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, September 12, 2012
Chicago Speed Cameras to Photograph Children
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to line the streets of Chicago, Illinois with photo radar vans has run into a speed bump. Enabling legislation for the school zone speed camera program rushed through the statehouse in Springfield at a record pace, taking slightly over a month for the proposal to clear the first committee hurdle after being introduced. The measure became law in February and took effect in July.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Ohio: Dismissed Traffic Ticket Can Still Be Prosecuted
A dismissed traffic ticket does not go away. The US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled Thursday that the trial of Timothy Wilkins should proceed, even though the evidence against him came from a traffic stop case that had been dismissed by the Cleveland Municipal Court. As a result, Wilkins was found guilty Monday and will be sentenced on November 19.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Texas Man Sues Over Red Light Camera Protest Sign
Two years ago, Baytown, Texas officials threatened to fine local resident Byron Schirmbeck for the crime of standing on the sidewalk with a sign, peacefully protesting the use of red light cameras. Now Schirmbeck is fighting back with a civil rights lawsuit he filed last week in the US District Court for the Southern Division of Texas.
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Maryland, Italy, New Zealand: Speed Cameras Defeated
Vigilantes disabled a speed camera in Hampton, Maryland on Friday. This marks the second time that the automated ticketing machine on Cromwell Bridge Road has had its lenses blocked by spraypaint. The new decorations used orange and silver paint, scrawling “2013” on the camera base. The device only began issuing citations on Thursday, according to the Baltimore Sun. Another camera on Seven Courts Drive in Perry Hall was hit with black spraypaint on Saturday morning, Towson Patch reported.
Friday, September 07, 2012
Florida: Review Shows Increased Red Light Cameras Accidents
A review of the accident history at red light camera intersections in Hallandale Beach, Florida suggests automated ticketing machines have failed to yield an overall safety benefit since Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions (ATS) began paying for the right to issue tickets and collect fines at a pair of intersections more than two years ago.
Thursday, September 06, 2012
Utah: Traffic Cop May Not Take 20 Minutes to Write a Ticket
A federal judge last week threw out the evidence against a Utah motorist because the highway patrol trooper took twenty minutes to decide whether to write the citation. Trooper Nicholas Berrie was on duty near Kanab, Utah around midnight on October 17, 2011 when another trooper told him to look out for a Dodge Avenger as a “vehicle of interest.”
