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, May 18, 2016
Redflex Attacks Former Executive
Former Redflex executive vice president Aaron M. Rosenberg is scheming to get a cut of a possible $300 million judgment against the Australian red-light camera company. That was the argument Redflex lawyers presented on Monday to US District Court Judge John J. Tharp Jr in a case that will decide whether the Australian firm must pay that steep amount in restitution for defrauding Chicago, Illinois.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Another California City Poised To Dump Red-Light Cameras
The city council in Marysville will decide later today whether it will join more the than sixty California towns that have tried red-light cameras and decided to cancel their program. Marysville Police Chief Aaron Easton is advocating for termination of the contract with Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia, telling the city council that it was no longer worth using the cameras given the difficulty of generating a guaranteed profit.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Canada, France, Germany, Italy: Speed Cameras Scratched, Scorched
Public officials usually respond to vigilante attacks on speed cameras by saying that they will install a surveillance camera to monitor the automated ticketing machine. That strategy backfired in Montserrat, Italy as vigilantes blasted the camera-watching camera with a shotgun, according to L’Unione Sarda. Just a month earlier, the camera it had been watching was destroyed by gunfire.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Virginia Supreme Court Rules Champions Windshield Obstruction Tickets
Windshield obstruction tickets are a significant source of revenue for Virginia. A divided state Supreme Court last week stepped in to ensure police continue to issue those tickets. State law mandates that every vehicle to have a three inch by four inch inspection sticker applied to the windshield, and many municipalities add the requirement of a three inch by three inch car tax decal. Nonetheless, the state Supreme Court majority insisted that a three-by-five inch military parking pass hanging from a rearview mirror represents a potentially deadly hazard.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Iphone Translation For Search Consent
A police officer can use the iPhone’s iTranslate app to obtain a motorist’s consent for an automobile search under a ruling handed down last month by the Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals. A unanimous three-judge panel decided that the app’s translation was close enough to accurate to uphold the legitimacy of the traffic stop and search that ended up in the conviction of Pavel Leiva for credit card fraud.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Federal Appeals Court Rescues Red-Light Camera Challenge
Red-light camera companies frequently move lawsuits against camera programs to federal court where they believe they will have a procedural advantage against individuals with limited resources. That plan backfired on American Traffic Solutions (ATS), Redflex and Xerox last Thursday as the Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals said a lower court judge in Texas was wrong to go along with the companies’ request to transfer a class action suit to the federal system so that it could be tossed out on procedural grounds.
