Another example of Beshear's cluelessness: KYTC's SAFE Patrol being phased out

What happens when the state institutes a new program that garners rave reviews from Kentuckians and gets national recognition?

If it's an idea hatched in a Republican administration, it gets axed when the Democrats take back over.

Take, for instance, the Safety Assistance for Freeway Emergencies (SAFE) Patrol, established in the Transportation Cabinet two years ago during the administration of Ernie Fletcher.

In October, the program garnered kudos from the Intelligent Transportation Society of America.

In December, word has it, the state is phasing out the program.

We hear that Transportation has sold several of the custom trucks driven by the SAFE Patrol operators, and that a number of the drivers have either been fired, or have not been replaced if they quit.

The SAFE Patrol trucks operate on Kentucky's interstates, parkways and major four-lane roads, and can provide assistance to stranded motorists and assist with traffic control at accidents. Motorists who've used this program rave about the SAFE Patrol and the service provided. It's been universally hailed as a great state government service.

So what does the Beshear administration do? They make plans to end or severely curtail the service.

We've been critical of Joe Prather, Transportation secretary, and his upper management staff, and this is just another reason to call them on the carpet. They've butchered the state's road construction program, eliminated long-promised projects and proposed major cutbacks to others, and now they're axing a highly successful public service.

We don't want to think that this is being done because the SAFE Patrol was created under the tutelage of Fletcher and Bill Nighbert, but it's a logical conclusion. Prather and his deputy hacks have tried to reverse much of the progress made during the previous four years, from things as simple as scrapping a new cabinet logo in favor of an old one to vindictive acts such as cutting projects in the home counties of Republican leaders.

The SAFE Patrol is an example of a program that works. If the state cuts or messes with it, that'll be even more proof that this administration is run by idiots. And the saddest part is, we have three more years of these clueless boobs running the state.