Driving News Roundup: May 24, 2013

This is a weekly feature on the NMA Blog, running each Friday, where we highlight seven of the most interesting driving news stories of the week.

Maryland: Baltimore denies speed camera cover up
Earlier this month, the city of Baltimore, Maryland told the state’s Open Meetings Compliance Board that it was keeping meetings of the city’s speed camera task force secret, in violation of state law. Assistant City Solicitor Hilary Ruley provided screenshots to show that announcements were placed somewhere on the website at some point for a pair of meetings.

Gas tax on mileage shatters right to privacy
The idea of a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax is being discussed — and actually tested in states like Oregon and Iowa. It would be an alternative to the federal gas tax, which is under review by Congress and could lead to a new system for funding highway construction and repairs when the measure comes up for reauthorization in 2014. Read the rest of this article »

2013 Nissan Quest Review

By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist

Minivans — traditional minivans — are becoming scarce. GM and Ford don’t even make them anymore. That leaves Chrysler (Town & County — and its lower-rent Dodge sibling, the Caravan — which is also re-sold by VW as the Routan), the Honda Odyssey, Toyota’s Sienna — and the Nissan Quest, subject of this write-up.

Well, what’s it got that the others don’t have?

And does it lack stuff the others have got? Read the rest of this article »

TheNewspaper.com Roundup: May 22, 2013

Each Wednesday, we’ll publish quick summaries of the articles from the last week on TheNewspaper.com. We’re doing this because these articles are often strongly connected to the issues that National Motorists Association members are interested in.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Maryland, UK: Complaints Upheld Against Speed Camera Operators
Members of the public are having success holding speed camera companies and their customers accountable. This week, governmental agencies in England and Maryland upheld citizen complaints against the proponents of automated ticketing.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Tolling Interstate 95 In Virginia, North Carolina Hits Roadblock
Plans to convert Interstate 95 into a toll road in North Carolina and Virginia have run into a roadblock. On Tuesday, the North Carolina House of Representatives will vote on final passage of a measure that would prohibit the state from installing toll booths on existing general purpose lanes. The measure passed on a preliminary vote 113-0 last Thursday. Read the rest of this article »

The Loss of Objectivity

By Gary Biller, NMA President

The fallout from the National Transportation Safety Board’s call for the legal definition of drunk driving to be lowered from the current 0.08 percent of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) across all 50 states to 0.05 is just beginning.

The New York Times requested the NMA to provide a 300-word rebuttal to the proposal for their “Room for Debate” point-counterpoint online forum. We gladly did so, realizing that a balanced discussion of this heated issue is necessary and critical to the future of driving and drivers’ rights in this country. Read the rest of this article »

Nine Speeds, Ten Speeds: All To Keep Up With CAFE

By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist

In a few years, six-speed transmissions will probably seem as dated as Powerglides or threes-on-the-tree do today. Several current model-year cars already have seven and even eight-speed transmissions (Porsche 911, Chrysler 300, BMW 5 Series, etc.).

This is about twice the number of gears the typical automotive transmission boasted as recently as the Clinton Years. When I was a kid, three-speed automatics were common. And the only vehicles with more than five speeds had Kenworth or Mack on their radiator shells.

Well, get ready for the nine-speed box. And after that, the ten speed box. Not for big-rigs. For your next new car. Read the rest of this article »