It should be a fun evening for people who love tap, jazz and big-band music. I like all three, so those of you who plan to attend might see me there. I'll be the guy not wearing a "gangsta grillz" T-shirt with a baby's pacifier crammed into my mouth.
I actually saw a character - a man who looked to be, at the very least, in his 40s - like that at the Kmart on Wabash Avenue on Wednesday. I kid you not. I tell you, I couldn't make this stuff up.
Collision course
Something else I could never make up: the following stats from the folks at the District Court of Maryland.
Number of people charged with driving while suspended in 2005: 38,781. For 2006, this figure leaped to 41,568. The number last year grew to 45,921. There was an increase of almost 8,000 for the number of people arrested for driving with no license from 2005 to 2007, and more than 15,000 for those driving with a suspended registration during the same time period.
I asked Darrell Pressley, the media rep at the District Court, for these figures to satisfy my curiosity. On May 8, some nitwit ran a stop sign at the corner of Denmore Avenue and West Garrison Avenue. I couldn't avoid the collision, but since I was doing the speed limit (those of you who want to install warp engines in your cars should heed this) the damage was limited to minor fender bending on my beloved Greggiemobile.
The damage to the other car? I have no idea. The guy just took off while I was inspecting the damage on my car and looking for the records to exchange insurance information.
Think of the latter part of this column as my "Rule of Law, Part II" rant. Now here I was thinking that this guy and I would exchange insurance info after this minor fender-bender simply because Maryland law says you must have insurance to drive a car.
My heavens, what was I thinking?
The numbers of those arrested for driving without insurance weren't as alarming as in the other three categories: the numbers dipped slightly from 2005 to 2006 and then rose slightly again in 2007. But the numbers for driving while suspended, driving with no license and driving with a suspended registration raise an important question:
If these characters are driving without licenses or registration, what's their incentive to drive like they have some sense?
greg.kane@baltsun.com
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