Michigan
Many Michigan towns fail to comply with speed limit law Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Car and Driver recently published an interesting article discussing a Michigan state law, Public Act 85 of 2006, which compels communities to set limits based on certain factors, most notably the speed at which 85 percent of drivers are traveling at the time a study is conducted. Many may be avoiding raising the speed limit out of a fear it will reduce revenue generated from speeding tickets.
The article brings up some interesting points about how much of a role economics play when it comes to traffic enforcement and the issuance of traffic tickets. One local police chief even admits that the “need for revenue” is often behind traffic tickets and that enforcement had been increased in the past to “avoid layoffs”.
The thought of enforcement officers under the impression that their job may be in jeopardy if they don’t issue enough traffic tickets should definitely concern anyone who gets behind the wheel.
The fully published article can be found here: Feeding the Machine: Sandbagging on Speed Limits.
If you have questions about a Michigan speeding ticket, feel free to consult with a local Michigan traffic ticket lawyer.
Motives for a new crackdown in Detroit questioned Thursday, March 4th, 2010
The Detroit News reports that recent correspondence from a top police department commander in Detroit, Michigan has angered civil-rights activists. An e-mail message was sent and it promised to discipline Detroit police officers who don’t write enough traffic tickets.
First, critics argue this simply amounts to a quota system. There may be no official “number” of tickets mentioned, but it’s a reasonable conclusion that whatever police officials consider to be “enough” tickets essentially constitutes the quota.
Second, the traffic ticket push is connected to a campaign by the department to crack down on moving violations in high-crime areas of the city and at the same time check the drivers for warrants and weapons. Residents are complaining that there is now overly aggressive policing where, for years, officers on patrol overlooked many minor violations such as a broken taillight. Residents and civil-rights leaders are concerned that using traffic stops to search for warrants, etc. simply encourages racial profiling of drivers.
While police officials will always argue that they have every right to pull over any motorist the see commit any violation of any size, their motives for these increased car stops are certainly worth questioning.
Submitted by NY traffic lawyers
Feifer & Greenberg, LLP
