New statewide Arizona freeway speed camera tickets will come without point penalties to your driving record.

In a severe blow to the insurance industry, the cash-strapped Arizona state legislature yesterday approved an expansive speed camera program designed to boost state revenue by dropping license points and eliminating costly legal challenges. Governor Janet Napolitano (D) first announced the proposal in January, expecting it to generate $165 million in revenue from new $165 “civil” tickets mailed to vehicle owners.

The plan was adopted as part of a much larger $9.9 billion budget package that passed 16-10 in the state Senate and 31-29 in the House. Lawmakers had been desperate to find new ways to cover a $2 billion deficit. The approved budget authorizes the Department of Public Safety to hand a private company up to $20,361,300 to set up and operate speed cameras on freeways throughout the state. The first $3 million of net profit generated will go to police agencies to buy tasers, $4 million will go to the courts and the remainder will be deposited in the general fund for spending by lawmakers.

Until now, Arizona had been one of a handful of states, including California, Colorado and Illinois, to issue points against the driver’s license of the owner of a car accused by a machine of speeding. Although motorists may prefer not having points on their license, the change to a civil citation is designed to reduce costs and court challenges. Instead of proving a case beyond a reasonable doubt, the state will only need to show that it was “likely” that a vehicle was speeding. The owner of the car would then be liable, regardless of whether he was actually driving.

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Red light cameras in Texas are ticketing motorists who had legally entered intersections.

In one of my previous posts, I discussed just what constitutes running a red light in the state of Texas, and where you should stop. Well, there seems to be a new twist on the issue, Thanks to Garland, TX, the first city to install red light cameras. Read on…

The red light camera programs throughout Texas have opened themselves up to a significant new legal challenge. KTVT-TV reports that the Garland, Texas has essentially made up its own definition of red light running to ticket motorists who have not violated the law. Since Garland was one of the first cities to adopt red light cameras, its ordinance served as a model for the rest of the state. Most other cities use Garland’s definition of red light running.

According to Garland’s ordinance, a ticket will be issued “if the vehicle proceeds into an intersection at a system location when the traffic control signal for that vehicle’s direction of travel is emitting a steady red signal.” Garland defines entering the intersection as crossing an imaginary line that runs between the end points of the curb drawn parallel to the crosswalk. At one Garland intersection, the imaginary line would be ten feet beyond the painted stop bar.

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Drivers who fight their cases in traffic court in Collier County, Florida are getting punished more harshly than motorists in other counties.

That’s what attorneys Mark Gold and Ted Hollander of The Ticket Clinic in West Palm Beach determined while traveling statewide representing motorists in traffic cases. And they’re accusing Collier County judges of conspiring to prejudge cases to whittle down their increased caseloads.

The dispositions grew even more severe after state budget cuts eliminated hearing officers, resulting in Collier County judges presiding over traffic cases beginning on April 1, adding to their caseloads.

The lawyers reviewed their cases and statewide statistics, determining that about 86 percent of those who contested their cases in Collier County were found guilty of speeding, compared with 5 percent statewide.

And 40 percent here were hit with license suspensions.

“That’s astronomical,” said Hollander, whose firm specializes in traffic tickets. “Nowhere do you see anything like that.”

Gold and Hollander said their clients also were being denied hardship licenses, which allow motorists to drive only to and from work.

They thought something unusual was going on, so they sought judges’ e-mails under the state public records law. They got 42. One provided insight.

An April 4 e-mail from County Judge Vince Murphy to all Collier County judges said he was writing to tell judges how he and Judge Eugene Turner handled cases that first day of traffic court. It referred to Hollander’s and Gold’s local co-counsel, Naples attorney Lee Carney, saying he set several cases for afternoon hearings to work out plea deals with law officers for withholds of adjudication. He urged judges not to accept deals once a case reaches hearing day.

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From time to time, I review the visitor statistics for SpeedTrapAhead.org, just to see what people are searching for when they click to this site. There are always the usual keywords: speed trap, police radar, speeding ticket, James DeBrow (heh, heh), etc. But, I’m amazed at how often the search for “flashing headlights to warn drivers” shows up. Apparently, there are alot of people who are concerned about the legal aspects of flashing headlights to warn other drivers of cops ahead.

There ARE quite a few references to this issue on other sites; but, I thought I’d submit my perspective on the subject. Ever since I was a little kid, I can remember my dad flashing his lights at other cars for some reason or another. It’s a great communication tool, whether it’s to signal “I’m about to pass you”, “You’re clear”, “Thanks”, “Dim your lights”, or “Danger ahead”. My Granddad did it. My father did it. I do it! I think it’s just a natural way to communicate non-verbally. However, it seems to be more common lately for people to worry about whether they’re gonna get into trouble for warning others in this manner.

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St. Louis, Missouri highway sets up speed traps with continuously changing speed limits.

Motorists on Missouri’s Interstate 270 yesterday experienced for the first time an enforced speed limit that was lowered by remote control. Under a new variable speed limit program, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) installed electronic signs that allow officials to reduce the maximum speed limit on particular sections of road by as much as 20 MPH from the basic 60 MPH speed limit.

Motorists who may have missed the sign, perhaps obscured by a passing semi truck, risk being ticketed if they continue driving at 60 MPH.

“A defensive driver, who is paying attention to the road, should be able to pay attention to the speed limit signs, important messages on the overhead message board, his or her speed, as well as paying attention to the other drivers on the road,” the MoDOT website explains. “The Missouri Highway Patrol has the primary responsibility of enforcing those speed limits. They have indicated that they will support the reduced limits and will be using various methods to track speeders and issue tickets.”

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