“Buckle up – It’s the Law”.  “Maintain Safe Speed”. “Arrive Alive”.  We have all read the neon road signs and heard the public service announcements but should not become numb to the message.  As we approach this heavily traveled Memorial Day Weekend, remember to practice safe and defensive driving in order to avoid the [...]

Yesterday, in State v. Marquez, a New Jersey appeals court ruled that English is the only language applicable to a drunk driving refusal charge. A NJ DWI suspect who claimed that he spoke only Spanish contested his NJ DWI refusal case in court claiming that he did not understand the police officer reading the “refusal [...]

The New Jersey DWI (driving while intoxicated) Ignition Interlock Bill that we wrote about in January of this year seems to have evolved. “Ricci’s Law” is still a Bill in the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee which is being recommended for passage to the legislature.   Under this law, all persons convicted of an NJ [...]

This week, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that an individual’s right against self-incrimination cannot be asserted by a third party. The incident in question involved a traffic stop in Bernards Township, NJ. The police officer observed a vehicle with tinted windows and no inspection sticker. The police officer then pulled the vehicle over and [...]

E.N.R.A.D.D. stands for Electronic Non-radar Device. This speed timing device has been approved for use by PennDot and is currently being used by many local Bucks County police departments to curb speeders. Near our law office in Newtown/Langhorne, PA, we know of Middletown Township, Langhorne Borough, Newtown, Southampton police departments using the Enradd device to [...]

New Jersey Governor, Jon Corzine, signed into law a series of amendments on April 15, 2009, which will collectively be known as “Kyleigh’s Law”. These amendments, made to laws governing NJ driver licenses and driver permits, require that the holder of a special NJ learner’s permit display a decal issued by the New Jersey Department [...]

Good news if you live in or have occasion to travel through Northampton Township, Bucks County, PA. The number of 2008 Bucks County car accidents and traffic crashes occurring in Northampton Township, PA is the lowest in three years. In 2007, 960 Bucks County car accidents were investigated by the Northampton Township police; in 2008 [...]

If Pennsylvania changed its current seat-belt law to a primary enforcement seat-belt law, the Commonwealth would be in a position to gain nearly $6 million in federal highway safety money. A primary enforcement seat-belt law would allow police to stop a motorist solely for failure to buckle-up. The way the PA law currently stands, police [...]

Upper Makefield Township, Bucks County, PA police officer, Robert Fuchs, barely avoided serious personal injury on Wednesday, February 4, 2009. Officer Fuchs was out of his police cruiser checking on a disabled car parked on the side of the road in the northbound lane of Taylorsville Road between Route 532 and Mount Eyre Road, when [...]

In a published case this week, the New Jersey Appellate Division declared that school children do not have an expectation of privacy in their automobile while it is located on school grounds. The court did away with the warrant requirement to search a vehicle. A NJ school student was suspected of dealing and possessing drugs [...]

The NJ Supreme Court has allowed plea bargains in most traffic violation cases. The traffic ticket of Unsafe Driving (39:4-97.2) is commonly used as a “downgrade” or “plea bargain” by NJ traffic violation defendants and prosecutors. Unsafe Driving has been used for many years as a downgrade from a two-point moving violation to the zero [...]

Now that PA and NJ local schools are back in session, there is a good chance that you will confront a school bus stopping in Bucks County Pennsylvania. Many drivers approach Bucks County school bus stops and are unsure of the rules of the road. Whenever you approach a school bus in Bucks County, PA [...]

Many drivers in Pennsylvania are stopped for window tinting. It is important to know the Pennsylvania window tinting law so that you are not issued a traffic ticket. You should not provide local police officers or Pennsylvania State Troopers a legal reason to pull you over if you have been drinking and driving. The Pennsylvania [...]

This week, the NJ Attorney General, herself was ticketed for speeding in New Jersey on Route 1 South.   Reportedly she was clocked at 69 m.p.h. in a 50 m.p.h. speed zone. This is refreshing to hear after all the news about NJ Municipal Court judges and employees getting in trouble for ticket fixing in the [...]

Throughout NJ, police enforcement will start the 2008 Click It or Ticket program on May 19th. The campaign includes various seatbelt check points and other patrols to check for New Jersey seatbelt compliance. NJ law enforcement was given about $4,000 in grants to conduct the operation. Last year during New Jersey’s “Click It or Ticket” [...]

This month, the Pennsylvania State Police advised citizens that an e-mail circulating in Pennsylvania that warns of a “speeding ticket frenzy” involving State Police is a hoax. The misinformation in this e-mail is an urban legend that originated in New Jersey in May 2005.  Since then, the hoax has targeted police in several other states. [...]

Yesterday, the NJ Supreme Court upheld the NJ Appellate Division’s decision holding your screen name or internet addresses private. We reported to you in an earlier blog entry that a New Jersey police officer used an invalid NJ Municipal Court subpoena to obtain information from Comcast regarding a criminal suspect. The Appellate Division said this [...]

Earlier this week, I represented a client in Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey for an NJ speeding ticket (39:4-98). After our Municipal Court appearance, my client was not a happy camper. This was not because of my legal work, it was because of the outrageous sentence that she received from her speeding ticket. My [...]

“Getting the “Weed” out of the Garden State. Piscataway man arrested for growing 500+ marijuana plants in home.” Last week, the New Jersey State Police Marijuana Eradication Unit arrested a Piscataway man for growing marijuana in his Cape Cod-style home. The Defendant in Piscataway, NJ was arrested after the execution of a search warrant and [...]

Earlier this year, Bucks County President Judge David W. Heckler and Court Administration announce that magisterial district boundaries in Bensalem and Middletown Townships have been realigned by order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, effective January 7, 2008. Bensalem Twp. now will be served by Magisterial District Courts 07-1-12 (new court located at 3237 Bristol [...]