Driving News Roundup: August 3, 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.
Missouri: St. Louis continues to install red-light cameras, despite judge’s ruling
Six months after a judge officially declared the city’s red-light camera ordinance void, St. Louis officials and the city’s third-party camera vendor, American Traffic Solutions, are busy installing even more of the devices throughout the city.
Pennsylvania: PPA to refund $800G in fines from red-light cameras
The Philadelphia Parking Authority will refund about $800,000 in red-light-camera fines issued between Feb. 11 and April 13 at the intersection of Island Avenue and Lindbergh Boulevard in the Eastwick section of Philadelphia. The agency said Friday that refunds are necessary because the PPA failed to post the required warning signs at the intersection when the cameras were first installed.
North Carolina: Cary puts red-light cameras on chopping block
Local red-light cameras may come off their mounts soon. Town staff have recommended Cary discontinue its SafeLight program, which is one of just four in the state that uses automated cameras to ticket red-light runners.
Texas: Distractions lead to frequent police crashes
Many Texas police departments don’t follow their own advice when it comes to warnings about distracted driving. Crashes involving distractions inside police vehicles now frequently happen across the state.
ACLU tries to track license plate readers
The American Civil Liberties Union sent dozens of coordinated letters to federal and local police agencies across the country requesting information about how they use license plate readers, real-time tracking devices that have little public oversight. Locally, hundreds of cameras on public roads in the District and its suburbs scan license plates as cars drive by.
New Jersey: Assemblyman tries to catch intersection cameras red-handed
Skeptical of a finding by the state last week that all 85 of New Jersey’s red-light cameras were properly calibrated, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon decided to do a little field testing of his own. Coordinating with O’Scanlon, the NMA commissioned a professional engineer to do an independent study of the red-light cameras and found questionable timing at five intersections in the first two days of testing.
Distracted walkers and talkers keeping emergency rooms busy, safety experts warn
On city streets, in suburban parking lots and in shopping centers, there is usually someone strolling while talking on a phone, texting with his head down, listening to music, or playing a video game. The problem isn’t as widely discussed as distracted driving, but the danger is real.
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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