National
Motorists
Association

19 Interesting Driving-Related Legal Rulings From This Year

There are hundreds of motorists-related cases that come through the court system each year, but most never attract the attention of the average motorist. What follows is a collection of interesting legal rulings from this year that you may not ...

Making Functional Laws Dysfunctional

By Jim Baxter, NMA President There are many traffic laws that function reasonably well---as long as they are not strictly enforced. Enforcing “the letter of the law” can make a reasonable regulation unreasonable. Prior to the passage of the National Maximum Speed ...

Michigan Cities Break The Law To Generate More Speeding Tickets

The Detroit News recently studied ten randomly selected intersections and found that the speed limit was set incorrectly on all ten. In response, State Representative Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, will be proposing a bill to require cities to follow the ...

Why Did It Take Nearly 30 Years To Fix A Simple Speed Limit Sign?

In a case that illustrates just how few drivers stand up for their rights in court, a woman in Milwaukie, Oregon successfully got her traffic fine erased after figuring out that the speed limit was posted incorrectly. The road was ...

Speed Limits: It’s 1974 All Over Again!

By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist In the Department of Good News: VA is in the process of legalizing the de facto average/typical speed on highways such as I-81 and I-95. Governor McDonnell is expected to sign a new law raising the max ...

Utah Speed Limit Increase Has No Effect On Speed Or Safety

By John Carr, NMA Activist A year ago Utah became the second state in the modern era to post an 80 mile per hour speed limit. Since 1995 state law has specified a 75 mile per hour maximum speed limit. ...

Realistic Speed Limits Reduce Road Rage

In a recent article in The Detroit News, there was an interesting real-life example of how speed limits that are set too low can lead to an increase in dangerous, aggressive driving: [Michigan State Police First Lt. Thad] Peterson said ...

Speed Limits: Slower Does Not Mean Safer

As we've noted many times in the past, speed limits are the most safe when they are set using the 85th percentile speed. Numerous studies have shown that the 85th percentile is the safest possible level at which to set a ...

What Should Cities Do If 90% Of Drivers Exceed The Speed Limit?

According to an article on Chattanoogan.com, a recent traffic study performed on Signal Mountain, Tennessee's roads showed that more than 90% of drivers exceeded the posted speed limit. Can you guess what the city's response was to this fact? If you guessed ...

Report Gets Frosty Reception From Transportation Community

A recent article in the Innovation Briefs newsletter analyzed a recent report entitled "Moving Cooler". The report made the claim that the United States could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 47 percent by the year 2050 just ...