Watch Your Wallet When Driving Through These 10 States

With the first major driving holiday
of the summer season approaching, the National Motorists
Association -- a national drivers rights group - has analyzed the
laws across the country to determine the best and the worst states
when it comes to exploiting the motoring public.

These state rankings were calculated using seventeen criteria
related to specific traffic laws, enforcement practices, and the
treatment of traffic ticket defendants. The rankings are designed to
provide guidance to travelers who do not want their vacation ruined
by speed traps, arcane laws or "kangaroo" traffic courts.

The state most likely to find its way into your wallet is New Jersey.
With its toll roads, roadblocks, and speed traps, New Jersey has
left almost no stone unturned when it comes to extracting cash from
motorists. The state has also recently pushed through a red-light
camera pilot project at a time when many states are banning the
ticket cameras because they've proven to have a negative effect
on traffic safety. Add in "driver responsibility" fees, which are
ineffective and have a disproportionate effect on the poor, and you
have the worst state in our rankings.

Here are the worst ten states:

1) New Jersey
2) Ohio
3) Maryland
4) Louisiana
5) New York
6) Illinois
7) Delaware
8) Virginia
9) Washington
10) Massachusetts

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the five states that treated
motorists most fairly are Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, and
Kentucky. The complete list of rankings can be found on the
National Motorists Association website at
www.motorists.org/rankings.

Jim Baxter, President of the National Motorists Association, said "It
is not exactly a well kept secret that many traffic laws, enforcement
practices, and traffic courts are more about generating revenue and
political posturing, than they are about traffic safety. During holidays,
like the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, we're bombarded with
messages about intensified enforcement, _click it or ticket,' and
horrendous fines when in fact most vacation-related traffic accidents
are caused my inattention, distraction and fatigue. However, these
are accident causes that don't generate much in the way of
government revenue, so instead our highways are overrun with
unmarked police cars and ticket cameras."

Baxter went on to say "The long term solution to aligning legitimate
public interests with government policies is to remove the money
from traffic regulation, enforcement, and adjudication. Until that
happens, the focus on revenue generation will continue to trump
effective traffic regulation and ethical enforcement practices."

With this in mind, motorists who will be traveling to unfamiliar areas
during the holiday may want to check out the NMA's National Speed
Trap Exchange - a listing of speed traps across the country - at
www.speedtrap.org.