Red Light Camera Exec Busted For Online "Sockpuppeteering"
An executive from American Traffic Solutions, a purveyor of red light cameras, has been suspended after being exposed for posing as an area resident in 43 comments on red light camera-related stories at the Everett Herald. The Herald reported last Friday
Some readers have suggested “W Howard” has been posting comments as part of a marketing campaign run by American Traffic Solutions, Inc. The Scottsdale-based company contracts to provide enforcement camera services in Lynnwood and Seattle. It had inked a similar deal in Mukilteo last year, then [ anti-camera activist Tim] Eyman pushed for a public vote. Upshot: no cameras in Mukilteo, and a spreading movement around Washington that has growing numbers of people asking questions about enforcement camera technology.
Heraldnet.com requires that people who wish to post comments supply us with a live email address at the time they create their user account. “W Howard” gave an address at American Traffic Solutions. It is one used by Bill Kroske, vice president of business development at ATS. Somebody techie here ran down the internet protocol address that’s being used for “W Howard’s” posts. The electronic trail led straight back to Kroske’s company in Scottsdale.
Kroske pitched Mukilteo on the cameras. He recently was in Bellingham, suggesting a similar arrangement. He’s been the public face of American Traffic Solutions in arranging camera contracts in Washington.
ATS spokesman Charley Territo (whom TTAC readers may remember from his days as spokesman for the Alliance of Auto Manufacturers and TTAC guest editorialist) tells the Spokane Spokesman-Review (where, it turns out, Kroske had left nine pro-camera comments) that his co-worker had expressed his uncontrollable pro-camera passions “the wrong way” by not identifying himself and posing as a local resident. Ya think? [Hit the jump for a full statement from ATS President James Tuton].
Meanwhile, are there any TTAC commenters who have something they need to get off their chests?
ATS President James Tuton tells the Herald
I wanted to take an opportunity to clarify the position of ATS regarding the alleged recent actions of one of our employees. We appreciate this issue being brought to our attention and want to be clear: we do not encourage or condone the kind of behavior your investigation seems to have uncovered. ATS is disappointed and embarrassed by these actions. Such a lack of disclosure violates not only ATS company policy, but also our core values. While we share in the commenter’s passion for red light safety cameras, we also recognize the importance of honest engagement. The employee in question has been suspended indefinitely pending further investigation. Furthermore, we are taking steps to make sure all of our employees know that this type of activity is unacceptable.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Latest Car Reviews
Read moreLatest Product Reviews
Read moreRecent Comments
- Carson D A friend of mine bought a Cayenne GTS last week. I was amazed how small the back seat is. Did I expect it to offer limousine comfort like a Honda CR-V? I guess not. That it is far more confining and uncomfortable than any 4-door Civic made in the past 18 years was surprising. It reminded me of another friend's Mercedes-Benz CLS550 from a dozen years ago. It seems like a big car, but really it was a 2+2 with the utilitarian appearance of a 4-door sedan. The Cayenne is just an even more utilitarian looking 2+2. I suppose the back seat is bigger than the one in the Porsche my mother drove 30 years ago. The Cayenne's luggage bay is huge, but Porsche's GTs rarely had problems there either.
- Stanley Steamer Oh well, I liked the Legacy. It didn't help that they ruined it's unique style after 2020. It was a classy looking sedan up to that point.
- Jalop1991 https://notthebee.com/article/these-people-wore-stop-signs-to-prank-self-driving-cars-and-this-is-a-trend-i-could-totally-get-behindFull self stopping.
- Lou_BC Summit Racing was wise to pull the parts. It damages their reputation. I've used Summit Racing for Jeep parts that I could not find elsewhere.
- MaintenanceCosts The crossover is now just "the car," part 261.
Comments
Join the conversation
Did he explicitly say he was from that town though, or did he only strongly imply he was (like in the quote above). Not condoning this at all and definitely not condoning those friggin speed/red light cameras, just saying there's a bit of a grey area here IMO. Ok, in this case it would seem 'W. Howard' is a bit of a douchebag trying to profit from misleading people with false information, but what about a VW car salesman that says something positive about a VW product in a comment(!) on TTAC without disclosing he's a VW car salesman every time? -no, I'm not- I'm all for full disclosure and unbiased (or disclosedly biased) news, but sometimes it can get a little silly: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-24-2011/family-matters
But it doesn't stop with VP Kroske. He was just one of ATS' spokesmen. There's at least one other, and he is potentially much more dangerous. He is Mark Rosenker, former chair of the NTSB. Having retired from the NTSB he now is Senior Advisor to an ATS-supported pro-camera group. Taking advantage of the status conferred by the association with the NTSB, Rosenker has been granted numerous pro-camera "guest columns" in newspapers around the country. In all of the columns he mentioned his current position as Senior Advisor to the National Coalition for Safer Roads but never disclosed that the NCSR is supported by ATS. Nor did he or his newspaper hosts mention that early in his career Rosenker did electronic monitoring for Pres. Nixon. And it doesn't stop with Rosenker. Bancams dot com has shown that ATS is behind many of the "citizen supported" pro-camera websites you'll find in towns where the company is entrenched. To find the bancams article, put "stupid" in their search box.