Someone Call Byrne

This is a great excuse for the sad state of Chicago roads:

• A local council in Essex, England has deemed broken roads a "natural traffic calming measure." If you didn't catch that, "traffic calming" is a euphemism used by politicians when discussing measures to slow the traffic flow through an area. Generally, the "calming" involves taking active measures, such as installing speed bumps, round-abouts or narrowing the road. To our knowledge it's never been (openly) done by neglecting what most people would consider one of the duties of a government -- maintaining basic infrastructure.
  
  According to a councillor in Navestock, repairing roads just encourages people to drive faster. Of course, the counter argument involves safety. Leaving a road marked with craters causes drivers to swerve, as well as damaging suspension components and wheels. It also poses a hazard to motorcyclists and bike riders.

Of course, expecting an Irishman to use an excuse pioneered by an English politician might be considered blasphemous in the extreme, but it's a way for Daley to embrace the pothole phenomenon rather than explain the shoddy road work across the City.