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, December 11, 2013
California County Says No To Tolling
California’s busiest stretch of freeway will not be tolled. On Monday, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) agreed with local politicians and members of the public who expressed opposition to the proposed conversion of existing Interstate 405 lanes into toll lanes.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Sacramento, California To Shorten Red-Light Camera Ticket Timing
The Sacramento County, California Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on a plan to boost the number of $500 red-light camera tickets issued at intersections. County officials quietly changed the wording of its memorandum of understanding with Redflex Traffic Systems, the Australian company in charge of the program, so that the camera flash would trigger in half the time. Under the new proposal, the Redflex camera will issue a ticket 0.1 second after the signal changes — faster than the blink of an eye. Local activists are crying foul.
Monday, December 09, 2013
Canada: Ombudsman Allows City To Hide Traffic Camera Data
The Manitoba, Canada Ombudsman on Friday released his findings that allow the city of Winnipeg to hide documents that would reveal whether the city attempted to manipulate a report on the effectiveness of its speed camera program. For more than two years, Winnipeg has hidden communications between city officials and the Traffic Injury Reasearch Foundation (TIRF), only selectively releasing certain information.
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Australia, France: Speed Cameras Smashed, Spraypainted
Vigilantes in South Australia smashed the lenses of a pair of speed cameras on the South Eastern Freeway near Mount Osmond on Friday. According to the Herald Sun newspaper, the devices had just been installed on Monday.
Thursday, December 05, 2013
Texas: Suspicionless Roadblock Case Heads To Appeals Court
An Air Force major on Tuesday asked the Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals to reinstate his lawsuit against Border Patrol agents who stopped and detained him without any reason to suspect him of wrong-doing. Richard Rynearson was driving on Highway 90 in Uvalde, Texas on March 18, 2010 when he came upon the Border Patrol roadblock 67 miles from the border with Mexico. The entire encounter was recorded on video.
Thursday, December 05, 2013
Georgia Court Invalidates Search Over A Misplaced License Decal
The Georgia Court of Appeals divided 3 to 2 last month on the question of whether police were wrong to search a motorist merely because he appeared nervous and had his license plate decal on the wrong corner of the plate. On July 24, 2009, a patrolman stopped James Heard hoping to issue a ticket for a tag violation when he did not see a 2009 registration sticker. The officer had also been on the lookout for the type of Chevy S-10 truck Heard was driving.
