4 ms·

You can't pay a car's excise tax in Massachusetts after 11pm. I can't think of a valid reason for that.

marshray 15y ago
Maybe they process batch transactions overnight. Maybe they want to reserve a nightly maintenance window. Or maybe it's an instance of the "12:01" effect where they're scared to do anything too close to midnight. :-)
- bricestacey 15y ago
  The "12:01" effect is likely part of it[0], but it could also be a daylights saving time thing where they don't want to bother supporting it. [0] In Boston proper, our street sweeping signs now say "12:01-2:00" or "2:01-4:00".
  - lanstein 15y ago
    Street cleaning. So glad I don't have to worry about getting towed anymore.
- nupark2 15y ago
  Can you explain the 12:01 effect? I've never come across that term before.
  - marshray 15y ago
    I just made it up, but others have probably noticed it. Insurance contracts (in the US) seem to always start at "12:01 on January 1". For some reason, our legal system can't get its collective head around the idea of "midnight" being the dividing line between two days and belonging to neither. I've heard there was actually a supreme court ruling that a street sign which read "12:00" was ambiguous. One of those things someone told me that I'm not sure to believe. "12:01" isn't any less ambiguous than "12:00" in that respect, yet it still seems to be used for some reason.
    - Kelpo 15y ago
      It's most of the time 12.01, because nobody is sure whether midnight is actually 12:00 a.m or 12:00 p.m. To avoid confusion or phishy interpretations they choose the one minute delay, cause it's clear that way which time was actually meant.
      - wolfgke 15y ago
        Why doesn't the USA let a Standards Institution define a standard whether midnight is 12:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. to solve this problem permanently?
        bricestacey 15y ago
        Midnight is obviously 12:00am, but people don't know which day it belongs to. Is midnight the start of the day? Or the end of the day? Tuesday 12:00am could be 2 different times (spaced 24 hours apart) depending on your interpretation. If you say 12:01am, there is no ambiguity. A lot of people in high school probably ignored their math teacher when he explained open/closed intervals.

Maybe they process batch transactions overnight. Maybe they want to reserve a nightly maintenance window. Or maybe it's an instance of the "12:01" effect where they're scared to do anything too close to midnight. :-)

bricestacey 15y ago
The "12:01" effect is likely part of it[0], but it could also be a daylights saving time thing where they don't want to bother supporting it. [0] In Boston proper, our street sweeping signs now say "12:01-2:00" or "2:01-4:00".
- lanstein 15y ago
  Street cleaning. So glad I don't have to worry about getting towed anymore.
nupark2 15y ago
Can you explain the 12:01 effect? I've never come across that term before.
- marshray 15y ago
  I just made it up, but others have probably noticed it. Insurance contracts (in the US) seem to always start at "12:01 on January 1". For some reason, our legal system can't get its collective head around the idea of "midnight" being the dividing line between two days and belonging to neither. I've heard there was actually a supreme court ruling that a street sign which read "12:00" was ambiguous. One of those things someone told me that I'm not sure to believe. "12:01" isn't any less ambiguous than "12:00" in that respect, yet it still seems to be used for some reason.
  - Kelpo 15y ago
    It's most of the time 12.01, because nobody is sure whether midnight is actually 12:00 a.m or 12:00 p.m. To avoid confusion or phishy interpretations they choose the one minute delay, cause it's clear that way which time was actually meant.
    - wolfgke 15y ago
      Why doesn't the USA let a Standards Institution define a standard whether midnight is 12:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. to solve this problem permanently?
      - bricestacey 15y ago
        Midnight is obviously 12:00am, but people don't know which day it belongs to. Is midnight the start of the day? Or the end of the day? Tuesday 12:00am could be 2 different times (spaced 24 hours apart) depending on your interpretation. If you say 12:01am, there is no ambiguity. A lot of people in high school probably ignored their math teacher when he explained open/closed intervals.