  There, a clerk looked up in her computer for information on the three tickets (#960382, #960383 and #960384).  She then turned her monitor around so it could be viewed by the defendant.  She pointed to the line which stated:  COURT APPEARANCE REQUIRED.

She then rather ordered:  “Stay right there.”  And she left the large room.

She was not unpleasant, but nevertheless did not say “Please”.  Perhaps that’s the way of the court system.

She returned and said:  “Go back in the courtroom.  Your hearing is coming up today.”

On the wall behind the Judge, an emblem declares that the Atlantic City Municipal Court advocates “INTEGRITY – FAIRNESS – SERVICE”.  What happened later Monday afternoon challenged the vow of fairness.

The Judge sorted all the defendants into those who required the assistance of the Public Defender, and those who should discuss their case with the Prosecutor.  GSS was in the latter class.  All were asked to line up outside the courtroom to meet with the Prosecutor in the small mediation room.  It was a 45-minute line.  There were alot of people there who faced a wide variety of motor vehicle charges; only one bus company.  The NJDOT usually was scheduled for Wednesday afternoons, but this was a gig by state troopers, so, would you not assume that maybe the troopers knew what they were doing when they specified 1:30 p.m. 12/3/01?  And wouldn’t you assume the Violations Bureau would know what a “not guilty” plea required involving the three tickets?  The Assisant City Prosecutor, Michael R. Mosca, was a nice enough fellow, obviously beleaguered (read that:  too many cases to handle).  When he got to GSS 40 minutes after he started, you could tell he was a bit bedraggled, but nonetheless he said he had no paperwork for the GSS case.  We should tell the Judge, the Assistant City Prosecutor said, that his office (Judge Powals’)instructed us to appear on the date specified.

After a court recess, several cases were called up for brief actions, and then the Prosecutor told the Judge that GSS was represented but it did not appear the state troopers were there.  The Judge asked GSS what the circumstances were.

The GSS response was that we had followed all the instructions on the ticket, and had phoned the Violations Bureau more than seven days in advance of the hearing date.  The Judge wanted to know how we felt all instructions had been followed.

So at the witness station, we read the red portion of the ticket, which states:  “PLEA OF NOT GUILTY   If you intend to plead not guilty to the offense charged in the Complaint and Summons and have a trial, you must notify the Court Administrator, whose address and telephone number are shown below, of your intention at least 7 days prior to your scheduled court date.  If you fail to notify the Court Administrator, it may be necessary for you to make 2 court appearances.”

Fancy that.

Although there was a second paragraph, the Judge had heard enough.  He said he did not want to engage in a “shouting match”.  He said that obviously his court staff had made a mistake, and he was sorry, but that the case would have to be re-scheduled so the troopers could be notified.

Tough, fella.

There was no “shouting match” and for the Judge to imply this was anything but an exhibition of “FAIRNESS”, as it says on the emblem behind him.

Had the Judge allowed further “testimony”, he would have heard further proof that the court’s rules had been complied with.  Paragraph 2 states:  “COURT APPEARANCE REQUIRED   If ‘Court Appearance Required’ is checked on this Complaint and Summons (at the bottom of the other side) you must appear in court at the time and place indicated, even if you wish to plead guilty.  If ‘Court Appearance Required’ is not checked on this Complaint and Summons you must still appear in court if:  a.  you wish to have a trial; or b. the charge is not listed on the State or Local Supplemental Violations Bureau Schedule.”

The three tickets were for the following allegations:  1)  Axle 3 at brake out of adjustment  2) Passenger side emergency exit window blocked by TV  3)  Missing emergency exit stickers on windows.

We had with us for presentation to the Judge two separate write-ups of billings for replacement of Axle 3 brakes performed 9/19/01.  Could the state troopers be in error, as the NJDOT inspectors were at Liberty State Park perhaps a decade ago (for what happened a decade ago, please look elsewhere on this site … see THREE TICKETS BY NJDOT  2000 VERSION).

The TV monitor has been in the same place since the bus was new.  The NJDOT inspected the bus on many occasions after it was placed in service, most of them the required twice-a-year inspections since, at the time, the bus was registered in New Jersey, as that is where the bus was garaged.

The third ticket was a nit-picker.  The red handles on the emergency windows are far more evident than the sticker warnings.  If there were an emergency, passengers would be looking for escape and would go immediately to the large red handle.  By the way, the TV monitor was not close to the red handle, either.  A representative of the NJDOT explains that the ticket likely was issued in error by the state trooper, as the law only requires that the bus have 40% or more of escape space.  We have more than 90%.

So, according to the Judge, we must return to court at some later date . . . . . because his staff made a mistake.  Well, so did the state troopers.  Another case of New Jersey and You, NOT PERFECT TOGETHER.

And there is a Post Script to the above.  On December 10, 2001, an OFFICIAL LEGAL NOTICE came from Atlantic City Municipal Court.  A new hearing date has been set for Friday, January 11, 2002, at 1:30 p.m.

YOU ARE JUST A MERE CITIZEN AND TAXPAYER

March 21, 2001

609-777-4866

The statement and enclosures sent to the Office of the Attorney General was not ignored.  From these experiences of writing to various state agencies, it is apparent that each department assigns somebody to respond to people they apparently consider PITA’s.  Here is one response that tells you that the state “has” you right where they want you:

Dear Mr. Pierron:

Your letter of March 6, 2001, to Attorney General Farmer has been referred to me for reply.  In that letter you express the opinion that Bus Safety Compliance Act N.J.S.A. 48:4-2.1c, et seq. is unconstitutional and request that the Attorney General confirm that.

Pursuant to NJSA 52:17A-4, the Attorney General is authorized to provide legal advice only to the Governor, the Legislature and the other instrumentalities of State government, and does not provide legal advice to private citizens.

I regret that we cannot be more helpful.

Sincerely yours, John J. Farmer, Jr., Attorney General of New Jersey, By:  Sue Kleinberg, Deputy Attorney General.

EDITOR’S COMMENTS:  As you can see by the above letter and other responses at this website, New Jersey may enact laws of questionable legality and you, the citizen, have to cough up your own money to hire a lawyer to contest the law(s).  What lawyer can the average small business owner afford who himself/herself has the funds/time/wherewithall to fight the state.  All the terrorists will be removed from the earth before that case would get high enough “up” to get New Jersey and its DOT to get real.

November 26, 2001

Should anybody be surprised that the Department of Transportation has not, to this date, responded to the referred materials?

Apparently, they are too busy setting up the next inspection “random search”.

A REPLY FROM GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

March 13, 2001

From the Office of Donald T. DiFrancesco, Acting Governor, State of New Jersey

Dear Mr. Pierron:

Your correspondence to former Governor Christine Todd Whitman dated December 11 & 12, 2000 has been referred to me for reply.

The Department of Transportation would be the appropriate agency to address your concerns.  Therefore, I have referred your correspondence to Commissioner James Weinstein for review and appropriate action.  If you have any further questions, feel free to contact Commissioner Weinstein’s office directly at 1035 Parkway Avenue, PO Box 600, Trenton, New Jersey 08625.

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Sincerely, Sandra M. Marsh, Secretarial Assistant, Citizens Services and Relations   COPY OF THIS LETTER TO:  Lawrence E. Walton, Chief, Municipal Court Services Division, Administrative Office of the Courts . . .  Matthew Buckley, Office of Constituent Relations, Office of the Governor

THE COURTS OF NEW JERSEY

February 14, 2001

Letter to GSS Tours from ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS, STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Dear Mr. Pierron:

Your correspondence dated December 11, 2000, to Governor Christine Whitman and your letter of December 12, 2000, to the court administrator of the Atlantic City Municipal Court have been referred to the Municipal Court Services Division of the Administrative Office of the Courts for response.

In your correspondence you advised that you are the co-owner of GSS Tours, a bus company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Further, you advised that recently a Department of Transportation (DOT) agent filed a complaint against your company for a safety violation.  The complaint is scheduled to be heard by the Atlantic City Municipal Court.  As part of the preparation for your case you have included in your correspondence a number of interrogatories concerning the ticketing of buses.

Please be advised that this office does not have the authority to intervene or comment on pending or ongoing matters in municipal court nor does it have the authority to review or modify a judicial decision.  Upon the resolution of your case, if you believe that the court has erred in its judgment or sentence, your remedy rests with the appellate process.  This office cannot, of course, comment on the merits or timeliness of any action you might take in this regard.  You may, however, wish to contact an attorney who could be the more appropriate party to provide you with legal guidance.

In your correspondence we note that you also expressed concern about the actions of the Department of Transportation.  The Department of Transportation is part of the executive branch, therefore, any concerns you may have regarding that department should be directed to the Office of the Attorney General.  For your convenience, please be advised that this office is forwarding a copy of your correspondence to Ms. Regina Garb, Office of the Attorney General, Citizen Services and Relation (sic), P. O. Box 080, Trenton, New Jersey  080625 (sic again) for review and handling.

The functions of the Municipal Court Services Division of the Administrative Office of the Courts are to oversee the operations of the municipal courts in this State and to ensure that the courts are complying with appropriate procedural and policy guidelines.  If you have a complaint concerning the administrative operations of a municipal court, you should contact this office directly.

Sincerely, Lawrence E. Walton, Chief, Municipal Court Services Division,R. J. Hughes Justic Complex, PO Box 986, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0986, phone 609-984-8241, faxphone 609-292-4255

A PLEA FOR OVERTURN OF NJDOT LAW

March 6, 2001To the Attorney General of New Jersey:

I wrote a letter to Governor Whitman about this in December (2000).

From all I can see, she was so upset, she fled to Washington.

You should be upset, too.

You have a law on the books of New Jersey (or maybe a hundred of them), which likely is unconstitutional.  I cited my non-legal reasons in my statement to Governor Whitman.

Actually, I am pleased that you have SOMEBODY in Trenton who deserves a raise.  He or she sent my statement to the Administrative Office of the Courts, State of New Jersey, and a nice chap by the name of Lawrence E. Walton, Chief, Municipal Court Services Division, sent us a two-page reply.  (EDITOR’S NOTE:  This reply, although it hardly addressed the actual problem, is re-printed elsewhere in this GSS TOURS NEWS section.)

Usually, you don’t even get a response when you write to a legislator or Congressman.  Or a City Council member.  Or governmental department.  Not even that.

I got a two-pager.  Fewer than two months later.  I am impressed.

But your questionable law is still on the books.

So, let’s get down to business.

The law calling for NJDOT bus inspections is an ass.

An ass.

As most lawyers know from their studies, the phrase “the law is a ass” is from Charles Dickens’ “OLIVER TWIST”.  Isn’t “The Law is a Ass” ungrammatical and vulgar?

You will find it in Chapter 51 of “OLIVER TWIST”.  Mr. Bumble, an ungrammatical and vulgar character, is told that he is legally responsible for the wrongs of his wife (because the law presumes a husband can control her actions).  Good ole Mr. Bumble’s ungrammatical and vulgar response was:  “If the law supposes that, the law is a ass, a idiot.  If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor.”

Your NJDOT law authorizing random inspections of charter and other motorcoaches is . . . a bachelor.

You need to eliminate the law for several reasons.  At the moment, I can think of two (please see my December statement to Govenor Whitman for “just a few” more)>  (EDITOR’S NOTE:  The statement to former Governor Whitman is carried elsewhere on this NEWS website.)

I don’t believe your law could withstand a Constitutional test (the U. S. Supreme Court November 28, 2000), went quite a distance to suggest this in ruling on a similar situation).  And secondly, your ass of a law attacks the motorcoach, not the operator.

Most people, I think, who own and operate motorcoaches want assurance that the drivers are safe and sane.

Yet you are spending “big time” going after the equipment.

On its face, I am sure the legislators are collectively patting themselves on the back for their wisdom.  They’re getting all the bad buses off the highways.

They are nutty as a fruitcake.

The NJDOT law just PUNISHES small business owners (bus owners/operators) with a major and ill-advised stretch.

Let me start from the beginning.

Public officials (the NJDOT included, and the legislators) don’t know how to regulate the motorcoach industry.  Sad to say, they THINK they do.  They engage in entirely too much back-patting.

When we got our first bus in 1986, we sought intra-state authority to operate.  We had to pay an application fee of $125.00 and then convince an Administrative Law Judge of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission that we deserved to operate our bus from one part of Pennsylvania to another.  As it was, we could not run a charter trip from our office in northeast Philadelphia to a Phillies game at Veterans Stadium in (South) Philadelphia.  The law, of course, was an ass.  We didn’t have the “authority” to pick up in one part of the city and transport passengers to another (nor operate ANY trip from Pennsylvania to Pennsylvania).  Of course, it was some lawyer’s “solution” to “protecting the rights” of prior bus operators, whose business might be hurt by the new competition.

I wrote a few times to the PUC and always, they responded on the phone.

“It’s the goddam legislature,” said the PUC.  “You have to go to them.  We don’t write the laws; we do the regulating.”

I don’t want to bore you with all the saga.  We never got the authority.

Fortunately, several years ago, somebody actually got an ear with the U. S. Supreme Court and the law was changed nationally, and Pennsylvania, tail between its legs, agreed to go along.  It had to.

But Pennsylvania is a case-and-a-half.  Last month, Michael A. Smerconish, WPHT (Philadelphia) talk radio guy (and, by the way, a lawyer!!!), said that at present six the recent legislators, Harrisburg division, ARE NOW DOING “TIME”.  They are legislating TOO MUCH.  They are $eeking too much from their electorate.  Stop passing all these laws.  In my statement to Governor Whitman, I complained that the laws generate fees for attorneys.  But that’s not all of it.

What’s Trenton got to say to six legislators (in PA) in the pokey?

Our office is hardly a half-hour’s drive from yours.

In fact, however, it is a world away.

The problem here is the NJDOT law.

Small business owners cannot possibly contest with its ignominy.

What recourse does GSS Tours have in fighting this unjust law?

The letter from Lawrence E. Walton says the obvious.  I can’t fault him for it, but the world is divided into two camps:  problem causers ….. and ….. problem solvers.  Most legislators and many lawyers are problem causers.  While you and I know that, your and I know we won’t “solve” this today, or even next week.

What does Mr. Walton conclude?  We can APPEAL the decision of the Atlantic City Municipal Court.  And, we can “contact an attorney”.

As they say nowadays, DUH.

So, let’s concentrate on the law authorizing the NJDOT to pull these sudden, random bus inspections.  I pretty much explain the caper we suffered December 1 (2000) in the enclosed statement sent to Governor Whitman.

I also mention the cesspool “GOVERNMENT” is mired in.  So many laws.  So many legislators making MORE laws.  So many regulations.  Such feeble enforcements of the so many laws.  Money for lawyers.  Fees.  Fees.  More fees.

Of course, it is total bullshit.  But it doesn’t do anything except keep piling on.  That’s what government seems set up to do.  Pile it on.  On people, including small business owners.  (And big business people, too.)  Once the law is enacted, it is gold forever.

With all due respect to you and your office, I call upon the Office of the Attorney General of the Great Garden State of the Northeastern United States to call cop on the bull that is disguised as the NJDOT bus inspection statute.  It serves only to punish completely unfairly, and allow for legislative back-patting.  All it does is kill people like me.

Who have nice buses.

I would like to show you our buses.  But I don’t have time.  Hell, I don’t even have time to write to you.  But I’m doing it anyway.

Like most small business owners, I have enough to do without trying to combat the skullduggeries of state legislatures and regulatory bodies.

While your law is unfair, I believe it cannot stand to be tested against the recent ruling of the U. S. Supreme Court.  Nearly everything in that ruling says you should go home.  Kill the law.  The NJDOT not only flies in the face of that ruling, it purports to operate, theoretically, for the public good, and only people like me are informed enough on the overall situation to tell you that the law is a smokescreen in combatting the problem of bus accidents on our highways.

Surely, there have been bus accidents.  Usually, they make for good TV news.  A bus overturned.  Passengers with blood on their faces.

What do your penetrating surveys say as to what percentage of these accidents were caused by improper bus equipment?

What surveys?  As a bus association member, I can tell you that NO BUS SURVEYS of the magnitude required have been conducted.  If you have them, I have enclosed a request for such information.

You know as well as I:  it was the driver, not his bus.

As that risky scheme Al Gore once bellowed to Bill Clinton, GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

In this case, read it:  GET WITH THE ISSUE!

If you wish to legislate bus accidents, recognize that few, if any, were caused by “defective brakes” and all that jazz.  Almost always (if not always) … (and I would like to see any Attorney General produce the facts on this), the accident was driver error.

I am trying here NOT to repeat the comments in the statement to Governor Whitman.

PLEASE, PLEASE, however, take a look at CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS et al. v. EDMOND et al.

I know most Attorneys General are fed up with complaints from non-lawyers.  But I can read.  That ruling strongly suggests that the NJDOT law authorizing random bus searches should be headed straight for the funny farm.

There is supposed to be a meeting of a New Jersey bus association this month (March, 2001), taking up this subject.  A NJDOT representative is supposed to speak.  (EDITOR’S NOTE:  This did not happen.)

To me, that’s missing the point.

The NJDOT should be LISTENING to bus owners and operators, not speaking TO them.

We don’t need to be TALKED TO and LEGISLATED AGAINST and REGULATED by this slimy, crummy law.  It is contemptible.  And the scions of New Jersey are those who should be held in the contempt.  And the law should be erased.

And other bus owners and I should get our money back.

In the case of GSS Tours, the “money” is the improper bus inspection at Liberty State Park as well as last December (2000) in Atlantic City.  And I’d like to see that judge in Cape May County take more time to listen to the testimony before him regarding the time, in 1999, when a 13-year-old threw a rock at the windshield of our bus in Wildwood.

New Jersey, you owe us about $6,000.00.  Plus aggravation time.

Even more importantly, however, you owe us justice.  You owe us regulation that is productive (not what the NJDOT flays on bus owners as at present).

GOVERNMENT caused the problem.  GOVERNMENT must overturn and resolve the problem.

And small business owners, at the mercy of legalized ambulance chasers, should not be compelled to “contact an attorney”.

.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

(enclosed with statement to the Attorney General)

The purpose of this statement is to request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U. S. C. section 552.  If this information is not available from the Office of the Attorney General, then the law I am protesting relating to NJDOT random searches never should have been introduced as a legislative bill.

At the very least, assuming I do not know how the New Jersey state government is run, I ask that you forward this request to the appropriate agency or otherwise advise me of the other agency or agencies which should have this information, if the legislature proceeded in good faith, if ill-advised and misinformed.

My questions are included in my letter to Governor Christine Todd Whitman dated 12/11/2000,

As is my right as a United States citizen, if any part or all of the materials are withheld under an FOIA exemption, please provide a list of the information withheld and mark any deleted sections.  Please list the specific exemptions that form the basis for any decision from a document or the complete withholding of a document.

I ask that you furnishthe information without any charge or at a reduced charge as the information will be used to call for overturning a law that never should have seen the light of day.  In any case, please provide me with an itemized statement of the applicable fee or fees.

If search and copying fees are estimated to exceed $100.00, please contact me before proceeding, as I may have a satellite method of obtaining this data from you.  To further narrow my request, I would like the opportunity to review the documents retrieved or your document index in order to select the records to be copied.  Please identify the location of the documents and/or the document index so I may review them.  If an index is available, please provide the fee, if any, for such index.  If you can provide an index at no charge, please forward it to me at the address of GSS Tours.  Further, if any part (or even all) of the appropriate information is available on the Internet, please provide the site addresses where the information is located.

As provided for by Section 552(a)(6)(A)(i) of the Freedom of Information Act, please provide your reply within 20 business days.

I hasten to admonish GOVERNMENT that this is a GOVERNMENT-caused issue, and GOVERNMENT must bear the burdens, including cost, of seeing this issue to its proper adjudication.

.

Above statement and FOIA request sent to Trenton March 6, 2001.

GSS Tours is still waiting for the information, as of November 26, 2001.

MAYBE THE LAW IS A ASS

This comment includes a quote from Charles Dickens.   A further explanation of   THE LAW IS A ASS  (sic)  may be found on another post on thishere blog.   Look for  “A PLEA FOR OVERTURN OF NJ DOT LAW”.   Here, then, is this particular post:  

Dr. Laura says:  WHATEVER THE LAW SAYS, DO.  You would think that would be a liberal talking.

What does a liberal say, then?

On the May 27, 2001, “MEET THE PRESS” (NBC-TV, with Tim Russert), James Carville, chief apologist for William Jefferson Clinton, dismisses the law (Carville is a lawyer).  Challenged by Russert, Carville snapped:  “The law is just a sheet of paper!”

So, it depends not on whether you are conservative or liberal; it depends on what suits your purpose.

As the learned Harvey Diltitcher once said, if the facts are on your side, try the facts.  If the law’s on your side, try the law.

The NJDOT conveniently elects for the latter.

Letter to NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL

March 6, 2001Mr. John J. Farmer, Jr.
Attorney General, State of New Jersey
Department of Law and Public Safety
Hughes Justice Complex
P. O. Box 080
25 Market Street
Trenton, NJ   08625-0080

Dear Attorney General Farmer:

Last week, Dr. Laura made a comment on her national radio show (admonishing a caller):  “Whatever the law says, do.”  For the record, I agree.  On Friday, we mailed a check for $540.00 to Atlantic City Municipal Court paying for a bus inspection Friday, December 1, in Atlantic City.

Charles Dickens had warned us.  But we are powerless to fight you.  You have all the laws.  And you have all the lawyers.  You are succeeding in killing the charter motorcoach industry.  And like the law, the legislature is an ass to have enacted a law that allows for the improper and incessant “random” NJDOT bus inspections.  At first glance, you may say:   “Pshaw!!!!”  But I believe your law is unconstitutional, certainly unnecessary, certainly aggregious, and I am taking the time to ask you, in the interest of fairness to all, to confirm this.

My enclosures explain it all.

Sincerely yours,

John Pierron, GSS Tours, Philadelphia

BAD BOYS OF NEW JERSEY

The following is a statement written by Bill Clark, former owner-operator of Ultra Club Coach in Philadelphia, who also served as a driver for GSS Tours and who suffered the fate of many drivers going into Atlantic City.   Alas, he was confronted by the “bad boys”, as he called them.    Here is his report:

AH, THE BAD BOYS OF NEW JERSEY       Just a play on words taken from the TV series “COPS”.  This story is not about the criminals in New Jersey but the so-called GOOD GUYS of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, inspectors of the Atlantic City bus inspection unit.  The following details are given as my opinions and observations as I certainly am entitled to my opinions and am somewhat qualified in my observations as being in a law enforcement position as a Police Officer for 23 years for the City of Philadelphia Police Department.

I also have 30 years experience as a motorcoach operator and seven years being an owner-operator.

Being in law enforcement, an officer develops his skills over a period of time in all aspects of what it takes to be a good officer.  What cannot be taught or learned with any amount of training is one aspect an officer learns with experience or what he develops on his own.  That aspect is what is known as “good common sense”.

Now I know I do not personally know any of the officers on the NJDOT bus inspection unit but I have been inspected enough times to “read” these guys somewhat.  Some of the inspectors sometimes do not want to write up questionable defects, not because they don’t know the law, but their “common sense” instinct is kicking in, but because of their by the book “no common sense” supervisor, they are ordered to write up all defects and issue summonses.  Today, however, these inspectors have now all taken on the (lack of) character of their supervisor, not as their choice but because they are paid to do their “job” (as defined by the supervisor).

A case in point:  August 17, 2001.

I arrive at the SHOWBOAT HOTEL AND CASINO at 7:50 p.m.  There was no other bus or vehicle in the bus arrivals/departure area.  My bus is greeted by SHOWBOAT personnel and my passengers are unloading.  After about 10 minutes, I am approached by a gentleman who identifies himself and points to his badge on his belt (identifying an NJDOT inspector).  He announces that he wants to inspect my bus and he asks me if I know where to go on New Jersey Avenue.  I assure him I know where to go and he warns me that if I don’t show up, a $1,000 fine will be issued.  I am driving a 57-passenger motorcoach which my company purchased new two years before.  The bus had been driven only about 100,000 miles, a mere song in the charter motorcoach industry.

I go to the inspection location and am now in line at 8:05 p.m. behind five buses, with the first bus on the ramps (in the air for under-the-coach inspection).  An inspection was in progress.  My paperwork is checked along with an exterior and interior inspection as I wait in line.  My bus undercarriage inspection starts at 8:55 p.m.  Then, at 9:25 p.m., I am instructed that my bus is being put out of service for a chafed air line hose on the left front wheel.  I am told I have three options:  1)  Call for a service truck and have the air line replaced, 2)  Call for a tow truck and have the bus towed out of Atlantic City, or 3)  if I don’t remove the bus in a timely matter, the NJDOT will have the bus towed.

I immediately call for a road service whose representative tells me the truck will be at the scene in 30 minutes.  I advise the DOT inspector of this and I am instructed to pull the now-”out of service” bus over onto a vacant lot and wait there for my paperwork and red tag.

The paperwork was returned to me at 9:45 p.m.  At this point, I am asked what arrangements I have made.  Again, I reply that I have called for road service at 9:25 p.m.  At this point, I am approached by another inspector whom I had not seen before who tells me he will have to call to have my bus towed.  I ask him why.  By this time, they have 11 additional buses in line to be inspected.  As we walks away without answering me, the service truck pulls up to replace my allegedly “chafed” air line.  My repair is completed by 11:00 p.m., and I leave.  America is now safe.

My observation is:  why all the harassment?  My opinion is:  is this operation by the BAD BOYS OF NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION bus inspection unit based on quality or quantity?  In a three-hour period, I saw 17 buses at this inspection post.  Is this supervisor nuts?  I never saw any of these guys take a break or eat lunch.  After I was told to pull my bus off the ramps, there were two buses behind me.  I heard the supervisor tell his inspectors:  “OK guys, let’s go get some more!”

Two things in the supervisor’s favor:  1)  I did see a water bucket on the back of the RV command vehicle and 2) he must have been in a good mood because he told his troops they wouldn’t write any summonses tonight because he said “we’ll give ‘em a break tonight”.

I have seen this operation being conducted in this manner for years.  Who oversees this operation other than the on-site supervisor?  Are numbers all that counts?  Fines paid to Atlantic City Municipal Court?  They are substantial.  Does the NJDOT care about the costs to the owners of the bus companies or the inconveniences to the people who ride the buses?  What happened to the blue tag that put your bus out of service but would allow you to drive the bus immediately to a repair facility to get repairs performed in time for you to return to pick up your group at the casino?  Why do the bus companies have to face and bear the costs of a red tag and on top of that have to receive summonses and require in-court appearances by the owner of the bus company?  Why the exorbitant fines which have been set up on a NJDOT scale?

My out-of-service violation was written up correctly, according to the federal regulation.  This 1 1/2″ rubber hose did have very minor chafing on it as a result of a broken bracket.  It probably would last another 15 years before it would actually give way.  Then, if it did break, no air would escape the system unless the brake was applied and you still could drive the bus long enough to get it to a repair facility.  And, in between time, no passenger would be in jeopardy because the bus still could be stopped as conditions would warrant, due to the other air lines that would simultaneously kick in to slow or stop the bus.

My point is that the law is a good guideline to be followed, but common sense goes a whole lot further.  My contacts with the NJDOT are numerous, sorry to say.  I can talk at length about each of them.

One incident I can recall that I know personally but was not directly involved in went like this:  on a Friday night some time ago, I escaped an NJDOT inspection after dropping off my passengers at SHOWBOAT, but I saw another company’s bus in line for an inspection near the casino.  I parked at the A. C. T. A. lot and a little while later saw the driver of the other company’s bus.  In conversation with him, he said his bus had been red-tagged and his company had made arrangements to have the bus towed.  He was told the tow fee would be $500.00.

As we talked outside the parking facility, we were amazed to see his bus being driven by an NJDOT inspector with a small Atlantic City police department tow truck in front of the bus (not towing it) and a NJDOT white van behind the bus.  We saw the bus driven onto the impound lot (maintained by AC).  I was told afterward that this company received a towing bill, as described above.

What is wrong with this picture?

Who is getting this money?

We have so many governing bodies that give us rules and regulations.  Federal.  State.  Local.  And then there’s the Atlantic County Transportation Authority.  Who watches over these authorities to make sure they are governing properly, fairly?  Oh, sure, according to the law, they are acting properly.  The number$ surely will back that up.

But where is the quality and where is the common sense?

Bill Clark.

8/21/01