Lost Mobility — Lost Freedom

By James Baxter, NMA President

Two Wall Street Journal articles over the past week brought home how much our freedom to travel has been diminished in the pursuit of absolute security.

First was an editorial by Peggy Noonan that clearly described the degrading, inconvenient, and humiliating experience called “commercial air travel.” She provides a crystal clear image of the plodding lines of airline passengers, shuffling along shoeless, and dreading the possibility that they will be chosen for extra attention by TSA personnel.

Second was a book review of “The Closing of the American Border” by Edward Alden. Mr. Alden describes the practical, economic, and psychological effects of treating everyone who enters the U.S. as a potential criminal or terrorist. Lost jobs, lost income, wasted tax dollars, diminished international reputation, and the simple wasting of human time. “Waste” is the operative word because finding any benefit is worse than elusive, it is non-existent.

I can already hear the shrill cry “our national security demands these measures.” Or the more populist “How would you like it if you or your loved ones were on a plane that some terrorist took over or blew up?”

I’d like to take my chances, I’d like my freedom back.

Along with abolishing the TSA and thereby regaining a little national sanity how about allowing airline passengers a choice? They can fly under the current system that involves invasive searching, interrogation, and arbitrary command and control regimentation, or they can choose an airline that sells them a ticket, they get on the plane and they fly to their destination.

If you want the illusion of perfect security you can select the first option, take your shoes off and get in line. If you’re willing to take your chances and fly with the rest of us on the “No Fly List” you can opt for “buy your ticket and get on the plane.” With the money saved from not strip searching old ladies or lathering the floors with fungicide, an armed marshal could be assigned to every flight, and/or the training and arming of flight crew personnel, if deemed necessary.

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Forget Due Process. We’ll Just Wing It.

If you need any further proof that cities with red-light cameras don’t care about motorists, check out this article from the Chillicothe Gazette on the Chillicothe, Ohio ticket camera program.

They’ve decided to start issuing citations without having any system in place for people to challenge unfair tickets:

As Chillicothe’s red-light cameras became active this morning, the manner in which ticket appeals will be handled remains unknown.

Chillicothe City Council’s finance committee members were reluctant to hire additional hearing officers to handle appeals, and the municipal court judges told Mayor Joe Sulzer they didn’t have the time.

So the city has time to collect money from fines, but it can’t be bothered to care about people with tickets that they may not deserve?

The traffic appeals process worries Whiz Detty, who received a warning ticket for making a right-on-red turn during the red light cameras’ probationary period.

“I had no idea who to call, because I wanted to let them know the camera shouldn’t be taking pictures of people making right-on-reds, as long as they’re going slowly,” he said. He didn’t want to call the police department, figuring they were busy and the letter he received was only a warning. So he called Mayor Sulzer’s office.

“The mayor’s office didn’t have a clue who I should call and eventually had me call the company,” Detty said.

Detty was given a number for Redflex traffic systems’ Dayton office, where he was told he probably shouldn’t have received anything in the mail, but also that there was nothing wrong with the system.

“They told me the system didn’t need any adjustments,” he said. “But they also said it didn’t look like an infraction and then they said “but I’m not an officer or a judge.”

Have a problem with your red-light camera ticket? Just call the camera company and they’ll tell you everything’s fine. Case closed.

Those with citations have three options: They can pay the fine, mail in stating they weren’t driving but provide the name and contact information for the person driving, or appeal the citation. Detty’s concerned many people will choose the latter option.

“My concern is that the court system is going to be inundated with people who need to fight these,” Detty said. “As soon as these fines start rolling up, it’s going to turn into a fiasco and there’s no system set up.”

Who needs due process anyway? Just call this toll-free number and talk to a representative of a company that profits from you being found guilty:

People with questions about the appeals process must call a toll-free number and speak with a Redflex representative in Scottsdale, Ariz., because there is no local contact within Chillicothe to explain the process. [Chillicothe Police Captain Tom] Hewitt said Redflex representatives should be able to answer all the questions, though.

The city of Chillicothe, Ohio should be embarrassed. They clearly value money over justice.

Ticket Cameras May Be Used To Enforce Text Messaging Laws

The city of Scottsdale, Arizona is considering using its ticket cameras to enforce distracted driving laws. Yes, the same cameras that are frequently unable to identify the drivers of vehicles may be used to check for text messaging behind the wheel.

From the East Valley Tribune:

Photo enforcement cameras in Scottsdale are capable of detecting behavior such as text messaging or other “distracted driving” behavior, in addition to capturing speeders and red-light runners.

But whether Scottsdale pursues such enforcement as part of a proposed text-messaging and distracted driving law remains to be seen.

“We’re able to see people clearly on their cell phones,” said Josh Weiss, spokesman for American Traffic Solutions, the company that operates the fixed cameras and camera-equipped vans on Scottsdale surface streets.

And here’s a fun sentence:

Weiss is also a member of Scottsdale’s Transportation Commission, which recently voted to recommend that the City Council adopt a ban on text messaging while driving.

So a spokesperson for a ticket camera manufacturer is on the city’s Transportation Commission and no one bats an eye? Amazing.

The Hidden Costs Of A Simple Speeding Ticket

By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist

Virginia’s recently repealed “abuser” fees got a lot of coverage in the press — but few people understand that a standard-issue traffic ticket can have repercussions just about as lethal to your pocketbook.

The difference is that with the “abuser” fees, the anvil fell on your head all at one time. With a standard-issue traffic ticket, it’s the death of a thousand cuts — each one inflicted separately (but cumulatively) so that over a period of say three years or so, you end up being relieved of just about the same amount money as would have been snatched away from you via a one-time “abuser” fee.

Consider the typical ticket for “speeding.” The tab (fine plus court costs) is around $150, usually. Not so bad, right?

Wrong.

Because once your insurance company finds out about the conviction (and they will; insurance companies routinely monitor our DMV records and can access them at will, without our having to give prior approval)  you can expect your premium to be “adjusted.” Two tickets in any three to five year period all but guarantees it.

How much can you expect to pay? Let’s consider one real-word example:

If you have an $800 annually full-coverage policy and they raise you by 20 percent (very typical) that means an additional $160 per year, courtesy of Mr. Ticket. Over the course of three years — the amount of time the typical moving violation remains on your record and can be “held against you,” that would work out to $480 — plus the original $150 for the actual fine and court costs. So, $630 — as a consequence of a single minor speeding ticket.

But the fun doesn’t end there. Add a second ticket while that first one is still in play (three years from the date of conviction) and you could see a 40 percent jump in your premium. Now you’re staring down more than $1,200 in surcharges as a result of a couple of minor traffic offenses — an amount that is actually larger than the $1,000 “abuser fees” Virginia was trying to sock people with last year.

According to the insurance companies themselves, on the order of one in four of us will get a speeding ticket this year. The more you drive, the more the odds eventually tend to work against you. Because virtually every single one of us drives faster than the posted speed limit on most roads — because the posted speed limits are invariably set anywhere from 5-10 mph or more below the natural flow of traffic on that road. One day, we have some bad luck — and sail past a cop running radar.

Hello, Mr. Ticket.

Unfortunately, most people don’t realize, per all the above, that even a minor league traffic ticket can have big league consequences, long term. The system is set up in such a way as to reinforce that impression, too. Just “sign here” — and you can mail in your fine, sir. No need to come to court if this box is checked. Whew! I don’t need to take a day off to hassle with the judge — or worry about hiring a lawyer. I can just send ‘em a check and be done with it.

Except, of course, you’re not done with it.

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