News / Commentary
Welcome to TicketHELP.com News and Commentary Thursday, January 5th, 2012
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Chicago Police Officer Asks Speeding Ticket Recipient For Date Thursday, January 5th, 2012
A suburban Chicago police officer tracked down a woman he recently issued a speeding ticket to and asked her to dinner. Now she’s suing.
Police Officer Chris Collins left a handwritten note on the windshield of Evagelina Paredes’s car while it was parked outside her apartment. The note made an offer of dinner and he explained that it was “the least he can do” considering the money the ticket would cost.
Ms. Paredes has filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Chicago. The suit accuses Police Officer Collins of violating her privacy.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the note left by the 27-year-old police officer.
“It’s Chris…that ugly bald Stickney cop who gave you that ticket….I know this may seem crazy and you’re probably right, but truth is I have not stopped thinking about you since. I don’t expect a girl as attractive as you t… even go for a guy like me, but I’m taking a shot anyways.”
“I did cost you $132 — least I can do is buy you dinner,” the note reportedly read.
It may be heartfelt and sincere, Actual traffic enforcement enforcement and real world penalties are different from “Bridesmaids”–very funny movie with a sub plot that included a romance started with a traffic stop.
Perhaps the biggest differences between the movie and the real life incident is that the officer in the movie let her go with a warning and randomly met her again instead of writing the ticket and then stalking her.
NJ Looking For Tougher Teen Driving Laws Thursday, December 15th, 2011
New Jersey is on the verge of having one of the most comprehensive graduated driver license laws in the country. Legislation that’s currently under review would tighten up some holes in existing laws and work to provide teens with a good foundation for a lifetime of driving safely.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski’s teen driving legislation would require a parent-teen orientation, as well as 50 practice hours, including 10 nighttime hours, to be completed during the GDL learning phase. These two new provisions are born from multiple studies which shows that parental involvement is key in ensuring safer teen drivers.
New Jersey AAA is supporting passage of the legislation. Recently, AAA released two national studies that found there is a steep learning curve when it comes to learning to drive. One study found teens were 50 percent more likely to crash in the first month of driving than they are after a full year of experience.
MIT Algorithm Predicts Likelihood Of Running Red Light Sunday, December 4th, 2011
MIT Professor Jonathan How and three of his colleagues announced they’ve created an algorithm that can predict whether an oncoming car is about to run a red light. The algorithm they’ve created can compute the likelihood of a vehicle entering an intersection after the light has turned red based on its rate of deceleration as it is approaching the stopping point.
The team applied the algorithm to more than 15,000 vehicles during the study, using instruments that monitored the speed and location of a vehicle when the lights turned red. When it was time to review their results they found that they were able to correctly predict who would run a red light 85 percent of the time.
Their successful predictions in many cases were made with a level of precision down to mere milliseconds. Prediction of collision can come one to two seconds prior to the collision itself.
Perhaps the technology can be used one day to prevent many red light related accidents before they happen.
MADD looking for New York Drunk Driving Law To Become National Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
New York calls it Leandra’s Law and Mothers Against Drunk Driving wants every state to adopt it.
The anti-drunk driving group MADD will call today for every state to follow New York’s lead and implement a version of the law which automatically makes it a felony to drive drunk with a child in the car.
Today MADD officials will be unveiling in Washington DC a report on drunk driving laws. New York’s Leandra’s Law will be part of that report.
“We consider it the gold standard of child endangerment laws,” MADD National President Jan Withers said.
Leandra’s Law was enacted in 2009 and named for 11 year old Leandra Rosado, who was killed in a drunken driving accident on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan.
The law also mandates the installation of an ignition interlock device (essentially a Breathalyzer) on the car of anyone convicted of a misdemeanor or felony DWI.
According to MADD, more than 1,400 people have been arrested in New York on Leandra’s Law offenses since it’s been in place.
Only three others states – Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma – have similar laws.
In addition to today’s report in DC, MADD offices in each state will be pressing local officials to adopt their own versions of Leandra’s Law.
