Motorists' Rights.. Matter!

Colter's Guide to the Police States of America!

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2010-04-23T10:44:36-07:00

Early in his project, we also agreed to participate in his Speed Trap Challenge, where we will pay 10,000 dollars to the first person who can show us a single speed limit in the Untied States that is properly set, where the exercise of police powers for routine speed limit traffic stops is based on factual probable cause(s), and their court adjudication practices meets all the governing constitutional protections, including substantive and procedural due process etc.

...Federal Regulatory Supremacy in this Field became incontrovertible when Congress invoked its Commerce Clause authority in “The Highway Safety Act of 1966”[2] with an expressed emphasis on “roadway safety”, to “regulate the use of the channels of interstate commerce” and “to regulate and protect the instrumentalities of interstate commerce”[3]; thereby directly, by implication, or de facto effect[4] Congress encompassed all Constitutional rights, modalities, means, instrumentalities, adjudication standards and Constitutional protections governing federal regulations, standards or acts in this field.

From a regulatory and police powers perspective all instruments of travel became federally regulated and protected within these travel enclaves, and once a person enters an instrument of travel all their Constitutional Rights are preserved therein and the exercise of police powers thereof shall be uniform, transparent, and fact based regardless of stateliness or entity type or classification.

In legal terms it’s stare decisis under any interpretation of the US Constitution et al when a State exercises police powers under the color of federal law, law embodied by Declaration of Independence and Article 1 § 8(1)(3)(7) of US Constitution itself and Congress’ Intent in a federal Constitutional field, the Supremacy Clause et al displaces conflicting inferior federal agency regulations, State’s jurisprudence, laws and the exercise of police powers thereof.

Under our Constitution’s prescripts citizens’ have a natural unalienable right to travel within our millions of miles of transportation corridors that traverse approximately 80 thousand regulatory entities; and the regulation thereof shall not impinge on their rights within these federal protected and regulated travel enclaves and the exercise of police powers thereof shall be fact based with full due process; and since 1990 and 1997 respectively they shall be predicated on actual unsafe acts applying substantially uniform implementation, expectation and beyond a reasonable doubt substantive due process adjudication standards. ...In both instances herein per UVC § 1-802 et al “a person shall not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed in excess of these maximum limits” clause(s) lacks foundation because it turns on an invented numeric, threshold or a numeric value below the maximum safe speed in itself vis-à-vis nationally recognized engineering tenets, not on an unsafe act.

All laws and the exercise of police powers thereof in this federally regulated field shall be subordinate, fact based, uniform and in substantial conformance because once the law encompassed the entire field in 1966, Congress cannot recede superior authority back to the States if the said adjudication would impinge federal due process rights of the US Constitution et al; Equal Protection, Supremacy, Commerce, Confrontation Clause(s), habeas corpus, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 14th Amendments etc.

...Nor can a federal agency in manner through administrative convenience adopt a regulation or through nonfeasance permit under the color of federal law inferior authorities to deny these rights; and within the USDOT’s statutory oversight authority they have remedy to reign in non conforming practices; and 5 USC 706 gives parties with standing to cause them to compel compliance; separately, individuals retain all Constitutional rights and remedies to plead not guilty when charged with an unconstitutional act or law et al.

...Federal safety interest must be predicated solely on an unsafe act as long as the basis is narrowly tailored and legally valid, ie, real safety, which is in turn based on interference with the Inalienable Rights of others - the Right to Life/SAFETY. - UVC §1-801 “No person shall drive a vehicle greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing”.

...The 5th Amendment requires Equal Protection and when the USDOT oversight nonfeasance and intentional[5] malfeasance purportedly sanctions 80 thousand political entities in the US and its Territories to establish disparate standards of expectation, adjudication and fees and fines[6] in a field under the color of federal law, which on its face alone violates the void for vagueness[7] doctrine.

Was LaHood’s Decree Banning Driving and Texting Illegal?

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2010-01-29T04:50:28-08:00
Included in this texting ban is an in any manner prohibition, even when it is safe to do so; reading the text of a traffic update or routing communication or when stopped in traffic. ...The USDOT and the ilk of the GHSA, NSC, IACP, and IIHS et al as a matter of practice now manipulate or invent data and research to support their mutual interest agendas, thereby misleading the Nation and Congress too. ...National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research shows that nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver, and more than half a million were injured. ...While accidents do occur there is no statistically significant correlation between the use of mobile devices and a crisis in accidents, or is there in fact any meaningful accident rate increase; the evidence shows they have reduced trips and overall accident rates in the face of exponential use growth. ...Keeping trucks on dedicated routes, eliminating trips and smart telemetry in some studies have shown to reduce travel times 4 days a year, and actual field results have shown vehicles so equipped have better safety records. ...These presumptive laws in our view are unconstitutional because they are designed to advance police power abuse, which has been a hallmark of USDOT policies for more than a decade now; the systematic removal of due process vis-à-vis USDOT regulatory oversight authorities. ...In a “We the People” government any Decree from On High from a political appointee is of grave concern, especially when it purports to have the force of law for an entire nation. ...Due Process requires that such laws be “narrowly tailored”, defined as, “being only as broad as is reasonably necessary to promote a substantial government interest that would be achieved less effectively without the restriction; no broader than absolutely necessary.” This decree is popular and it makes sense on the surface; but let’s not forget this is the opening salvo in establishing federal police authority over mothers talking to their children, drinking water, changing the station on a radio or any other human activity while driving as a probable cause gateway for unfettered per se cause for traffic stops; fines, fees and roadside searches etc. ...Before we adopt laws that have such far reaching implications maybe we should study them looking forward, in context, while assuring Constitutional protections, fact based beyond a reasonable doubt probable cause, reasonable fines and due process for starters.

LaHood Grandstands on Driving and Texting with new Decree Banning it, but what are the True Consequences.

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2010-01-26T14:35:50-08:00
While you’re ponder that statement, understand that the associated distracted driving police authority attached to these distracted programs has included mothers talking to their children, drinking water, changing the station on a radio or any other human activity while driving as a probable cause gateway for unfettered per se cause for traffic stops; fines, fees and roadside searches etc. A 2,750 dollar fine is not insignificant, and how would you prove you’re innocence in the face of a national budget crisis and a presumptive guilty charge based solely on the officer’s assertion or feigned suspicion; particularity when all those in the process, including the court, share in the take. ...What Congress, the people, press are ignorant of is that for several decades now is USDOT sponsored research has been a follow the money and power exercise where the findings are directly correlated to the funding, complete with invented data, contrived procedures and lack of scope as in this instance; not facts or vetted and or reasoned conclusions. ...These presumptive laws are in our view unconstitutional because they are designed to advance police power abuse, which has been a hallmark of USDOT policies for more than a decade now; the systematic removal of due process vis-à-vis USDOT regulatory oversight authorities. This action by LaHood takes this police powers abuse to a new level, a Luddite prohibition, which will hinder vehicle telemetry and smart systems, commerce and our safety. The last prohibition, Congress’ National 55 mph Limit left us with a legacy of 60 million traffic citations being written each year for revenue, for otherwise safe driving according to findings of the FHWA and AASHTO. ...Which always begs the larger question; before any action is taken that affects an entire nation our laws demand a thorough and meaningful review of the consequence, current trends and where technology is taking us, and its effects on safety or commerce. In a “We the People” government any Decree from On High from an uniformed political appointee is of grave concern, especially when it has the force of law for an entire nation. ...The head of the USDOT is rarely subject matter competent, as in this instance, but the single minded interest that runs the USDOT has turned into an empire building and for revenue syndicate operated by, and for, special interests that depend on the USDOT’s malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance and disregard for our Constitution and the rule of law. ...Before we adopt laws that have such far reaching implications maybe we should study them looking forward, in context, while assuring Constitutional protections, fact based beyond a reasonable doubt probable cause, reasonable fines and due process for starters.

Congratulations: Missouri DOT Diverging Interchange

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-12-10T09:47:12-08:00
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By the Numbers: Gross safety distortions go mainstream.

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-09-17T08:05:46-07:00
“Statewide, speed played a role in more than half of last year's of fatal crashes, according to the TSD data. ...If you read the story and accept the headlines, “speeds in excess of the posted limit” are inferred to cause half of the state’s fatal accidents, and by association all accidents.
Compare that to the facts: Oregon's crash summary report cites "excess of posted limit" as less than 1 percent of the attributed cause of accidents, and this too is overstated because of the way the data is collected and attributed.
...Exceeding Posted - Statewide for year 378 incidents out of 41,815 reports, or 00.9% of the accidents attributed to speed in excess of posted limit
...Exceeding Posted - Statewide, all roads 35 out of 416 fatalities, or 10.7 percent attributed to drivers or 08.5% of state total
...Or stated in another way, 90 percent plus of Oregon’s enforcement efforts are targeting less than 1 percent of the attributed cause of accidents. Disagree, let's raise it 3 or 400 percent and say 90 percent of their resources are targeting 4 percent of the cause.
Oregon attributes all accidents to driving behavior and none to poor engineering practices, the 30 percent or more where public policy could reduce accident rates. ...As a matter of practice most speed limits in Oregon are intentionally under posted, with most being posted without a study and when a study is done, the postings are often at or below the 15 percentile speeds. Oregon’s procedures and resulting studies are designed to meet the perfunctory requirements of their non-conforming laws, for the uninformed, not the safety or due process needs of the public.

Essential Material For Ticket Camera Activists

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-09-12T10:28:16-07:00
Permanently linked on our website, in the photo enforcement section, is “Essential Download for Ticket Camera Activists”. The download consists of a PDF file with several one-page components which can be presented to decision-makers to educate and inform them of serious issues surrounding the use (and misuse) of ticket cameras. ...The key ingredient to the opposition effort against ticket cameras resides with the community activists who are leading the fight. They are encouraged to get local signatures, whether by petition or letters, and present this evidence of a constituency opposition to each politician along with the NMA information packet. ...“Essential Download for Ticket Camera Activists” is not just for the use of NMA members. Fighting the unfair use of ticket cameras impacts a large segment of the driving public, and we are making this information available to anyone who is mounting a fight against photo enforcement. Spread the word about this information to friends in other cities who are unhappy about existing or proposed ticket camera programs. ...The executive summaries are designed for efficient review, but also provide web addresses to enable the reader to delve deeper by reading the full studies. ... • Investigation of Crash Risk Reduction Resulting from Red-Light Cameras in Small Urban Areas (North Carolina A&T State University) – executive summary • Red Light Running Cameras: Would Crashes, Injuries and Automobile Insurance Rates Increase if They are Used in Florida?

Oshawa speed trap has a twist

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2008-05-18T10:22:44-07:00
Ryan, who had been doing 63 km/h in a 50 zone, was one of 63 motorists lectured by high school students yesterday in an innovative approach to deterring speeders by Durham Region police. Drivers pulled over in a speed trap had a choice of getting a ticket (with a minimum $90 fine) or listening to a one-page essay by teens waiting nearby. ...The essays were assigned to students in the Grade 11 law class at Monsignor Paul Dwyer Secondary School, located near the high-collision intersection of Rossland Rd. ...The idea was to teach safe driving principles to both drivers and students, who included statistics, consequences of bad driving and personal tales in their messages delivered at a mobile command unit. "The students allow us another medium to get the message to drivers that unsafe driving is not welcome in our city," said Const. ..."I'm mortified," said one driver, a vice-principal from another school who didn't want to be identified. ...Stephanie Casha, 17, and Alanna Bridgman, 16, teamed up to tell the tragic story of Stephanie's dad's best friend, who died in a speeding car with his seatbelt unbuckled. ...With six schools and 3,500 students within a kilometre of the intersection – one of several problem areas – it's crucial drivers obey the speed limit, Heffernan said.
...The idea was the brainchild of Durham officer Keith Richards, whose experience as a traffic safety co-ordinator in Clarington four years ago told him speeding tickets don't work. ...The program, however, is used infrequently because other officers prefer to have "tangible evidence" of stopping offenders, said Richards, who now works as diversity co-ordinator on the force.

Drunk Driving Hysteria and the Neo-Prohibitionists

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-06-14T10:18:31-07:00
On May 13th, 1980, thirteen year old Cari Lightner was walking down the street in her suburban California neighborhood when a drunk driver named Clarence Bush ended her short life. ...Instead of firebombing the guy's house and shooting his dog, though, Candy formed MADD: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, which was eventually renamed Mothers Against Drunk Driving: "I promised myself on the day of Cari's death that I would fight to make this needless homicide count for something positive in the years ahead." But MADD got away from Lightner, pushing not just against drunk driving, but becoming "far more neo-prohibitionist than I had ever wanted or envisioned. ...During the Christmas season of 2003 in Fairfax County, Virginia, a suburb of Washington not far from the site of Debra Bolton's arrest, local police took pre-emptive law enforcement to an absurd extreme, launching a sting operation that targeted 20 local bars and restaurants. ... According to one law enforcement official involved in the sting, the determination could be made based on unflicked cigarette ashes, an excessive number of restroom visits, noisy cursing, or a wobbly walk. ...In an interview with The Reston Times, the general manager of one targeted establishment said "they tapped one lady on the shoulder-who was on her first drink and had just eaten dinner-to take her out on the sidewalk and give her a sobriety test. ...Many juniors and seniors were driven to tears a few to near hysterics May 26 when a uniformed police officer arrived in several classrooms to notify them that a fellow student had been killed in a drunken-driving accident. ...Though the deception left some teens temporarily confused and angry, if it makes even one student think twice before getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated, it is worth the price, said California Highway Patrol Officer Eric Newbury, who orchestrates the program at local high schools. This is the result of a program by MADD called "Every Fifteen Minutes," and represents the culmination of the full circle made by the group, beginning with the mission to prevent drunk drivers from harming more children and ending with the group itself terrorizing those same children with a cruel and sadistic prank. I can't wait to see their Sex Education class - kids will probably get calls from "doctors," informing them they have full blown AIDS and will be dead within the year.

Portland Oregon PD, an agency without oversight or a conscience, facilitated by unconstitutional state laws and kangaroo courts.

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-09-06T20:57:06-07:00
It’s the job of the engineer to quantify this safe for conditions range to assure the roadway design and traffic control meets our safety needs, and enforcement is only focused on those truly at risk.
Since 1988, the local authorities responsible for each roadway segment in the nation have been required by law to do periodic safety audits to assure the safety needs of the public are being met; applying nationally accepted engineering practices; and it shall be documented.
...Compare that to Oregon law, and others, where instead of a fact-based system, its Basic Speed Law has become a labyrinth of invented statutory values, with invented absolute shall not exceed enforcement thresholds, with additional higher penalties for even greater invented speed thresholds.
The object of a study is to determine the prevailing range of safe for condition speeds, to assure that all engineering decisions are fact based for that particular segment of roadway. Oregon simply doesn’t do this, its traffic control, including signal timing, curve and passing exclusion zones etc are based on values that do not meet the safety needs of the motorists.
...Instead, it results in an absolute enforcement value 10 to 15 mph and more below its cursory finding’s safest speed while the extent of the safe range remains unknown; to be used in a court system that does not recognize otherwise safe driving as an affirmative defense.
Which begs another question, if the engineers determine the range of safe for condition speeds for a segment of a roadway, and the state practices are clearly deficient; or non existent because the overwhelming majority of Oregon’s safety decisions are based on invented values and known unsafe practices, how would an officer know what is safe, or not? ...Example, if you go to pass and the exclusion zone is too short for the prevailing traffic speeds, or the signal clearance timing is inadequate, and it gives you a green when known cross-traffic entries are still occurring, whose fault is it? ...To be Constitutional all practices and regulations in this field shall be uniform in application, expectation and fact-based regardless of jurisdiction or state lines; and its foundation and rational must be subject to, and be able to withstand cross-examination while conforming to federal equal protection and void for vagueness protections.
...The laws we need to make our roads safer and assure due process are already in place, it’s called the Constitution; all we have to do is demand that it be applied.

Starting this Labor Day weekend, help us make our roads safer by pleading Not Guilty on every citation!

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-09-02T15:45:03-07:00
With Government budgets out of control, and tax revenues in decline, they have to search for new feedstock, but it only feeds on We the People. New transportation Czar Ray LaHood, with the support of the Governor's Highway Safety Association, has been diligently coordinating the greatest expansion of police powers in American history to ensure this revenue stream not only stays in place, but grows. ..."As if the USDOT's disregard for the rule of law and our safety wasn't bad enough," says Chad Dornsife, Executive Director of the Best Highway Safety Practices Institute (BHSPI) "LaHood's Trojan horse "Distracted Driving Safety Summit" this month is like having advance notice of 911, but this time it's a government plot to subvert the civil liberties of the United States citizens." In an effort to weed out this blatant bastardization of the Constitution, BHSPI looked for examples of how other governments are working to solve their own abuses of power and corruption issues as they relate to transportation policy. ...In an effort to curtail institutionalized police corruption, Avila Villegas' first official act as mayor of Ecatepec, a city of 2.5 million people just north of Mexico City, was to abolish parking and traffic fines. ...In the States, the corruption problem isn't due to rogue police officers; it's our institutions, traffic laws, and the methods used to exercise police powers thereof. ...If LaHood and co. succeed in their unchallenged efforts, and if Congress enacts its ALERT Act, police pretext traffic stops will become a way of life – an expansion of police state profiling and warrantless searches which are already embedded in new federal model practices for "Community Policing". Worse, there will be no viable defense because these will be "per se" laws that do not require an unsafe act to sustain probable cause or a conviction, only an allegation or suspicion of one. ...During the first five months of Arizona's new traffic "safety" program, more than 700,000 automated citations were issued to motorists safely traveling within the normal flow of traffic. ...The Constitution and Congress' intent requires our traffic control laws and the exercise of police powers thereof to be fact based, uniform in both application and expectation, be promulgated with deference to our inalienable Constitutional rights, including due process and equal protection on all roadways, bike paths and pedestrian facilities open to the public within the U.S. and its territories.

Declaration of Liberty & Justice for All ‘We the People’ plead Not Guilty…

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-08-28T09:01:51-07:00
In order to conform to the Constitution and Congress’ intent, our traffic control laws and the exercise of police powers thereof must be fact based, uniform in both application and expectation, be promulgated with deference to our inalienable Constitutional rights, including due process and equal protection on all roadways, bike paths and pedestrian facilities open to the public within the U.S. and its territories. ...It’s because the USDOT, which was entrusted with this oversight responsibility by Congress, has been taken over by the insidious special interest that now runs our Government. The public safety industrial complex and those that benefit from these enterprises have created a monster of current and legacy cost that must be fed, and it wants to grow and it feeds on power and cash; but all they left to feed it is - YOU! ...We have issued this call to Liberty and Justice to stop this monster, because while we have been distracted by our momentous national crisis, the USDOT has been diligently coordinating the greatest expansion of police powers in American history. Police pretext stops will become a way of life, and there will be no defense because they will use per se laws that do not require an unsafe act to sustain a conviction. ... During the first five months of Arizona’s new traffic “safety” program, more than 700,000 automated citations were issued to motorists safely traveling with the normal flow of traffic. ...One thing that would shock most Americans is the fact that writing traffic citations, as practiced on our highways, has been documented to have a virtual zero effect on accident rates. Well over 90 percent of the more than 50 million citations written each year are issued to those according to the FHWA; et al are otherwise driving safely. ...With billions of public treasure and billions more from insurance companies over the decades they have created a public cause and effect perception that is patently untrue. ...The guest list is a who’s who of regulators that benefit from regulating, special interest, empire and political favor seekers and those that profit from them and their minions; none represent the ‘Common Good’, ‘We the People’ or the ‘Rule of Law’ or empirical scientific findings or our safety.

PSA Most Effective

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-08-22T03:39:10-07:00
What an amazing responsive government we have: from the NY Times report that the government is withholding safety data; to all of distracted driving studies being released and cited in multiple national media outlets; to 4 US Senators drafting and introducing the “ALERT Drivers” Act that would take away 25% of a state’s highway funding for non compliance; and the USDOT having set a date certain Safety Summit scheduled where Mr. ...It requires reasoned a hypothesis, empirical studies and field trials to verify the hypothesis and unintended consequence, acceptance, economic effects, and effectiveness in accomplishing the stated goals; if need substantiated, standards and practices are to be promulgated and implemented uniformly regardless of state lines or jurisdiction to assure safety, and due process. ...If Congress really wanted to be constructive, it would hold hearings to ask why the USDOT has strayed from its delegated by law fact based standards and oversight responsibilities, to assure we have one nation, application, expectation and due process protections. Before we get into the underlying foundations of their arguments, let’s take a moment and look at the scope of what is included in the category of distracted driving: any human emotion or activity, including banning mothers from talking to their children while driving. ...Besides the traffic stops that truly put you or your loved ones in real danger on the shoulder of a busy highway, feet away from high speed traffic to extract a few dollars, there is no evidence whatsoever that these cell phone laws have had any effect. ...Aside from banning mothers from talking with their children or changing the channel on their radio, in regard to distracted driving what does a cell phone and its use represent to us a society, our safety and an incomprehensible probable-cause pretext law that would sanction traffic stops at will. ...At best, the Trojan Horse Safety Summit is focused on looking backwards, like the Luddites who shunned technology, rather than examining what is good, where are we going and how can we take advantage of these technologies to improve our safety, commerce and environment. What we know for sure when you look at the use and accident charts, there is no foundation for new draconian federal regulations that will be ignored, ineffective in its stated goals and irrelevant, except for the abuses and barriers to advancements that would come to pass. ...Are there instances or locations where any activity that would cause an operator to be distracted to point of causing a safety problem, yes, and that needs to be addressed, but passing a draconian law to subjugate an entire nation to their whim is not an acceptable option in a free society. Again the real crime here is the if USDOT took safety seriously, we could save thousands each year and injuries to hundreds of thousands more within a few years, without a single new law or enforcement program, if there was funding for infrastructure safety innovations, research, or solutions.

NYPD: It's Gona Cost Ya!!!

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-08-20T10:23:59-07:00
What part of a cell phone citation blitz in New York City wasn't planned for nefarious purposes; in the media capitol of our world, complete with new data from NHTSA claiming 2600 cell phone RELATED deaths a year. The news story goes on to reiterate their new mantra that even hands free is like drunk driving? All this is nothing more the fanfare to the USDOT "saves the day conference" LaHood convened in September, with a pledge to act. Do ya think... all happenstance? NHTSA supplied the background materials used in the NYPD release. GEEZ? We are being led into a new police state, the new even worse than the 55 mph limit because this we be a pretext stop on steroids, which includes talking to your passengers when you read was already in legislation introduced using the term DISTRACTED DRIVING.

Is LaHood a Safety Czar, or our new Godfather?

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-08-18T10:15:00-07:00
Early after the USDOT’s creation in 1966, its mission became duplicitous in that Congress also charged National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) to market the merits and success of its National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) after Congress had vested heavily in creating an army, with support staff to enforce it, when the data was showing nothing could have been further from the truth. ...Over time, NHTSA’s with its ends justifies the means ethos, manufactured data, false cause and affect safety myths, and the aid of billions of dollars and ubiquitous unchallenged PSA's created to mislead our engineering and public safety institutions, the judiciary, academia and We the People, and with its coconspirators, it ultimately misled Congress. ...In the last 30 years, we have also lost those that knew why we do engineering studies, and what they represent, what due process means and how it is it applies to law enforcement, and courts that care about either. Our lost ethos, this 1972 IACP/NHTSA describes abhorrent practices that today are lauded by the IACP and the USDOT; cities have either automated them, or agencies deploy special enforcement teams to write citations en masse, month after month and year after year, at the same locations. ...Make no mistake about it, “cherry patches” and “duck ponds” based on poor practices and under posted limits have now became a way of life for our enforcement agencies, not safety. ...One thing that would shock most Americans is the fact that writing traffic citations, as practiced on our highways, has been documented to have a virtual zero effect on accident rates. ...The guest list is a who’s who of regulators that benefit from regulating, special interest, empire and political favor seekers and those that profit from them and their minions; none represent the ‘Common Good’, ‘We the People’ or the ‘Rule of Law’ or empirical scientific findings or our safety. ...That every public agency that could issue a press release, would claim credit for their program du jure’s reductions in fatalities which they had nothing whatsoever to do with. ...During these shock periods vehicles and roadways improve and by the time the economy recovers, the rates appear to plateau for a few years, as they gradual return of the highest risk activities are mitigated for by the improvements. ...If you want safe roads or to eliminate enforcement abuses and assure fair laws and courts the solution is fact based best practices applied uniformly with deference to our Constitution, and its protections for the rights of an individual.

USDOT Distracted and Operating Under the Influence

cdornsife@bhspi.org — 2009-08-12T17:09:11-07:00
Kudos to the USDOT’s inventive crisis development team and its marketing agency for the recent avalanche of releases and news stories that appear to be from disparate sources, making one plausible dire highway safety need for intervention claim after another; distracted driving, cell phone use, texting, teen drivers, 55 mph limit and increased death rates, community policing etc. ...Thus all rules governing the field of “Roadway Safety” shall be Constitutional, conform to Congress’ intent, and the exercise of police powers thereof SHALL also be fact based and uniformly applied regardless of state lines, entity type or classification on any private or public roadway, bike path or pedestrian facility open to public travel within the US and its territories. ...Where it went wrong: Early after the USDOT’s creation in 1966, its mission became duplicitous in that Congress also charged National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) to market the merits and success of its National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) after Congress had vested heavily in creating an army, with support staff to enforce it, when the data was showing nothing could have been further from the truth. ...What can we do: If Congress really wanted to be constructive and advance highway safety, it would hold hearings to ask why the USDOT has facilitated a state of anarchy in practice, expectation and due process, and compel them to return to best practices, the rule of law and assure our nation’s practices conform; with a representative government representing We the People. ...The following can cause up to a doubling of premiums, one day late paying, poor credit report, child support action, the mention of an incident even if no claim is filed, a vehicle you own caught in automated enforcement trap or by license plate reader for unpaid property tax or records latency between a payment and it being register in the computer record etc. ...What an amazing responsive government we have: from the NY Times report that the government is withholding safety data; to all of distracted driving studies being released and cited in multiple national media outlets; to 4 US Senators drafting and introducing the “ALERT Drivers” Act that would take away 25% of a state’s highway funding for non compliance; and the USDOT having set a date certain Safety Summit scheduled where Mr. ...If Congress really wanted to be constructive, it would hold hearings to ask why the USDOT has strayed from its delegated by law fact based standards and oversight responsibilities, to assure we have one nation, application, expectation and due process protections. ...Aside from banning mothers from talking with their children or changing the channel on their radio, in regard to distracted driving what does a cell phone and its use represent to us a society, our safety and an incomprehensible probable-cause pretext law that would sanction traffic stops at will. ...Again the real crime here is the if USDOT took safety seriously, we could save thousands each year and injuries to hundreds of thousands more within a few years, without a single new law or enforcement program, if there was funding for infrastructure safety innovations, research, or solutions. ...We have the quaint and old fashioned belief that the Constitution has meaning, that USDOT administrative acts must be in compliance with the Constitution, Congress’ intent and federal regulation that govern its conduct, including its oversight responsibilities, and that all engineering practices be fact based and the exercise of police powers conform to the requirements of our laws.