Driving News Roundup: August 10, 2012
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: Glen Echo pushes for Maryland’s first stop sign camera
Unlike speed and red-light cameras, Maryland law does not allow stop sign cameras. Though the small town along the Potomac River has only about 100 houses, 200,000 cars drive through the main intersection every year, and more than 80 percent of them ignore the stop sign according to the town Mayor.
6 dumb car thieves
Stealing a car isn’t rocket science, but it may as well be for these aspiring master criminals, all of whom got caught. These stories, straight out of “News of the Weird,” led me to wonder if there are a lot of really dumb car thieves out there. It turns out there are!
New Jersey: Firm plans class-action lawsuit over red-light cameras
A Roseland law firm is planning to file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of those who have received tickets for running red lights at most of the intersections in the state where there are red-light cameras, one of the firm’s lawyers said last week.
Washington D.C. – More speed cameras deployed in D.C.
For the second time this year, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is widening its seemingly ever-expanding automated traffic enforcement dragnet. The MPD has deployed nearly a dozen new automated speed locations in and around the nation’s capital.
Massachusetts: Boston traffic enforcement officer struck by bus
Authorities say an MBTA bus driver, apparently trying to avoid a parking ticket, struck the parking enforcement officer with her bus as she drove away before causing damage to several other cars. Officials say the bus was in a no-stopping zone Thursday when a supervisor with the Boston Transportation Department prepared to write a ticket.
U.K.: Why 20mph speed limits will not cut accidents in Kent
Yet again there is an argument over possible further speed limit reductions to 20mph in towns and 40mph in the country. There’s just one hitch though. Most of the arguments in favor of returning drivers to little short of a pre-1930 situation center on safety and accident, death and injury reduction.
New York: Microsoft and NYPD make new Precrime tool, hopes you won’t get a red ball
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly unvield a new partnership with the Microsoft Corporation. Working together, New York Police Department and Microsoft developed a crime prevention and counterterrorism information analysis platform they call Domain Awareness System. When fully deployed, the new system will provide NYPD investigators and analysts a comprehensive view of potential threats and criminal activity.
To see more stories like the ones above, check out our NMA Driving News site. Each weekday we update the site with news stories that are interesting and/or informative for drivers like you.
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