Written by Gregory Monte.
The Hyperbole
It’s Horrifying!
Speeding tickets have doubled in New York.
New York Streets Are Nearly Empty, but Speeding Tickets Have Doubled
The hyperbole used in the above New York Times article amazed me so much that I felt compelled to write a blog post about it.
Here are some of the expressions used to describe the current situation in New York:
“some drivers are taking advantage of open streets to speed and drag race.”
“Drivers have roared through deserted New York City streets as if they were taking a lap at Le Mans.”
“They have openly drag raced on major commuting arteries, including Sixth Avenue and the West Side Highway in Manhattan.”
“Now that the streets are empty, the Fast & Furious wannabes really think they’re living in a video game,” tweeted City Councilman Justin Brannan, a Democrat who represents southwest Brooklyn”
The Facts
OK, enough with the hyperbole – it’s time for just the basic facts:
“Even with fewer cars on the streets, the city’s automated speeding cameras have issued almost twice as many speeding tickets daily. There were 24,765 speeding tickets on March 27, up from 12,672 tickets issued daily a month earlier, according to city data.”
Fair enough, more speeding tickets are being issued.
And then there are these other facts:
“The average speed from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. increased 85 percent in Brooklyn to 46 miles per hour, In Queens, it rose 84 percent to 49 m.p.h., and in the Bronx, 58 percent to 45 m.p.h., according to INRIX, a transportation analytics company.
The fastest average speed was 58 m.p.h. on Staten Island, up 34 percent. Even the slowest average speed, 25 m.p.h. in Manhattan, was up 49 percent.
Fair enough, speeds are going up.
The Contradictions
Let me end with what appears to me to be a contradiction in the article.
“City officials have become alarmed by a spate of high-speed crashes, though the overall number of motor vehicle crashes has declined along with traffic. A total of 1,106 motor vehicle crashes were reported from March 23 to March 28, down 63 percent from 2,951 crashes from Feb. 23 to Feb. 28, according to city data.”
Interesting … more speeding but fewer crashes ….
Finally, in another seeming contradiction, the writer makes a point about a cyclist almost being hit by a speeding driver:
“Rachel Tenney, 35, a special-education teacher, was nearly struck by a driver in a red sports car while recently biking on Park Avenue. The teacher, who prefers the courtesy title Mx., caught up to the driver at the next red light and told him to slow down. His response? Get a bike helmet.”
But then goes on to state:
“At the same time, there were five fewer cyclists killed this year after a spike last year. And six fewer pedestrians were killed — the 30-day stretch from March 14 to April 13 without a single pedestrian fatality was the longest in decades, city officials said.”
Incidentally, why does it matter that Rachel Tenney is a special education teacher who prefers the “Mx.” title?
If this is the kind of “journalism” that New York Times is pushing out, is it any wonder it is called “The Failing New York Times” by certain people?
Free Resources
The Basic Speeding Ticket Defense
This is a 9 page review of the most basic way to beat a speeding ticket – even if you actually were speeding. This particular strategy will almost always work, but it does depend on one aspect of the circumstances surrounding your ticket. For the strategy to be effective, there must be an issue with the speed limit signs, themselves. It’s all about the need of states/localities to comply with their “Obedience to Traffic Control Devices” statutes.
Click to Download the Free “Basic Speeding Ticket Defense”
Applying the Traffic Ticket Defense Method to Challenge a Citation.
This is a seven-page, detailed explanation of my three-step method for challenging any traffic ticket. I use the “Driving at a Safe Speed” statute from Pennsylvania to illustrate this method, but it can be applied to any other statute that you might be cited for in the vehicle code.
In addition, no matter what state you live in, the procedure is the same: you need to understand the statute you allegedly violated, look for technicalities in that statute and (most importantly) find case law to support/reveal those technicalities.
Click to Download the Free “Applying the Traffic Ticket Defense Method to Challenge a Citation”
The Pennsylvania Stop Sign Defense Strategy in a Nutshell.
This is a one-page, eight-point summary of the strategy I discovered while researching ways of beating unfair stop sign tickets. It is specifically geared to Pennsylvania but can also be applied to most other states.
Click to Download the Free “Pennsylvania Stop Sign Defense Strategy in a Nutshell”
My Son’s Opening Trial Statement at the Court of Common Pleas.
This is an elegant, one-page, powerfully concise expression of my defense strategy.
The Brief – My Son’s Case Brief for the Court of Common Pleas
- An eighteen-page argument for why an illegal stop sign is not enforceable.
- Requested by the President Judge at Wayne County, PA, Court of Common Pleas.
- A highly distilled application of the Pennsylvania Stop Sign Ticket Defense.
Traffic Ticket Defense Blog 