Unpaid Parking Ticket? If So, Watch Out!!!

Strapped for cash, New York City will be stepping up dramatically its efforts to get traffic scofflaws to pay over $680 million in unpaid parking fines.  These aggressive tactics include:

• Car and asset seizures
• Suspension of registrations
• Use of collection agencies

Anyone with 5 or more unpaid parking tickets with 12 months will get their registrations suspended.  Previously, the City would prevent motorists with $350 or more in unpaid parking tickets from renewing registrations when they expired.  Driving with a suspended registration is misdemeanor (VTL 512) making the City’s new tactic more severe.

 

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Long Island’s Most Dangerous Intersections

In the wake of three catastrophic accidents involving motorists driving the wrong way on a one-way roadway, Newsday readers and a driver advocate group identified 7 confusing and intersections which are prone for drivers to drive the wrong way on a one-way road.

Below is the list:

1. Lakeview Rd./Marcus Ave. & Northern State Parkway

A driver on Lakeville Road who wants to go east on the Northern State Parkway must get on Marcus Avenue, heading east. To get on the Northern State, the driver must make a left across traffic to get on the parkway’s entrance ramp, which is adjacent to an exit ramp from the Northern State. There is a stop light on Marcus Avenue, but the ramp ways are close together.

2. New Hyde Park Road and Northern State Parkway

A driver headed north on New Hyde Park Road who wants to go west on the Northern State must make a left across traffic onto the entrance ramp, which runs adjacent to an exit ramp from the Northern State.

3. Roslyn Road and the LIE South Service Road

Drivers leaving a gas station located at the southeast corner of this intersection or drivers going north on Roslyn Road sometimes make a left and go west into oncoming traffic on the South Service Road, which is eastbound.

4. Old Country Road and Wantagh Parkway

A driver headed east on Old Country Road who wants to go south on the Wantagh Parkway has to make a left across traffic to get on the parkway’s entrance ramp, which is adjacent to an exit ramp from the Wantagh.

5. Hempstead Turnpike and Wantagh Parkway

A driver headed east on Hempstead Turnpike who wants to go south on the Wantagh Parkway must take Bellmore Road to get to the parkway’s entrance ramp. That ramp’s entry is just beyond the parkway’s exit ramp, and both are at a bend in Bellmore Road where there is a nearby stop sign. A confused driver could go right at the stop sign and head into traffic on Bellmore Road, which could cause the driver to turn into the parkway’s exit ramp.

6. Round Swamp Road and Northern State Parkway

A driver on Round Swamp Road who wants to go east on the Northern State must navigate exit and entrance ramps that are adjacent to one another, with lanes separated only by double yellow lines.

7. Connetquot Avenue and Sunrise Highway

A driver headed south on Connetquot Avenue who wants to go east on Sunrise Highway must make a left across traffic onto the highway’s entrance ramp, which is adjacent to an exit ramp from the Sunrise.

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NYC Police Department Caught Imposing Traffic Ticket Quotas

A police memo published by the Daily News shows unequivocal evidence that the New York City Police Department uses traffic ticket quotas.  This memo was reportedly posted in the roll call room of the 77th precinct and advised officers how many traffic tickets and the type required.

Interestingly, cell phones tickets and seat belt tickets were, by far, the largest portion of the quota.  Neither of these tickets carry points and present a much lower safety hazard than, for example, disobeying a red light or speeding.

This is not the first time that the NYPD has been caught imposing quotes.  Earlier this year, a whistleblower cop recorded a supervisor in the 81st Precinct vowing to go after officers who don’t make at least one arrest a month.

State law prohibits police from using quotas – or setting a target number for arrests or summonses during a specific time frame.  The practice is illegal because it places pressure on police officers to issue traffic tickets (even when a violation may not have occurred) and removes their discretion.  The NYPD has denied this practice for years despite evidence to the contrary.

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Lights, Camera, Action: Bus Lane Cameras Up & Shooting

On November 9, I wrote a post entitled NYC Bus Lane Cameras Coming discussing how the MTA was going to install surveillance cameras on NYC bus lanes, record license plates of cars that illegally cross into them, and issue tickets to violators.  These tickets will be a whopping $115 (much more than the $50 fine for tickets issued by red light cameras).

Well these cameras are now installed and will be operational this week on the East Side of Manhattan.  Bus lanes on First and Second Avenue will be the first to be enforced with cameras.  You can bet that many more bus lane cameras will be coming soon.

Motorists are allowed to use a bus lane only for permitted right turns and expeditious passenger pick ups or drop offs.

A bus lane camera ticket is like a parking ticket (i.e., no points and no driving record consequences).  If a police officer issues a bus lane ticket, it also carries no points but will appear on your driver ‘s license (occasionally, police officers issue these tickets under VTL 1110a – disobey a traffic control device – which carries 2 points).

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Suffolk County Red Light Camera Program

The Suffolk County Red Light Safety Program involves the installation of red light cameras  in Suffolk County at up to 50 intersections. This page lists the locations of some of the red light cameras in Suffolk County.

A red light camera takes photographs of motorists who disobey red lights and then sends them a ticket in the mail and assesses a $50 fine (plus $4 processing fee for credit card payments).  Points are NOT assessed for these infractions and they are NOT reported to auto insurance companies.

The registered owner is responsible for paying the ticket and, if remains unpaid, a default conviction and a $25 late fee will be imposed.  Eventually, the owner’s registration can be placed on hold for non-payment.

Intersection                           Town           Direction

27N @ CR112 Johnson Ave     Bohemia           SB
27N @ CR112 Johnson Ave     Bohemia           WB
27N @ CR112 Johnson Ave     Bohemia           NB
27N @ CR112 Johnson Ave     Bohemia           EB
28 NSR @ Rt112                    E Patchogue      SB
27 NSR @ Rt 112                   E Patchogue      WB
LIE NSR @ Wheeler Road       Hauppauge        SB
LIE NSR @ Wheeler Road       Hauppauge        WB
454 @ Motor Parkway            Islandia             NB
454 @ Motor Parkway            Islandia             SB
454 @ Motor Parkway            Islandia             EB
454 @ Motor Parkway            Islandia             WB
454 @ Suffolk Ave                 Islandia             NB
454 @ Suffolk Ave                 Islandia             SB
LIE NSR @ Motor Parkway      Lakeland           SB
LIE NSR @ Motor Parkway      Lakeland           WB
LIE NSR @ Old Nichols Road   Lakeland           SB
LIE NSR @ Old Nichols Road   Lakeland           WB
LIE NSR @ Ocean Ave            Lakeland           SB
LIE NSR @ Ocean Ave            Lakeland           WB
LIE SSR @ Ocean Ave            Lakeland           NB
LIE SSR @ Ocean Ave            Lakeland           EB
LIE NSR @ Ronkonkoma Ave  Ronkonkoma      SB
LIE NSR @ Ronkonkoma Ave  Ronkonkoma      WB

LIE NSR @ Commack Road    Commack           SB
Rt 25 @ Pidgeon Hill              S Huntington      EB
Rt 25 @ Pidgeon Hill              S Huntington      WB

Please email me at mjweiss@888redlight.com if you know of other locations.

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NYC Bus Lane Cameras Coming

More Big Brother!  New York State recently authorized the City of New York to install cameras along bus lanes to catch violators.  Signs will be posted where bus lane cameras are in use to warn drivers to keep out of bus lanes.

No word yet on the fine for such a ticket but it likely will be $50 per violation which is the same fine for a red light camera violation.

Motorists are allowed to use a bus lane only for permitted right turns and expeditious passenger pick ups or drop offs.

A bus lane camera ticket is like a parking ticket (i.e., no points and no driving record consequences).  If a police officer issues a bus lane ticket, it also carries no points but will appear on your driver ‘s license (occasionally, police officers issue these tickets under VTL 1110a – disobey a traffic control device – which carries 2 points).

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This Guy REALLY Wanted A Beer!

An upstate New York driver, Duane Bush, REALLY wanted a beer.  He was so longing for a six-pack that he drove 11 miles with only 3 tires.  Another motorist called the police when he saw Bush’s rear tire fall off and the driver didn’t seem to care.

When the police caught up with the 61-year Bush, they found out that he was driving while intoxicated (three times the legal limit) and driving without a license.  Apparently, his license had expired in 1977 (33 years ago!) and Bush never got around to renewing it.

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24-Hour Cell Phone Crackdown Begins Tonight

Starting tonight at midnight (Tuesday, October 26, 2010), New York City will be strictly enforcing the cell phone law for 24 hours.  Drivers who don’t use a hands-free device face a $130 fine and a possible auto insurance increase.

During the last crackdown, the NYPD issued 6,125 cell phone traffic tickets, well above the daily average of 617 per day.

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Would You Pay To Drive 90 MPH?

Eugene (Gino) DiSimone, a Nevada gubernatorial candidate, believes that vehicles which pass a safety inspection should be allowed to drive up to 90 mph.  The catch is that motorists would have to purchase a transponder and pay $25 to the state $25 to speed for 24 hours.  If they paid the fee, they would not be issued a speeding ticket by a police officer as their license plate would be in a data base as “paid to speed”.

In some European countries, there are no speed limits but driver safety and accidents seems to make DiSimone’s idea not too “swift”.

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Legal For Your Car To Be Sniffed

New York state’s highest court recently ruled in two separate cases that police may use drug-detecting dogs to sniff a car stopped for a routine traffic ticket.  The court was sharply divided (4-3) and the majority qualified its decision by restricting it to circumstances where the police officer suspects other criminal activity.

For civil libertarians, this is a troubling decision.  In one case, the driver was pulled over for talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device and was unable to produce a license or registration. It seems a stretch that such conduct would warrant such an invasive search.  Indeed, none of these charges is a crime, just a violation.

In the second case, an SUV was pulled over for failing to have a front plate, the driver was “fidgety” and his passenger told an “implausible” story about where they were going.  Again, a missing front plate is not criminal so the decision is curious.

The three dissenting judges wrote that a “reasonable suspicion” that the vehicle contained drugs should be required before bringing in a canine.

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