The Safe Drivers Act is A Real-Time National Driver Surveillance Program
By guest writer Joe Cadillic, editor of the MassPrivatel Blog. A new Senate bill, called the Safe Drivers Act (H.R. 4531), would create a real-time national driver surveillance program. A local Massachusetts TV report revealed that law enforcement would know anything and everything about a driver at the click of a button. MA Congressman Seth Moulton […]
Police Misconduct Costs Taxpayers More Than Just Money
This post first appeared in August 2019 as the NMA E-Newsletter #502. Society has trouble talking about police misconduct in any meaningful way. If we question police actions, it looks as if we don’t support them. In reality, most of us do support the brave men and women who put themselves on the line every day […]
You’re in Good Hands with Auto Insurance Surveillance (Yeah, Right!)
Imagine if your insurance company knew immediately every time you drove faster than any speed limit, anywhere. Or that you failed to come to a complete dead stop at every stop sign before proceeding regardless of the need to come to a complete dead stop. Your insurance company also knew that you drove eight hours straight to visit […]
Massive 30-State, Real-Time ALPR Database Revealed: NMA E-Newsletter #558
By guest writer Joe Cadillic of the Massprivatel Blog Our worst fears about automatic license plate readers (ALPR) are coming to fruition, and no one in public understands just how much our privacy will be invaded. This summer, I warned everyone on my blog, and in the NMA Weekly E-Newsletter #554, that police in Arizona […]
“These Cameras Are Not a Safety Tool . . .”: NMA E-Newsletter #556
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety took a page out of its own book, and that of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), by issuing a recent report on red-light running with a title designed to send the media into a frenzy. “Red Light Running Deaths Hit 10 Year High” did exactly that. While […]
How To Enjoy A Family Road Trip As An Introvert
There’s an ongoing informal debate that we are all familiar with: is being introverted or extroverted better? The truth is, everybody is at least part introvert and part extrovert. They’re both extremes of an arbitrary spectrum. Though, if you find yourself very close to the introvert end and also happen to be going away with […]
The Road User Charge by Any Other Name: NMA E-Newsletter #555
We recently completed a series of newsletters (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) about the renewed calls for levying a set of surcharges–or thinly disguised taxes–on motorists to help rescue the Federal Highway Trust Fund. National calls are picking up in momentum for the implementation of a system of travel fees layered on top […]
Law Enforcement is Using License Plate Readers to “Grid” Entire Neighborhoods: NMA E-Newsletter #554
By guest writer Joe Cadillic of the MassPrivatel Blog What does gridding mean? The Arizona Mirror recently described it this way: “As part of the training for the ALPR (automated license plate readers) systems, Chandler police officers are taught to “grid” neighborhoods during their downtime – systematically driving up and down every street in an area, indiscriminately […]
Vision Zero Invasion of the Car Itself
This post first appeared as the NMA E-Newsletter #532 in March 2019. In three years, all new cars and light-trucks purchased in EU countries will be required to include standard price-increasing features that will change how motorists drive. Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection voted in February to approve […]
A 4000 Mile Driving Tour of the UK
By NMA New Hampshire Member Jim Burton One of our ‘bucket list’ items has always been to spend a month touring England, Scotland, and Wales. The UK is the land of my ancestors, and my American wife can’t get enough of everything British. Not only is the scenery on this island country stunningly beautiful, but […]