It can be a revealing moment when a public official lets slip with a quote that inadvertently tells you what he really thinks of policies to improve walking, biking, or transit.
We asked our readers around the country to send us the most egregious "Motor Mouth" quotes they could dig up. Now we need you to help us choose the most heinous.
Here are the six contenders -- blaming victims and dismissing multi-modal solutions to traffic problems -- followed by the Motor Mouth poll.
Peter Coccaro, president of the City Council in Vineland, New Jersey
In a story about pedestrian deaths on Route 47, Coccaro told the Press of Atlantic City that the problem is jaywalking:
"There’s actually no legitimate crossing area," he said of many sections of Route 47 where traffic signals and crosswalks are a significant distance apart. "They just jaywalk. We’ve had some issues with pedestrians."
Translation: Saddled with a dangerous, inhospitable road? It's the pedestrians' fault!
Tom Bruff, transportation manager for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG)
In a Detroit News story about the region's most dangerous intersections in the Detroit region, Bruff expressed bafflement about the high rate of crashes in Macomb County:
