Each Wednesday, we’ll publish quick summaries of the articles from the last week on TheNewspaper.com. We’re doing this because these articles are often strongly connected to the issues that National Motorists Association members are interested in.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Texas To Vote On Toll-Free Road Funding Amendment
Voters in Texas will decide on November 4 whether they want highway funds to go only to general purpose roads and not to bicycle paths and infrastructure for foreign-owned tolling companies. Texas Secretary of State Nandita Berry announced last week that Proposition 1 had qualified for the ballot.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Kentucky: Lawsuit Restored Against Cop Caught Lying About Traffic Stop
Videotape proved essential for Freddie Gregory, a motorist falsely accused of traffic violations by a high-ranking Kentucky State Police trooper. The US Court of Appeals on Friday allowed Gregory to pursue false arrest charges against Lieutenant Phillip Burnett.
Monday, August 25, 2014
California: Red-Light Camera Companies Ignore Reporting Law
Red-light camera companies have been ignoring new reporting requirements set by California law, and the judiciary has overlooked the ongoing violation. In 2012, the state legislature adopted a measure that was supposed to “make sure that drivers’ rights are protected.” Among other things, it required camera vendors to file an annual report with the state Judicial Council listing the number of violations captured; the number of citations issued with a breakdown of how many were right-hand turns; the percentage of tickets tossed out by the court; and the number of collisions before and after camera installation.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
France, Italy: Speed Cameras Spraypainted, Knocked Over
Vigilantes in Guewenheim, France disabled a speed camera on Saturday last week. L’Alsace reported that the automated ticketing machine on the RD 466 was completely covered in orange spraypaint. In Aveyron, Midi Libre reported that the speed camera on the RD992 was disabled for the sixth time by being spraypainted gray on Wednesday. Green was the paint color of choice in Pouru-Saint-Remy where the camera on the D8043 was disabled on Monday, according to L’Union-L’Ardennais.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Sierra Vista, Arizona To Vote On Banning Traffic Cameras
The city council in Sierra Vista, Arizona voted last week to put an initiative measure on the ballot that would, if adopted, kick out the vendor currently at the center of a $2 million bribery scandal in Chicago, Illinois. Karen Finley, the former head of US operations for Redflex Traffic Systems, was indicted for corruption just hours before the council made its decision.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Study Reveals Reason For Conflicting Red-Light Camera Studies
Red-light camera studies are frequently described as coming to “mixed” conclusions with some claiming accident reductions while others show an increase in accidents at photo enforced intersections. Rather than assume that all studies are created equal, a new peer-reviewed journal article finds a reason for the difference in outcomes in the research literature.
