Motorists

"We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by."-- Will RogersToday, we clap for what one reader calls our "highway angels."In a world where communities grow impersonal, where political campaigns seek to capitalize on our fears, where crime forces us to barricade our doors, it's time to applaud those daily acts of decency we often take for granted.Hail, the Good Samaritan.Each year, hundreds of thousands of motorists break down on Maryland roads.No definitive statistics are kept on the subject but the American Automobile Association averages about 200,000 emergency service calls a year -- and that doesn't include the Washington suburbs.

IT'S NOT RIGHT. Some 200,000 Maryland drivers break the law by not buying car insurance, but when they are in an accident, some of them sue and collect big awards for noneconomic "pain and suffering" damages.They are gaming the system.Not only are these uninsured drivers -- between 5 and 9 percent of Maryland motorists -- taking unfair advantage of state law, they are forcing up the price of car insurance for other motorists.A bill in the state Senate -- it sailed through the House on a 104-20 vote -- would let uninsured motorists collect medical and out-of-pocket losses from an accident, but not pain and suffering awards if they knowingly avoid buying car insurance.

A lawsuit charging Maryland State Police with race-based discrimination in traffic stops leading to drug searches along Interstate 95 is to be announced today by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 11 minority motorists and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People of Maryland.The motorists include a Baltimore Police Department employee, the director of a nonprofit organization and an Army employee, the ACLU said in a statement.ACLU attorneys are to announce the lawsuit at a 10: 30 a.m. news conference at the Episcopal Diocesan Center, 4 E. University Parkway.

ARE YOU driving more but enjoying it less? Could be you're afraid of what you'll encounter on the road. A recent survey released by U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater shows most motorists believe aggressive driving has increased.Ninety-eight percent of the 6,000 people who responded to the survey believe additional measures are needed to combat unsafe driving. They're right. Episodes of motor vehicle mayhem occur daily as frustrated drivers vent their anger on congested roads.

Five new speed cameras in Baltimore County are scheduled to go into service Wednesday, according to a police department statement. Motorists who exceed the speed limit by at least 12 mph will receive warnings for the first 30 days, then citations will be issued. Tickets can carry a $40 fine, but the citations do not add points to drivers' licenses. The cameras operate 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the year, even when school is out. The new speed camera sites are Southwest Academy on Johnnycake Road in Gwynn Oak; Loch Raven High on Cromwell Bridge Road in Hampton; Stoneleigh Elementary at Regester Avenue in Towson; Patapsco High at Wise Avenue in Dundalk; and Owings Mills Elementary at Reisterstown Road.

LOS ANGELES -- Last June, California Assemblyman Kevin Murray was on his way to celebrate his victory in a state Senate primary race when his car was pulled over by a Beverly Hills police officer.Though he can't prove it and the police department denies it, Murray believes he was stopped for being black.For years, many law-abiding minority motorists, particularly African-American and Hispanic men, contend they have been stopped by police who demand to know what they are doing in a particular neighborhood, where they are coming from and how they acquired their vehicles.

All northbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Howard County were shut down for more than seven hours yesterday, diverting thousands of motorists, as authorities dealt with the gruesome aftermath of a body that was struck by several passing vehicles, none of which stopped in the pre-dawn darkness. The remains were so badly mangled that police could not immediately discern the body's race or gender or determine a cause of death. It is not known whether the person was a pedestrian hit and killed on the road, was pushed from a vehicle or was killed first and dumped on the road.

We recently wrote of a motorist stranded on Interstate 95. He sat in his car for about an hour watching car after car -- including a state trooper -- pass him until someone came to his aid.Sound familiar?Your Intrepid One surely has passed a fair share of disabled blokes parked helplessly on the side of the road. We've also had it happen a couple of times (most recently when our jalopy died in the left-turn lane of Loch Raven Boulevard while turning onto Goucher Boulevard near Towson).But the incident begged the question: Aren't police officers -- especially state troopers whose duties in large part consist of highway patrol -- supposed to help distressed motorists?

Driving is one of the most important things most of us do in our professional and personal lives, so why would we expect to learn it while we're in high school and then just stop? Doctors, nurses and other medical caregivers are expected to continue education over the course of their careers. In some fields, such as tax accounting, professionals have to update their knowledge every year or be left hopelessly behind. Even reporters can't help but pick up a few scraps of new information as we go about our work, even though we usually get to weasel out of tests.

Geoff Matrangola and his wife, Dede, went out with friends for a Memorial Day bike ride from their home in Clarksville. The group was headed for Montgomery County but never made it there. Shortly after crossing the bridge over Brighton Dam, Matrangola crashed into something - he still can't recall what it was - went over the handlebars and onto the roadway. An instant before, one of his friends had lost control of his bike after swerving to avoid whatever Matrangola hit. Matrangola, 40, sustained a severe concussion, and Dave Dash wound up under a guardrail with several broken ribs.