Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2010 (22. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)

2010-10-29 / 41. szám

DNC Chairman Governor Tim Kaine Meets with Ethnic Leaders in IL, OH, and PA

What To Do If You Get a Speeding Ticket

By David Horowitz

MANY PEOPLE HAVE written me, angry and confused as to why the cost of traffic tickets has increased astronomically. I have done some research, and found out a few facts and figures people may not be aware of in regard to this issue.

On average, more than 100,000 people per day receive a speeding ticket in this country. That’s close to 40 million speeding tickets per year. The average speeding ticket costs $150, More than 95 percent of people who receive a speeding ticket never contest it and simply pay the fine. The average traffic officer will make a city an average of $200,000 per year in traffic ticket fines.

The average increase in insurance costs for one speeding ticket over the course of three years is $900. That amounts to about $12 billion extra the insurance industry makes in a single year just from speeding tickets.

Because of traffic stops, or speed traps, many drivers find themselves constantly checking their rearview mirrors—not for safety’s sake, but for the police. Does this make streets safer? And drivers now have to beware of overhead traffic cameras, which are arguably an invasion of privacy.

So, when all is said and done, does the traffic penalty system make society safer or more paranoid? Is it just or unfair?

I classify traffic violations as a

hefty “hidden tax” in addition to the taxes we already pay, and it is not clear if these fees deter poor driving.

I recommend that drivers constantly read up on the new studies, tips and rules that are readily available on the Internet (do a search for “tips for avoiding tickets”). Even though drivers should be ticketed for speeding, the cost of such a violation should not be the equivalent of a day’s pay.

Let’s rethink the system and figure out how to make it fair for all. Find out who your local elected officials are and let them know how you feel about the high price of traffic-related fines and the inconvenience of the system as it is now.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind if you are pulled over or charged with a traffic offense.

• When pulled over, say as little as possible, other than to answer the few questions, such as your name and whether you have insurance. Do not admit guilt, as this can be used against you, although if the officer asks, “Is there a reason why you were speeding?” you could say something like “I’m not aware I was speeding.”

• Avoid arguing or being belligerent with the officer. You won’t win, and this will make things even worse.

• Know the exact speed you were driving. If the ticket says you were driving faster than you actually were, even if you were

still speeding, the ticket can be dismissed.

• Write down as many details of the incident as you can, as this will be helpful in court. Take notes right after the officer has ticketed you.

• Take the ticket to traffic court whenever you can. Remember that you are innocent until proven guilty, and, at the very least, the fine could be reduced. Those who make an effort to fight a ticket often have their case dismissed or receive reduced charges that won’t appear on their driving record, which means their insurance rates won’t be affected.

• According to statistics, 30 to 50 percent of the time, the ticketing police officer fails to show up in court. This is often grounds for dismissal of the case. The longer it takes for your case to reach court, the less likely it is that the officer will show up.

• Know everything about the situation and refer to your notes. Come prepared. Many things can be used to dismiss the case, from the exact wording of the offense to proving the radar gun might not have worked to questioning how the officer could have judged your speed based on how fast he or she was driving.

Of course, the best way to avoid these troubles in the first place is to drive responsibly, and obey all traffic signals and posted signs. If you’ve done every thing right and still find yourself in court, FightBack! by arming yourself with information.

WASHINGTON, DC - In recent weeks, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine held a series of DNC meetings with Democratic ethnic leaders discussing November’s election. During those meetings, Chairman Kaine met with community ethnic leaders in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. These three states are culturally rich, with large populations of Americans of European and Mediterranean heritage who will be crucially important to Democrats in this election and the next. The meetings were held to express the Democratic Party’s appreciation for ethnic leaders and their communities and to illustrate the commitment that the party has made to a continued partnership with ethnic Americans.

Meeting participants included National Ethnic Council leader Dr. James Zogby, who founded the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Council (NDECC) and currently serves as its Secretary, as well as representatives of dozens of ethnic groups, including Albanian- Americans, Arab-Americans, Armenian-Americans, Assyrian-Americans, Croatian-Americans, Greek-Americans, Hungarian-Americans, Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Lithuanian-Americans, Macedonian-Americans, Polish Americans, Serbian-Americans, Slovenian- Americans, Sikhs, and Ukrainian Americans.

Governor Kaine used the meetings as an opportunity to share the party’s ethnic outreach strategies for 2010 and beyond, while engaging participants in a dialogue on how Democrats can continue to build upon the strong foundation they have in place to reach out to even more ethnic voters across the country. “On behalf of the Democratic Party, I’d like to thank Jim Zogby, the DNC Ethnic Council, and ethnic leaders from across the country for all they do in support of their communities and our party every day,” said DNC Chairman Tim Kaine. “Ethnic voters could be the margin of victory in competitive races across the nation, and the DNC is investing resources to reach out to constituencies that will yield Democratic wins in 2010 and for years to come.”

Dr. Zogby said he was very pleased with the meetings. “Our leadership came away from the strategy meetings excited by the party’s outreach plans. We know the important role our ethnic communities can play and are delighted with the efforts underway to engage, energize, and turn out our voters,” he said.

The NDECC or “Ethnic Council” is an important part of the Democratic Party plan to turn out Democratic voters in the midterm elections. The Council draws on America’s heritage as a diverse nation of individuals unified by their commitment to democracy, human rights, peace, opportunity, fairness, and freedom—and exemplifies the spirit of the Democratic Party’s proud and lasting tradition of community development, opportunity, and empowerment

From an expert in the field about:

Automated Ticket Cameras

Profile of a Candidate: MEG WHITMAN

Meg Whitman might have seemed an unlikely candidate to oversee EBay when she was tapped as its chief executive in 1998. She was a veteran of corporate America, a Harvard MBA who powered her way to executive jobs at Procter & Gamble, Walt Disney Co. and consulting firm Bain & Co. EBay was a small tech startup with 30 employees, derided by skeptics as “FleaBay.”

It didn’t seem to matter. During a decade as its chief executive, Whitman guided EBay Inc. to explosive growth and profitability. Its stock price soared 1,200% during her tenure; its workforce grew even more.

Whitman also succeeded in guiding EBay through a minefield of potential disasters: early concern about fraudulent sellers, competition from Yahoo and Amazon, and technology problems that once shut down the site

for 22 hours.

EBay’s revenue grew from $47million in 1998, Whitman’s first year with the company, to $7.67billion in 2007, her last as CEO. The Harvard Business Review recently lauded her as the eighthbest-performing chief executive in the world. “How many CEOs can you find who have steered a company from less than 1,000 employees to more than 15,000 in a span of eight years?” asks Sandeep Aggarwal, a technology analyst with Caris & Co. in San Francisco. He hails Whitman as “one of the finest CEOs of her time.” Now, nearly three years removed from San Jose-based EBay, Whitman is once again aiming to take over an alien culture. The Republican wants to be governor of financially crippled California, overseeing a $125-billion budget and more than 200,000 employees. She has vowed to manage California more like a business, cutting $15billion in spending and reducing taxes to spark entrepreneurship and job growth. i

But a young, fast-growing online company in the midst of

Október 29,2010

the Internet boom is almost the antithesis of what she’d inherit in Sacramento: a state saddled with a deeply divided Legislature and a massive budget deficit coming off the worst recession in decades.

In a brief interview Friday night, Whitman said her experience at EBay would be “highly relevant” to the work she would do as California’s chief executive.

For example, she said, an ability to hire capable employees was an ingredient of her success at EBay and would serve her well in Sacramento.

“The governor makes 3,000 appointments and the top 300 are essential,” Whitman said. “I know how to hire people. I know how to evaluate people. A lot can be done with just your staff.”

At EBay, Whitman was known as a demanding boss. She gave plum jobs to outsiders with pedigreed backgrounds, could be dismissive of dissent and was known to have a temper, several former EBay staffers said.

Whitman says she was actually an inclusive leader at EBay.

“What many people think is when you’re the CEO you say, ‘Jump’ and people say, ‘How high?’“ she said Friday night. “That’s absolutely not true. The fastest way .to run the company into the ground is to not build consensus ... and not listen to people.” (L.A. Times)

Automated ticket cameras beg several questions: if the public is unanimous in its belief that traffic signals should be obeyed, why do tens of thousands of violations occur daily? If the same drivers rigorously obey traffic signals a, B and C, why do they flagrantly violate traffic signal d? If 90 percent of the vehicles on a given road are traveling safely at 45 mph, why is the speed limit set at 25 mph? Should a photo issued by a for-profit corporation, on behalf of a revenuestrapped municipality, be accepted as unequivocal proof of a traffic violation? When ticket cameras are used in place of effective engineering techniques, is the motivation really about safety?

With few exceptions, such as driver impairment and high-speed chases, red-light violations are not a product of wanton driver behavior. Any intersection with high violation rates suffers from either poor design or incompetent management and operation. The most common problems include yellow-light intervals that are too short, improperly synchronized signals, and poorly placed and maintained signals. If these deficiencies are corrected, violations evaporate and accidents decline. If, instead, ticket cameras are employed, violations do go down, to some degree, but accidents increase. Also, there is no legitimate evidence that supports the claim that ticket cameras reduce right-angle crashes.

If speed limits are set to accommodate safe and prudent traffic flow, there is no need for intense speed enforcement or ticket cameras. Further, ticket cameras do not stop truly reckless, impaired or inconsiderate drivers; they may not even issue a ticket! To make ticket cameras profitable (if they aren’t profitable they’re removed) the speed limit must be far below the prevailing speed of existing traffic, thus creating numerous violators. This causes erratic traffic flow and more accidents.

When communities implement engineering-based standards—e.g., longer yellow-light intervals or proper speed limits—the cameras become unprofitable, the response has been to remove the cameras or focus on other violations, such as not coming to a complete stop when making a right turn on a red, a violation that barely registers in accident statistics (2,000 crashes out of 6 million), yet, in some cities, constitutes 80 to 90 percent of the camera citations.

Clearly, ticket cameras are not about safety. Just follow the money.

JAMES BAXTER

James Baxter is president of the National Motorists Association (www. motorists, org).

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