Drivers

Tom opens calling it the "hardest fought season ever. " I'm not sure about that, but I will say that this is one with a lot of strong competitors, few loathsome personalities, and a satisfying final three. It starts with the pro dancers (the "real" pro dancers, not just the troupe) dancing to a song I would probably know if I were 20 years younger, but I'm not and the only 16-year-old in this house is a cat. At the end of the song, we get the pros walking the floor with their celebrity partners.

Samuel Renard Queen, of the 3500 block of Elmley Ave. in Baltimore, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for rape, kidnapping and related offenses this week for assaulting a woman at knifepoint in his unlicensed taxicab, the Baltimore state's attorney's office announced. The victim hailed the “hack” taxi after work on Dec. 6, 2010, prosecutors said. Queen picked her up on Belair Road and agreed to take her downtown, but instead took her to Clifton Park, where he forced her to engage in sexual acts and raped her. A jury convicted Queen in the attack on April 12, and he was sentenced Wednesday.

There are several tipoffs that a driver might be drunk: swerving, traveling the wrong way on a street, pulling out of a bar late at night. And a Prince George's County lawmaker wants to add one more. He says the state should replace license plates of repeat drunken drivers with bright yellow tags that read "DUI." "Displaying the special license plates will give people some understanding of who they are sharing the roadways with," Marvin E. Holmes Jr., a Democrat, said at a hearing on his bill Thursday.

Tom opens calling it the "hardest fought season ever. " I'm not sure about that, but I will say that this is one with a lot of strong competitors, few loathsome personalities, and a satisfying final three. It starts with the pro dancers (the "real" pro dancers, not just the troupe) dancing to a song I would probably know if I were 20 years younger, but I'm not and the only 16-year-old in this house is a cat. At the end of the song, we get the pros walking the floor with their celebrity partners.

— Just after dawn Tuesday, law enforcement officers began yanking hundreds of trucks off the Capital Beltway and funneling them to an inspection lot a long touchdown pass from FedEx Field. The truck-safety dragnet pulled over 420 rigs and resulted in 12 drivers and 87 vehicles being taken off the road. Offenses ranged from falsified log books and drivers spending too many hours behind the wheel to bad tires and defective brakes. "Within an hour, drivers from Maine to Florida will know we're out here," said State Police Capt.

The GMAC Insurance National Driver Test continues to rate Maryland a bottom-10 state for "Licensed Drivers Knowledge of Basic Road Rules. " And like Maryland, numerous Northern states, such as Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, were part of the bottom 10. Nearby Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia scored higher, and are not part of the bottom 10. To me, Maryland's problem is a culture of political stubbornness in not weeding out thousands...

The other day I saw a woman driving with a dog on her lap; the dog was sticking his head out the window.  I thought to myself, boy that's got to be unsafe — certainly as unsafe as talking on a cell phone — and I wondered if she would get pulled over and ticketed.  Later that morning, I almost rear-ended the car in front of me after I spilled hot coffee on my lap. Unsafe?  Yep, but not illegal. And having a conversation with a passenger in my car is probably as distracting as have a conversation on my cell phone.

Many drivers got stuck on their way home from work during Wednesday's snowstorm, and a few of them called The Sun to talk about it. Here are some of their stories: 'At least I'm not stuck … in a ditch' Alexis Rea left downtown about 5 p.m. Wednesday and pulled onto Interstate 83, thinking the highway would be a better choice during the storm because she did not know how the secondary roads were holding up. She wanted to...

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank-you to all the considerate drivers in my Catonsville neighborhood of Oak Forest. Years ago, when I was able, I rode my bike with my then two small children. Thank God for the drivers who would slow down and make a wide arc around our small group. They obviously realized that, even with our caution, an extra amount of safety was needed. It would be easy for a young biker to drift into traffic. Now, after my stroke, I walk on Montrose Avenue for exercise and rehabilitation.

The Baltimore Sun's Yvonne Wenger reports today : Preliminary toxicology reports show both drivers in a head-on collision early Saturday on Route 50 were drunken driving, Maryland State Police said Tuesday. Police have been investigating the Anne Arundel County accident that killed Terry Davis, 55, of Severna Park , who was driving a BMW convertible, and Brittany Ann Walker, 19, a 2010 Meade Senior High School graduate who was driving a Chrysler Sebring the wrong way in an eastbound lane of the highway near Davidsonville Road.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Dario Franchitti can't avoid talking about his race team's early season troubles and his hopes of getting his Chip Ganassi Dallara-Honda sorted out in time to win Sunday's Indianapolis 500. But Monday, while making the rounds with various media outlets, he was just as interested in chatting about the Baltimore Grand Prix, which has had its own troubles. It seems both the IndyCar driver and the race are coming from behind. "Is everything going well for Baltimore's race now?"

The Baltimore police officer who was thrown over the side of Interstate 83 and fell 20 feet after a car crashed into her vehicle as she helped a stranded motorist has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the driver and the owner of the vehicle. The driver, 23-year-old Robert R. Vanderford, is scheduled to appear in District Court this week for a trial on traffic charges related to the June 21, 2011, incident. The charges include failure to control vehicle speed to avoid a collision, failure to reduce speed in dangerous weather and driving while his license was suspended in another state.

Two adult drivers, including a Baltimore City police officer, were transported to the hospital Sunday afternoon following a two-car accident in the 800 block of Walker Avenue, near The Alameda. According to witnesses, the city police car and a burgundy sedan collided on Walker Avenue, and the police car knocked down part of a wooden fence. The sedan was driven by a woman, according to one witness. Neither driver appeared to be suffering life-threatening injuries, and the officer was seen walking around after the accident, according to a witness.

— Just after dawn Tuesday, law enforcement officers began yanking hundreds of trucks off the Capital Beltway and funneling them to an inspection lot a long touchdown pass from FedEx Field. The truck-safety dragnet pulled over 420 rigs and resulted in 12 drivers and 87 vehicles being taken off the road. Offenses ranged from falsified log books and drivers spending too many hours behind the wheel to bad tires and defective brakes. "Within an hour, drivers from Maine to Florida will know we're out here," said State Police Capt.

Baltimore's spending board is scheduled to vote Wednesday to settle three claims made against the city, including a civil suit stemming from a 2007 accident in which a fire truck collided with a car, leaving three people dead. Relatives of victims in the 2007 crash — a husband, wife and a friend — will split $40,000 if the Board of Estimates signs off on the settlement. Their attorney said that is the cap set for motor tort claims involving police and firefighters responding to emergencies.

The driver of a Saturn sedan who had stopped in an eastbound lane of the Baltimore Beltway early Saturday was killed when a Ford pickup truck slammed into the vehicle, according to Maryland State Police. David Wilt, 33, of Pasadena, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Authorities said the crash occurred in the Anne Arundel County section of the highway, near Md. Route 2 in Glen Burnie. The eastbound lanes of the four-lane highway were closed for about five hours, until about 7:45 a.m. The accident occurred about 2:45 a.m. State police said Wilt either stopped or parked in the high-speed lane.

There is nothing wrong with the Bay Bridge — it was the victim of short-sighted politicians back in the early 50's, who went against common sense that 4 lanes was the way to go ("Acrophobia on the bay," Oct. 18)! As for the bridge being unsafe, it's like the phrase, "guns don't kill people — people kill people. " The rush to get into line after going through the toll booth, failure to have any space between cars, the constant lane changes, wrongful hookups of trailers and tired/impaired drivers — the list goes on. I'm not a bridge building expert, but I don't see how the bridge — any bridge — could have stopped a tractor trailer at speed from going through the side barrier.

During the IZOD IndyCar drivers meeting this afternoon, drivers were advised to be "extremely smart" when approaching Turn 1 at the start of the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix and on restarts during the race. "From the second row back, it is going to start braking earlier and earlier," said Brian Barnhart, president of competition and racing operations and race director. "This entire weekend [every racing series] has failed to get through turn 1 so far. Everything from F2000 to ALMS.

Three people were killed Friday after a car lost control on a curve and crashed into a milk truck in Phoenix, Baltimore County police said. A Volkswagen Jetta was traveling northbound on Jarrettsville Pike when it crossed the center line into the path of the truck, police said. The Jetta overturned on its left side. The truck struck a tree and remained upright, but its tanker turned on its left side, police said. The crash occurred at 6:09 a.m. in the 12600 block of Jarrettsville Pike, just north of the intersection with Dulaney Valley Road.

My child's school bus driver is a pleasure to greet every school-day morning. She always has a big smile and a kind word and wave. So, being curious about the world of school bus drivers, I asked a friend's school bus-driving daughter what kind of holiday and end-of-year gifts she likes to get the most. Her reply was that she gets no gifts from her students' or their families. She said that anything she could use to bridge the gap over the summer such as gift cards, coffee, cards, would be greatly appreciated.