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, October 23, 2013
Al Gore Accidentally Sends Investors To Speed Camera Company
When Al Gore talks, people listen. On Friday, it took an off-hand reference by the former vice president to his investment in “Nest” to send the stock for the failed red-light camera and speed camera firm Nestor soaring 14,900 percent.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Georgia Supreme Court: Roadblocks May Not Be Planned On The Spot
The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a police sergeant may not set up a roadblock without advance planning. The high court considered the barricade set up on Groover Road in Cobb County on April 9, 2010. Just after 7pm that evening, Douglas Wayne Brown pulled up to the roadblock in his Nissan Maxima with a pizza delivery sign.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Australia: Police Hide Speed Cameras For Safety
The speed trap is as old as the automobile itself. In 1905, police in New York City used hollowed out trees to conceal themselves from passing motorists in a sophisticated trap. One officer would start a stopwatch and telephone ahead to a colleague down the road who would confirm when the car passed a known distance so the clock would be stopped. A chart provided an estimate of the driver’s speed. One hundred and eight years later, the impulse to hide from the public remains just as strong.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Australia, Italy: Speed Camera Spin And Swerve
In Fontaniva, Italy, vigilantes disabled a speed camera last week Sunday by spinning it around so it faced away from the street. According to Il Gazzettino, the automated ticketing machine on via Casoni Nuova had just been installed days before the incident.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Washington: Activist Predicts Initiative Will End Red-Light Cameras
Voters are poised to make life difficult for photo ticketing companies in Washington state. On November 5, Initiative 517, the Protect the Initiative Act, will appear on the ballot. The measure is designed to overturn a 2012 state Supreme Court ruling that gave photo enforcement companies the right to tell the public that they had no say in whether red-light cameras and speed cameras could be used in their communities. The latest Elway Poll of registered voters conducted last month shows I-517 “cruising toward victory” statewide with a 36 point lead.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
UK: Privacy Report Blasts Use Of License Plate Cameras
UK-based civil liberties group issued a report earlier this month warning of the potential misuse of automated number plate recognition cameras (ANPR, or ALPR in the US). The group No CCTV traces use of license plate reading cameras to Home Office experiments in 1976 and the 1982 installation of video monitoring on London’s Dartford Tunnel. From that simple device, which filmed passing vehicles so that a separate computer could process the images and identify and record the license plate number within 15 seconds, a far more powerful surveillance network emerged.
