State Police issue at least five people tickets during blizzard travel ban

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

State Police say they issued at least five people citations during the travel ban imposed by the governor for the Blizzard of 2013.

State Police acted with “great discretion” in enforcing the order, which began 4 p.m. Friday and expired at 1 p.m. Saturday west of Interstate 91 and 4 p.m. in the rest of the state, State Police spokesman David Procopio 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,” Procopio said.

Procopio said that two citations were issued in Southeastern Massachusetts, one on the Massachusetts Turnpike, and at least two, perhaps more, in Central Massachusetts.

Procopio said the Southeastern Massachusetts citations were issued at at 11:50 a.m. Saturday on South Street in Raynham; and at 12:05 p.m. Saturday on South Street in Raynham. The Central Massachusetts citations were issued at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on Interstate 395 North in Oxford and at 8:58 a.m. Saturday on Sutton Avenue in Oxford.

All four were given tickets for violating the executive order that carried a $500 fine. The driver cited on South Street in Raynham at 11:50 a.m. Saturday was also cited for leaving an unattended vehicle running in the middle of a travel way.

Procopio said he did not have details on the citation issued on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The travel ban, which had not been used since the Blizzard of 1978, applied to all roads in the state. Boston Police spokeswoman Cheryl Fiandaca said no citations were issued by the department during the travel ban.

Fifty people were rescued from stuck cars on roadways, including highway ramps, at the height of the storm, officials have said.