Free Republic

The House on Saturday also advanced a bill (HB 1563) that would impose steep fees for certain driving violations to help generate money for road improvements. Under the proposal, the Department of Motor Vehicles would impose fees of $250 for driving with a suspended or revoked license, $350 for reckless driving and $750 for drunken driving. The fees would be paid annually for three years after the offenses. The DMV also would impose a $100 fee for Virginia drivers with four demerit points on their licenses and $75 for each additional demerit point up to seven.

The Virginia Transportation Research Council studied all of the state red light camera programs and found an overall increase in injury accidents. A brand new, exhaustive study of all seven Virginia red light camera programs shows an overall increase in injury accidents has occured where the devices are installed. The study was performed by The Virginia Transportation Research Council at the request of the state transportation secretary. The report also notes a fatal flaw in the Virginia's camera law -- motorists can ignore any ticket received in the mail. Only tickets that are personally served matter (the same thing happened...

WASHINGTON -- On any given road, at any given time, the posted speed limit might be wildly dangerous -- or completely absurd. So how fast (or slowly) should we drive? An interstate highway with a posted maximum of 65 mph might be perfectly safe to travel at 75 or 80 mph on a clear summer -- but treacherous at 45 mph in January, after a heavy snow. Common sense tells us the posted limit of 65 mph is too low in the first instance -- and a recipe for a wreck in the second. Most of us therefore continually adjust...

D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams cited the "urgent need" to collect revenue in his recent request to continue the city's automated traffic-enforcement program, which added four new cameras yesterday, despite previous assurances that use of the technology is driven by concerns for safety, not profits.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A judge is offering traffic violators a choice: pay a fine or make a $100 donation to a tsunami relief charity. Municipal Judge Russell Bean began the offer Monday and plans to continue it for at least two weeks. "If they make this $100 donation to one of these programs like Red Cross or Save the Children, I will give them amnesty," Bean said. "I don't want to force this on them, but I thought this would be a good way for people to make a difference." Miranda Cagle, who went before the judge on charges of...

Starting New Year's Day, if your car breaks down on a Houston freeway, expect a tow truck to show up promptly to whisk you out of the way whether you want the service or not. Houston's new towing ordinance takes effect Saturday. It is a major piece of Mayor Bill White's traffic-management plan that declares all freeways to be tow-away zones. The city has signed contracts with wrecker companies to patrol 29 freeway sections and immediately remove any stalled or wrecked cars, expanding a pilot project that's been in place on the Katy Freeway since March. White contends the policy...

(1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) It appears the New York City budget crunch has police writing tickets for things that are moving and not moving. A Bronx man tells the Daily News he was given a ticket for sitting on a milk crate outside the hair salon where he works on the Grand Councourse. The ticket says "unauthorized use of a milk crate." The fine was not immediately known. But 19-year-old Jesse Taveras told the News he was flabbergasted when the police officer handed him the ticket Sunday afternoon. Taveras says the cop told him to "Blame Bloomberg." Owning a stolen...