HAVERHILL, Mass. (AP) – Some Massachusetts judges are trying a new way to defuse drivers’ road rage: Forcing motorists to confront the results of accidents caused by fury behind the wheel.

State Police Sgt. Richard Eubanks runs a program to catch aggressive drivers early on and convince, cajole, or frighten them into slowing down and calming down. The program that Eubanks began in Haverhill District Court is increasingly mandated for aggressive drivers by judges in Ipswich, Lawrence, and Lowell.

During a recent class, 11 drivers – some of them fresh from court upstairs – look at pictures of bloody car wrecks, listen as he calculates the financial toll of regaining suspended drivers’ licenses, and meet a driver who describes how her driving drunk killed an elderly woman and shattered her life.

“I’m hoping that you’ll see the error of your ways, that you stop doing what you’re doing before you kill someone,” Eubanks said.

The program consists of a one day, two-hour class. State Senator Steven A. Baddour, a Methuen Democrat, is trying to get the program expanded.

In Massachusetts, road rage incidents have been blamed for several deaths this year. State Police have increased patrols for aggressive drivers, often using special unmarked stealth cars with video cameras and extra radar devices.

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Coalition seeks to protect dinosaur fossils from theft

GILL, Mass. (AP) – Lawmakers, geologists and police are seeking ways to curb the online sale of ancient dinosaur tracks stolen from the rich fossil beds of western Massachusetts.

The state Legislature this fall will consider a bill creating a commission to find ways to strengthen anti-poaching laws and develop other protections for fossils and American Indian artifacts in Massachusetts.

“These tracks are something right out of Hollywood, right out of Jurassic Park, but they’re real,” Rep. Peter V. Kocot, a Democrat from Northampton, told The Boston Globe. “These fossils are part of Massachusetts and the history of this country. And right now fines are so low, it is well worth the price to take them.”

The Connecticut River Valley in the western part of the state is one of the world’s richest prehistoric graveyards, where dinosaur tracks have yielded important information about how the ancient creatures lived 200 million years ago.

But the area has also become the target of poachers, who have looted the land over the year, taking advantage of remote location to chip the fossils out of the rock and sell them to collectors.

Officials are worried that online sales are making it easier for fossil poachers to sell their stolen goods. They can bring in anywhere from $20 to tens of thousands of dollars at mineral shows and on eBay.