by James J. Baxter, President, NMA - National Motorists Association

12NATIONAL MOTORISTS ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION NEWSMEMBERS WRITEYour letters are welcomed and appreciated. This is a forum for diverse opinions, different perspectives, andpersonal experiences. Letters may be edited for length or clarity. Letters should not exceed 300 words inlength. Full-length articles will also be considered for publication in the NMAF NEWS. Articles should notexceed 600 words in length. Positions and opinions expressed in letters and member-authored articles arethose of the author and do not necessarily reflect NMA policies or objectives. To submit, you can email us atnma@motorists.org or mail to our NMAF Office.In the News From Around TheCountry section of the January/February 2002 issue of NMAFNEWS, it was mentioned thatRichard Philbrick (a Massachusettsresident) had erroneously received ared light camera ticket fromColorado (a state that neither he norhis car had been to in years). Oneway to avoid that situation is to becareful how you dispose of your oldlicense plates. Never turn in oldplates at the old plate recycle box atthe license bureau. This happened tosomeone in Ohio a few years back.They had old license plate recycleboxes at the license bureaus. Someguy put his old plates in one of thoseboxes and wound up getting parkingtickets from Atlanta, Georgia on hisold plates. Be sure to thoroughlydestroy them before disposing ofthem. You can't be too careful thesedays. Or, Richard Philbrick could bethe victim of outright identity theft.Tom MorrowOrchard Park, NYThis is in response to News FromAround The Country in theJanuary/February 2002 issue ofNMAF NEWS. Under the"Washington DC" section, youmentioned some of the problemswith the photo radar tickets. Thereare other problems as well. Policeare getting photo radar tickets whileresponding to "code one" emergencies(driving with their blueflashing lights turned on).Police Chief Charles Ramseyresponded to the news by basicallytelling the cops who work for him totell it to the judge and see if hebelieves you, which of course doesnot work, even for the cops. That'swhat I call poetic justice.The cops have responded bydriving slower during "code one"emergencies. They don't want to getmore tickets.Seth AllenAlexandria VAJust wanted to let you know thatI beat a ticket today given to me inAugust 2001. I was stopped on I-10in Tallahassee, Florida, from aVASCAR tracking aircraft run bythe Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).By using your strategy of asking forcontinuances, I was able to delay thehearing until today. Unfortunatelyfor the FHP, they transferred thetrooper who was on the ground toTexas in December! Thanks againfor the advice—you saved me$130...not to mention 3 points.Michael P. Procter, Sr.Jacksonville, FLThis concerns the article byAarne Frobom, on environmentalistsusing traffic laws to regulate gasusage (NMAF NEWS, January/February 2002). It is important toknow that airplanes use 20 percentof the United States gas whilemotorists use 80 percent. That tiny,tiny minority who fly, use a vastlydisproportionate amount.Leroy PlettenSterling Heights, MII want to thank you so much forrunning your January cover photo ofthe sign saying, "Signals timed torequire frequent stops." It truly is aclassic.If I remember correctly, that signappears as you enter the east end ofthe Revere Beach Parkway inRevere, Massachusetts. The firsttime I saw this infamous sign, I wasstruck not just by the oppressivestyle of traffic management that itevidenced, but by the sheer, boastfularrogance it demonstrated on thepart of the state to erect a signactually documenting it.Since I voted with my wheels outof the People's Republic about twoyears ago, I had been despairing ofever convincing my new acquaintancesthat my story was not a talltale, and that any government couldbe so witless as to intentionally erectsuch a sign. Now I have yourJanuary cover to use as evidence.C. D. TavaresMorristown AZcontinued on next pageMARCH/APRIL 2002