The War on Parking Escalates
Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared in February 2021 as the weekly NMA E-Newsletter #633. If you like to receive this weekly one topic newsletter in your mailbox every Sunday, subscribe today! Even before the pandemic, the war on parking was ramping up in America. The curb was escalating as the place of most conflict, […]
Closing the Antique Vehicle Designation “Loophole”
One way to save money and avoid yearly hassles, is to opt out of paying the annual “registration” fees and skip the annual “safety” and “emissions” inspections that many states require for newer vehicles. You can do it legally, too, but there’s a catch. Your car must generally be 25 years old or more at which […]
ATFI Letter to President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg on the American Jobs Plan and Tolling in Infrastructure
Editor’s Note: The National Motorists Association supports the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates and this letter to our nation’s leaders on tolling in America. Dear President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg: The Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates (ATFI) is a growing alliance of individuals, businesses and organizations advocating for long-term, sustainable, efficient, equitable, and sensible highway infrastructure funding […]
Equity and the MUTCD: NMA E-Newsletter #644
As we have noted prominently in recent newsletters and email action alerts, the Federal Highway Administration has recommended sweeping changes to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). In Equity and Sustainability (NMA E-Newsletter #637), we criticized the appropriation of those terms, particularly ‘equity,’ to demand broad restrictions on drivers and driving. NMA Director […]
American for Toll-Free Interstate Letter to Congressional Leadership Opposing Tolls on Existing Interstates
Editor’s Note: This letter was sent last week to Congress, and the National Motorists Association is one of over 80 signatories. The Honorable Mitch McConnell The Honorable John Thune Majority Leader […]
Should We Lean into a Federal Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax?: NMA E-Newsletter #643
Most experts agree that the way America funds infrastructure is broken. Many of our roads are in terrible shape. The Highway Trust Fund is nearly empty. Many local governments have difficulty paying for year-round road maintenance. The reasons vary. The federal and state gas taxes have never been adjusted for inflation. Many states divert funds […]
Are Speed Limit Signs (or lack thereof) Disrespectful to Drivers?
By Merrill Gehman, an Alaska NMA Member If those who establish, post, and enforce work zone, detour, and other temporary site speed limit signs wonder why so many drivers don’t obey these signs, I can show them a good example. There are a significant number of these sites where drivers are just not respected. Usually, […]
Drive 55 Everywhere . . . Or Less
Speed limits are about to become limitless as in, whatever those who set them say they are. This has always been true, to an extent in that all speed limits are, to a degree, arbitrary. People are subject to a ticket, i.e., being extorted by armed government workers, acting on behalf of the government simply […]
Officials use the COVID-19 Crisis to Create Statewide Vehicle Surveillance Programs Run by Rekor Systems
By Joe Cadillic, Cowriter for NMA’s Street Surveillance Blog and Editor of the MassPrivatel Blog Cash-strapped states are using COVID as an excuse to create AI-driven vehicle recognition or license plate reader surveillance programs. As Rekor Systems President/CEO Robert Berman proudly boasts on the video, “…because our technology works so well for vehicle recognition, we do […]
Getting Googled: What does a Connected Car Really Mean?
For generations, Ford worked closely with Firestone, which provided the tires installed on new Fords and developed them to work with specific Ford vehicles. That relationship soured in the late ’90s when Ford and Firestone were publicly vilified over Ford Explorer SUVs sometimes rolling over while being driven on Firestone Wilderness A/T tires. To this […]