Website Publishes Holiday Travel Information That Apple and RIM Won’t
In the weeks leading up to one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, Apple and Research in Motion (Blackberry) have been pressured by the US government to ban apps that warn motorists about the location of roadblocks. However, America’s motorists haven’t been completely abandoned.
The Roadblock Registry (www.roadblock.org) — a project developed and supported by the National Motorists Association — has for many years published roadblock locations submitted by the driving public. The comments accompanying the listings are seldom flattering. They describe long inconvenient delays, officious interrogations, warrantless searches, dangerous traffic obstructions, racial profiling, and contentious traffic stops for “eluding” police when legally avoiding a roadblock.
Gary Biller, Executive Director of the National Motorists Association, noted, “Even a brief stop can be an intimidating event for average law-abiding citizens. Why wouldn’t any rational person want to avoid a police roadblock?
“This kind of harassment seems ironic, given the onset of the Fourth of July holiday, a national celebration of our country’s independence and enshrinement of individual freedoms. I don’t think that being grilled by armed strangers, or having your personal effects scrutinized and searched by government agents under the presumption of guilt rather than innocence is quite what the signers of the Declaration of Independence had in mind in 1776.”
The National Motorists Association also runs The National Speed Trap Exchange (www.speedtrap.org), a popular site which lists over 75,000 locations where tickets are likely to be handed out. As with the Roadblock Registry, information regarding specific enforcement locations is free for site visitors.
Motorists who check out both the Roadblock Registry and The National Speed Trap Exchange before they embark on their holiday travel plans will have a much more enjoyable and hassle-free experience.