Citywide Speed Limit Reductions: Creating Violators in the Name of Safety

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared in April 2022 as NMA Weekly E-Newsletter #691. If you would like to subscribe to the one-topic newsletter delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning, Click Here. An email claimed that a speed limit reduction in Portland, Oregon “resulted in lower observed vehicle […]
A Former Truck Driver’s Perspective on Whether 18-year-olds Should Drive Big Rigs

By NMA Arkansas Member Thomas Beckett Editor’s Note: Last Friday, featured Should 18-year-olds Drive Big Rigs, and in response to this newsletter that originally appeared in March 2022, here is a counterpoint from the perspective of a long-time commercial driver that first appeared on the NMA Blog in April 2022. I come to this discussion […]
Countering the Safe Streets/Vision Zero Mindset: NMA E-Newsletter #699

Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued its estimate of 2021 U.S. traffic fatalities. A Reuters headline blared, “U.S. traffic fatalities surge 10.5% in 2021 to highest count since 2005,” followed by the lede, “Traffic deaths surged after coronavirus lockdowns ended in 2020 as more drivers engaged in unsafe behavior like speeding and […]
Speed Trap Karma Part 2: NMA E-Newsletter #698

Reason.com recently published a list of eleven U.S. towns where their police forces were either disbanded or their autonomy as a governmental entity was dissolved because of an addiction to, and dependence on, ticket revenue. We thought it would be informative to present excerpts from Reason’s article for those cities along with select driver-sourced comments […]
Citywide Speed Limit Reductions: Creating Violators in the Name of Safety: NMA E-Newsletter #691

By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist An email claimed that a speed limit reduction in Portland, Oregon “resulted in lower observed vehicle speeds and fewer vehicles traveling at higher speeds.” I was suspicious because it is well known that speed limits and speed limit signs do not have a strong effect on traffic speed. My […]
A Former Truck Driver’s Perspective on Whether 18-year-olds Should Drive Big Rigs: NMA Newsletter #690

By NMA Arkansas Member Thomas Beckett I read with interest the NMA Weekly E-Newsletter #685 on allowing 18-year-olds to drive in interstate commerce. I come to this discussion with some experience, having been both a driver and a fleet manager for JB Hunt. In addition to that experience, I also have some insight […]
Should Bikelash be Over? (and no, this is not an April Fool’s Joke)

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared in December 2021 as an NMA Weekly Newsletter #675. If you would like to receive the one-topic newsletter from the National Motorists Association, subscribe today. Even before the pandemic, bike lanes were springing up all over the country in cities large and small. Most motorists weren’t happy, mainly because […]
Calm Before the Storm: NMA E-Newsletter #689

The city of Sarasota is located on the Gulf Coast of Florida, just south of Tampa. Its population has declined in recent years to about 55,000, according to the 2020 U.S. census, within 24 square miles of territory. During the winter months, the number of residents swells somewhat with the snowbird migration from the north. […]
The Changing Landscape of Speed Limits

By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director Editor’s Note: This piece originally appeared as the cover story in the Winter 2022 Edition of the National Motorists Association’s quarterly magazine Driving Freedoms. If you would like to receive our magazine, please become a member of the NMA today! Advocating for speed limits based on sound traffic-engineering […]
Become the Tracker, not the Tracked: NMA E-Newsletter #684

Legislation is commonly used to codify public policy, whether good, bad, or indifferent. Perhaps more than you might expect, bills introduced in the U.S. Congress and state legislatures can have undue influence on how we drive, where we drive, and what controls are in place to punish offenders. We developed the NMA Bill/Regulation Tracker (Tracker) […]