The Daily News recently reported that state budget problems may actually be giving motorists a license to speed on New York highways.

According to their sources, NY police have written 10% fewer speeding tickets within the first six months of 2012 than in the first six months of 2011.

Total ticket issuance (for all offenses including speeding) by troopers dropped by 11.6%.

The President of the New York State Troopers PBA explained, “I am surprised it is only down 11% because we just don’t have the manpower.”

He noted that it has been almost 4 years since the state police academy graduated a new class of recruits.

The figures reveal that troopers wrote only 533,878 total tickets from January through early July. This was down from 603,668 during the same period in 2011.

Nevertheless, most state police officials credit drivers for obeying the laws due to the decrease, even though critics believe that it truly is a shortage of officers.

Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said, “We are seeing more motorist compliance, resulting in safer highways, as a result of our traffic enforcement and educational efforts.”

He continued, “New York’s motorists have a better understanding of the potential dangers of speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and driving while distracted.”

D’Amico also emphasized that “[o]ur troopers continue to do an excellent job of preserving public safety, protecting our roads, and helping better promote driver safety.”

In spite of what D’Amico asserts, the state controller’s office explained that the number of troopers decreased from 2,811 in 2008 to 2,647 in July 2011 and only 7 more than that were added in 2012.

A new recruit put it simply when he said, “We are at bare bones.”

Meanwhile, this year’s ticket drop-off extended across all categories of motor vehicle violations, including the failure to use seat belts (which went down by 24%), equipment problems (which went down by 16%) and the failure to use child restraints (which went down by 19%).

Nevertheless, despite this sharp drop in ticket issuance, be sure to properly follow all of the appropriate vehicle and traffic laws. After all, you never know when you might get pulled over.

A bill that would have allowed New York City to issue speeding tickets from 40 new speeding cameras failed to pass in the New York State legislature.

With Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal in shambles, he recently suggested another alternative: public shaming of bad drivers.

Mayor Bloomberg stated, “[W]hether or not you could have the cameras … we’ll put up their names and pictures someplace, maybe we can shame them.”

In an interesting twist of events, the bill, which had bipartisan support, did not make it to the floor before the end of the Albany legislative session.

What many do not know is that New York City already has a number of cameras that enforce red lights and bus lanes.

In spite of this, the speed-camera bill was introduced to the New York State Assembly and Senator Andew Lanza officially backed the bill not too long ago.

Supporters and critics alike expected the bill to become a law by the end of the past week. However, it never did.

On the John Gambling Show, the mayor noted that NYC could mount cameras all it wants, but the city cannot dole out fines based on them without state approval.

As such, without passage of the bill by the New York State legislature, his proposal was dead in the water.

A caller voiced her opinion during the show and said, “Drivers know that when the light turns red, they have a few seconds before the light turns green in the other way, and there are always two to three cars that zoom through that red light.”

Echoing the caller’s sentiments, Mayor Bloomberg explained, “We have thousands and thousands of corners, and we don’t have the money for thousands and thousands of cops standing on every corner.”

He continued, “Using technology you would think would be the most efficient thing. It would stop people from breaking the law.”

After growing frustrated, the mayor declared, “only in the crazy world of Albany” could such a proposal be turned down.

If you or a loved one recently received a New York speeding fine, contact an experienced traffic ticket attorney today.

We all know how frustrating and expensive it can be to receive a speeding ticket inNew York.

Aside from the monetary costs of fines and skyrocketing insurance hikes, we know that the points associated with NY speeding fines can be quite harmful to our driving records.

However, a new application (app) for the iPhone could help make your life a little bit easier.

The app is called TicketDefender, and it tracks your speed, the time of day, and your location via GPS.

App Designer Ralph Krause believes that it will give drivers exactly what they need to prove that they were not speeding and that a police officer’s radar was flawed.

According to Krause, the app relies on GPS cell tower reading in order to monitor your speed every three to five seconds.

One of the most prominent features that Krause is touting is the ability to hit a button called “Press When Ticketed,” which will automatically send an encrypted and watermarked speed readout to the driver’s e-mail address.

Krause told ABC News that he thinks the app can save the average driver tons of money in fines and penalties.

Many people are excited about the debut of the new app because they believe it is the only way to demonstrably prove a driver’s side of the story.

After all, police officers have radar detectors, but what does a driver have? Thanks to TicketDefender, they too can have technological proof.

The app is currently available for the iPhone, but Krause plans to release the app on the Android platform in the near future.

Some critics are extremely skeptical of the app.

Some privacy experts are concerned that consumers are forking over their hard earned cash to a company that will be tracking their every move in exchange for the mere hope that doing so could help them avoid a speeding ticket.

Also, aside from the fact that the app costs money (the sale price is $1.99 and it will jump to $4.99 relatively soon), some do not think that it will be helpful at all.

Furthermore, many think the app can only help if you are completely innocent.  Otherwise, if you were actually speeding, the app could quite possibly add fuel to the fire.

Remember, no app can be a genuine substitute for hiring a NY traffic ticket attorney who can negotiate a favorable plea bargain for you whether you truly were speeding or not.

The app might be worth checking out, but when the rubber hits the road, hire an attorney.

Six years ago, a woman from Lackawanna, New York received a speeding ticket fine for going 46 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. Despite the fact that she had a clean driving record and was barely driving over the speed limit, she did not contest the ticket.

Instead, she promptly paid it. This decision was largely made due to the fact that she received the ticket in Herkimer County, and, in order to fight the speeding fine, she would have needed to drive all the way to Little Falls, which was hours away. The ticket was only $155. Paying it, she thought, would be the easiest way to be done with the whole ordeal.

However, she almost lost her license because the Department of Motor Vehicles failed to credit her for making the payment. Her husband was in the thick of it all until this past week. He was faxing paperwork, making phone calls, and mailing documentation proving that his wife paid the ticket six years ago.

All of this headache due to a New York speeding ticket fine, which was already paid six years ago, for going one mile over the limit.

The trouble all started when the woman received a letter from the DMV explaining that as of April 6, her license was going to be suspended due to the non-payment of a New York speeding ticket.

After going through administrative hoops, the judge in Little Falls eventually told the woman that the court never received her money order, and that must have been the reason her New York speeding ticket remained outstanding.

Consequently, she immediately canceled the old money order and replaced it with a new one that she sent directly to Little Falls. Afterward, Judge Charles Oldick sent the form to the DMV acknowledging that the ticket was officially paid.

However, the woman’s driving record remained unchanged, and the DMV told her that the suspension was still pending.

Finally, just this past week, the DMV officially corrected the error in their system, but not before worrying the woman and her entire family for quite some time.

Ultimately, this story illustrates precisely how vital it is for correspondence with the court and fine payments to be confirmed in writing after they are initiated. The easiest way for you to do this is by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope and a letter requesting the court clerk to mail you a receipt.

•  An officer pulled over a grandma and asked why she was in a hurry.  The grandma responded that she had ice cream in the back and did not want it to melt.  The police let her go.
•  A car packed with four ladies excited for a day of shopping was cruising down the New York Thruway near Syracuse when a police officer pulled them over.  When asked, “Do you know how fast you were going?” The driver answered, “No, officer, I don’t. But I’m sure I was moving right along because I was just trying to keep up with my mouth.”  It worked because no speeding ticket was issued.
•  A woman was daydreaming while driving and must have been speeding because a police officer pulled her over.  Her husband, who was a cop, told her that he always let people off without a ticket if they had a real original excuse.  When the state trooper reached the car, he informed her that she was speeding.  The lady driver looked the police officer and said firmly: “Do you have any idea what I did to the last cop who stopped me for speeding?” The officer looked startled.  The driver continued, “I married him.” While walking away and in the middle of laughing, the police officer said to slow down and have a nice day.
•  Another driver was pulled over by a state trooper and when he told her that she was speeding.  She answered, “I was talking to myself because I am mad at my husband and was practicing what I was going to say to him.  I guess the madder I got, the faster I drove.”  The state trooper closed his ticket book and walked away.
•  A married couple had been trying to have a child for a long time.  While racing to see a specialist at a hospital, they were pulled over for driving 94 mph in a 25-mph zone.  Only three minutes from the hospital, the couple informed the cop of the situation and explained that it was urgent to get their “sample” to the fertility specialist immediately.
•  While racing down the New York Thruway near Schenectady, a couple was stopped by a NY State trooper for speeding.  The lady who was in her ninth month of pregnancy began huffing and puffing as if she was in labor.  The husband respectfully invited the trooper to look at his wife who appeared as if she was going to deliver immediately in the car.  The trooper let them go with a warning to drive carefully on the way to the hospital.
•  This excuse worked in Boone County, Missouri so it might not work up north in Yonkers, New York: Auntie was clocked doing 80 mph in a 45 mph, and she excused herself by declaring that she was frying chicken and had left the frying pan on the fire.
•  A funeral director was taking an unembalmed body to be cremated at an out of town crematory.  A state trooper pulled him over for driving 90 mph.  The driver told the trooper that if he does not reach the crematory in an hour it would close for the weekend.  The driver claimed, “If you don’t believe me, take a whiff.”  The trooper actually stuck his head through the side window, jerked it out and told the driver to hurry along and be careful.
•  A police officer explained that one night he clocked a going 82 in a 45-mile zone. Upon approaching the car, the driver said, “I know why you stopped me and I know I deserve a ticket, but I really need to go”.  The driver continued to explain that he just ate at McDonalds and he got a severe case of diarrhea. Having been sick himself, the police officer let him go.
•  A driver pulled over for speeding once said to the police officer that he was speeding in order to catch up to the car in front of him to read his license plate because the other car threw a beer bottle at his car.

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According to the Queens Chronicle, speeding is now the number one killer in the five boroughs. However, despite this known fact, there are fewer officers on the road today than there were just a few years ago. Largely due to recent budget cuts, there simply are not enough police on the streets to give summonses for speeding.

A local nonprofit organization, Transportation Alternatives, conducted a study revealing that last year more than half of New York’s police precincts gave out fewer than two speeding tickets per week. Also, over the last ten years 1,745 pedestrians and bicyclists were killed and 142,485 injured on New York City roads. What was the main reason? Speeding.

In spite of this, Transportation Alternatives reports that the New York Police Department last year gave out more tickets for having tinted windows than for speeding. The numbers they crunched showed that 16,300 New Yorkers received speeding ticket fines as compared to 65,900 tinted windows tickets. Strikingly, the 103rd Precinct, which is situated inQueens, gave only 71New Yorkspeeding ticket fines but wrote a whopping 6,704 tinted windows tickets.

In a world where the average driver hopes to avoid a New York speeding ticket, much has not been done and little outrage has ensued. However, several lawmakers and the Chairman of the Public Safety Committee have attempted to deal with the problem. Instead of advocating for an increase in the police force or focusing on speeding at the expense of other crimes, these individuals are trying something groundbreaking.

The Chairman submitted a resolution in Albany detailing a plan to allow officers to issue New York speeding tickets even when they are not present at the time of an incident as long as they have reasonable cause to believe that a speeding violation occurred. Although some legislators find this controversial, the Chairman believes it might be the best chance he has at restoring safety to the streets of New York.

(Source: http://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/speeding-number-one-killer-in-traffic/article_a57145ce-f63e-5f9b-9d47-ce549b590c71.html)

Whether you were given your New York speeding ticket while zipping down The New York Thruway or your local town’s Main Street, you might have been the target of a speed trap.

Speed Trap

We are all familiar with the old fashioned speed trap: the New York State Trooper parks his car out of the view of oncoming cars – in a ditch in the middle of the highway, behind a large sign, under an overpass, or in the middle of a thicket of bushes.  He whips out his a radar gun, aims and shoots when a car speeds by.  The gun gives an accurate reading of how fast the car was driving.  If the car was speeding, then another trooper will pull over the driver and issue a New York speeding ticket.

Today’s version of a speed straps can include speeding cameras (in some states) and laser guns instead of radar.

Trapster.com, a community platform that alerts drivers to traps, hazards and traffic issues, recently reported on which ten cities have the most speed traps. The list was drawn from reports of its base of nearly 15 million users.

The Top Ten Speed Trap Cities (not listed in any specific order)

1.  Colorado Springs, Colorado – A significant number of unmarked police cars are employed to catch unsuspecting motorists.
2.  Orlando, Florida – The home of Disney World was one of the early users of cameras to catch unsuspecting speeding tourists.
3.  St. Louis, Missouri- The gateway to the west is home to 89 traffic cameras.  The small towns surrounding St. Louis are also known be heavy users of speed traps.
4.  Washington D.C. – In addition to being the nation’s capital, it is home to 349 speeding cameras.  Washington D.C. has a reputation as a city that issues a lot of speeding tickets.
5.  Los Angeles, California – Lots of cars means lots of traffics in Los Angeles because drivers customarily drive very fast when it is not commuting times.
6.  Chicago, Illinois –The windy city possesses the second-most red light and speed cameras in the United States – 418 in the metro area alone.
7.  New York City– With such a high volume of traffic, the New York Police Department vigilantly enforces its speed laws by issuing lots of NY speeding tickets.
8.  Las Vegas, Nevada – It is reported that the Las Vegas Police Department likes to prey on tourists.
9.  Houston, Texas– Texas highways have a reputation with changing speed limits dramatically and raising them again.  Troopers use the change to catch speeders.
10.  Austin, Texas- Police in Austin have a reputation for issuing speeding tickets to drivers exceeding the speed limit by as little as one to three miles per hour.

Whether you were issued a NY speeding ticket or any other traffic ticket, it is better to plead not guilty and call an aggressive NY traffic attorney like Adam H. Rosenblum of Rosenblum Law.  Email or call 888-434-0406 for a free consultation.

You are being pulled over for speeding.  Here are 7 tips on what you should do.

1.  Pull Over.  As soon as you see the flashing lights behind you, pull over as quickly and safely as possible.  This will help avoid any tension because the police officer will perceive your cooperation.
2.  Create a Safe Atmosphere.  Turn on the light inside the car and keep your hands on the steering wheel.  If police sense that you are rummaging through your car, they may grow suspicious and tense.
3.  Be Patient and Wait for Instructions.  Allow the officer to approach your vehicle and request what he needs.  Although you want to be cooperative, it is better not to appear “experienced” at what to do when pulled over by a police officer.
4.  Do Not Get Out of Your Car.  Unless instructed by the police, do not exit your car.  If you attempt to get out of your car quickly after being pulled over, you appear dangerous or at the very least argumentative to the police.
5.  Remain Calm and Follow Instructions.  Listen to the officer and answer his questions clearly and concisely.  A long, rambling answer may annoy the police officer.
6.  Do Not Admit Fault.  It is never recommended to plead guilty; therefore, you should never admit fault to the ticketing officer.  When he asks if you know why you have been pulled over, simply answer, “No, sir.”  After all, you don’t know what is in his head.
7.  Use Your Manners.  Speak calmly, respectfully and clearly when addressing the police officer.  Be cooperative.  When the police officer is finished, say “thank you.”

There is another tip, which was not listed and it is the most important: call a New York traffic attorney immediately before you  respond to your ticket.

When a NY traffic lawyer pleads not guilty on your behalf to a New York speeding ticket charge, he can negotiate a favorable settlement, which oftentimes means a reduced charge, fewer points and lower fines. In addition, the NY traffic attorney represents you at all hearings so you do not have to travel to the town court and miss a day of work.

If you have been issued a NY speeding ticket, email or call 888-434-0406 for a free consultation.

Pound Ridge is a small town in Westchester County, NY.  It has a population of 5,104.  It is also home to deer, emus, swans, ducks and geese, foxes and coyotes, raccoons, otters, squirrels, chipmunks, frogs, crickets, etc.

The average person would never think that Pound Ridge has a problem of too many NY speeding tickets.

Despite a concerted effort to slow down traffic in Scotts Corners, Pound Ridge’s business district, Pound Ridge Police Department has found that motorists are not obeying the 30-mph speed limit.  Scotts Corners is an area of several blocks with a retail establishment.

Complaints about speeding in Pound Ridge increased in recent years.  The issue peaked last year when an elderly man was killed when walking along Westchester Avenue in Scotts Corners.

By employing daily radar details in the business district, Pound Ridge police gathered data over a 24-month period of 2010 and 2011.  Police Chief David Ryan claims that his officers are issuing about the same number of tickets every quarter in Scotts Corners despite the heavy police presence.  Normally, when a strong police presence exists, drivers slow down.

The Pound Ridge Police Department’s study shows that in 2010 and 2011 the average speed in Scotts Corners increased from 48.5 mph to 52.1 mph even though it is a 30-mph zone.  It was also reported that the number of tickets handed out in each quarter of 2011 increased by about 50% over the first quarter in 2010.

The study showed that the average speed in Scotts Corners is 52 mph in a 30-mph zone.  A NY speeding ticket of 22 mph over the speed limit may cost the driver up to $300 in fines and 6 points on his driving record.

Six points within 18 months means that the driver needs to pay a Driver Responsibility Assessment of $100 per year for 3 years and $25 per year for three years for each point over 6.

These fines and surcharges don’t even take into account the increase in insurance premiums that you can experience.

Pound Ridge Police are hoping to change drivers’ behavior by enforcing the speed limit every day.

“We will increase our enforcement and reduce our tolerance levels if necessary,” Ryan said.

From Pound Ridge to Manhattan to Buffalo to the Canadian border, Rosenblum Law has a team of aggressive NY traffic attorneys prepared to help you fight your NY speeding ticket.  Email or call 888-434-0406 today.