Click It or Ticket in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Police officers will be enforcing a “Click It or Ticket” policy from today through June 12.

The enforcement began today with a morning traffic stop on West Carson Street, near Station Square. Officers gave tickets to motorists not wearing seatbelts, and handed seatbelt information packets to everyone driving through.

Pittsburgh Police Officer Glen Aldridge says officers will be enforcing the “Click It or Ticket” policy all day and night, in all areas of the city, through Sunday, June 12.

Aldridge, a collision investigator, says he’s seen situations where seatbelts made the difference between life and death.

“Recently, I investigated a collision out in East Liberty where a car was struck. It was an SUV, and it rolled over, and two occupants were belted, and they actually walked away from the collision with no injuries whatsoever,” says Aldridge. “A few years ago, I investigated a collision of a similar nature. No-one in the vehicle was buckled. The car rolled over, one revolution, and a lady’s neck was broken. She was killed as a result.”

The Pittsburgh Policeman says he’d like to see driving without a seatbelt become a primary offense, so officers could pull over unbuckled drivers. Currently, it’s a secondary offense, meaning the driver must be pulled over for another reason before a ticket can be issued.

PennDOT Safety Press Officer Steve Cowan says last year, 524 people died in accidents without wearing seatbelts in Pennsylvania. Twenty-four of those deaths took place in Allegheny County.

"Good Samaritan" Bill in PA House

A bill granting partial immunity to underage drinkers who call the authorities when their friends’ lives are threatened due to alcohol is winning praise from student leaders.

Dan Florencio, the president of Penn State University’s Interfraternity Council, said he’s heard a similar story time after time. “Someone just appeared really, really sick, and people were just like, ‘oh, let him sleep it off.’ Because they don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” he explained. “They don’t want to implicate themselves or the person. So they just let them sleep it off, or brush it off, when really, something really bad could be happening to the person’s body, because of alcohol.”

The council represents 46 fraternities and sororities, which include more than 2,600 students.

The so-called “Good Samaritan” bill, which is currently in front of the House, would offer legal amnesty to underage drinkers who call 911 when their friend drinks too much.

Felicity Debacco Ernie, the state coordinator for Students Against Destructive Decisions, said her group supports the measure, and believes it would solve a recurring problem. “I think it is pretty real, and I think that it is a decision that, unfortunately, a lot of students are making, not to get the help, because they’re fearful of their own legal issues that will come into play then,” she said, adding, “ It’s a very serious consequence for people who are charged with underage drinking these days.”

The bill passed the Senate on a unanimous vote, but it’s not clear if or when the House will take it up.

Pennsylvania Walks and Bike Summit Treads to Harrisburg

Lawmakers and Pennsylvania Walks and Bikes think they have a solution to the Commonwealth's transportation issues: walking and biking. Walks and Bikes held a summit in Harrisburg today to promote state legislation and policy supporting safe pedestrian and bicycle use on roads and elsewhere in communities. State Representative Michael Folmer (R-Lebanon) says that as the weather changes, the demand for walking and biking paths increase.

"It's imperative, I think, as we go forward with any future road plans and as we go do out road maintenance that we start including the bicyclist and the walkers in that planning because people are starting to do it more and more."

Folmer attributes the outdoor transportation movement to rising gas prices, going "green" and a desire for community camaraderie. The summit advocated for three pieces of legislation that focus on right of way for bicyclists and cracking down on motorists using cellphones while driving. Although Folmer did not have any statistics on pedestrian-driver or bicyclist-driver accidents in Pennsylvania, he did mention that safety is a number one priority when sharing the roads.

Stuck Barge Carrying Flammable Coal Oil

About 1,100 students of the Sto-Rox School District were evacuated by police because of one of the barges stuck at the train bridge near Neville Island is carrying flammable coal tar oil with the chemical benzene.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Alanna McGovern says the current on the Ohio River broke some of the wires connecting the barges to a towing vessel this morning. "the current then took the four barges down to the back channel of Neville Island when they came to rest on the railroad bridge."

Of the three other barges that broke loose this morning, one carrying steel coils sank, another carrying coal passed by and an empty barge is also stuck.

McGovern says that the barge has a double hull and does not appear to have been breached. She says that the coast Guard is working with the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety to free the barges.

Legislation Deals With Cell Phones & Driving

The Pennsylvania House is once again taking a look at a distracted driving bill. But the measure in front of the Transportation Committee doesn’t go as far as the cell phone ban passed by the chamber last year.

Last session, nearly 200 House members voted for a measure making talking or texting while driving a primary offense. That means police could pull a driver over for using a hand-held cell phone, and nothing else.

However, this measure limits the penalty for distracted driving to a secondary offense. That isn’t enough for Democrat Eugene DePasquale of York County, who’s been pushing the issue for years. “If a secondary law happens, it’s not as if that’s bad. It’s just not as good as I think it could be,” he said. “And the reason why is, a primary law will enable someone – a police officer – to pull someone over for doing it, which could prevent the tragedy. As opposed to fining someone after the tragedy.”

Republican Chris Ross, who authored the new legislation, argued the primary vs. secondary debate is meaningless, and that lawmakers need to just make cell phone use while driving illegal, to start changing drivers’ habits. “It’s not good enough just to make it legislated,” he testified. “We have to actually get a change in behavior. And people’s behavior doesn’t change merely because we pass a law up here. It changes because you first say, this is wrong. We’re making it illegal. And then you follow that up with an aggressive campaign.”

The new measure goes beyond cell phones, increasing already-existing distracted driving fines by $50 if a driver is using “any electronic, electrical, mechanical, personal grooming device, food, drink, book or printed material.”

Penn Hills High School Closed

Penn Hills High School students are being sent home this morning due to what 911 dispatchers calls a "police incident." School officials and Penn Hills Police are not commenting at this time. The District’s web site says “a threat was made to the Senior High School on February 2nd.” An Allegheny County 911 supervisor tells the Associated Press that the 911 center received a call about 7:30 this morning. The supervisor says local police are handling the situation. Students leaving the school say they were told there was some kind of bomb threat. Students were moved to the school's indoor athletic facility and students arriving in their own cars were being told to turn around and go home. Although ambulances were called, there are no reports of injuries and police have not said whether there have been any arrests. All other buildings in the District are running on a normal schedule.

Drugged Driving More Widespread than Drunk Driving

Pharmacists this holiday season are warning about the effects of drugged driving. They say that certain medications can impair perception, judgement and reaction time in people. Jan Engle, Pharmacy Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says that there are many medications that people should not take before driving yet often do anyway. She says that drugged driving is often caused by people not taking time to read the labels of drugs or ask their pharmacist about the medications before taking them and getting behind the wheel.



Engle says that travelers should talk to their pharmacists about their medications before going places this holiday season. "It's really important to think about, when your traveling, what you need to do with your medicines, especially if if you're traveling over different timezones. You can talk to your pharmacist to determine whether or not you have to adjust the schedule you take your medicine. For example, in an extreme case, if you were flying to Asia where the time difference is 12 hours you may need to be taking your medicine at night versus in the morning."



According to the National Highway and Safety Administration 20% of accidents in the U.S. are a result of drugged driving. While over 16% of weekend and nighttime drivers tested positive for illegal, prescription or over-the-counter medication.

SADD Warns Against Holiday Drunk Driving

The Pennsylvania chief of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) says parents should take steps to prevent their teenage children from driving drunk over the holidays.

State SADD Coordinator Felicity Debacco-Ernie says teens are often exposed to alcohol at holiday parties, increasing their chances of consuming booze before getting on the roadways.

Debacco-Ernie says parents should talk to their teenage children about drunk driving during the holidays.

“Especially when they become teenagers, let them know that there are laws out there that are there to protect young people who are under 21,” says Debacco-Ernie, “but also that teens can call their parents as a resort if they find themselves in a situation where they need somebody who is not impaired to drive them home.”

According to the Allegheny County Health Department, drug- or alcohol-impaired driving causes more Pennsylvania teen deaths than all other causes combined.

Debacco-Ernie says if a family is going to a holiday party with alcohol, there should be a designated driver.

Mayor: First Night Will be Safe

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says people should not be afraid to come downtown for the First Night celebrations. In an effort to set aside some public concerns that big events in downtown Pittsburgh are no longer safe, Mayor Ravenstahl says there will be beefed up patrols in the golden triangle New Year’s Eve. He says the gunfire during Light Up Night was an isolated event. “We, as a city, can’t let a few idiots get in the way of a wonderful event,” says Ravenstahl, ”We are determined from a police department prospective and a public safety prospective not to let that happen.”

Ravenstahl says there will be additional officers downtown and they will be keeping an eye out for groups of people like those that gathered on light up night and eventually caused problems. “What I can tell the people of Pittsburgh today is you will be safe, come downtown experience this wonderful event and you should not let a few bad apples ruin your experience with your family on this New Year’s holiday,” says Ravenstahl.

First night usually draws about 35 thousand revelers. The Cultural Trust says there could be another 20-30 thousand on the streets December 31st thanks an influx of visitors in town for the winter classic hockey game on the north shore the next day. Visit Pittsburgh says every hotel room downtown is booked for New Year’s Eve.

City Crews React to Snowfall

With about an inch and a half of snow falling on the region today, the Pittsburgh Public Works got another test run in road treatment in preparation for a larger storm. Bob Kaczorowski, Director of the Public works, says that today’s clean up went well, but the start of the snowfall wasn’t prime for clean-up efforts.

“The timing of the storm was such that coming in at 3:30 it was a little tough for us to get to everything in that timeframe before morning rush,” Kaczorowski says.

Public Works has developed a new plan at the urging of city council and the mayor that created emergency routes that supersede the primary and secondary routes of the city. In the event of a large unexpected snowfall the likes of which the region received last February.

While the plan hasn’t been utilized yet this season, Kaczorowski has voiced his confidence that in the case of an emergency snowstorm, the essential routes in and out of the city will be the first cleared and then closely monitored. According to Kaczorowski there are about 220 miles of snow emergency routes selected from the roughly 792 miles of primary routes that are designated as the emergency routes in case of a blizzard-like snowfall.

Kaczorowski suggests that drivers who do not need to leave their houses do just that in the event of a snowstorm. For those who have to get to work, he suggests leaving early and being patient with the likely delays caused from the snow clean-up and inevitable accidents.

Self-Defense Bill Okayed

In a final vote of the 2009-10 legislative session, the Pennsylvania House approved the “Castle Doctrine” bill by a 161-35 vote.
The measure allows a person to use deadly force to defend him or herself without having to retreat.
As sponsor Scott Perry, a York County Republican, explains, the measure also closes loopholes in Megan’s Law statutes.

"This bill is about constitutional rights. Our right to life. Our right to defend our lives. This bill is also about letting us know when violent offenders that would prey on our children are close to us. And we have a right to know that, and we should know that."

Democrat Cherelle Parker argued against the “Castle Doctrine” bill.

This will change what happens in the street. Someone can claim self-defense if they shoot someone who looks at them the wrong way. By eliminating the duty to retreat you are encouraging someone to potentially take a life.

Governor Rendell hasn’t said whether he’ll sign or veto the “Castle Doctrine” measure.

Housing Tenants Could Lose Individual Mail Delivery

Residents of 2 housing developments in Beaver County are fighting a plan by the local postmaster to halt door-to-door delivery. Carl DeChellis, the director of the Beaver County Housing Authority, says he received a letter from the postmaster in late September saying there were concerns about mail carrier safety, so the postmaster wanted to mandate all mailboxes be placed in a central location at the Crestview Village and Economy Village by November 13...

"We took objection to that. This development covers a 4 block area and there would be a lot of elderly, disabled and a lot of young people families who would have to bundle up their kids and walk to get their mail everyday. So we ask the post office to reconsider that."

DeChellis said he received a follow up letter from the postmaster indicating he still intends to go through with the central mail delivery. DeChellis says there are about 300 residents in the 181 apartments in the housing developments.

He says he knows of no incidents in which carriers have been harmed......"For the last 15 years, the authority has paid various municipalities to patrol the housing developments. In the past 2 years, the Borough of Ambridge and the authority have been unable to negotiate a contract acceptable to the borough. Residents have requested police protection. The postmaster may have taken that to think we have an unsafe situation."

DeChellis says the housing developments have had door to door mail delivery for 60 years.

Bill Would Give Radar to Local Police

Supporters turned out in force this week at a hearing on a bill that would give municipal police department the ability to use radar and other technologies to catch speeders. Pennsylvania Senator Barry Stout of Washington County chairs the Senate Transportation Committee. He says the provision would apply to all full time police departments. Right now only the Pennsylvania State Police are permitted to use radar. The committee heard from the State Police, the Pennsylvania Police Chiefs Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, and John Dorin, Mayor of Montoursville Borough. Supporters of the proposed legislation say it’s a matter public safety. Each year, about 1,500 traffic fatalities occur in Pennsylvania with nearly 50% of them being attributed to speeding and aggressive driving. Pennsylvania is the only state that does not permit local police departments to use radar. Detractors say local police departments will use the technology as a ‘cash cow’ to shore up sagging budgets. In answer to that Senate Bill 554 would place a cap on how much money a municipality could collect in fines. A municipality could not get more than 5% of it's annual budget from tickets. Any money collected over the cap would go to the State Police for highway safety.

At the hearing State and local police also requested that they be permitted to use other speed-detection technology such as the relatively new device “LIDAR” (Light Detection and Ranging). LIDAR sends out an infrared laser beam rather than a radio wave. 92% of the states, including all of the states surrounding Pennsylvania, use LIDAR.

Lawyer: Pgh Man Would Have Lived If Helped Sooner

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner says a Pittsburgh man who waited for 30 hours for paramedics during a February 5-7 snowstorm that gridlocked the city, died of natural causes. Dr. Karl Williams says the autopsy indicates that 50 year old Curtis Mitchell of Hazelwood died primarily of heart disease with a fatty liver as a contributing factor. Alan Perer is the attorney for the Mitchell family, and says this proves that Mitchell could have lived if he had gotten help sooner. Mitchell and his girlfriend called 9-1-1 ten times seeking help for his abdominal pain. Because of the heavy snow, medics couldn't get their vehicles to Mitchell's home and they asked him to walk a couple of blocks to meet them. As a result of this incident, one paramedic was fired and three others were suspended.