Why there’s no travel ban in D.C.
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Version 0 of 1. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo imposed a travel ban in New York City. Baltimore banned all traffic except emergency vehicles and plows. But in Washington, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said no thank you. “We want our community to heed our recommendations, our concerns, and get off the road,” Bowser said. “But more than that, we cannot afford to divert our emergency services to police a travel ban.” Bowser and other officials repeatedly begged residents to stay off the streets so crews could clear snow. Underlying the “stay home” drumbeat from District officials is a fear that no one stated explicitly, but was on high on everyone’s minds: Any pedestrian death would be a terrible tragedy, but killing a wintertime reveler with a city snow plow would be an unmitigated disaster. Bowser said in an interview that it’s the walkers – the playful ones in the middle of the street, or others just trudging along – who really worry her in this storm. “They don’t see how dangerous it is,” Bowser said. “Even the number of people we see, there are many thousands more who are taking the recommendations. For those who are not, we hope they’ll use tomorrow to catch up on some things in the house.” |