Free Republic

MIAMI - Drivers throughout South Florida have said no matter where their daily commute takes them, they feel they're spending more money, more often on tolls. Local 10 News spoke to several drivers who said the tolls are another expense and don't necessarily help them reach their destination any faster. "Three hundred to four hundred (dollars) a month," Maribel Masvidal estimated she spends commuting from Homestead to her job in South Miami. "A lot of money that could be used on other things for my family." Masvidal said that commute can take her up to two hours one way on...

HALTOM CITY, Texas (AP) - Shon Newsome almost got tricked into paying a toll for a third time. But on a recent afternoon, just before she was about to drive onto a Loop 820 on-ramp that would have required her to pay a toll, the sales executive pulled off the highway in Haltom City and asked a bystander for directions. She was trying to figure out which lane on the two-lane ramp would take her to the toll-free lanes - but the answer wasn’t clear.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Take a drive on Florida's toll road. It's not how far you go that determines what you pay. We found it may be the car you drive. "I was mad going on vacation with my wife," explained Steve Pasek. For Pasek, the memories of his Florida vacation are as fresh as the snow back in Ohio. He declined the rental car company's toll service. With the rental car company's automated billing services, you are billed weeks after you return the car. A third party company is used to send you the bill. While Pasek declined...

TAMPA, FL (WFLA) – Driving on Florida toll roads is part of doing business for trucker Bill VanEpps. “Tolls are a huge expense, and it adds up to a lot of money at the end of the year,” Bill said. He noticed a lot of mistakes with his EPass account so he switched to SunPass in January. “I’ve discovered weekly mistakes,” Bill added. Between January and September, Bill found 42 mistakes by the SunPass electronic tolling system. “My rig is a five axle rig. I’ve been charged for as many as 7 at one time. I’ve been charged for as...

New York and New Jersey drivers account for nearly one-third of all toll revenues amassed across the U.S., a new report says. Drivers in New York and New Jersey pay the heftiest price for their commutes — accounting for almost one-third of all tolls collected across the U.S., a new report says. The report, which was released by the International Bridges, Tunnels and Turnpike Association, indicated that drivers in the two states forked over an astounding $4 billion of the $13 billion in tolls accrued across the country. “The primary reason (for New York and New Jersey drivers paying the highest...

HOV is good; HOT is even better. As we saw during the Pan-Am Games, High Occupancy Vehicle lanes were great for cars with three or more people and other designated vehicles. The trouble was that they went largely unused. High Occupancy Toll lanes solve that problem by opening up the designated space to cars that don’t have the numbers but whose drivers are willing to pay for the convenience. Premier Kathleen Wynne has hinted that she’s willing to implement HOT lanes, but has not been specific about where and when. If the U.S. experience is anything to go by, however,...

The drivers have been convicted of child exploitation, identity theft, manslaughter and driving under the influence, according to court records. Each offense would make them ineligible for a city of Los Angeles taxi permit. The criminal histories recently came to light when a representative of the taxi industry presented a city official with a binder containing citations and court records for eight Uber drivers who were cited for minor violations at the airport over the last 18 months.

So Memorial Day is over. You had a great time with whomever, but let me guess—it was not so great on the highway, when about 100 million others joined you on the asphalt jungle. In just about six weeks, we’ll get to do it again for Independence Day, an apt name for any day on the roadways when the morons amongst us demonstrate just how independent they can be. My email inbox recently gave me the “Bill of Non-Rights” with stuff like (“You do not have the right to a free house…,” etc.), and so, here’s my stab at a...

The California Transplant Donor Network hailed California’s policy of granting driver’s licenses to persons in the country illegally for boosting organs available for transplant by an estimated 30 percent. Marcella Corona, community development liaison for the Transplant Donor Network, cited two factors she felt were “critical components of this good news. Obviously, by putting more drivers on the road there will be more potential crashes resulting in brain-dead victims—the prime source of organs for transplant. But the gains are likely to be even greater than mere numbers portend. On average, the driving skills of people from Latin America are decades...

A Gannett propaganda outlet is the source. http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/traffic/cameras/2014/11/04/issue-35-clevelands-trafficspeed-cameras-will-be-removed/18509815/

Truck driver Anthony Plummer remembers when he was in the middle of the country on a long-haul delivery when he learned his daughter was sick in the hospital. “I was told to get back [home] as soon as possible. But there are a lot of rules that limit how much I can drive, so I told them I would get back as soon as I could.” It was after this incident that Plummer decided to make a career shift to become a regional truck driver. “It blew my mind if something were to happen and if I was way across...

Just as you were wrapping your mind around the idea that under Obamacare and the accompanying changes in the health-care system, your medical records will be floating around in some online repository, available to far too many people, you’re being told you’ll soon have a National Identity Card and a Western Hemisphere-compliant travel document whether you want it or not, if you plan to drive in the United States. The federal government says it soon will be enforcing its demands that state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards comply with Department of Homeland Security standards. DHS announced just before Christmas a...

Drivers in a southeastern Pennsylvania town were forced off a local street and into a parking lot, so a federal contractor – aided by local police --could quiz them about their road habits and ask for a cheek swab, in a replay of an incident last month in Texas. The checkpoint, in downtown Reading, was one of several conducted by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, which was hired by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Although the questioning and cheek swab were voluntary, local residents said they were...

Louisiana is famous for celebrating Mardi Gras every spring, but it’s also home to worst drivers in the U.S. Thanks for residents’ failure to buckle up, driving carelessly and racking up tickets, CarInsuranceComparison.com says drivers in the Pelican State are the worst in the country, coming in the number one- spot for those three offenses. CarInsuranceComparison.com ranked the 10 worst states for drivers, pulling statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Motorists Association and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The five categories for each state’s score are ranked by fatalities rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, the...

It took more than two months, but on Thursday Dee Holden found out her Georgia driver’s license had been renewed. “I was so relieved and so thankful,” she said. Holden, a Whitfield County resident, first went to the Dalton office of the Department of Driver Services in August to have her license renewed. A Georgia license holder for almost 40 years, she thought the visit would be routine. “I went Aug. 15. I called first, and the phone message gave me directions. I was sitting there and I saw something that said you have to have bills and you have...

On paper, Jose Mendez, 20, and Carol Apaestegui, 24, look pretty much the same. Both, with their families, came to this county as undocumented immigrants when they were children. And both have been accepted in a new federal program that gives them temporary legal status, allowing them to get work permits and Social Security numbers, which they have. But when it comes to getting an Ohio driver's license, the two young people don't match up -- Mendez was denied a license while Apaestegui got hers... "A woman at the bureau told me, 'You're not even supposed to be in this...

Last summer, I was in a DMV location in Louisiana taking a test to get a Motorcycle Addendum for my Driver's License. I heard a woman ask the person in charge of written tests: "Can I take it again?" She had just flunked the written test. In this part of Louisiana, we lost a covered bus stop (made of metal) because someone was driving drunk. No surprise for Louisiana -- with drive through margaritas. On different occasions, I have had drivers attempt to use Honk-Your-Horn Bullying Today the person tried to run over me -- without stopping. I was on...

There aren’t more, because some people just don’t like to pay tolls, and others haven’t figured how they can take advantage of the lanes. Transurban is happy to have anybody’s toll money, whether they are locals or long-distance travelers, but the lanes are designed largely for the benefit of local travelers. The entrance and exit system reflects that. The Tysons area business and civic leaders with whom I’ve talked express optimism about the lanes and seem hopeful about the two new access points at Westpark Drive and Jones Branch Drive. At this early stage, the most vexing thing about the...

A bill to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain an Illinois driver’s license passed the Illinois Senate today by a vote of 41 to 14. One Democrat voted “present.” The bill is SB957. The 10 Republicans who joined the Democrats in rewarding non-citizens who are already breaking our laws, were: Bill Brady (Sponsor), Kirk Dillard, Tom Johnson, John Millner (Sponsor), Matt Murphy, Carole Pankau, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (Sponsor), Sue Rezin, Ron Sandack (Sponsor), and Suzi Schmidt. Two Republicans, Pamela Althoff and Dale Righter, took the ultimate lily-livered approach and just didn’t vote on the bill. That’s as bad as...

AAA: One in seven NC drivers does not have a licenseBy Tenikka Smith Posted: 12:56 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8, 2012 CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One out of every seven drivers on the road in North Carolina does not have a license, according to a study by AAA. The agency plans to use its research to push state lawmakers to take a tougher stance to get these dangerous and illegal drivers off the roads. **SNIP** "I'm driving without a license. I get caught. First offense would be a stiff fine, a potential for jail," Crosby said of what the group would like...