Written by the NATIONAL MOTOTISTS ASSOCIATION
The 10 Biggest Injustices Against Motorists In OctoberOctober 31st, 2007 Posted in Corruption, DUI/DWI, Motorist Privacy, Speed Traps, Toll Roads, Traffic Tickets
It has been a rough month for drivers across the country. Abuses of power continue to run rampant while the public remains surprisingly apathetic. We’ve put together a list of the ten biggest injustices against motorists this month in hopes of encouraging citizens to speak out.
The list was compiled from items on our site and from www.thenewspaper.com. TheNewspaper.com is an excellent source of news on motorists issues and we encourage anyone who is interested in the politics of driving to subscribe to their news feed.
10) City Rakes In $1,136 In Traffic Ticket Fines Per Resident
The city of Pendergrass, Georgia pulled in $558,020 in traffic fines despite only having 491 residents.
9) Police Wrongly Seize Car From An Innocent Woman
Police in Alexandria, Louisiana seized the car belonging to a motorist who had committed no crime. A pair of police officers ran the license plate on Ruby Wallace’s 1995 Honda Accord and found the department of motor vehicles (DMV) had listed it as canceled. Wallace was without her car for days until the DMV admitted their database was wrong. As fees mounted, neither the Alexandria Police nor the DMV would take responsibility for the mistake or pay the towing company the $430 it demanded before it would return her Honda.
8 ) Texas Toll Authorities Double-Bill 50,000 Drivers & Have No Plans To Stop In The Future
Since January, one out of every 600 vehicles was double-billed on Texas toll roads. Instead of fixing the problem, the authorities were satisfied with only reducing the frequency of the error to one out of every 2000 drivers.
7) Maryland Pushes for $2000 Speed Camera Ticket, Virginia Follows
Officials in both Maryland and Virginia are planning to introduce legislation allowing cameras in so-called highway work zones that would issue automated tickets worth $500 in Virginia and $2000 in Maryland. Lawmakers are following the lead of Illinois which last year introduced $1000 freeway speed camera tickets that have generated significant revenue.
6) Texas DOT Considers Lowering Speed Limit To Boost Toll Revenue
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has agreed to consider lowering the maximum speed limit on a stretch of interstate highway that competes with a planned toll road. TxDOT’s agreement with the company collecting the tolls also ensures no improvements can be made to nearby roads unless the agency issues payment to the company with taxpayer funds.
5) Georgia Speed Trap Caught Using Ticket Quotas
A local television station has uncovered evidence that a notorious Georgia speed trap has been using traffic ticket quotas. WGCL-TV reports that DeKalb County Police officers are told during roll call that they must issue 65 citations a month and make 25 arrests.
4) Traffic Court Judges Caught Fixing Tickets
New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced the filing of corruption charges against nearly half of the Jersey City’s municipal court judges for “fixing” tickets for their friends and family.
3) Wisconsin Appeals Court Decision Grants Police License to Stop Innocent Motorists
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently ruled that police do not require a reason to stop a car registered in the name of someone with a suspended license. The court ruled that as long as a police officer makes no attempt to determine whether a spouse or other family member might be behind the wheel, he is free to pull over whoever happens to be driving.
2) West Virginia Looks to Boost Revenue with Court Costs
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals moved to boost revenue from traffic tickets by warning lower courts that they must collect the maximum possible amount in court costs from each defendant. As a result of the clarification, any motorist charged with, for example, both speeding and failure to signal must pay the $160.50 assessment for court costs twice — for a total of $321 — even though the motorist appeared only once in court.
1) Motorists Forced To Let Officers Draw Blood Samples At DUI Stops
An increasing number of police departments are allowing their officers draw blood samples from motorists under suspicion of a DUI/DWI. The officers have limited medical training and it’s the officer’s choice between a breathalyzer or a blood test.

An idea that's time has come!

Traffic has become increasingly congested and tempers flare as slower drivers occupy what has been historically referred to as the “fast lane”. It’s time to get that Left Lane back! It is our considered opinion that not only will traffic move more smoothly and more quickly once the Left Lane is used in the way it has been designed but also headaches, frustration, bad tempers and road rage will all be greatly reduced when this pressure valve is released

Check out this web site to get your decal.

http://www.leftlanedrivers.org/

Speed limits slated to go up

Ann Arbor News


Greatest increase to be set along a stretch of Washtenaw Avenue
Saturday, June 02, 2007

BY SUSAN L. OPPAT
News Staff Reporter
Coming soon to roads near you: higher speed limits.

The changes are the result of a new state law based on decades of studies that prove speed limits should be set to match the speed most drivers are already driving.
The most visible changes in Washtenaw County will come in the next few weeks on Main Street in Ann Arbor from M-14 to Huron Street, and on Washtenaw Avenue, Huron Street and Jackson Avenue.

The biggest speed limit bump is planned for Washtenaw Avenue, where the current limit is 35 mph from Stadium Boulevard to Brockman. The likely new speed limit is 45 mph, because a speed survey measured 85 percent of traffic traveling at or below 47 mph, according to State Police Lt. Gary Megge.

Matching speed limits with actual speeds "is the right thing to do, the fair thing to do,'' said Megge, who disagrees with ticketing random drivers for doing what nearly everyone else is also doing.

Safety is also at issue, Megge said. Studies show that matching speed limits to traffic flow reduces crashes. Megge cites national studies dating to at least 1941 that prove drivers traveling at the slowest speeds are 100 times more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers who travel with the pack - even if the pack is traveling above a posted limit.
"If you're on the highway, a car going 40 creates a bunch of surprises, conflicts, maneuvers and lane-changing,'' Megge said earlier this year at a meeting with area government and police officials to explain the speed law changes.

Megge took it on himself a few years ago to study speed laws in other states. Then he began pushing for enforcement of an existing Michigan law that sets speed limits based on the 85th percentile study - the speed the majority of drivers are traveling.

Under the new law, on roads where that study hasn't been conducted, municipalities are now supposed to use a new law that measures the number of access points - driveways and intersections - in a half-mile stretch of road. Megge and his supervisor, Michigan State Police Lt. Thad Peterson, are working their way around the state with the Michigan Department of Transportation, using the 85th percentile law to set speed limits on expressways and state trunk lines.

Traffic ticket data shipped to Mexico

California drivers are outraged, fear theft of confidential details
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56887

Repeal Driver Responsibility Fees - SB638

Senate Bill 638 would repeal Michigan's very punitive Driver Responsibility Law as of October 2007. This is the law that adds hundreds or thousands of dollars to ticket fines over three years and improperly suspends the drivers license of those that do not or cannot pay.
It is similar to the new law just enacted in Virginia, and has created huge problems for Michigan motorists. The NMA has testified against this law and we believe it should be repealed. You can find out more information about the bill, including its full text, at this link:
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2007-SB-0638
We urge you to contact your legislators and let them know how you feel. You can find out who your legislators are by visiting this site.

Michigan: Speeding Complaint Leads To Increased Speed Limit

Yesterday, July 23, 2007, 5:03:49 AM

Black Highway, a half-mile road in Raisin Township, saw its posted speed limit jump from 25 mph to 40 mph after a resident complained there was too little enforcement. Road commission managing director Orrin Gregg said the resident’s complaint got to the Michigan State Police before he heard about it, which resulted in the speed limit change.

Setting Realistic Speed Limits

Check out this web site. Most people don't understand the proper way of setting safe and effective speed limits.

http://www.ite.org/standards/speed_zoning.pdf

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Establishing_Realistic_Speedlimits_85625_7.pdf

Oakland County preserves speed traps

Senator Mike Bishop of Rochester Hills has sponsored legislation which would preserve the local municipalities abilities to keep their lucrative speed traps.



SENATE BILL 117, which is currently before the House of Representatives undermines the intent of Public act 85 by exempting Oakland county from its provisions.


Last year the legislature passed public act 85 which provided for some uniform standards in setting local speed limits. The state police supported PA 85 and are against SB-117. The reasons are clear:

1. Michigan speed limits have become unrealistic, unsafe, and are ignored by almost all motorists.


2. The previous law invited exploitation by local governments and misinterpretations by the courts.

PA 85 of 2006 remedied some of these problems by leveling the playing field in setting speed limits. No longer can speed limits on local roads be set arbitrarily. A standard is in place which requires all municipalities to conform. The new law conforms to the basic speed law which says that,”All vehicles must be driven at a careful and prudent speed not greater than or less than is reasonable and proper for existing conditions."

Even a properly- posted limit may be too fast if the road is slippery, crowded, or visibility is low.

PA 85 required the following:
25 mph for roads with 60 access points per 1/2 mile.
35 mph for roads with 45 to 59 access points per 1/2 mile.
45 mph for roads with 30 to 44 access points per 1/2 mile.
55 mph for roads with less than 30 access points per 1/2 mile.

Subdivisions platted under the 1967 Land Trust Division Act sets the speed limit at 25 mph regardless of frequency.
Business districts are set at 25 mph and trailer parks and public parks may be set at below 25 mph.

If a local authority wants to reduce the speed limit on rural roads all they have to do is get an engineering study which supports the claim of the need to lower the speed limits.

Oakland County is setting themselves up as above the law by trying to exempt themselves from complying with the new standards. Why should they be exempt from the provisions of this law, while the rest of the state complies? It is the height of arrogance.

Oakland County wants the ability to set arbitrary speed limits based on the whims of a few rather than using scientific engineering studies to support their claims.

This arrogance by the ruling elite, not only places themselves above the law, but places the rest of us a risk in paying more fines and insurance costs because of unrealistically low speed limits throughout the county.

Even the Oakland county road commission realizes that placing 25 mph limits on rural roads is ineffective and will have no impact on safety.

This exemption will, however, allow the local municipalities to keep the floodgates of fines rolling into their coffers.