Most car salesmen that I have encountered are miserable wretches, predators that stalk car buyers in between cigarette breaks. Despite their [well-earned] scum-sucking reputation, they don’t deserve to be killed. Do they? Apparently one man in Texas thought so. During a test drive yesterday, Dodge salesman Jack Phinney was ejected from a black 2006 Ram pickup on Dallas’ Central Expressway. Whether by force or recklessness, police don’t know. The Dallas Morning News reports that one James Thorp, fled the scene and did not return the truck to the dealership. Police later arrested him at Thorp’s former place of employment. He’s being held on $3m bond. Asked about Thorp, his former boss made an asinine statement, as people are wont to do in such situations, “I know James and James is a good guy.” Yeah, a good guy who harbors homicidal hatred of car salesmen.

Police in San Jose, California urged a city council transportation committee to drop plans to install red light traffic cameras in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley. “Studies reveal an awful lot of ambiguity and dissonance,” Deputy Chief Donald Anders explained. “Some jurisdictions have noted a reduction in their traffic accident rate. Other jurisdictions have noted an actual increase in their traffic accident rate. The reason for that increase primarily seems to be rear end accidents.” San Jose police conducted a 39-week evaluation of traditional enforcement efforts. Forty-one officers conducted a highly visible intersection ticketing blitz in four zones containing areas with the highest accident rates. When ticketing patrols were active, the rate of accidents attributed to red light running was 0.6 crashes per week. “By national standards, our injury crash rate is approximately fifty-percent of the rest of the country — an indication that with the limited staff we have in traffic enforcement that we’re actually being quite effective and efficient with our efforts as they stand,” Anders said. Police Chief Robert L. Davis filed a written report asserting that a red light camera program would divert Special Enforcement Team officers away from duties such as conducting DUI roadblocks. Councilman Sam Liccardo asked the department to conduct another report, this time focusing on the experience of nearby cities with active red light camera programs.  [click here for the full story at thenewspaper.com]

A senior Edmonton Canada police officer was back in court yesterday, as trial court proceedings began to determine whether his authorship of a fraudulent memo on behalf of a photo radar firm constituted a crime. Detective Thomas Bell, 50, is one of several Edmonton Police Service officers who accepted lavish gifts and other benefits between 1998 and 2004 from Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). That’s the same company that received a police recommendation for a no-bid contract worth $90m to run the city’s speed cameras. Bell’s downfall came when he put his name to a memorandum designed to single-out ACS as the only firm capable of operating the lucrative speed camera program. As reported by the Edmonton Journal, an anonymous March 2004 email from within the department kicked-off the investigation into Bell. According to reports, over the last year– while Sgt. Bell was in charge of the speed enforcement unit– ACS sent the officer on several junkets, and blessed Bell with free lunches, dinners, golf tournaments and banquets. (Former Deputy Police Chief Darryl da Costa narrowly escaped internal punishment for violating ethics rules for taking free hockey tickets and meals. The statute of limitations had expired by the time the allegations surfaced.) If convicted of breach of trust, Bell would face a maximum sentence of fourteen years in prison. [click here for the full story from TheNewspaper.com]

I am not a paranoid survivalist libertarian who constantly checks the horizon for black helicopters. (I only scan the skies for a few days after posting a General Motors Death Watch.) But, as a former U.K. resident alien, I’ve been following the erosion of civil rights and the concomitant rise of police power in Britain ever since the first speed cameras appeared in The Land of Hope and Glory. Between then and now, the right to remain silent has been abridged and the UK has become the world’s most surveilled nation. And now the gazettelive.co.uk reports that “Specialist Cleveland Police officers took part in a ground-breaking blitz against criminals using the region’s road networks. Officers from Teesside joined colleagues from six other UK forces and more than 20 other European countries [Italics added] to take part in Operation Orbit.” Six? Or seven? “A ring of steel was provided by seven police forces at locations on the ring-roads of York, mainly the A64 and the A1237,” revealed Sergeant Jason Wathes, leaders of the Cleveland Police Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) interception team. And the justification? “Sgt Wathes said the initial objective was to target thieves, drug-runners and those carrying weapons. But motorists driving without tax, insurance or otherwise disqualified were also stopped. ‘We know who the criminals are, but we can’t always secure prosecutions. But we can apply traffic legislation to target the criminals and disrupt them from using the roads.'” Oh, that’s alright then.

Flash Of Genius, which opens at theaters today, is such a TTAC movie. It’s a story of automotive invention and one man’s struggles against the corrupt practices of an industry that stole his patented intermittent wiper design. Hell, it’s already got Ford’s PR flacks in a frenzy. Automotive News [sub] is reprinting its take on the eventually happy conclusion of the Bob Kearns story today, in honor of the film’s release. The story, dating from December 16, 1991 (this blogger’s ninth birthday), reports the successful conclusion of Kearns’ patent lawsuit against Chrysler. Having already won a $10.2m settlement against Ford, Kearns was asking for $39m from Chrysler for stealing his invention. After 13 years of litigation and $10m in legal fees, Kearns had finally beat the industry that so viciously screwed him. Check out the movie that retells the story of his invention and legal battles, opening today at theaters near you.

The Newspaper steps up to the platform and says, “You must be joking son, haven’t we paid our dues?” (Steely Dan fans need apply). In other words, Maryland, Tennessee and Missouri are all contemplating adding highway speed cameras to their revenue generating highway safety schemes. “Officials from Maryland, Missouri and Tennessee joined Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich (D) at a two-day event designed to promote the use of speed cameras on freeways throughout the country.” Although the Newspaper doesn’t tell us any more about this highway hoedown (‘ho down?), it does give us a heads-up on Illinois’ entirely predictable plan to extend speed cameras from their current construction work sites to the rest of the state’s highway network. The good news? The Newspaper reminds us that democracy knocked-down Connectitcut’s highway speed camera scheme, so the Prairie state’s plans may also get scuttled. And, with a bit of luck and a few of your emails, MD, TN and MO’s scameras may never see the light of day. Not that I’m not objective on this issue…

TTAC has previously reported deep concerns about the GT-R’s ‘Ring recond. Australian Herald Sun automotive journalist Paul Gover reports that Porsche was sehr unglücklich with Nissan’s claims that its GT-R is faster around The Green Hell than Stuttgart’s mean machines. To test its suspicions, Porsche bought a GT-R in the U.S., flew it to the ‘Ring and ran its own back-to-back tests with the Japanese supercar. Porsche’s expert ‘Ring runner couldn’t get within 25 seconds of Nissan’s claimed record. Porsche also “discovered” that its 911 Turbo and GT2 were both faster around the legendary German circuit than the bonkers Nissan. “This [GT-R] wonder car with 7:29 could not have been a regular series production car,” proclaims August Achleitner, the 911 product chief for Porsche. “For us, it’s not clear how this time is possible. What we can imagine with this Nissan is they used other tyres.” Achleitner’s mob clocked the GT-R at 7 minutes 54 seconds; the 911 Turbo managed 7:38 and the GT2 lapped the track in 7:34. “The Nissan is a good car. I don’t want to make anything bad with my words,” he says. “It’s a very consistent car. But this car is about 20 kilos heavier than the Turbo… This technical puzzle now fits together.  With the other numbers we had problems to understand it.”

“Are contracts between local governments and a private, for-profit entity inherently void as against public policy, where the contracts require the private entity to be principally responsible for vital law enforcement-related tasks, including generating, processing and defending in court the sole evidence of an alleged violator’s guilt, and the entity’s compensation is based on the number of criminal convictions obtained?” Is it true that “Such contingency agreements are condemned, particularly in the criminal law context, because even if they never result in actual harm, by their very nature they tend to invite corruption, and thus undermine the public’s faith in the fair and impartial administration of justice?”

Just when Farago begins to question his ongoing coverage of the UK’s obsession with speed cameras, thenewspaper.com proves the significance of the story… Redflex and American Traffic Solutions (ATS) are already raking in tens of million of dollars of loot from dubiously justifiable red-light cameras; corrupting officials, invading privacy and subverting government accountability along the way. But they’re thinking bigger than that. WAY BIGGER (Brother). “We are moving into areas such as homeland security on a national level and on a local level,” boasts Redflex regional director Cherif Elsadek. New “optical character recognition” technology could be integrated with existing red light camera and speed camera systems, allowing full video records to be kept of passing motorists. Add that to ATS’s proposal to integrate Arizona’s speed cameras to a national database, and you can see where this is going. Or just ask Elsadek. “Imagine if you had 1500 or 2000 cameras out there that could look out for the partial plate or full plate number across the 21 states where we do business today. This is the next step for our technology.” Why? Amber Alerts and tracking stolen cars, of course. Nothing to see here.

What is this, paranoid Tuesday? Hot on the heels of our story about the UK’s massive motorist surveillance system comes a tale of Empire State driver’s licenses that emit a radio signal that tells the authorities who you are. Yes, the same micro-technology designed to keep track of inventory, RFID, can now keep track of your ass. As the AP [via the Berkshire Eagle] reports, the “enhanced” licenses are codenamed EDL or Electronic Drivers License. They are– in theory– all about convenience. You file a shitload of paperwork, pay an extra $30, get the RFID license and sail through Canadian and Mexican customs (international travel still requires a passport). What me worry? “To answer concerns about the ability of hackers to intercept RFID information from the new licenses, the state is mailing each one with a protective storage sleeve that prevents transmission, said DMV spokesman Ken Brown — who stressed that the only information contained in the tag is a number that would be meaningless except to Homeland Security agents and clever terrorists/criminals.”

UK privacy campaigners have been sounding the alarm ever since Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras were first introduced into The Land of Hope and Glory. Recent revelations by The Guardian prove the truth of the old adage “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean everyone’s not out to get you.” “A national network of roadside cameras will be able to ‘read’ 50m licence plates a day,” the paper reports. “Enabling officers to reconstruct the journeys of motorists. Police have been encouraged to ‘fully and strategically exploit’ the database, which is already recording the whereabouts of 10 million drivers a day, during investigations ranging from counter-terrorism to low-level crime.” And the hits keep happening. “Senior officers” had promised the data would only be stored for two years. The Home Office has now admitted that it will keep the info on file for five. Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said the database would give police “extraordinary powers of surveillance.”  In fact, “This would never be allowed in any other democratic country.” From his lips to your ears.

Newschannel5.com reports that the bloom may be off the rose when it comes to relations between local government and employees slaving away at Nissan’s new Tennessee plant. “Murfreesboro recently installed six red light cameras to catch people who ignore traffic signals. About 2,600 citations have been issued since July. Thousands of drivers have been ticketed and employees for one of Rutherford County’s largest employers have been repeat violators. ‘When we’re looking through the citations and Nissan North America did stand out. There were nearly 40 citations,’ said Murfreesboro Police spokesman Kyle Evans.” Problem: a lot of the violators are driving leased vehicles, registered to Nissan. Evans smells a rat. “‘When you have this many citations perhaps when you’re driving a vehicle that’s registered to you directly and you may have the idea you’re not going to be held accountable or responsible for it,’ he said. ‘Pretty much all these citations have not been paid.'” Good neighbor that it is, Nissan promises to trace the plates to the employee leasing the car and make sure they pay the citation. That ought to make everyone happy.

More than 90k purchasers of ’02 – ’05 Saturn Vues and ’03 – ’04 Ions have opted for GM’s VTi continuously-variable transmission. And though it’s tempting to trot-out ye olde caveat emptor, GM is taking responsibility for the widespread failure of its cogless boxes. Since the transmissions cost $4k – $5k to replace, and the preliminary settlement covers repairs, car rentals, towing and trade-in losses, plaintiff lawyers reckon GM could be on the hook for up to $100m. Meanwhile, according to Automotive News, GM’s lawyers demonstrate the carefree optimism of their corporate masters, estimating final settlement costs at $10m – $20m. The settlement will include payments to a yet-to-be-determined class of Vue and Ion owners based on the mileage of the vehicle when the transmission failed, and whether owners purchased the vehicle new or used. The vehicles must have failed within 125k miles or eight years of the purchase date. Although GM lawyer Joe Lines was happy to call the $90 – $100m cost “wildly exaggerated,” he declined to provide a failure rate for the transmission. More tellingly, the settlement means that GM must agree with the “exceptionally prone to premature failure” characterization in the original lawsuit.

I’m not quite sure why I continue to cover the UK’s anti-speeding jihad. These posts never get much attention on this side of the pond, even though The Land of Hope and Glory’s obsession with speeding (and speeding revenue) is either a hateful harbinger of what’s to come in The Land of the Free, or a simple, stark warning: DON’T GO THERE. Either way, Pistonheads reports that “yellow vultures”– so-called SPECS cameras which average speed between point A and Point B– are set to replace radar or induction loop-based speed cameras. While safety campaigners and government accountants welcome any system where speeding motorists can’t “cheat” (slow down at the camera site and then speed up again), it’s the next step in Big Brother surveillance. And I happen to agree with the Association of British Drivers, who claim that fixating on your speed, rather than maintaining overall situational awareness, leads to more accidents, not fewer. Not to mention disrupting the “natural” traffic flow, creating accidents when motorists trying to overtake slower vehicles intent on obeying the letter of the law.

Sometimes being a Pistonhead isn’t that wonderful. I’ve spent the last 24 hours securing or moving fourteen cherished automobiles to higher ground before Hurricane Ike hits the city of Houston.  Its been crazy: one dead battery with an even deader alternator, a  bleeding heater core and several trips to an elevated parking garage. By Thursday night,  I had a (poorly chosen) escape pod for my evacuation: a 1972 Continental Mark IV. But, after a months-long slumber, I fired up the triple-black beauty and it instantly idled like a new car. Too bad I didn’t plan on the Mark’s quarter tank of gas. Or an eighth, depending on how cranky the gauge acted when you came to a stop. I waited in feed lines with SUVs, compacts, pickups and crossovers only to have pumps run dry, which was more than a little terrifying given the big Lincoln’s OPEC-inspired heyday. Can I make it to the suburbs on congested roads, in a 7.5 liter Lincoln that gets 9 MPG on a good day? Thankfully, there was no traffic this morning, so I gently wafted to safer territory on the Mark IV’s reassuring haunches. It was a throughly relaxing ride. And now I’m ready for this damn storm.