National Motorists Association Blog

By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director

Motorist advocates have many choices to make when it comes to fighting for rights. Trends change and either becomes complicated or simplified just because an elected official says “Enough!”

Case in point: Texas Governor Greg Abbott vowed when he was running for governor in 2018 that he would like to see a ban on red-light cameras. He was reelected and at the next session, the push was on to ban these devices…generally they were banned but some cities got their contracts grandfathered in unfortunately.

Now, there is an opportunity to do the same in Illinois. Once again, the state has been rocked with scandal over red-light camera bribery. Prominent legislator Martin Sandoval resigned his seat late last year and this week pled guilty to federal bribery charges. Governor J.B. Pritzker has said there should be a serious discussion on these devices. Lawmakers say the same. But do these guys and gals have the courage to do what’s right and ban RLCs? Motorist rights advocates need to put the pressure on these elected officials and soon! The NMA dares the Governor to say “Enough!” 

Many stories were trending the last couple of weeks. Let’s get started.

Many of our supporters contacted us with links from a story out of Germany. The ADAC (similar to AAA) has said that it will no longer support unlimited speed limits on the Autobahn. Here is the story from Jalopnik: We’re One Big Step Closer to Losing No-Speed-Limit Highways in Germany

Even though the NMA usually never covers crime stories—this one caught our eye because it was a year-long case that hurt many motorists in the Monterey County, California area: Man accused of shooting marbles at cars on highway pleads not guilty to 79 charges

Here is another California story that scared us a bit: Nearly two-thirds of fatal crashes in Southern California caused by factors linked to road rage, CHP data shows

Local Motorist Rights Advocates are Fighting Back against the System:

• Residents Stand Against Traffic Bylaw Changes At Public Hearing in High River, Alberta, Canada
• Tiny Alva community battles Florida’s statewide toll road plan
• Iowa Road Diet Alert Update: Discussion over transportation plan gets heated in Waverly
• Tolling on I-5 and I-205 in Oregon? Not so fast–Motorist Rights Activists want a ballot vote on any new tolls on existing roads

Shenanigans abound in two states over motorist ballot votes that were passed:

• Rochester, NY Police Accountability Board loses disciplinary power hours ahead of 1st meeting
• Washington State: Car-tab Vote fallout dominates as transportation leaders return to Olympia
• Washington State Lawmaker Wants To Uphold Public Vote On Car Fees (HB2227)

Speed Limits are always in the News

• Bills in four states (OK, SD, VT, VA) would alter speed limits
• Nature Conservancy Study: Slower Speed Limits don’t Save Wildlife

Some Traffic Safety and Congestion Stories dominated the National News

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Highlights Decline in Highway Crash Fatalities
• FHWA: US urban congestion decreased from 2014 to 2018
• Study: E-commerce deliveries will overrun cities in 1 to 3 years
• Mathematicians have solved traffic jams, and they’re begging cities to listen

Is anyone else confused about the Vehicle Emissions Debate? These stories don’t help.

• Trump scraps fuel economy freeze, now proposes slight increases
• Why Cutting Car and Truck Emissions Is So Hard
• Two-Thirds of Americans Don’t Consider CO₂ Emissions When Car Shopping

Court Cases that might affect all of us Drive:

US Supreme Court

• Supreme Court rejects OOIDA and the NMA’s petition to hear Pennsylvania toll lawsuit (PA can now charge as much for tolls as they want)
• The Supreme Court’s Next Motorist Fourth Amendment Showdown
• US Supreme Court Takes Up Motorist Shooting Case from New Mexico

District Court

• Driver’s License Watch: Texas still violating US voting law, lawyers argue

State Court

• Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth
• Illinois Supreme Court To Decide Whether Smell Of Pot Is Grounds To Search A Car
• Former Monmouth County, NJ judge who fixed 4,000 tickets gets disbarred, banned from judicial service
• Tennessee Court Ruling: Police Allowed To Conduct Illegal Searches Of Vehicles At Concerts And Music Festivals

Police Enforcement Stories Of All Kinds Were In The News:

• Bangor, Maine wrote more 40 percent more parking tickets in 1st year of automated enforcement. The Truth About Cars website gave us a future viewpoint of ALPRs: Driving Dystopia: License Plate Readers Are Becoming Increasingly Common
• Chicago Tribune complained that police and the city are not doing enough to fix motorists from blocking the box. How Chicago fails to enforce one of the most annoying rush-hour problems as other cities try to prevent it (the blocked box). Another Chicago story caught our eye—we detest predatory towing and this town has the worst rep: Editorial: Keep a sharp lookout–Lincoln Towing will continue to prowl Chicago streets
• Never heard the term ‘courtesy towing.” Sounds like predatory towing without the fees to us! ‘What a nightmare’: How Philadelphia police, parking authority, and tow companies lose cars while ‘courtesy’ towing

Accuracy of DUI Breathalyzers Created a Stir in Michigan 

• Michigan: Certification scandal means blood draws, but you’ll still get a roadside breath test

Police Corruption/Transparency Stories That Are New:

• ‘A punch in the gut’: An entire class of Georgia State Patrol troopers fired after investigation into cheating allegations
• Judge orders Chicago PD to turn over 48 years’ worth of misconduct files
• Missing Records, Lax Security and Ignored Complaints: City Audit Skewers Dallas PD Handling of Alleged Misconduct

Racial Profiling still dominates motorist news in some cities:

• Pennsylvania State Police was warned about possible racial bias in car searches. The agency’s answer? End the research.
• Charleston, SC police disproportionately pull over black drivers. Here’s the plan to fix it.
• Texas Report: Walker County deputies stop Hispanic drivers at a higher percentage
• Washington State Patrol under pressure to examine bias in traffic stops following investigation

Civil Asset Forfeiture in the News:

Several US Attorneys released their takes on civil asset forfeiture:

• Southern District of Indiana US Attorney’s Office collects $10,176,838.17 in Fiscal Year 2019
• Oregon: US Attorney’s Office Collects Over $8.2 Million in Civil and Criminal Actions and Restitution in Fiscal Year 2019
• District of South Dakota collects $3.7 million from cases in 2019

Two states are trying to do something about civil asset forfeiture (hopefully more states will join them):

• New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Signs Legislation (SB1963) Mandating Comprehensive Disclosure and Transparency for Civil Asset Forfeiture
• Arizona Bill HB2149 Would Require Conviction Before Asset Forfeiture. Also Bill HB2032 is similar

The Most Basic Of ID—The Driver’s License Was In The News Quite A Bit For Various Reason:

• Bills seek to reduce Colorado driver’s license suspensions (SB116 and another on the way)
• Florida Bills SB1328/HB903 would end practice of suspending licenses for driving while broke
• Illinois: Tens of Thousands of People Lost Driver’s Licenses over Unpaid Parking Tickets. Now, They’re getting them back
• South Carolina and other states continue to make millions selling your driver’s license information

Other Story Gems about Driving in America

• Senator, USDOT Officials Highlight Rural Transportation Needs
• Heavy marijuana users who started young drive differently — even while not stoned, study says
• Google (Maps) continues to slap down The National Sheriffs’ Association over speed trap reporting by motorists
• Who are you and what are you doing? Answer or be detained under Kentucky Senate bill SB89

And last but not least, some good news about the future of driving!

• California College Students Still Love Driving, Study Finds

Thank you for reading the National Motorists Association’s Driving in America Blog. If you find an online article of interest concerning motorists’ rights, please drop us the link via email to nma@motorists.org. Interested in discussing this blog, please write your comments below or join the discussion on Facebook.

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