Archive for June, 2011
Nevada Starts Work On Road To Self Driving Cars Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
The state of Nevada passed a bill last week that will require its state Department of Motor Vehicles to start developing the unique rules and law necessary to regulate the use of autonomous vehicles on state roadways.
The specific section of law, Section 8, will govern autonomous vehicles and will take effect on March 1, 2012.
Google started testing self driving cars last year. Volkswagon has also been testing it’s TAP (Temporary Auto Pilot) car with what they describe as “production-ready” components.
Nevada defines “autonomous vehicle” as a motor vehicle that uses artificial intelligence, sensors and global positioning system coordinates to drive itself without the active intervention of a human operator.
Self-driving cars will not simply be instantly “street legal” thanks to this law. This law actually gives the Nevada DMV the task of coming up with the laws and regulations that will certainly be necessary to manage ownership and operation of autonomous vehicles. As the first state to get this far, Nevada can expect its progress to serve as an example for other states going forward.
Some of the necessary regulations are more obvious than others. For example, where will DMV stand on the traditional DMV eye chart / vision test for a legally blind person who can now operate an autonomous vehicle operated by sound queues? What will the insurance requirements be for an autonomous vehicle which largely takes human error out of the equation? Will a speeding violation be considered a moving violation worthy of an insurance increase or a mere equipment violation? In fact, wouldn’t the vast majority of moving violations arguably be equipment failure more than anything else?
If these vehicles do become a regular part of our driving lives at some point in the future, consider this Nevada law an important milestone on the road to that future.
National Bill To Ban Cell Phone Use While Driving Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
Representative Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., will announce legislation today with the goal of altogether banning handheld use of mobile devices while driving at the national level.
McCarthy cited National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics that found at least 5,400 people died due to distracting driving in 2009, and that “using a cell phone makes drivers four times more likely to be in an injury-causing accident.”
There is currently nothing in place on a national level which prohibits handheld cell phones from being used while driving to make calls or place text messages.
Nine states and the District of Columbia currently prohibit drivers from using handheld phones to place calls while driving, and there are 34 states that currently ban text messaging.
Windcrest, Texas Police: Pay Your Speeding Ticket Or Go To Jail Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
If you have an outstanding Texas speeding ticket, the city of Windcrest is giving you one last chance to pay the speeding ticket fine.
More than 9,000 delinquent violators have until Friday, June 24 to pay up before officers track them down and begin making arrests.
Windcrest police Chief Joe Pabon explained that these people had ample time to come in and take care of their speeding tickets but have failed to do so. So now “we’re going to go and try to clear our books up.”
It’s no wonder they are anxious to collect the overdue fine money. Estimates place the total due on these overdue speeding tickets at $2 million.
Missouri Patrol Launches Traffic Enforcement Campaign Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
The Missouri State Highway Patrol kicks off its “Heat Is On” summer campaign on June 24 with a 24 hour special enforcement effort beginning Friday morning along the Interstate 70 corridor.
Drivers in the area should expect to see additional law enforcement officers on the road starting at 6 a.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Saturday.
Last year, a similar full day campaign resulted in the issuance of 1,080 Missouri traffic tickets. Included among the tickets were 530 speeding tickets, 38 driving while intoxicated arrests and 144 seat belt tickets.
The “Heat Is On” campaign itself begins on the first day of summer and continues through Sept. 22. Troopers will be primarily on the lookout for speeders, drivers who are not wearing seatbelts and drunken drivers.
While road fatalities in 2010 declined for the fifth year in a row, the highest number of fatal and serious-injury crashes in Missouri roads occurred between July and September. Thus the reasoning behind the summer campaign.
Multiple States Introducing Consumer Protecting Legislation on Camera Enforcement Tickets Friday, June 17th, 2011
Concern about ticket cameras as revenue generators that has spurred protective action for consumers in a few states. California and Tennessee are two such examples. These are typical of the issues and battles we’re likely to see for years to come with the still relatively new use of photo enforcement throughout the county.
California
A bill has been introduced and is intended to help ensure that communities use red light cameras to improve safety, not to raise revenue. One vote away from moving to the Governor, the bill would regulate use of the ticket cameras by establishing statewide standards for installation and operation. Included in the bill is the requirement that communities show that the cameras are needed at a particular location for reasons related to safety as well as requirements that drivers are given better warning that cameras are in use.
Tennessee:
A new law also addresses concern about the photo enforcement red light cameras being used as revenue generators. The law requires studies showing the system is necessary from a safety standpoint and the law prevents the issuance of camera tickets for failing to come to a complete stop before turning right on red where a right on red is otherwise permitted.
South Carolina:
This legislation doesn’t refer necessarily to concerns about revenue generation, but a recently signed South Carolina law is a good example of the variety of the checks on photo enforcement starting to emerge. Here, Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill barring towns from mailing photo speeding tickets and requiring all summonses to be hand-delivered at the scene.
Washington:
It’s a court ruling, not a law. A Superior Court Judge has ruled that there is a problem with officers electronically attaching their signature to a camera summons. This type of ruling essentially puts a stop to camera enforcement altogether as the officer is obviously not present and writing red light tickets at a camera patrolled intersection.
“Rules Of The Road” Course Offered In South Dakota Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Drivers age 14-24 make up 17% of the population of drivers in South Dakota but are involved in 30% of accidents involving injury or fatality.
On June 22 the South Dakota Safety Council (SDSC) will address this by offering two training classes. “Rules of the Road” and “Alive at 25″ will be offered on June 22 at the Regional Technical Education Center (RTEC) at 1200 West 21st Street in Yankton.
“Rules of the Road” will be held first from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. This course covers the nuts and bolts of driving. Signs, markings, traffic signals and general compliance with traffic laws is the focus. Pre-driving vehicular checks, lane changes and signaling, parking, use of mirrors, spacing between vehicles, driving in construction zones…it’s all covered.
“Alive at 25″ will follow from 2 p.m.-6 p.m. and will focus more on the behaviors and decision-making of young drivers while driving. Distracted driving due to texting and use of handheld electronics in general is likely to be a big part of the discussion.
For more information, contact Diane Hall of the SDSC at 800-952-5539.
Traffic Ticket Helps Police Catch Carjacker Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Memphis police have accused a man of robbing and carjacking a woman late last month. He evaded the police and arrest at that time.
This week police spotted the same car speeding down the wrong side of a road. Eventually, the vehicle crashed into a fence. By the time the police caught up to the vehicle the driver was already gone. However, he left a traffic ticket previously issued to him inside the car.
Armed with a name, the officers knew who they were looking for and eventually located him loitering near the accident scene.
Traffic tickets can lead to higher insurance rates, points, fine, surcharges, suspensions, etc. Rarely do they lead to carjacking and weapons charges as they did here.
Delaware Seat Belt Ticket Stats From 10th Anniversary of “Click It or Ticket” Sunday, June 12th, 2011
Since 2008, the number of seat belt violations cited during the annual “click it or ticket” campaign has dropped in Delaware. This year the state saw a 25% drop from the prior year and numbers that are down 50% going back to 2008.
Over a two week period, enforcement agencies issued a total of 1,195 seat belt tickets. The enforcement involved traffic safety checkpoints and “saturation patrols” both day and night.
The Office of Highway Safety attributes the steady decline–2,347 tickets in 2008, 2,012 in 2009, 1639 in 2010, 1,195 in 2011–to more Delawareans choosing to buckle up.
Jana Simpler, Director of the Office of Highway Safety, clearly feels the campaign is working. “It’s a known fact that seat belts save lives and we are glad more people are actively taking part in this life saving behavior. Wearing a seat belt is the simplest thing you can do to improve your chances of surviving a crash by as much as 50%.”
Mahwah, NJ Traffic Tickets Issued Electronically With New System Thursday, June 9th, 2011
New electronic ticketing software has been installed in 15 of the Mahwah Township’s police department cars. Traffic tickets can now be written and issued in half the time it took manually.
The $45,000 software was purchased with money seized during criminal investigations.
Mahwah police issue an average of 4,500 to 5,000 traffic summonses a year.
The e-ticketing software prevents certain human errors as the majority of information included on the traffic ticket is retrieved directly from the state’s database. Moreover, the process of submitting a ticket to the record bureau and the court has been greatly simplified. It’s all electronic now. Prior to the new system, multiple copies were physically submitted to different parties.
The process of issuing traffic tickets for officers isn’t always safe. It’s a time and place for potential injuries. Any system which speeds that process as well as decreases the amount of clerical work associated with the process is a welcome one for police.
Questions about a traffic ticket in this area?
Mahwah traffic ticket lawyers
Bergen County traffic ticket lawyers
NJ traffic ticket lawyers
Texas Traffic Ticket Information Now Available Online Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
If you have been issued a traffic ticket from the Texas Highway Patrol and somehow misplaced the ticket before ever paying the ticket, contesting it or otherwise taking care of it, there’s a new online system to help.
Drivers can access the new online system 24 hours a day, seven days a week, can locate the court information associated with their ticket and can properly follow through on their summons.
Drivers can search for tickets issued by the Highway Patrol within the past 24 months from the current date.
In order to access the information, drivers must provide their driver license or identification card number, their date of birth and their full name as listed on the driver license or ID.
Drivers who execute a search and have an open Texas Highway Patrol traffic ticket will be provided with the name, address and contact information for the court where the ticket was filed.
The web address is https://www.txdps.state.tx.us/HighwayPatrol/Citations/ .
