Here's an interesting piece:
Rendell admits frequent flying on the freeway
Details
'Let's fly'
Inspired by Gov. Ed Rendell's turnpike speeding, David Letterman's Late Show on CBS-TV Tuesday offered the "Top 10 Signs Your Governor is Nuts." No 10: "State has a minimum speed limit of 135 mph."
By Brad Bumsted
STATE CAPITOL REPORTER
Friday, April 2, 2004
HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell is 'fessing up to reports that he was driven at speeds in excess of 100 mph in his state limousine.
In his first public statement on the issue, Rendell said late Wednesday he assumes a Philadelphia Daily News story Monday is accurate. The newspaper reported his Cadillac limousine was clocked at 100 mph nine times by troopers since November.
Rendell said the speed level was "unconscionable" and pledged it won't happen again. He said he accepts responsibility.
Rendell said he didn't know at the time that his limo, driven by a state police bodyguard, had exceeded 100 mph on the turnpike. "Did I know we were going over the speed limit? Sure," he said Thursday in Philadelphia.
Rendell's comments were a far cry from a news release his office issued Monday, which during the Watergate era might have been called a "non-denial denial." The news release said Rendell was "not aware of any instance of my executive detail being cited for driving at unlawfully high rates of speed." The newspaper story didn't say that the governor's driver had been cited, only that troopers clocked his car speeding.
The state police wrote 173,400 citations for speeding last year. Trooper Linette Quinn said 135,980 of those were for exceeding 65 mph. State police records show 1,023 citations were written for vehicles traveling more than 100 mph.
Rendell's news release on Monday said he had asked state police Commissioner Col. Jeffrey Miller to investigate the speeding reports and state policy regarding the operation of his state vehicle by the executive detail of the state police.
Asked Wednesday night what good such an investigation would do -- the state police investigating the state police -- Rendell shrugged. That's when he said he assumed the reports were accurate, and "I'll make sure we put a stop to it."
Rendell was not signaling a halt to the investigation on his limo's speeding, said Kate Philips, his press secretary.
"Because there was an accusation of wrongdoing, it's appropriate for the state police to look into it," Philips said.
Asked what could be determined from an investigation, given Rendell already assumes the reports are accurate and accepts responsibility, Philips said an investigation hypothetically "might reveal that it's only one person (driver) or it might reveal it's only 96" mph, Philips said. Rendell has "more than several" troopers who take turns driving the limousine, Philips said.
"The bottom line is we're going to slow down," Philips said.
Rendell said when he's in the limo he is frequently reading or on the phone and doesn't pay attention to the speedometer. He said he often tells the trooper driving his limo, "Let's fly." He said he was surprised the clocked speed was "that high."
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, called Rendell's 100 mph limousine jaunts "reckless." Metcalfe made reference to the speeding incidents during remarks on the House floor over Rendell's $1 billion economic stimulus package, which Metcalfe called "an economic joyride."
A scary thought: Rendell says "very often we get passed on the turnpike ... which may say something about the level of enforcement."
Brad Bumsted can be reached at
bbumsted@tribweb.com or (717) 787-1405.
