TheNewspaper

Texas Judge Strikes Down Red Light Camera Referendum

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-17T00:06-08:00

A Calhoun County, Texas judge on Monday ruled that voters were prohibited from having a say in whether a foreign company can issue red light camera tickets in the city of Port Lavaca because the photo enforcement program's primary purpose is revenue generation.

"Because city of Port Lavaca Ordinance S-1-08... implicates and involves the city's budget and appropriates money for capital expenditures, it is not subject to the power of referendum as set forth in Article 5 Section 5.03 of the Port Lavaca City Charter," Judge Joseph D. Kelly ruled. "Because [the ordinance] is not subject to the power of initiative or referendum, any petition for referendum seeking to repeal such ordinance is invalid, and the city council of the city of Port Lavaca is without legal authority to place it before the electorate for consideration."

Judge Kelly issued his final summary judgment after hearing the argument presented by the Texas Traffic Safety Coalition, which sued Port Lavaca to the camera program's survival. Port Lavaca also supports the camera program. The Texas Traffic Safety Coalition is a front group for Redflex Traffic Systems, the Australian company that operates cameras on the city's behalf.

In filings with the Texas Secretary of State, the Texas Traffic Safety Coalition reported it was run by David Goldenberg, Gregory Goldner and David Smolensky. All three are senior staff for Resolute Consulting, a public relations firm based in Chicago, Illinois that was hired by Redflex to create the appearance that the program had "grassroots" support. The front group's lawyers argued to Judge Kelly that the red light camera ordinance clearly implicated money.

"Because repeal of the ordinance would greatly affect the city's budget, it is not the proper subject of referendum," attorney Matthew R. Beatty wrote on behalf of the Redflex-funded group. "In the event the ordinance was repealed as directed by the petition (either by reconsideration of the city council or by ballot), the city would be forced to breach its contract with Redflex resulting in significant legal liability greatly exceeding $1,000,000. Funding for that liability... would come directly from the city's budget handcuffing its ability to meet other budgetary obligations and putting the city in a perilous financial condition."

Port Lavaca's attorney did not dispute the front group's argument. Instead, it asked for the judge to proceed to trial on the issue. Judge Kelly, who will retire on January 1, saw no point in bringing the issue to trial.

The organizers of the anti-camera petition, who were not given a say in the court proceedings, told TheNewspaper that they will continue the fight until residents have a chance to decide the fate of the automated ticketing machines.

A copy of the decision is available in a 75k PDF file at the source link below. Source

Oklahoma Speed Trap Town Cheats Motorists, Refuses Refunds

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-16T00:59-08:00

Bernice, Oklahoma trustees voted Monday not to refund illegally collected speeding ticket fines. The notorious Northeast speed trap town of just 500 residents was busted last month by the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector for charging up to $545 for a single traffic ticket when it could only legally collect $50.

Since January, Bernice has had its own town police force. Prior to that, Bernice paid $5500 per month for contract deputies from the Delaware County Sheriff's Office to set up ticketing operations. As reported on the National Motorist Association's National Speed Trap Exchange, these take place most frequently on the stretch of Highway 85A that passes through the town where the speed limit suddenly drops from 55 MPH to 45.

Under Oklahoma law, tickets issued under a municipal ordinance cannot exceed $50 unless the jurisdiction follows a strict set of rules regarding the publication of a code of ordinances. The auditor found the town failed to follow these rules and has not properly published its ordinances since 1977. Bernice collected $300,253 from citations issued between January 2006 and July 2011, including $106,308 in excess of $50.

"It is arguable that the town of Bernice's failure to publish the 2007 amendments to its fine schedule would provide a potential defense to those charged the 2007 fine amounts," wrote David E. Jones, attorney for the town. "However, even assuming, arguendo, that the 2007 fine schedule did not follow the strict technical requirements for publication, the public clearly had constructive notice of the existence of the Bernice Penal Code and, at the very least, the fine schedule adopted in 2005."

The auditor responded that the town board's publication of a fine and fee schedule in the Grove Sun newspaper in 2011 was inadequate because the town still has not published the actual text of the ordinances themselves.

The auditor also raised questions about the way Bernice spent the money it collected. In 2000, the town paid Bill's Trucking $4100 for a 1992 Dodge W30 CB truck and $13,110 for a 1999 Ford F350 in 2007. Bernice Mayor Bill Raven owns Bill's Trucking. In what King labeled an "oversight," Bill's Trucking was never billed for the annual occupation tax the town charges in 2010 or 2011.

"Because of the obvious appearance of a conflict, it is never a preferred practice for even smalltown officials to do business with the municipality that they are serving," state auditor Gary A. Jones wrote. "Raven's business should have been billed for the occupational tax in 2010 and 2011 as all other businesses were. As the long-time mayor, it is reasonable to conclude that he should have known that he had not been billed and taken action to pay the fees." Source

Tennessee: Federal Lawsuit Takes on Automated Justice

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-15T00:05-08:00

A group of motorists have launched a challenge to the Bluff City, Tennessee speed camera program. The class action suit was transferred to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee earlier this month. It alleges that not only is the ticketing automated but the adjudication process is as well.

"Defendant Bluff City virtually lends its municipal authority to [American] Traffic Solutions, paying little or no other significant role in the operation of the speeding enforcement cameras other than reaping the benefit of the fines," attorney Robert L. King wrote in the original complaint. "Defendant's photo enforcement systems represent a mockery of justice and due process in the legal forum in which most Tennesseans come into contact with the state's court system."

Ticket recipients are told to mail their payments to the "Bluff City, TN, Photo Safety Program, PO Box 742503, Cincinnati OH." This Ohio office is operated by American Traffic Solutions (ATS), an Arizona corporation whose largest single shareholder is the investment bank Goldman Sachs. The suit claims that the program's true goal must be generating revenue because the appeals process leaves no room for justice.

"Citations sent out by the defendants indicated that the alleged offender who pays the ticket is admitting guilt or liability," King wrote. "This untrue statement and misrepresentation of the law in Tennessee forced alleged offenders who did accept that they were guilty into making court appearances to protest their tickets rather than admit guilt. Many of these plaintiffs were forced to miss work and travel great distances to contest tickets in Bluff City only to find no court in session."

Salem, Virginia resident Jerry R. Letterman found this out the hard way after ATS mailed him a ticket stating his car was photographed in April 2010. He later received a formal notice to appear.

"You have failed to respond in a timely manner to the automated camera notice of violation listed above issued to the vehicle registered in your name," the citation stated. "You must appear in court located at 4391 Bluff City Highway, Bluff City, TN 37618 on December 14, 2010 at 2:30pm."

When he traveled to Bluff City to fight it, the hearing was canceled without notice because no prosecutor showed up. He received no announcement of a new court date. Letterman later received a "notice of determination" purportedly from the Bluff City Court saying he had been found guilty on December 13, 2010 -- the day before the scheduled hearing that never took place. Another motorist, North Carolina resident Chester R. Holt, was allegedly convicted and fined $130 on Sunday, October 31, 2010 at 6:57am, when the court was closed.

"This was not an isolated incident in that many plaintiffs are convicted in Bluff City by electronic lottery rather than an actual hearing and judicial proceeding."

The lawsuit noted one human intervention in the operation of the program. In recorded conversations, the former Bluff City police chief called Chattanooga Police Captain Susan Blaine's boss in an attempt to convince him to force her to drop the lawsuit. Source

Federal Courts Split on Forgiving Police Use of GPS Evidence

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-14T01:36-08:00

The US Supreme Court in January laid down the final verdict that police may not install GPS tracking devices on automobiles without the sanction of a warrant signed by an independent magistrate. The issue remains far from settled, however. Two federal district courts last week issued contradictory rulings over whether police could get away with the results of warrantless GPS surveillance conducted prior to the US v. Jones ruling.

Prosecutors insist officers acting in "good faith" should not have their evidence excluded because their was not obviously illegal before the Supreme Court ruling was handed down. Prosecutors cited last year's Davis v. US high court case to argue the exclusionary rule is meant to deter bad conduct on the part of law enforcement, and that sanction ought not apply when the officers acted in accordance with the laws in effect at the time. In two separate cases, the US District Court for the District of Idaho sided with prosecutors last Monday and the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sided with the defense on Wednesday.

On October 28, 2011, Idaho State Police detectives placed a GPS tracker on Juan Aquilar's gray 2008 Chevrolet Impala. It was monitored until November 24, 2011. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 14, 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation installed a tracker on Harry Katzin's Dodge Caravan. The courts considered whether the evidence gathered from the device could be admitted in court given the Jones ruling.

"At the time the GPS devices were used in this case, binding precedent in the Ninth Circuit established that the warrantless attachment of GPS devices did not violate the Fourth Amendment," US District Court Chief Judge B. Lynn Winmill wrote in the Idaho case. "Thus, law enforcement officers, when they placed the GPS tracker on Mr. Aquilar's car in October and November of 2011, were acting in objectively reasonable reliance on the binding appellate precedent provided by McIver and Pineda-Morales. Accordingly, the exclusionary rule will not be applied here because suppression of the evidence obtained would do nothing to deter police misconduct."

The federal judge in Pennsylvania came to a different conclusion based on facts that were largely similar. The one distinction is that the Third Circuit, which covers Pennsylvania, had not ruled on the legality of warrantless GPS surveillance. The FBI insisted it acted in good faith reliance on a number of federal cases upholding GPS searches.

"In this case, at the time the GPS device was placed on the Dodge Caravan there were four circuit courts of appeals that arguably could have supported the government's conduct and one that would not have, meaning that fewer than half of the circuits had even weighed in on the question," US District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter wrote. "If law enforcement is permitted to rely on authority from a minority of other circuits to support the constitutionality of its investigatory practices, where does a district court draw the line when binding precedent later renders those practices unconstitutional? Is law enforcement reliance on a significant minority or, somewhat better, a bare majority of circuits to have addressed the topic enough, or is an overwhelming majority, if not unanimity, required? Does it matter which circuits (or which panels in which circuits) support or condemn the investigatory practice? Does it matter how many circuits have squarely addressed the issue? The difficulty presented by the dilemma ought to be manifest."

Judge Pratter went on to grant exclusion of the evidence gathered against Katzin without a warrant as a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

"Opening to the government the shelter of the good faith exception in this case would encourage law enforcement to beg forgiveness rather than ask permission in ambiguous situations involving the basic civil rights," Pratter concluded. "In the face of Jones, this the court will not do."

A copy of both decisions is available in a 280k PDF file at the source link below. Source

Italy, Poland: Vigilantes Express Displeasure with Automated Enforcement

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-13T01:36-08:00

Vigilantes spraypainted a newly installed speed cameras in Gallarate, Italy this week. Four cameras located along the Viale Lombardia had lens openings carefully covered in blue paint, Varese News reported.

A speed camera in Rimini, Italy remains inactive after vigilantes destroyed it on April 14. Giornale reported the device located on the Via Emilia in Santarcangelo was taken out, though municipal officials did not realize this for several days.

In Kobylnica, Poland four men expressed their displeasure with photo enforcement by mooning a speed camera, according to Glosu Pomorza. The men stood ready as a motorcycle drove past the camera at 134 km/h (83 MPH) in the 50 km/h (31 MPH) zone. Source

Arizona Governor Sides with Traffic Camera Companies

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-11T00:12-08:00

Governor Jan Brewer (R) on Wednesday vetoed a measure that would have brought Arizona's definition of an intersection into compliance with federal law. In her veto message, Brewer said it would be too dangerous to adopt the same legal standard implemented across forty-eight other states.

"The law enforcement community has been very clear that widening intersections will increase the possibility of collisions," Brewer wrote. "Unfortunately, these concerns for public safety were not addressed. Changes to this definition merit significant discussion and appropriate stakeholder input."

The federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) requires intersections to begin at a stop line or crosswalk, but Arizona currently defines an intersection as beginning at an imaginary line drawn the end of one curb to the other. State Senator Frank Antenori (R-Vail) introduced the legislation that would have brought the state back into compliance after noticing the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) had chastised the Grand Canyon State's practice.

"Some states are using the extension of the curb line to mark the boundary for red-light running regardless of whether there are stop lines or crosswalk," FHWA noted in a presentation on red light cameras. "This practice is not consistent with the meaning of the red signal in the MUTCD."

Brewer's veto message suggested there was not enough time to take input from "stakeholders," but a last-minute compromise to Antenori's bill postponed the legislation's effective date until January 1, 2014. Moreover, the bill would not have required any work or effort on the part of local traffic engineers or other municipal officials. The only difference the bill would have made was reducing the number of red light camera citations.

Under Arizona law, drivers may enter an intersection on a yellow light. By moving back the what constitutes the start of the intersection by 24 to 38 feet, vehicles have more breathing room to clear an intersection without getting a ticket. The bill has the same effect as extending the duration of a yellow light by 0.2 to 0.6 seconds, depending on the width of the intersection and the speed of traffic. The vast majority of straight-through red light camera tickets are issued in those first few tenths of a second.

The prospect of losing hundreds of thousands in revenue upset the top two players in the red light camera industry, American Traffic Solutions and Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia which both have offices in the Phoenix area. It also upset the city of Phoenix, which dispatched Walter Olsen, the officer in charge of the photo ticketing program, to complain about the proposal to lawmakers.

Brewer also has significant connections with the photo enforcement industry. In 2008, she put Jay Heiler in charge of hiring personnel to fill administration jobs during the transition. At the time, Heiler was a lobbyist for Redflex.

In 2009, FHWA specifically chastised the city of Tuscon for painting confusing and illegal intersection marking lines in an effort to generate red light camera violations. Source

State, Feds Bust Cops for Faking Overtime Requests

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-10T00:11-08:00

Police officers around the country are being caught fudging citation statistics in order to boost their take-home pay. On Tuesday, the King County, Washington Prosecuting Attorney filed charges against recently retired Lieutenant William B. Gardiner alleging the 25-year veteran lied about his overtime to pad his salary up to $163,000 in 2010.

Soon after allegations against Gardiner were made public in October 2011, Gardiner retired. At the time, the Washington State Patrol Lieutenants Association defended the overtime he took as within agency guidelines.

"It is unfortunate that the Washington State Patrol has decided to dedicate taxpayer monies to a criminal investigation when Lieutenant Gardiner's overtime was reviewed throughout the year," the police union said in a statement. "For Lieutenant Gardiner, the actions of the WSP will leave a cloud over his retirement after 25 years of dedicated service rather than appreciating his service to the citizens."

Gardiner is far from alone. Over the course of the year, twenty-five police officers in El Paso have been busted by the US Department of Transportation's inspector general and the Texas Department of Transportation for submitting bogus overtime requests and lying about the number of traffic tickets issued to meet the de facto ticket quota standard set by a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) grant program. Last month, a jury in El Paso, Texas indicted Edward Nicholas and Enrique Davila on multiple counts of tampering with a government record.

Grants are big business for local police. El Paso's department collects $15,670,354 from various federal and state sources. Two full-time staffers are dedicated to securing and managing grants. In a November report, the city auditor reported the Selective Traffic Enforcement Grant program's oversight status was "poor." Lawyers for the indicted officers blamed the program that funds a ticketing blitz.

"The terms of these grants outline goals or more accurately 'quotas' that the officer is 'encouraged to meet,'" attorneys Theresa Caballero and Stuart Leeds wrote in a January letter. "For example, the grants say an officer should write three tickets an hour or an officer shall make one arrest for DWI while working the DWI STEP. TXDOT will say that these are not 'mandatory' goals or in plain language quotas and therefore they are not illegal."

Because of the pressure to meet the quotas to achieve the expected funding levels, the lawyers argued the top brass in the department approved various techniques used to shift tickets and arrests onto the grant time clock.

"Now the brass is running for the hills and leaving the hapless street cop exposed for following orders," Caballero and Leeds wrote.

The same problem has hit Fort Worth where, last month, James McDade became the ninth police officer to be indicted as part of an alleged overtime scheme. In March 2011, the Fort Worth City Council approved reimbursing the Texas Department of Transportation $231,000 in grant money that had been used to pay the bogus overtime. Source

US Traffic Fatalities Continue to Decline

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-09T00:45-08:00

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced last week that road fatalities in the United States are continuing their decline at a record-shattering pace. According to preliminary figures, the number killed on the nation's highways in 2011 per 100 million miles driven has dropped to an all-time low of 1.09, which is a full 25 percent drop from just six years ago. The total number of people who died on US roads last year dropped by the same percentage to 32,310.

"If these projections are realized, fatalities will be lowest on record (since 1949)," NHTSA's May 2012 "Traffic Safety Facts" explained.

The news was of so little consequence to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that it did not merit a mention either on his "Fast Lane" blog or his Twitter account, which covers a number of miscellaneous topics.

"Olver Transit Center a new energy-saving transportation star in Western Massachusetts," LaHood tweeted last week. "New transit center a true gem."

The Fast Lane blog instead covered issues like an online dialogue to improve transportation for veterans, the landing of a 787 airplane landing in DC, a cargo ship arriving in Texas, the Olver Transit Center, reviving inter-city passenger rail, toll road funding, and high school students making paper airplanes.

In Europe, countries that experience increased safety levels on their highways are quick to credit governmental policy -- especially the use of photo enforcement -- for the positive momentum.

"The UK has one of the best road safety records in the world," the UK Department for Transport boasted in 2010. "Safety cameras play an important role in helping to keep the country's road network safe."

In the United States, there is no statistical connection between the presence of cameras and the increase in safety. In fact, the upper northeast experienced the greatest increase in safety even though the region has the fewest red light cameras and speed cameras. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut either ban or decline to use automated ticketing machines. Only Rhode Island has a handful of cameras, yet the region posted a 7.2 percent accident reduction. By contrast, California and Arizona use photo enforcement extensively, yet fatal road accidents increased 3.3 percent in 2011.

A copy of the report is available in a 300k PDF file at the source link below. Source

US Senate Transportation Bill Mandates Black Box, More Rules

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-08T01:18-08:00

US House and Senate negotiators are currently working out differences in the opposing transportation reauthorization bills passed by the respective chambers. In an alert sent to members yesterday, the National Motorists Association (NMA) raised an alarm over a Senate-endorsed provision mandating the installation of black box recording devices in all automobiles beginning with the 2015 model year.

Under text of S. 1813, also known as MAP-21, the information stored on an event data recorder could be retrieved under a court order "in the furtherance of a legal proceeding," by employees of the Department of Transportation in the event of an accident, and by anyone "for the purpose of determining the need for, or facilitating, emergency medical response." Two years after enactment, transportation officials would initiate a rulemaking to expand the amount of data collected and require "an interoperable data access port to facilitate universal accessibility and analysis."

Should the provision make its way into law,black box data would technically be the property of the vehicle owner, except in the cases where a judge or transportation official seeks access. The NMA believes these loopholes render the purported privacy protection meaningless.

"Without controls, black boxes have the potential to increase surveillance of motorists, enhance automated law enforcement and enable real-time collection of user fees and taxes," NMA President Gary Biller wrote. "Left unchecked, abuse of black box data is inevitable. Maintaining control of your driving data is critical in combating further infringement on motorists' privacy rights."

Biller echoed the recommendation of the chairman of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) working group on black box issues, Thomas M. Kowalick. NMA and Kowalick want event data recorder access ports to be locked so that the vehicle owner retains physical control over the information in his vehicle.

In addition to mandating black boxes, the 1642-page Senate-passed bill mandates a number of significant design changes to automobiles. Within a year, transportation officials must create a brake override system to prevent the "unintended acceleration" incidents that the agency's own investigations have concluded were caused by driver error, not manufacturing defects. Federal officials will also dictate pedal placement in an automobile and how the "start" button in an automobile may function. New standards would regulate electronic systems in automobiles. Another rule would cover warning buzzers for when seatbelts are not used in the vehicle's back seats.

A separate rulemaking would create a special warning if a driver turns off the automobile, but a passenger remains in the rear seat. According to the bill, such systems must "provide an alert to prevent hyperthermia and hypothermia that can result in death or severe injuries." Source

Maryland Court Rules Against Parking Ticket Frisking

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-07T00:28-08:00

Police were wrong to frisk a motorist over a parking infraction, Maryland's second highest court ruled last month. A three-judge panel considered case of Bruce Wayne Gilmore, who had backed into a parking spot at the 51 Club liquor store in Temple Hills on February 7, 2008.

Corporal Derrick Neumer of the Prince George's County Police Department had been watching the lot, on the lookout to make a drug bust. Noticing Gilmore's car was parked slightly over the line, Neumer pounced as Gilmore returned from the store.

"Why did you park your car like that?" Officer Neumer asked.

"I didn't realize it was parked that way," Gilmore responded.

Neumer asked for Gilmore's license and registration so he could run a records check. As he did so, he claimed that Gilmore appeared to be nervous, placing both hands in his pockets. Neumer declared that for "officer safety" he would have to conduct a pat-down search. Neumer found a pocket knife and a bag of marijuana in a jacket pocket. Another pocket contained crack cocaine. Neumer never actually wrote a parking ticket for the alleged offense. At trial, Gilmore's attorney pointed out that his client had, in fact, broken no motoring law.

"There is no ordinance or citation in the parking citations [section of the law] on what is a parking violation that indicates that parking in more than one spot is a violation of any parking ordinance," the attorney argued. "In fact, Maryland Code 21-1003 delineates every single parking type of violation, from stop and standing parking that is prohibited, and no place within the regulation is parking in more than one spot enumerated."

The trial judge ruled that he believed the officer had reasonable suspicion and upheld the search and seizure. Gilmore challenged the decision, and the Maryland Court of Special Appeals agreed that the prosecution had no case.

"The state cannot point to a provision of law that clearly prohibits the manner in which appellant operated and parked his vehicle," Judge Timothy E. Meredith wrote for the three-judge panel. "Corporal Neumer used the phrase 'double parking' to describe the parking violation he witnessed, but was unable to identify the provision in the code that prohibits occupying two spaces. Nor was the prosecutor who represented the state at the suppression hearing able to cite a provision that prohibits occupying two spaces."

Maryland does apply all vehicle code restrictions to private parking lots that are open for the general use of the public, but the appellate court found no crime had been committed. The judges next turned to the question of whether the police officer was justified in detaining Gilmore in the parking lot.

"Our review of cases from other jurisdictions persuades us that a mistake of law -- unlike a mistake of fact -- cannot support a detention for a purported traffic violation," Meredith ruled. "In the present case, the officer who detained appellant in the parking lot did so under the mistaken belief that there was a statutory provision which made it illegal to park one's vehicle straddling a line on the pavement. That was a mistake of law. Because a lawful detention cannot be predicated upon a mistake of law, the evidence obtained during the ensuing encounter should have been suppressed."

The judges reversed Gilmore's conviction and ordered the county to pay all court costs. A copy of the decision is available in a 65k PDF file at the source link below. Source

Maryland, France, Latvia, Saudi Arabia, UK: Speed Cameras Under Fire

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-06T01:09-08:00

Fifty drivers of speed camera vans in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia went on strike Saturday against the private company that runs the automated ticketing program, according to Dar Al Hayat. Redflex Traffic Systems has had the contract to issue tickets in Riyadh since 2002, but the locals believe the Australian firm has been forcing them to work under dangerous conditions for minimal wages. Employee Saad Hamoud complained that three bullets struck his "Saher" vehicle, but when management asked him about the incident, they only were interested in the extent of the damage to the radar equipment, not how he was affected. Saher employees went on a five-day strike in November over the company's failure to protect them from angry motorists.

Vigilantes burned a speed camera in Somerset, UK at around 11:30pm on Wednesday, the Western Daily Press reported. The automated ticketing machine had isued tickets on the A429 at Fossebridge near the Hare and Hound pub.

In Saint-Brandan, France, vigilantes used green spraypaint to disable a speed camera on Saturday, according to Ouest France.

In Riga, Latvia on Monday a man walked up to a speed camera on the Riga-Sigulda highway and smashed it, Diena reported. Police have no suspects.

The Baltimore Sun revealed that vigilantes have attacked speed cameras five times in Baltimore County, Maryland in the past two years. The most recent incident involved a speed camera burned on April 20. On October 8, a Dodge truck was used to rip a speed camera out of the ground. Two cameras were spraypainted. Last May, the lens of the automated ticketing machine on the 9800 block of Greenside Drive was shattered. Between 2000 and 2003 two cameras were shot, one with a small caliber handgun and another with a high-power rifle. Source

US Transportation Secretary Disavows Cell Phone Story

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-04T00:37-08:00

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is distancing himself from reports that he called for a federal law banning all cell phone use behind the wheel. The former Illinois congressman was in San Antonio, Texas speaking at a distracted driving summit. According to a widely cited Reuters report, "LaHood called on Thursday for a federal law to ban talking on a cell phone or texting while driving any type of vehicle on any road in the country." Not so, said a spokesman for the department.

"I can tell you that the Reuters report claiming the secretary announced a new push for a national distracted driving ban is inaccurate," LaHood's press secretary, Justin Nisly, wrote in an email. "The secretary has said for several years now that he is supportive of efforts in Congress to incentivize states to pass anti-texting and driving legislation, similar to the approach taken to prevent drunk driving and promote seat belt use. In the meantime, however, we're focused on our education and awareness efforts, as well as encouraging states to pass laws on their own."

A 2008 survey by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration concluded driver distraction, not violating the speed limit, was the most common cause of collisions (view report). Likewise, the UK Department for Transport found similar results from its analysis of accidents on the roads of Great Britain (view report).

President Obama's fiscal 2013 budget proposed $8 million in taxpayer funds to continue LaHood's crusade to get states to adopt cell phone ban legislation at the state level. So far, the Governors Highway Safety Association counts ten states that ban drivers from using cell phones without a hands-free headset. Thirty-one states ban novice drivers from picking up a phone. Thirty-seven states specifically prohibit text messaging behind the wheel.

Accident statistics fail to show a benefit to laws authorizing police to issue tickets for cell phone use behind the wheel. Connecticut and New York both have banned the use of cell phones and text messaging. In 2010, the fatal accident rate (adjusted for traffic volume) increased 4.6 and 43.7 percent respectively. By comparison, some of the states without any specific text messaging or cell phone use laws saw decreases in accidents. Arizona's fatality rate dropped 5.4 percent, Florida dropped 4.3 percent, Missouri dropped 8.7 percent, Montana dropped 15 percent and South Carolina decreased 9.3 percent.

At the same time that the US Department of Transportation is pushing laws to ban in-car cell phone use, it is promoting the "511" government program that encourages drivers to dial 511 for information on traffic conditions instead of tuning in to a traffic reports on AM radio. Source

Texas: Citizen Activists Target Red Light Camera Expenditures

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-03T01:17-08:00

League City, Texas is violating state law governing the use of proceeds from a red light camera program, according to a local activist who filed an official complaint yesterday. Under state law, a municipality may only use its photo ticketing profit to pay for "traffic safety programs." League City appears to be using the revenue to create a slush fund for the local police department.

"They went on a spending spree that would make a drunken sailor blush," Byron Schirmbeck, director of saferbaytown.com told TheNewspaper. "How can you have a program that's meant to punish lawbreakers when you're violating the law yourself?"

League City's camera vendor, Redflex Traffic Systems, issued over $5 million worth of tickets. After the state government and the Australian company took their share, $1.3 million remained in the municipality's photo enforcement war chest. They spent less than half that amount on "traffic system improvements."

City documents show the city spent $71,994 from the red light camera program for an air-conditioned "tactical observation platform" used for surveillance in a WalMart parking lot. Another $55,000 went for a fingerprint station; $52,275 went for a crime scene imager; $28,234 on a K-9 unit; $20,000 for video and audio enhancement software; $8400 for body armor; $7800 for sniper rifle scopes; $5342 for cell phone forensic software; $5000 for training-room computers; $3750 for tactical entry rifles; and $3250 for a GPS tracker. Schirmbeck points out that the city knew the purchases were shady because a list of items funded by the red light camera program published on the city's website omits all of the questionable items.

Schirmbeck raised questions about the purchases in January, and members of the city council agreed there appears to be a legal problem. The city will refund a few of the items and seek an attorney general's opinion on whether the other purchases are a problem.

"Please review the expenditures the city has made from red light camera revenues," Councilman Dan Becker wrote in a February 26 email to council members. "I am concerned whether the city is fully in compliance with the requirement 'only to fund traffic safety programs.'"

Schirmbeck on Wednesday filed a formal complaint over the matter with Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady. He also asked for an investigation into whether the city's use of public funds on pro-camera advertising on the public access television channel 16 and on the city's website violates state election law. In November, residents will have a chance to vote on whether to continue the photo ticketing program. Schirmbeck believes the slick video material was produced by Redflex, but the commercials did not disclose their true origin, in violation of state campaign laws. Source

Study: Motorists Are Primary Contributors to Federal and State Tax Revenue

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-02T00:50-08:00

Motorists are pulling more than their own weight when it comes to paying for the nation's roads. Public transit advocates frequently claim that various user fees do not capture the amount of money invested into the highway system and that taxpayers subsidize roads. A report released last month by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) shows that the opposite is true, that the automobile contributes more than any other manufacturing sector to the US economy.

"The automotive industry accounts for 13 percent of all state government tax revenues," Kim Hill, the study's lead author said in a statement. "This analysis furthers our understanding of how the automotive sector has a substantial impact on the US economy by contributing to the fiscal stability of state and federal governments. As economic conditions continue to improve, auto companies could see an increase in sales and employment that would generate additional state and federal tax revenues."

Last year, the Federal Highway Administration spent $41.8 billion on federal-aid highways, an amount that includes more than $4 billion on "livable communities" transit programs, $2.5 billion subsidizing speed traps and other expenditures that do not benefit drivers. The CAR report calculated the automotive industry contributed more than that amount, $43 billion, to the federal coffers in 2010. This figure included $29 billion in motor fuel taxes and $14 billion in direct income tax on auto manufacturers, parts suppliers and dealerships. CAR estimates the federal total would balloon to $69 billion if non-manufacturing jobs at suppliers such as marketing, finance and management were included in the tally.

State governments collected another $91.5 billion from the industry. This includes $60 billion in fuel taxes, registration fees and licensing charges. Another $30 billion in taxes were imposed on the sales and service of new and used vehicles. Those working for manufacturers and suppliers paid $860 million in income taxes. Auto companies paid $750 million in business taxes and license fees.

The study left out the significant revenue generated on taxing industry suppliers, imposing vehicle title fees, collecting personal property taxes and dishing out parking and speeding tickets. It also does not include property taxes paid by manufacturers.

The results are not surprising considering the Census Bureau's statistics on commuting suggest 90 percent of Americans get to work with an automobile. Nine out of ten taxpayers who work outside the home are motorists. CAR is a non-profit group that creates reports on behalf of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

A copy of the report is available in a 1.1mb PDF file at the source link below. Source

Kentucky Supreme Court Strikes Down City Sticker Roadblock

TheNewspaper Editor — 2012-05-01T01:09-08:00

Liberty may not set up roadblocks for the purpose of issuing tickets for failure to display a city sticker on an automobile, the Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously ruled last Wednesday. The city had required all 1850 residents and anyone working within the city limits to purchase a sticker for $10 and display it on their automobile.

When teachers at a local school failed to pay for a sticker, town leaders had police set up a roadblock to issue them citations. Cars with a sticker were allowed to pass through the checkpoint, while drivers of stickerless vehicles were interrogated about where they lived and where they worked. Joseph A. Singleton was stopped at this checkpoint and when police searched his car they found a small amount of marijuana. Singleton moved to suppress the evidence on the grounds that police had seized him without probable cause or articulable suspicion, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The Casey County Circuit Court agreed the sticker roadblock was unconstitutional, but the state Court of Appeals saw no problem with it. In the final word on the case, the high court's seven justices agreed that Liberty lacked a substantial reason to detain motorists.

Through a series of decisions, the US Supreme Court has authorized suspicionless roadblocks for the purpose of finding illegal aliens up to 100 miles from the border, verifying drivers' licenses and registrations, looking for drunk drivers and responding to a specific crime that took place on the same highway as the roadblock. A dozen states have disagreed with these practices and outlawed one or more of these types of roadblocks by citing their own state constitutions. The Kentucky Supreme Court found none of these exceptions applied in the case at hand.

"The checkpoint's only purpose was to enforce a revenue-raising tax upon vehicles in the city," the court ruled on Wednesday. "Thus, the checkpoint to enforce the sticker ordinance comports with none of the purposes which the United States Supreme Court has found to be important enough to override the individual liberty interests secured by the Fourth Amendment."

The justices went on to blast Liberty for selecting the most intrusive means possible to achieve its stated goal.

"We also recall that the initial concern that sparked the need for the checkpoint was the report that some teachers had failed to pay the sticker fee," the justices ruled on Wednesday. "That concern could have been addressed by means far less intrusive than a traffic checkpoint. For example, police officers could have simply walked through the school parking lot and cited cars without a sticker."

A copy of the decision is available in a 1.1mb PDF file at the source link below. Source