Old warrants return to haunt drivers

One guy had a cracked windshield ticket in 1982. Claims he paid it. 29 years later he gets pulled over and told he has a warrant. The court claims he never took care of it. Save those receipts!

This problem could become more common. St. George, Missouri reactivated traffic warrants from as far back as 2003, apparently trying to make some money. The current city administration is re-thinking the move.

Warning drivers without issuing tickets in order to educate them has become a formal program in Benicia, California (population 27,000) for minor offenses. The warning is noted in the computer, though. So next time you get pulled over for a similar offense, good luck.

Some Texas homes are getting calls saying you must pay this red light ticket now, over the phone, or a warrant will be issued for your arrest. What's your credit card number? The caller claims he's from the Department of Public Safety. Three problems: DPS doesn't collect traffic fines, supervise red light cameras or issue warrants.

Texting or emailing while driving becomes illegal in Indiana July 1, 2011. That includes both sending and reading.


---How to Beat a Traffic Ticket

Image courtesy of Anusorn P nachol

Senators ask for no dui apps

4 US senators have asked cell phone companies not to sell apps that identify dui checkpoints. Yeah, guys. We're spending all this federal money on checkpoints that don't catch drunk drivers. Don't make us look even worse.

How to double the effectiveness of federal funding for dui checkpoints:

At California dui checkpoint, it costs $2,800 to arrest one drunk driver.

What if I at the shift briefing held up a check. "The first officer to make 2 dui arrests out on patrol tonight gets this check for $2,800."

What do you think would happen? The effectiveness just doubled.

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Missouri has a law that a city can only make 35% of its revenue from traffic tickets. The officers in Lone Jack were a little too successful--the city had $19,000 of traffic ticket money it couldn't keep. (The money went to the state.)

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Michigan is using federal funds to step up seat belt enforcement during May. 95.2% of the state's drivers use seatbelts.

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Des Moines, Iowa is about to go live with its "automated traffic enforcement system" (what the rest of us call red light cameras). The local newspaper asked what happens if someone makes a legal right turn at an ATES intersection. No answer on that one.

The system can be used to alert police officers when a certain license plate is detected.


Image courtesy of xedos4