Law and Order

CA’s Anti-Sprawl Bill Crucifies Cars

By Jehovah Johnson
August 29, 2008 - 1,121 views

"Crucifies" may be a bit harsh. Or maybe it isn't. It's hard to tell. The New York Times article detailing the Golden State's new real estate development legislation waits until the eighth paragraph to chart the changes, and even then, it's not entirely clear how it works. "The bill yokes three regulatory and permit processes. One focuses on regional planning: how land use should be split among industry, agriculture, homes, open space and commercial centers. Another governs where roads and bridges are built. A third sets out housing needs and responsibilities… Under the pending measure, the three regulatory and permit processes must be synchronized to meet new goals, set by the state’s Air Resources Board, to reduce heat-trapping gases. Seventeen regional planning groups from across the state will submit their land-use, transportation and housing plans to the board. If the board rules that a plan will fall short of its emissions targets, then an alternative blueprint for meeting the goals must be developed. Once state approval is granted, or an alternative plan submitted, billions of dollars in state and federal transportation subsidies can be awarded. The law would allow the money to be distributed even if an alternative plan fails to pass muster." In English. "The goal is to encourage housing near current development and to reduce commutes to work." Or… "clustered communities," a new stick, the same old carrots and LOTS more red tape. 

The New York Times »

Posted in Law and Order | News Blog | 28 comments

The British Are Coming!

By Edward Niedermeyer
August 28, 2008 - 1,188 views

I've never understood why Britain became the most virulently anti-speed nation in the world. After all, we're talking about the island of TVRs, Mad Caterhams and Stirling Moss. Maybe Old Blighty's regrettable love for the security camera metastasized into speed cameras. In any case, Britons have long taken to venting their surveillance-repressed ids on the French autoroutes. Not that France doesn't have cameras, they just haven't applied cross-border enforcement. Yet. And once on French soil, even the 80mph speed limit isn't enough to satisfy what the Times calls "British speed freaks." In response to a French request for help with the menace, the UK now sends bobbies to help bust speeders around northern French ports. To some effect. "In a four-hour period last weekend, on the A26 motorway near Saint-Omer , a Franco-British patrol stopped 30 cars for breaking the 130km/h (80mph) limit. All but two were from Britain." According to at least one gendarme, Brits just tend to go wild whenever they escape their island home. "The mentality of letting go across the Channel seems to be the same one that makes les Anglais get drunk as soon as they leave their country."

Times of London »

Posted in Crime & Punishment | Europe | Law and Order | News Blog | UK | 16 comments

Citation Rides A Black Helicopter

By Edward Niedermeyer
August 27, 2008 - 1,161 views

Pistonheads reports that Britain's War on Speed is reaching levels of expense and complication to rival our own War on Drugs. Signs have been appearing around Essex to "warn" drivers that something Orwellian this way hovers, as the county has turned to helicopters to fight the evil of speeding. And true to form, the copper chopper is stocked with goodies that would make Big Brother nod his head approvingly. The automated onboard camera system can recognize number plates from 700 ft, and and a "Skyshout" public address system allows officers to bark orders at offending motorists or blast "Flight of the Valkyries" to get all pumped. And with the Orwellian kit comes the kind of tortured justification that brings to mind ol' George's maxim that "the object of power is power." You see, speeders are a tricky lot, and since cars are too easy to ticket, they've switched to motorcycles. Says the chairman of the Essex Casualty Reduction Board, "There is a perception it is sometimes easier for motorcyclists to evade detection of offences because of the speed they travel at. We feel signs warning of the likelihood of detection by air will be an extra incentive for motorcyclists in particular, and all motorists, to drive safely." Which makes the initiative well worth the $1,800/hour expense, right?

Pistonheads »

Posted in Crime & Punishment | Law and Order | News Blog | UK | 24 comments

Photo Ticketing Company Cashes In

By Edward Niedermeyer
August 26, 2008 - 1,109 views

Thenewspaper.com reports that Aussie photo enforcement firm Redflex has announced record profits after camera-issued tickets jumped by 50 percent in the U.S. this year. In fact, $71m of Redflex's $88m annual revenue comes from the states where camera enforcement is taking off. In 2003, Redflex operated fewer than 200 cameras, a number that now stands at 1305 and will hit 1745 by the end of next year. Redflex is on top of the world, bragging there's no end in sight for growth in its business. Except that there is. Some five percent of Redflex cameras have been shut down by court rulings, and cameras are banned from several states. Furthermore, Redflex sold radar units to the state of Arizona which were not approved for use by the FCC, and faces civil penalties as a result. In the course of that investigation, Arizona's Secretary of State found that a Louisiana notary employed by Redflex had falsified certifications for her employers speed cameras. This comes on top of revelations that municipalities are manipulating yellow light times to increase camera revenue. Once again, government and business take whatever measures they deem necessary to extract maximum revenue for minimum effort. Your tax (and fine) dollars at work.

The Newspaper »

Posted in Crime & Punishment | Law and Order | Legal | News Blog | Politics | 23 comments

Welsh Police Getting [Even] Sneakier to Trap Speeders

By Frank Williams
August 19, 2008 - 1,311 views

The police in North Wales [UK] aren't horsing around. Literally. They're using an SUV hauling an empty horse trailer to hide a speed camera to fatten the civic coffers catch miscreants brazen enough to flaunt the law by exceeding the posted speed limit. The video shows the setup in action and the police scurrying to move it to a different location when they realize they're being watched. And if that wasn't sneaky enough, the Welsh po-po also deploy a pair of high-performance motorcycles for the same purpose. The unmarked bikes sit by the side of the road until a group of bikers pass. Then they join at the rear of the pack. They just wait for the bikes ahead to start speeding so the camera can start printing money photographing lawbreakers. At £60 each ($120), it hasn't taken long for these to become part of the revenue machine. TheNewspaper.com reports "local speed camera partnerships collected £10 million (US $20 million) from 160,126 automated tickets issued in 2006 with North Wales accounting for more than a third of the total."

theNewspaper.com »

Posted in Crime & Punishment | Law and Order | News Blog | UK | 22 comments

BMW and Big Brother: Together Again

By Robert Farago
August 19, 2008 - 1,130 views

I like all these automotive technologies that make it possible for the government to spy on you: black box accident data recorders, OnStar vehicle monitoring (complete with built-in microphone and remote "slow down"), insurance-related transponders, etc. I like the assurances the companies provide that they will never share the information with anyone, ever, unless the government twists their arm. And I like not having any of it in my vehicle (when possible). BMW joins the no-thanks parade with a new feature in its next gen 7-Series. The gizmo's camera reads speed limit signs, compares GPS-stored speed limit data to your current speed, and then flashes the fact that you're speeding on the heads-up display. "The new BMW Speed Limit Display will significantly reduce the risk of drivers exceeding the speed limit by mistake,” BMW Group Australia Marketing General Manager Tom Noble tells WardsAuto. "The technology is an information system only and does not intervene in the control or speed of the vehicle in any way, the auto maker says." Whew!

WardsAuto »

Posted in Crime & Punishment | Gizmology | Law and Order | New Cars | News Blog | 27 comments

GM Forks Over $277m in Shareholder Lawsuit. Second Case Simmers

By Robert Farago
August 8, 2008 - 1,433 views

Having escaped The Bored of Directors' Night of the Soft Pillows, GM CEO Rick Wagoner once again watches as his employer takes a hit to its [somewhat nebulous] bottom line. Reuters reports The General is shelling-out $277m to settle a shareholders' lawsuit "contending the automaker made false and misleading statements." (Presumably, in its accounts, rather than generally.) You may recall there was a while there when GM restated its earnings more often than a squealing bookie– which is a bit bizarre (or not) as Wagoner ascended the throne from the Chief Financial Officer slot. Anyway, "In the regulatory filing [which exposed the payoff], GM also disclosed the tentative settlement of a separate lawsuit brought by shareholders, agreeing to make unspecified changes to its corporate governance rules. GM also agreed not to oppose plaintiffs' attorney fees of up to $7.5 million in that case." Unspecified changes? Hang on; is this a publicly-held company or not? And if you think this is bad, wait 'til you see the legal bills when the artist once known as the world's largest automaker files for C11. 

Reuters »

Posted in Chapter 11 | High Finance | Law and Order | News Blog | 12 comments

St Louis Company “Lends” Out Seized Cars

By Edward Niedermeyer
July 22, 2008 - 46 views

In St Louis, MO the company responsible for handling seized cars is being accused of giving "sweetheart deals" for cars that had been taken from their owners. The St Louis Post-Dispatch reports that S&H Parking gave a seized car to the St Louis police chief's daughter in 2002, and sold her other cars at less than half the market price since then. A report from a local law firm alleges that Aimee Mokwa and "a number of unnamed officers" had been given free use of previously-impounded vehicles. Her father, police chief Joe Mokwa, denies any wrongdoing, but his officers responded to several accidents involving his daughter while she was driving a seized car. Not only was her unlicensed, unregistered seized car not returned to private ownership, but Ms. Mokwa was also not charged with any crimes despite having a blood alcohol level several times above the legal limit. In short, S&H Parking made big profits from car seizures, and gave the police chief's daughter a number of sweet deals to keep the gravy train rolling while his officers kept her out of jail. Of course, the police department's legal team says that the deals weren't improper since Ms. Mokwa is not a member of the force, and her father claims to have been oblivious. Absolute power may corrupt absolutely, but petty power is always abused in the most embarrassingly pathetic ways. (Hat Tip: Reason Hit & Run)

The St Louis Post-Dispatch »

Posted in Crime & Punishment | Law and Order | News Blog | 18 comments

“As long as most people speed, obeying the law can be dangerous”

By Frank Williams
July 21, 2008 - 49 views

That's what The Star-Ledger columnist Bob Braun (via nj.com) concluded when he drove the same 55-mile route two times: once keeping pace with traffic, and once at just above the 65-mph speed limit. If you've driven on the highway anywhere lately, I don't need to tell you the outcome (but I will anyway). Keeping pace with traffic, Braun drove 80 - 85 mph and had no cause for concern. Driving 68 mph, he was passed by almost everyone, tailgated and found himself in dangerous situations more than once. He quotes Charles Lave, University of California at Irvine economist: "I find that there is no statistically discernible relationship between the fatality rate and average speed, though there is a strong relationship to speed variance. Variance kills, not speed." Perhaps the lawmakers need to be reminded of this fact as they consider lowering speed limits in the name of saving fuel. (An aside: does that mean the more fuel-efficient a car is, the faster it'll be allowed to go?) If our elected representatives are stupid enough to drop the national speed limit back to the double nickel, accident rates will go up as the variance between those who want to get there in a reasonable time and those who drive the speed limit increases. It makes more sense to raise the speed limit for safety's sake. As Braun points out, "if everyone uniformly sped, or, if everyone obeyed the limits, then we'd be safer." And you know the majority aren't going to obey the limits.

nj.com »

Posted in Crime & Punishment | Fuel Economy | Law and Order | News Blog | Safety | 74 comments

The Double Nickle Strikes Back

By Edward Niedermeyer
July 14, 2008 - 9 views

One of the many important lessons I learned from my father was a healthy disrespect for partisan politics. A self described "pox-on-both-your-houses" independent, the elder Mr Niedermeyer has only ever donated to one political campaign in his entire life: the effort to repeal the federal 55mph speed limit. Though he now seems more interested in hypermiling than high-speed hoonery, it may be time for the paterfamilias to reach for the checkbook once again. The Wall Street Journal reports that Senator John Warner has written the U.S. Energy Secretary and the Government Accountability Office asking them to study the possibility of once again lowering federal speed limits. Though Sen. Warner says he's not necessarily advocating a return to the double-nickel, he wants to bring the issue before congress before the fall election recess. "I am every day trying to work on concepts to achieve some conservation now," Warner says. "I mean N-O-W." In his letter, Warner requests that the feds determine the speeds at which modern vehicles operate most efficiently. It's all a bit moot of course, as NHTSA data shows that three quarters of drivers broke the speed limit within a month of being interviewed. Oh, and Senator Warner retires this fall. And, as the WSJ aptly points out: "The speed limit issue isn't really about any of that. It's a powerful, easily grasped symbol of the freedom, mobility and affluence Americans enjoyed when energy was cheap. Letting go of that sense of freedom won't be easy, even if it is the sensible thing to do." 

Wall Street Journal »

Posted in Fuel Economy | Law and Order | News Blog | 38 comments