Traffic laws were created to make the highways, roadways and the streets of American cities safe. Driving in the city requires focus as drivers are often required to make split second decisions. This is best highlighted when approaching an intersection that is showing a yellow light; as drivers should we proceed into the intersection or slow down for the red light. Studies have shown that a longer yellow light time can reduce the number of drivers from running a red light. On the contrary, a shortening yellow light time has been shown to increase accidents and traffic violations.
Instead of applying this knowledge to make intersections safer, numerous cities took an alternative approach and shortening the yellow light times and installed red light photo cameras. The short yellow light times increased the red light violations resulting in substantial profits for these cities.
The state of Missouri traffic ticket info had 105 red light camera intersections where the yellow light times had been reduced by a full second.
An examination of red light cameras in Dallas traffic ticket info highlighted 21 short yellow light times. In addition, 7 of the top ten red light camera locations had yellow light times under those recommended by TX DOT.
Union City California traffic ticket info was caught reducing yellow light times by 1.3 seconds under California state law. The reduced times created a profit of more than one million dollars; which was city was later forced to refund based on the violating state law.
Tennessee had more than one city using the short yellow times to gain profit. Nashville used a shorter yellow light time in areas where officers patrolled. Chattanooga reduced the yellow light by nearly a full second at intersection where cameras were installed. The reduced times were a violation of state and federal regulations.
right light tickets are they making the roads safer
January 23rd, 2010 by
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walking while intoxicated - WWI
January 9th, 2010 by
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Drinking and Driving on New Years has been publicized by cities as one of the most dangerous activities party goers can embark upon.
New Years Eve and day are two of the most dangerous days for pedestrians in the United States. Pedestrians often get intoxicated and wander into streets creating the highest number of walker killed in motor vehicle crashes. During the last five years more than 100 pedestrians have been killed in New Years day accidents.
Nearly two-thirds of all pedestrians killed on New Year’s Day had blood alcohol levels above the .08 legal limit. The high level of alcohol intake by party goers mixed with the numerous drivers on the street has resulted in more pedestrian crash deaths than any other day.
Emergency rooms show walkers injure themselves on the simple objects that hold our cities together. Light poles, cracks in streets, parked cars, and street signs are common injury causing objects on New Years.
More than 4,300 pedestrians were killed by motorist were in 2008. Public service campaigns preach “Don’t Drink and Drive” during the holidays; we may need to expand this campaign so that those that walk the streets are equally aware and protected.
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DUI for the Entire Family while driving 2 different cars
December 24th, 2009 by
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Drinking and Driving is a crime that each state is fighting to eradicate. Parents often lecture their children about the dangers of getting behind the wheel and driving an automobile after drinking an alcoholic beverage. However, a couple in Defiance, OH illustrated the dangers of drinking and driving by both being arrested for drinking and driving with their children in their vehicles.
Officers stopped a male driver in Defiance based upon a traffic violation. During the traffic stop officers determined the driver was intoxicated and took him into custody. The driver had his minor daughter in the automobile so the arresting officers attempted to contact his wife to pick up the little girl.
The wife was located within a mile of the husband but was unable to take the child because she was over the Ohio legal limit. The wife was traveling with the couples other daughter also a minor. Both parents were arrested for DUI.
Hawaii has a New DUI Penalty
December 24th, 2009 by
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The state of Hawaii has started a controversial program in an attempt to shame those arrested for DUI. Each week more than 80 motorist are arrested in Oahu, Hawaii for driving under the influence. Arrested drivers will now have their mug shot placed on the Honolulu Police Department website for 24 hours.
The practice of shamming an individual is not a new concept in criminal law. Numerous newspapers have placed the name of convicted DUI offenders on websites or put them in print . However, the placement of an arrested driver puts doubt into the phrase that those arrested should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. The Honolulu Police Department states the arrest record is a public record so there is no illegality.
DUI Defense attorneys argue that exposing the name and picture of those arrested could lead to prejudgment. This point of view carries strength because arrested drivers are to be presumed innocent.
Tags: drinking and driving · DUINo Comments.
Speeding tickets in chigago are being dismissed
December 11th, 2009 by
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If you have been stopped for a speeding ticket in Chicago Illinois it may be your lucky day. Chicago Illinois Speeding Tickets are being dismissed based upon the technology used by the Chicago Police Department. The technology causing the legal issue is a lidar laser gun device.
Cook County Traffic Court judges in Chicago have determined that speeds captured by lidar devices are not admissible because the laser gun has not been proven scientifically reliable in Illinois Court. Lidar is the primary speed detector being used in Chicago and the drivers being ticketed are using the loophole to slip through court without being fined.
Chicago Prosecutors argue that lidar is valid because it has been proven as scientific in other states in America. Illinois judges outside of Chicago are split on their views of lidar being legally sound. For lidar to become scientifically admissible and legally sound in Chicago a Frye hearing is needed. The hearing can be labor intensive and very expensive and the city of Chicago is not ready to embark upon this legal voyage.
For the moment speeding in Chicago is a like gambling some time you get lucky sometime your luck runs out.
Strange Laws do Exist!
December 11th, 2009 by
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• There are numerous outdated and strange traffic laws in the United States. The laws listed below should be removed from their respective states.
• Minnetonka, MN considers driving an automobile with dirty tires a public nuisance. A tire with mud, dirt, sticky substances, litter or other material is considered dirty.
• Road Rage should be avoided in Rockville, MD because swearing is strictly prohibited in your vehicle Baltimore DUI attorney.
• Cathedral City, CA drivers may not sleep inside their vehicles. California drivers that double as stunt men and woman should be aware that you cannot jump from an automobile travelling 65mph.
• Alabama drivers cannot drive while blindfolded or barefoot. In addition Alabama drivers may not, flick boogers into the wind.
• If driving in Ohio prepared to be startled, Ohio drivers are supposed to honk their horn when passing on the left.
• The state of Washington requires motorist that have criminal intentions to stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town.
• Montana sheep herders should be aware that leaving a sheep unattended in your cab is illegal.
• Tennessee hunters must get out of your vehicle to shoot game unless it is a whale.
• Pennsylvania drivers traveling along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue.
Million Dollar Crash
December 11th, 2009 by
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If you are an individual that has great appreciations for luxury automobiles you may not want to read this blog or examine this video. A recent automobile crash in Galveston Texas may break the insurance record for the highest claim on a single car accident. A Texas driver recently drove his 1.6 Million Dollar Bugatti Super Car into a marsh Galveston marsh he probably needs a houston traffic ticket lawyer big time.
The speculation surrounding the cause of the crash continues to grow. One story states that a pelican distracted the driver causing him to swerve and lose control of the automobile. Another story speculates the driver may have been speaking on a cell phone and was not paying attention to the road.
The driver of one of the world’s fastest production cars was uninjured during this single car accident. However, the automobile sat in three feet of water for several hours, hurting the feelings of automobile enthusiast everywhere.
Tags: Accident · SpeedingNo Comments.
Speed Traps Beware
November 26th, 2009 by
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In the year 2010 American drivers will be introduced to an automobile device called the Coyote. The Coyote is the product of a French company which shall alert drivers to the presence of mobile radar units and speed traps set up by the police.
The Coyote is currently being sold in France with great success. The best Coyote model is the mini-coyote; it cost a mere $225.00 and is the size of a cell phone. The initial purchase allows 3 months of subscription service and the monthly charge is $15 per month.
The Coyote has a simple purpose; to warn drives that subscribe to the service of police speed traps. When a subscriber spots a speed trap he pushes a button on the device which sends a signal to the central computer of the speed trap location and direction of travel being monitored. The compute then alerts all subscribers that are within 12 ½ mile radius of the trap.
Coyote has gathered great momentum in the three years since its introduction; more than 250.000 have purchased the unit.
CEO Jean-Marc Van Laethem states that most subscribers are individuals that rely on their automobiles such as salesmen and woman, drivers of large cars that tend to driver to fast or drivers that have lost points on their license and cannot afford any more infractions.
My search of such products shows competition may become very stiff as cell phone companies introduce new applications and GPS units start integrating the service into their units.
Tags: Speed Trap · speeding ticket · spped traps · traffic ticketNo Comments.
National Driver Register checks
November 17th, 2009 by
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Sometimes there is driving information that is not on your DAC Report and not on your driving record and not on your Infraction/Misdemeanor/Felony Record Scan. This information can still trip you up and expand your (and your employer’s) vocabulary for a few days.
I had to laugh the other day when I saw a company state on their site that they would get drivers their National Driver Register—and then define this as “list of carriers who have requested your report.”
The National Driver Register (NDR) is a computerized database of information about drivers who have had their licenses revoked or suspended, or who have been convicted of serious traffic violations such as driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs. It functions under the control of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency of the Department of Transportation. The following example explains why an NDR can matter. (If you want to skip the “why” details, you might want to review the last two paragraphs on the “how to get” details.)
I received a call from Lisa Cherry, head of safety for a carrier out of Gretna, Nebraska. She had a driver licensed out of Ohio. The driver had been with the company for a few years and his CDL had been renewed in 2008. Unbeknownst to her, and forgotten by the driver, was the fact that in 1997 the driver had been issued two speeding tickets in New York in 1997 and one ticket in Massachusetts in 1998. The driver had not paid the tickets. New York and Massachusetts could not suspend the Ohio license—but they could report that the license was disqualified in their states, which they did. And there the issue sat, missed by Ohio upon renewal of the driver’s CDL.
The driver was pulled over at a scale house in Illinois. Illinois checked the CDL through the Law Enforcement Activity Data System which is also connected with the Problem Driver Pointer system which is used to search the National Driver Register (NDR) index. And here the decade-old issue reared up and bit both the driver and employer. The driver was put out of service—under load. The truck was towed to a truck stop at a cost of $450. The company had to dispatch another driver to pick up the load. The offending driver had to sit around for 5 days waiting for the clearance letters from New York and Massachusetts. Massachusetts took a credit card payment but the fines to New York had to be paid by cash or check (no credit cards or on-line payments accepted). The company sent the payment overnight and once New York processed the payment they issued a clearance letter. The employer faxed the clearance letters to the driver so he could drive. Needless to say, the driver lost 5 days of work, spent money he didn’t have at the truck stop waiting for the clearance letters, he also had to reimburse the company $450, and pay over $1,500 for the tickets and penalties. Not to mention, the employer wasn’t happy with their SafeStat number being affected by this out-of-service for driving a CMV while disqualified.
Obviously, this is not the way the system, with its interrelated federal and state agencies was supposed to work. State motor vehicle agencies are supposed to provide the NDR with the names of individuals who have lost their privilege or who have been convicted of a serious traffic violation. The Courts will also report to the NDR if your license has been revoked or suspended if you are in arrears on child support payments, which in some states can be a Felony or Misdemeanor. When that person applies for a driver’s license, the state is supposed to check to see if the name is on the NDR file. If a person has been reported to the NDR as a problem driver, the license may be denied and the State will provide the contact information to the driver. If something happens after your license has been issued, the only obligation the State has is to send a letter to the last known address on file. If you don’t notify the state your address has changed, the state is not obligated to search you out and tell you the license has been disqualified, revoked, suspended, cancelled, or that you have lost your privilege.
But as there are times when it doesn’t work as in the example above, it doesn’t hurt for drivers to check their own status with the National Driver Register.
You are entitled, under the provisions of the Privacy Act, to request a file search to see if you have a record in the NDR. It’s not exactly easy to get. You must download the Individual request form, complete it, have it notarized, and mail it to the NDR. (They do not accept faxed requests.) You can also take the completed form to your local motor vehicle agency and, for a small fee, they will send your request to NDR. In either case, NDR will send a response directly to you. You may get the form to download on the web at:http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/NCSA/Content/PDF/PRIVACY.pdf
If you are registered with http://www.dotjobhistory.com/index.asp?partnerid=ticketvoid an NDR check comes with the basic service along with your driving record, DAC Report (Employment and other info), Infraction/Misdemeanor/Felony Record Scan and SSN/Identity Authentication Information. Be sure to include the NDR with your AppPak. I know of several companies that will put you on the hiring fast track if you have it.
By Derek Hinton
Tags: CDL · commercial drivers · dac report · driving recordNo Comments.
Lady calls 911 on herself and gets a dui
November 17th, 2009 by
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Being a responsible driver is an important task that we all must undertake. Motorist that witness erratic drivers should call their local police department if they feel a driver in another automobile may be a danger to the public. However, driver Mary Strey took her responsibility to report a possible drunk driver to another level. Mrs. Strey recently called the Wisconsin police department on herself to report a drunk driver. The conversation between her and the police dispatcher takes a dramatic change when the dispatcher asks Mary are you behind the drunk driver.
The response from Mary is shocking as she states “No, I am them,”
The dispatcher verified, “You am them?”
“Yes, I am them,” said Strey.
The dispatcher convinced Strey to pull her car over and surprising she waited until officers could arrive.
Mary Strey needs a Wisconsin dui attorney big time!