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 29, 2012
US Photo Enforcement Market Becoming Less Profitable
As an increasing number of cities decide to drop the use of red light cameras and speed cameras, the photo enforcement vendors are beginning to feel the pinch. The second-largest provider of automated ticketing machines, Redflex Traffic Systems, admitted Thursday to Australian Securities Exchange investors that the firm’s profit in North America has slipped 10.1 percent in the past twelve months.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Florida: Website Fights Back Against Ticket Quota
A college professor has turned to the Internet to make her case against ticket quotas in Tampa, Florida. Barbara Orban, who teaches graduate courses in public health a the University of South Florida, set up Highway Robbery Tampa last week to detail her allegations against city officials built up over the course of more than a decade of research.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Texas: Red Light Camera Firm Sues to Block Public Vote
A traffic camera company on Thursday filed suit in a Galveston County, Texas courthouse to prevent voters from having a say in whether automated ticketing machines are used in League City. Following a well-established pattern, Redflex Traffic Systems, which wants the camera program to survive, filed suit against the city asking the court to block officials from going ahead with the initiative on the November 6 ballot. City officials also support the cameras.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Germany, Italy: Traffic Cameras Grabbed, Burned
Vigilantes in Novara, Italy grabbed a speed camera out of a regional police warehouse around August 16, OK Novara reported. The phrase “No Velox” was scrawled on the wall, referring to autovelox, the Italian term for photo radar.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Federal Agencies Trade Motorist Data to Insurance Companies
Federal agencies are giving away data on the movements of innocent motorists in return for software and equipment provided by the insurance industry. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) on Tuesday released documents revealing in greater detail how federal agencies are using the data collected by automated license plate recognition systems (ALPR or ANPR in Europe).
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Maryland High Court Saves Speed Cameras
The highest court in Maryland sent speed camera opponents back to the drawing board Tuesday. The Maryland Court of Appeals (the equivalent of the state supreme court) found a class action lawsuit could not be filed to force county governments to follow state law governing the use of speed cameras.
