Casagrande Introduces Legislation To Nullify Absurd Texting Decision

Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande announced yesterday that she will introduce legislation that will protect the sender of a text message from civil liability if the receiver of the text is involved in a car accident while reading the message.

Thank goodness, and let’s hope that legislation get fast tracked

In what can only be considered a gift to the overpopulated legal community, the Appellate Division of New Jersey’s Superior Court last week ruled that senders of text messages could be liable for accidents that occur while the receivers are reading them “when a texter knows or has special reason to know that the intended recipient  is driving and is likely to read the text message while driving, the texter has  a duty to users of the public roads to refrain from sending the driver a text at  that time.”

What is a “special reason to know?”  That is new legal distinction that will have to be defined in another expensive court decision, unless Casagrande’s common sense legislation is passed and signed into law before the next ambulance chaser gets his law school buddy on the bench to define it.

Imagine the cases, and legal fees, this new legal liability will create.  Imagine the increases in insurance premiums, auto, homeowner’s, and business liability, this will cause.

If a spouse texts “pick milk” to his or her significant other during rush hour, and the receiving spouse gets into a car accident, the couple’s homeowner’s insurance company will get dragged into the law suit filed by the ambulance chaser.

Imagine the deposition questions asked at $250+ per hour per attorney:

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O’Scanlon is rallying public support to kill red light cameras

NJ101.5 photo

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, New Jersey’s most vocal advocate for the elimination of red light cameras, has taken to social media to rally public support for his quest to remove the devices that he has proven increase traffic accidents and are designed to rip off motorists from New Jersey intersections.

O’Scanlon has created an online petition at change.org that demands the New Jersey Department of Transportation end the red-light camera program in the State.  The petition can be found by clicking here.

On August 19, O’Scanlon provided video evidence to the press that red light camera operators shorten the required yellow light times at the intersections where the devices are installed in order to entrap motorists into running red lights and incurring fines that boost municipal revenue by upwards of $50 million dollars per year and put millions of dollars in the pockets of the companies that sell and service the red light cameras.

Backed up by Barnet Fagel, a traffic expert with the National Motorists Association and Attorney Joseph Santoli who discovered in a New York case that RLC companies were shaving yellow light times in order to entrap drivers into being caught on camera running a red, O’Scanlon said that shortened yellow lights cause more accidents and that “safety is being sacrificed” for municipal and RCL companies’ revenue.

Yellow lights are required to have either 3 or 4 second intervals, depending on the level of traffic and speed at the intersections.  Fagel conducted a study this weekend of 12 of the approximately 80 New Jersey RLC intersections.  All but “one or two” were found to have yellow lights that were between 1/10 and almost 3/10 of a second too short. Fagel presented the video evidence of his finding.

The most egregious of Fagel’s findings was in Jersey City at the intersection of Rt.1-9 and Sip Ave, a 4 second yellow light location.  Fagel’s video showed that the yellow light lasted only 3.753 seconds.

New Jersey’s Red Light Camera Program is a five year experiment that will expire in December of 2014 unless the legislature extends it.  O’Scanlon says there is already more than enough evidence to demonstrate that the program is a failure. RCL’s do not increase public safety.  On the contrary, they put lives at risk and serve no purpose other than to raise ill-gotten revenue for municipal governments and their unscrupulous vendors.

O’Scanlon has forwarded his findings to NJ DOT and hopes to enlist the support of at least 10,000 petition signers to pressure the DOT bureaucrats to end the program immediately.

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Government for the “servants” by the “servants”

Happy Labor Day.

Today we can celebrate that “government of the people, for the people and by the people” has perished from this State.

It has been replaced by government of, for and by the government workers’ unions, bureaucrats protected by civil “service” laws and contracts, and the politicians, protected by gerrymandering and incumbency, who have abdicated the most fundamental functions of government to said unions and bureaucrats. The so called public “servants.”

There have been eight people killed violently in Newark, either by shooting or stabbing, in the last seven days.

If this was a partisan political post, I’d be slamming Newark Mayor Cory Booker for the rise in crime in his city over the last over the last three years.

But that would be disingenuous.  Violent crime in Newark declined from 2006, when Booker was elected mayor through November of 2010 when he laid off the 167 city police officers that had been hired since he became mayor.

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Christie Vetos Sociological Strip Search Bill

file photo via nj.gov

Governor Chris Christie yesterday vetoed S454/A2421, the bill we’ve been fighting for years that would have allowed public schools to ask students intrusive personal questions about themselves and their family members without written parental consent.

In his veto message, Christie said:

This bill allows students of any age to participate in voluntary surveys, including those inquiring about sexual behavior and attitudes, if schools send prior written notice to their parents or guardians. The bill provides that the failure of a parent or guardian to respond to such notice shall be treated as affirmative approval of their child’s participation.

I recognize that surveys may help identify serious issues affecting students. However, this bill imprudently decreases parental involvement in a child’s educational development. I believe a parent or guardian’s legitimate interest to make an informed decision before their child is exposed to sensitive content outweighs the desire to make survey administration moreconvenient.

Accordingly, I herewith return Senate Bill No. 454 (FirstReprint) without my approval.

Thank you Governor Christie

Save Jersey has the news of the other bills Christie took action on yesterday.

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O’Scanlon: Red Light Cameras Sacrifice Safety For Revenue

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Attorney Joseph Santoli presenting Red Light Camera findings in Tinton Falls this morning.

In a scathing indictment of Red Light Camera (RLC) operators and the New Jersey municipalities that deploy the devices, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon today revealed what he described as “irrefutable evidence” that  yellow light times at many New Jersey intersections do not meet the standards required by law, causing thousands of motorist to be hit with millions of dollars in unlawful fines.

Backed up by Barnet Fagel, a traffic expert with the National Motorists Association and Attorney Joseph Santoli who discovered in a New York case that RLC companies were shaving yellow light times in order to entrap drivers into being caught on camera running a red, O’Scanlon said that shortened yellow lights cause more accidents and that “safety is being sacrificed” for municipal and RCL company’s revenue.

Yellow lights are required to have either 3 or 4 second intervals, depending on the level of traffic and speed at the intersections.  Fagel conducted a study this weekend of 12 of the approximately 80 New Jersey RLC intersections.  All but “one or two” were found to have yellow lights that were between 1/10 and almost 3/10 of a second too short. Fagel presented the video evidence of his finding.

The most egregious of Fagel’s findings was in Jersey City at the intersection of Rt.1-9 and Sip Ave, a 4 second yellow light location.  Fagel’s video showed that the yellow light lasted only 3.753 seconds.

JERSEY CITY-SIP – 1-9 from Barnet Fagel on Vimeo.

O’Scanlon said that 80% of all RLC infractions occur during the first second of the red light. By shaving 1/10-3/10 of a second off the yellow lights, roughly 30% of the RLC generated tickets are unlawful.

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Where was Vin?

South Jersey Democratic boss George Norcross invited the “reconfigured power elite” of the state Democratic Party to dinner in Colts Neck last night, according to a report at PolitickerNJ.

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal was not there; not invited to a high powered Democratic gathering in his county.

Also not present, gubernatorial nominee and head of the party in name only, State Senator Barbara Buono.  Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, not there. U.S. Senate nominee Cory Booker represented Essex County.  Essex County Executive Joseph Divencenzo, who has endorsed Governor Chris Christie for reelection, was not invited.

Gopal would not comment on this story. He said via text that he is traveling and would call back Monday.

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Project Interchange trip to Israel: Day 5

By Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande

We visited the City of Sderot and received a briefing at a lookout point over Gaza from Captain Kobi Harush, coordinator of Security for the city.  Sderot is along the Gaza Strip and is regularly under rocket attack.  Most of the exploded rockets are from Hamas, but lately, with the instability in the region, more rockets are coming from places like Libya and Sudan. Seeing the remnants of these rockets that were launched into Israel was like seeing a museum of terrorist weapons.

Sderot is the closest city to Gaza.  Because of the short distance these rockets are often shot from playgrounds, schools and hospitals in Gaza, knowing there won’t be a counterstrike.  Since the Arab spring, these rocket attacks have increased.

My visit to the old City of Jerusalem included a visit to the Western Wall – or what is known as the Wailing Wall – a sacred site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries.

I had a very informative meeting with fellow legislators who are Members of the Knesset, the Legislative branch of the Israeli Government.   The 120 members of the Knesset not only pass all laws, but elect the President and Prime Minister as well.  They serve four-year terms, but it is their party that is elected and the party chooses the member.   Fascinating to see the differences between Israel’s form of Democracy and that of the United States.

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Project Interchange trip to Israel: Day 4

By Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande

The American Jewish Council once again did an amazing job of making sure we received a broad understanding of what is going on in Israel today.  On Thursday we visited Ramallah in Palestine and met with the spokesman for the Palestinian Authority negotiating team. Both Israelis and Palestinians remain hopeful of positive discussions when Secretary of State John Kerry visits next week. He has a huge challenge ahead of him with these peace talks. Everyone brings to the table thousands of years of their people’s history as well as their personal experience to the discussions.

Friday we visited Yad VaShem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum, and it was an incredibly moving experience. It is difficult to imagine how a people moves forward after 6 million are murdered, including 1.5 million children. The museum serves as a stark reminder that there is true evil in the world.  The resiliency and spirit of the Jewish people is astounding.

The individual memorials also serve as a reminder to “Never Forget.” I was particularly drawn to the one for a doctor who took care of children whose parents were missing or killed.  When the children were ordered to be deported to a camp he went with them, reasoning he wouldn’t leave them alone in life nor should they be alone in death.  He is just one of the many heroes in the holocaust.

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Project Interchange trip to Israel: Day 3

By Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande

I feel very fortunate as a Christian to have been able to visit two of the actual sites I have heard about in Sunday sermons and read about my whole life. First I visited The Basilica of the Beatitudes, which is on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee on the traditional site of Jesus’ delivery of the Sermon on the Mount.

We were also brought to the location of the Biblical account of Jesus instructing His disciples to throw their nets over the right side of the boat and then their nets were overflowing with fish. The spot where Jesus was cooking the fish is preserved:  Sacellum Primatus Sancti Petri, the Table of Christ. I also saw a boat that was recently discovered by two fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee that carbon dates back to the time of Christ.

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Project Interchange trip to Israel: Day 2

By Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande

Before coming to Israel I read the book StartUp Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer. It describes how Israel’s policies on immigration, research and development, and military service have lead to a tech boom here. Israel has more companies on the NASDAQ than Korea, Japan, Singapore, India and all of Europe combined. We heard from the CFO of an angel investment company today, who explained Israel’s multifaceted success story. A portion of that success can be attributed to the elite tech units in Israel’s Army.

Before entering college most of the nation’s young people receive millions of dollars in training in the military where they also have access to Generals. Students call teachers by their first names here, which they say leads to a business culture that’s flat and very helpful in a start up environment. Israel has a Chief Scientist who has the responsibility of fostering research and development. There are also great incubator programs subsidized by the government that include free educational seminar speakers and workspace. A percentage of the property tax portion of the rent for tech company start-ups is forgiven.

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