The Newspaper.com Weekly Roundup blog post will now appear on Mondays with stories featured from the following week. We hope reading this roundup will get you started on the right foot every week in learning a little bit more in the world of motorists’ rights! To check out all the Driving News find us on the National Motorists Association website at www.motorists.org, then click News!
Friday, October 7, 2016
Toll Collector Battles To Stop Rental Car Fee-Avoidance App
Can a motorist use his own personal transponder account to pay tolls while driving a rental car? That is the issue underlying the battle between two electronic toll collectors that has just reached the Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals. On one side, Highway Toll Administration (HTA) has lucrative deals with rental firms Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National and Payless that allow car renters to use toll roads in exchange for substantial “administrative” fees that are added to their credit card statements. On the other side is BancPass, which created a smartphone app that allows motorists to register any license plate and pay any toll with a credit card — avoiding the need for hefty fees.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Red-Light Camera Company Beats Patent Troll
A federal judge slammed the door on a notorious patent troll on Friday. Joao Control and Monitoring Systems LLC, a firm with no customers or products, in 2013 filed a patent infringement suit against the photo enforcement system run by American Traffic Solutions (ATS). Joao claimed the patent it held for video security webcams required any company that monitored a video feed over the Internet to pay royalties.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
New Jersey To Up Gas Tax By 23 Cents Per Gallon
All around the country, transportation officials have been promoting the use of tolling as an alternative to raising the gas tax. Later today, lawmakers in the most heavily tolled state in the union — New Jersey — are expected to vote on a plan to raise the gas tax by 23 cents. Governor Chris Christie (R), a foe of tax hikes, reluctantly agreed to the increase to resolve a budget stalemate that has dragged on for several months.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Illinois Court Criminalizes Failure To Unnecessarily Signal
Is it necessary to use one’s blinker when driving straight ahead in a single lane that splits into two lanes? The Illinois Appellate Court considered the question last month and decided that police could pull over motorists at any time if they failed to signal in such circumstances. This was the alleged offense that snagged Shawn Barbee and Byron D. Theus, who were stopped on March 28, 2011. Barbee’s gold Chevrolet Malibu happened to be headed down Taylorsville Road in Decatur near the overpass for US51 where the single northbound lane splits into two lanes.
Monday, October 3, 2016
France, Germany: Speed Cameras Spraypainted
Vigilantes in Rolofshagen, Germany took out a speed camera by covering its lenses with white spraypaint last week. According to Gadebusch-Rehnaer Zeitung this is the second time in five weeks that a camera in the area has been disabled.
