When the blizzard hit the Bay State, safety became a top priority for elected and law enforcement officials, and after the MBTA shutdown its services, Governor Deval Patrick signed an Executive Order banning all road travel during the brunt of the storm.
But a few drivers in Massachusetts couldn’t keep from grabbing their keys and hitting the road, despite the fact that Patrick warned it could lead to a $500 fine and up to a year in jail.
According to reports sent to BostInno from State Police on Thursday, five people were subjected to the $500 citations, after they allegedly disobeyed the governor’s orders and were caught driving through the storm.
The driving ban went into effect at 4 p.m. on Friday, and lasted roughly 24-hours. It was the first time Patrick had signed such an order.
During that time, however, despite warnings about keeping off the roads, police said they issued five citations to motorists on Saturday.
The first offender was handed a ticket for “violation of the executive order prohibiting driving” at 8:30 a.m. while traveling on Route 395 in Oxford, according to reports.
A second person in the same town was also issued a similar citation, less than thirty minutes later, that same morning.
The third offense, which occurred in Rayhnam, happened just before noon, police said. State Police also handed that driver a ticket for leaving an unattended vehicle running in the middle of a travel way.
A fourth reported incident, according to police, again took place on the South Shore, in Raynham. A $500 fine was written and given to that motorist just after 12 p.m.
Police did not provide specific information about the fifth executive order violation.
While Patrick said during a press conference that the point of the ban was not to “figure out how to come down hard on people” but rather “emphasize that non-essential travel on the roads cease,” not everyone felt willing to comply.
“We enforced the Executive Order with great discretion,” a State Police Spokesman said on Thursday. “Our goal was to preserve and protect public safety, not to punish people. Troopers considered mitigating and aggravating circumstances in deciding whether to issue citations. Several warnings, both written and verbal, were also given.”
Follow Steve Annear on Twitter @SteveAnnear
