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, August 13, 2014
Chicago, Illinois: Judge Throws Out Camera Tickets Over Short Yellows
By The Expired Meter and DNAinfo Chicago
Some yellow lights are too short in Chicago, Illinois, according to an administrative law judge who said he has thrown out “60 to 70 percent” of the red-light camera tickets he has come across. The city says it meets the bare minimum federal standard of having yellow warning signal illuminate for three seconds at intersections. A judge who hears appeals from motorists ticketed by red-light cameras said during a hearing this week that he has seen evidence that yellow times are below the legal minimum at some Chicago intersections with red-light cameras.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Maryland: Group Accuses Speed Camera Operators Of Lying About The Law
The Maryland Drivers Alliance says local governments have been lying about the law to boost speed camera cash through snitching. The advocacy group filed formal complaints last week against cities and counties that have been telling innocent motorists who receive a photo ticket that they must turn informant against wives, husbands, children or friends when a speed camera ticket arrives in the mail, even though the law says that is not the case.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Virginia Court Limits Windshield Obstruction Tickets
Thousands of motorists are ticketed in Virginia every year for having a “windshield obstruction” such as a GPS unit or a small item hung from the rearview mirror. The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday significantly curtailed this practice after finding the police were wrong in the case of Loren Anthony Mason Jr, a passenger in a car stopped in Sussex County in the afternoon of March 3, 2012.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
France, Italy: Speed Cameras Spraypainted
In Toulouse, France, vigilantes last week covered the lenses of a speed camera with white spraypaint. The automated ticketing machine on the ring road before the Pont-Jumeaux exit was also sprayed with the message “R$,” La Depeche reported.
Friday, August 08, 2014
The 79th Anniversary Of The Parking Ticket
By The Expired Meter
On a hot August day in 1935, Reverend Charles H. North of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma’s Third Pentecostal Holiness Church drove his car downtown and parked at a spot in front of a new-fangled device called the Park-O-Meter. The Park-O-Meters had just been installed the month before and had created sort of a hub-bub around town over those past few weeks.
Thursday, August 07, 2014
Virginia: School Bus Photo Tickets Violate State Law
A handful of Virginia jurisdictions have allowed a private company to install photo ticketing cameras on school buses. One of these, Rockingham County, in January jumped at the chance to do business with Redflex despite the ongoing federal investigations into corruption. The $250 tickets that the Australian company issues on behalf of the school board are “notices of violation,” which do not follow the rules for regular traffic citations.
