Fetterman (D., Pa.) has received two speeding tickets in his home state — the more recent one of which was in March for exceeding the speed limit in Westmoreland County by 34 mph. Before this year, he was ticketed in April 2016 for going at least 24 mph above the speed limit in Warren County, according to state public records.

The senator’s aides have said Fetterman has texted and FaceTimed while driving, ”prompting concerns among his staff and fears about riding with him,” the Post reported, citing three people with knowledge of staff discussions who spoke about internal conversations on the condition of anonymity.

  • PedestrianError :vbus: :nblvt:@towns.gay
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    5 months ago

    @DrunkEngineer 34 & “at least” 24 mph over the limit are some pretty serious speeding tickets, and the frequent reports of distracted driving are a serious problem too. Senators who support Vision Zero programs or care about traffic safety at all need to speak up about this and hold him and other negligently driving colleagues accountable. Especially after his stroke & related health problems, he should be extra careful, not distracted & 34 mph over the limit!

  • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    5 months ago

    34 over‽

    Where I’m at that’s reckless driving as well and a suspended license even if you pay your fine.

    FFS that dude needs to learn to drive properly

    • Diplomjodler@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      He’s had enough brain damage to turn him into a conservative. The guy probably shouldn’t be driving at all

    • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      Probably taking the turnpike. There’s a section in Westmoreland County where it randomly drops from 75 mph to 55 mph and catches everyone off guard. There’s also sections of Route 119 that randomly drop from 50 to 25 for no discernable reason, other than catching out-of-towners by surprise and slapping them with a speeding ticket.

      • FollyDolly@lemmy.world
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        He is the Senator from PA. He was super liberal up until he had a stroke and then became super conservative. Complete 180. Seems to have knocked out his sense of humor too. Now it seems he’s taking risks he would not have taken pre stroke by driving recklessly.

        • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          He was super liberal progressive up until he had a stroke and then became super conservative

          Also something oddly hilarious about brain damage making him conservative.

        • TheSambassador@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Is he actually “super conservative”? Or are you just talking about the interview where he said he wasn’t progressive?

          • PedestrianError :vbus: :nblvt:@towns.gay
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            @TheSambassador @FollyDolly He was never super liberal or conservative. He’s a centrist with strong views on individual issues. Those familiar with his work in PA knew him as willing to stand up and fight in a way that’s refreshing coming from a Democrat on certain issues (marijuana, LGBTQ+ rights) but deeply problematic on others (police, fracking). His overall politics have probably shifted a bit to the right since the stroke, but the change is more in people’s awareness of him.

            • vxx@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              He comes off as a Neoliberal. Everything for the big companies and institutions, but without the racism and discrimination against individuals that comes with conservatism.

              They also want a bit of regulation opposed to the regular liberals. (I mean the definition of liberal, not what American politics has made of that word)

        • blackn1ght@feddit.uk
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          5 months ago

          Is there any mechanism for his area to trigger a vote of no confidence in him and get him replaced?

  • 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    The speeding tickets are for 34 mph and 24 mph above the limit, this is roughly 54.7 kph and 38.6 kph or 15.2 m/s and 10.7 m/s above the limit in standardised units.

    Are the offenses of a single US-American lawmaker really [email protected]-worthy?

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      I mean, he really shouldn’t be driving considering he had a debilitating stroke. That’s fine for senatorial duties where you have aides and AIPAC telling you how to vote. Driving is a whole other thing.

      • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        That’s fine for senatorial duties where you have aides and AIPAC telling you how to vote.

        welllll…

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        Wow, we have his doctor here. Lots of people who have had a stroke, even those with partial paralysis, are perfectly capable of driving.

        • eksb@programming.dev
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          Lots of people who have had a stroke and should absolutely not be driving are still driving.

          Because in America telling old people they can’t drive is basically telling them to sit at home die sad and lonely. Or worse, move out of their status symbol suburban homes to which they have tied their entire self worth.

          • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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            status symbol suburban homes

            There’s a builder erecting McMansions and McTownhomes near me named NV Homes. I was curious to know what “NV” stood for until I got it: “envy”. It’s just pathetic how many people derive their sense of self worth from going into debt to buy one of these cardboard shit buckets.

    • Fredy1422@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      speeding does use the individuals yearly earnings thats how bill gates speeding ticket was greater than ~10k USD

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    That’s around 55 kmph for anyone wondering about the conversion. Ouch!, I didn’t even push those limits in my reckless youth.

        • LordGimp@lemm.ee
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          The stopwatch and math kind.

          If you know the distance between 2 points and can time yourself moving between them, you can verify your speed as finely as your data allows.

          My buddy is also a car nerd and redid his whole instrument cluster and added a digital counter to his speedometer that was actually an old bedside radio panel thing so he had TWO decimals for his speed. Idk if it actually showed the speed with any more accuracy or just translated the needle position somehow but it looked very 80s Sci fi for sure.

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    I’m always confused when I hear stories like this about important, powerful people. It feels like driving isn’t “worth their time” and when they have to travel by car, they should be escorted so they can continue to do their work.

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    Everyone in here acting like they’ve never gotten a speeding ticket or been in an accident.