Free Republic

TRENTON — New Jersey's new car seat law goes into effect this week with some of the most restrictive rules in the nation on how kids should be buckled into vehicles. The law, which begins Sept. 1, includes new regulations that require toddlers under age 2 and 30 lbs. to remain in rear-facing car seats. Older kids must remain in a booster seat until they are either age 8 or 57 inches tall. That could mean big changes for many New Jersey families. The state's previous law only said children under age 8 needed to be in a car seat...

It is a petition to end what many Tucson drivers describe as a traffic light trap. John Kromko is the man behind the petition. His group, Tucson Traffic Justice, claims the cameras are a scam. ... Ditching the cameras is not as far-fetched as it may seem. More and more cities are shutting down the system including San Diego, Los Angeles and Tempe.

Michigan’s local governments would have the option to put cameras at intersections to spot drivers running red lights under proposed legislation in the state House. A measure recently introduced by Republican Rep. Wayne Schmidt of Traverse City would give local communities the power to put cameras in place. “This legislation will give more local control to our municipalities while offering a safer environment for the people who live in these communities,” he said in a statement. The bill has gained the support of local law enforcement officials, who say the cameras will act as an extra deterrent to prevent drivers...

TAMPA BAY, Florida (WTSP) -- A subtle, but significant tweak to Florida's rules regarding traffic signals has allowed local cities and counties to shorten yellow light intervals, resulting in millions of dollars in additional red light camera fines. The 10 News Investigators discovered the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) quietly changed the state's policy on yellow intervals in 2011, reducing the minimum below federal recommendations. The rule change was followed by engineers, both from FDOT and local municipalities, collaborating to shorten the length of yellow lights at key intersections, specifically those with red light cameras (RLCs). While yellow light times...

Patrol fires 12 troopers in cheating case Thursday, September 11, 2008 3:21 AM FROM THE (CANTON) REPOSITORY CANTON -- Twelve officers accused of cheating on a certification test for a device used to gather evidence against intoxicated drivers have been fired from the State Highway Patrol. Patrol spokesman Lt. Tony Bradshaw said it's the first time in the law-enforcement agency's 75-year history that so many officers have been let go at once. The patrol said the three sergeants and eight troopers from the Canton post and one Wooster trooper cheated on a certification exam for administering breath tests to determine...

Denver activated its first red-light ticket camera this morning, and will give drivers violating it a 30-day grace period to get used to the system. Denver plans to increase yellow times at the three other intersections where red light ticket cameras will soon go live –

Michael Kubosh, a former Democratic Texas Senate candidate, deliberately ran a red light at a intersection in Houston.  He got a $75 ticket in the mail and nearly six months later, he has filed a lawsuit against the city of Houston. "I've been telling the mayor that if they put these cameras up in Houston, I'm going to take them out of Houston.  Then I am going to Dallas, I'm going to Garland and San Antonio.  If you put them up in Lubbock, I am coming there," said Kubosh.But before his red light camera tour of Texas, he is focusing on a...

Property owners or tenants who don't remove graffiti within two weeks after receiving notice from the city could be fined up to $500 under a proposal sent to the City Council on Monday. Councilman Adrian Garcia, chairman of the committee, said the change would help city officials enforce rules that require Houstonians to remove graffiti on their property in a timely manner. "People don't want to be at risk of getting a ticket," he said. Existing law requires property owners to abate graffiti within 30 days, or ask the city to do it.

St. Paul's chief says the directive is to provide a standard to measure performance — not fill city coffers. But the union and drivers aren't happy. Let the meter expire, even for a minute or two, and there's a parking officer issuing a ticket. Park too close to a driveway or ignore a permit-only sign and again it's ticket time. If it seems like St. Paul aggressively enforces parking meters and rules, this might help explain why: To make sure the city's enforcement officers are working hard, police want each agent to write tickets for 55 violations a day. Parking...

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission sent a message to bar patrons last week. TABC agents and Irving police swept through 36 Irving bars and arrested about 30 people on charges of public intoxication. Agency representatives say the move came as a proactive measure to curtail drunken driving. North Texans interviewed by NBC 5, however, worried that the sweep went too far. At one location, for example, agents and police arrested patrons of a hotel bar. Some of the suspects said they were registered at the hotel and had no intention of driving. Arresting authorities said the patrons were a danger...

A Metro General Sessions judge summarily retired dozens of traffic tickets scheduled to be heard earlier this month, including one for House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh. Metro General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland says he doesn't think he did anything wrong when he cleared 72 of the 74 tickets for people that showed up to traffic court on Feb. 16. The decision to retire the tickets had nothing to do with Naifeh, the judge said. The judge said he was in a buoyant mood after learning he would be running unopposed in this year's election. "It just happened to be 30 minutes...

Not particularly important, but very funny. Simon Thompson was issued a ticket for flipping the bird to a speeding camera manned by traffic police. Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

The holiday season brings the deadliest drunken drivers to our nation's highways. If the trend continues, nearly half of the fatal crashes that happen during the Christmas and New Year's holidays will involve at least one impaired driver. "Impaired" means anyone with a blood alcohol level above 0.08. Throughout the rest of the year, only 30 percent of highway fatalities include impaired drivers. In an effort to make our roads safer, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, did some investigating and found that young men between the ages of 18 and 34 were responsible for the vast majority...

With major capital projects on the horizon, Hoffman Estates may turn to drunken drivers for additional revenue, following the lead of communities such as Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Hanover Park and Rolling Meadows. Beginning next year, drunken drivers may have to cough up an additional $500 if they get pinched on village streets. With DUI arrests in Hoffman Estates fluctuating between 300 and 500 annually over the last four years, the village could garner an extra $150,000 to $250,000. That's on top of a $100 per DUI arrest fee that the state remits annually to local arresting agencies across Illinois....

NEW YORK -- It's an only in New York story. A woman was given a ticket for sitting on a park bench because she doesn't have children. The Rivington Playground on Manhattan's East Side has a small sign at the entrance that says adults are prohibited unless they are accompanied by a child. Sandra Catena, 47, said she didn't see the sign when she sat down to wait for an arts festival to start. Two police officers asked her if she was with a child. When she said no, they gave her a ticket that could bring a $1,000 fine...

Badly timed traffic signals cost Union City big bucks Yellow cycle found to be too short; red-light camera tickets to be dismissed By Barry Shatzman, CORRESPONDENT UNION CITY — Every ticket generated by red-light enforcement cameras in the city before last Saturday will be dismissed due to a snafu — letting thousands of red-light runners off the hook and costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in anticipated revenue. Police officials and city engineers discovered last week that the yellow-light duration at every one of its camera-enforced intersections was too short — in some cases by more than a...

The city of Coopertown’s 2005-06 budget will see almost a million dollar increase in revenue from last year due to community development and increased ticketing by police officers. According to city documents, the majority of the new revenue is being brought in by the addition of seven major developments in need of building permits. Existing developments in Coopertown planning expansion during the next fiscal year are Windmere, Winland, Oak Point, Bella Vista, and Autumn Hills. Two new housing developments, Crab Tree Acres and Hunter Green, are also being planned, officials said. However, a large portion of the revenue will come...

Nigerian state to 'arrest and fine' stray animals Thu Jul 28, 8:43 AM ET KANO, Nigeria (AFP) - Authorities in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna have set up a squad to "arrest" stray farm animals and a mobile court to fine their owners after a series of freak accidents, officials said. Cows, camels, goats and donkeys have long been a common sight on the roads and streets of Nigeria, but their tendency to roam unattended has recently become more controversial after three terrible incidents involving cattle. In May, 25 people were killed when a truck swerved to avoid a...

Anna Phelan and Emily Adams wanted to end their four years at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School with a memorable backyard graduation party. There was a blues band, a moon bounce, a popcorn machine and a pit for making s'mores. Guests feasted on hot dogs, hamburgers and bratwurst. There was plenty of ginger ale, cranberry juice and root beer to go around. What there wasn't plenty of was alcohol. "It was pretty low-key, and it was just sweet," Margaret Engel Adams, Emily's mother, said of the party for about 80 friends and relatives. "It was just pretty much out of Norman...

Police Use New Tool Against Seat Belt Violators Officers Issue 111 Citations At Checkpoint POSTED: 6:46 a.m. EDT June 2, 2005 UPDATED: 7:34 a.m. EDT June 2, 2005 Story by nbc4.com ROCKVILLE, Md. -- A piece of electronic equipment that's often used by military personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq is now being used by police in Maryland to catch seat belt violators. Wednesday night at a seat-belt enforcement checkpoint, police from several Maryland agencies started using night-vision goggles to see if motorists were buckled up. After a briefing at the Maryland State Police barracks in Rockville, where strategy was discussed,...