Free Republic

HOUSTON, Texas--Earlier this week a service was held at the George W Spencer Funeral Home for 12-year-old Octavia Marie Watkins, according to a recent report by a local Fox News affiliate. Octavia's death was easily preventable: she died because she was thrown from the hood of a moving vehicle. But it's the reason she was on the roof of the car that has investigators puzzled. Allegedly, her friend's mother, who was giving her a ride home from a local pool, ordered the girls to ride on the hood and trunk of the car because she felt their swimsuits were too...

Any T (Boston: Mass Bay Transit Authority) driver caught using a cell phone on duty will be fired on the spot, MBTA officials announced this morning unveiling what could be the toughest such policy in the country. “We believe this is the strongest policy of its kind for any major transportation agency in the nation and I think it will help make us one of the safest,” said MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas this morning. Any subway or bus driver caught using a cell phone on the job will be fired and any driver caught even in possession of a...

The Boston trolley driver who reportedly crashed his train while text-messaging his girlfriend is a transgender 24-year-old who had a female-to-male sex change, FOX News has confirmed. Trolley driver Aiden Quinn changed the sexual designation on his driver's license and was once known as Georgia Ann Quinn, said Anne Dufresne, public relations director for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Per Massachusetts law applicants must provide medical records confirming a gender change for the status to be reflected in official documents.

TMZ has learned Charles Lewis Jr. -- aka "Mask" -- was driving his Ferrari Modena in Orange County, Calif. around 1:00 AM this morning when cops say it "left the roadway, hit the curb, took out a light pole." "Mask" was declared dead at the scene. A female passenger -- who was ejected from the crash -- was taken to a local hospital, but we're told she's in bad shape.

This billboard is catching people's attention as they drive on 101. California Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, is the target of a billboard advertisement attracting attention alongside Highway 101 in Palo Alto. Grant Paulson of Pleasanton spent $10,000 to post a verbose message to Simitian, criticizing him for his efforts to pass a cell phone ban for California drivers. "Your Cell Phone Law Sucks," the message reads. "Amazing how one man's bad idea can screw over and inconvenience millions of people in California." Some drivers have complained that the sign has caused them to nearly get into accidents because of...

SACRAMENTO -- Having already laid down the law for his two teenage daughters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Thursday that will prohibit the rest of Californians under age 18 from using cellphones, text message devices and laptop computers while driving. Read more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-me-cellphones14sep14,1,4297013.story?ctrack=1&cset=true