Presenting the Next Automated Traffic Enforcement Device—the Noise Camera: NMA E-Newsletter #656
Let’s face it—most of us dislike loud motorcycles or vehicles revving up next to us at an intersection, blowing by us on an interstate, or disrupting the solitude of our neighborhoods. But to use automated devices to catch people who are exceedingly noisy seems to push us deeper into the world of Big Brother than […]
Only as drunk as you can prove
The Internet liked the story. Woman smashes $20,000 breathalyzer. The smashy woman from Coxsackie likely got her “aggravated DUI” dropped down to a regular DUI. Or in plain English, got her drunk driving charge dropped down to buzzed driving. Here are the official names for three crimes in New York: driving while ability impaired, driving […]
When is a fee not a fee?
Before the holidays a state judge delayed implementation of a new tax on taxi rides in New York City, part of the Mayor’s congestion pricing plan. Later this month he will be asked to strike the tax down permanently. Whatever the press may call it, it’s not a congestion fee, it’s a tax on a […]
Which is worse, speeding or homicide?
A couple years ago I wrote about New York City Administrative Code section 19-190, which says you’re not supposed to hurt a pedestrian who has right of way. The city posted the disposition of every AC 19-190 case online. As I write this, 3,417 tickets have been written, or about one ticket per ten pedestrian […]
Nuke the Frankenveto
As soon as I wrote about the death of New York City’s speed cameras, the governor brought them back to life by unilaterally re-enacting the law authorizing them. Those of you who took civics classes might be wondering how he can do that. Governor Cuomo says he can use a Frankenstein Veto. That’s where the […]
An accidental victory
Some petty bickering among New York politicians led to a surprising if accidental victory for drivers. The state legislature refused to renew authorization for most of New York City’s speed cameras. I’d like to think this followed the Daily News report saying people with money were ignoring camera tickets, which don’t put points on licenses. […]
Vehicle Emissions Standards—Now What?
The long awaited but not too surprising ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week on turning back the Obama era CAFÉ Standards seems to have confused the issue even more. At issue: by 2025, automakers who want to sell new cars to American consumers must boost a corporate average fuel economy (CAFÉ) to […]
Congestion Pricing Cannot be the Future of Transportation Funding, Part 2: NMA Weekly E-Newsletter #469
To read Part 1, click HERE. New York City (NYC) finds itself in a transportation perfect storm. The subway system is at a breaking point. Residents are abandoning city buses by droves because it’s faster to walk most days. Ridesharing vehicles clog the already snarled streets. At the center of it all: the mayor and […]
Welcome to the future
I’ve always liked dystopian fiction. I took May 3, 2010 off work so I could reread the classic SF novel Stand on Zanzibar (set on that day, four decades hence). In music, I like Billy Joel’s “Miami 2017” (also four decades ahead) about the decline and fall of New York City. Happily, overpopulation is not […]
How guilty do you have to be?
One of New York City’s Mayor de Blasio’s early acts was a law jailing drivers who don’t yield to pedestrians. One of the judiciary’s most recent acts was to declare that law unconstitutional. From my vantage point in Massachusetts this seems like a silly controversy. It was long ago settled here that if you run […]