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One woman claimed that she almost hit a Waymo vehicle as it suddenly stopped

Then don't tailgate. Idiot.

She didn't hit it, ergo she wasn't tailgating.

Pull that move yourself with a police car behind you. You won't get hit, but you'll probably get a talking--to and just maybe a ticket yourself.

Another way to make money is to make excessive bail requirements in possible
collusion with bail bondsmen.

TL;DR - bail should be set by the circumstances of the person's ability to pay and
the nature of them being a flight risk, NOT the nature of the crime.

Now the "I'm sorry but it got long" part:

Bail from the eighth amendment to the Constitution of the United States:
"Excessive bail shall not be required"

Excessive is when it's greater than the amount necessary to bring the offender to trial. From Wikipidia:
"In Stack v. Boyle, 342 U.S. 1 (1951), the Court found that a defendant's bail cannot be set higher than an amount that is reasonably likely to ensure the defendant's presence at the trial" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Judges are starting to agree: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2...

But some are still hungry for HUMONGOUS bail to avoid looking soft on crime when BAIL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CRIME.

Man kills cop: 3 million dollars
http://www.philly.com/philly/n...

Man kills man: 2 million dollars
http://www.bellinghamherald.co...

Cop kills man: 1.5 million:
http://abc7chicago.com/news/ja...

The US DoJ ought to take a long hard look at how our nation's Courts are handing out large bail
requirements --unconstitutionally-- to make it look like they're "tough on crime."

In fact, the people being granted bail are innocent until proven guilty, AND
the amount of the bail is only supposed to ensure they show up for trial.

We need a lot of reform in the criminal justice system. Hopefully the DoJ won't whitewash
bail while they look at the other methods that "the justice system" screws the people.

Full disclosure: I've never been arrested, offered bail, denied bail, nor am personally
part of the legal / "justice" system.

E

"Remove the tag before you go do something naughty but keep it in your car other times."

Pointless--they're already tracking your vehicle, and have been for years. I've discussed this in the past--The T.R.E.A.D. Act allowed the US government to force RFID tracking devices on the entire nation. The Firestone/Ford Explorer-rollover issue was used as reason to pass this legislation. Removing those tags is not only a federal offense, driving over a sensor (they're everywhere there is a stop-light sensor, utilizing the same antenna) without tags is sure to get you noticed eventually...and singled out. You'd end up drawing more attention then leaving them alone. Repealing the T.R.E.A.D. Act is the only way your getting rid of this problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TREAD_Act

Specifically,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_pressure_monitoring_system#Legislation

From linked article:
"Embedded in a tire or affixed to the sidewall, an RFID tag the size of a grain of rice is a powerful
tire-tracking tool. Some tiremakers have already recognized its potential. Some commercial truck
and aircraft fleets use RFID to identify tires and to ensure regular service. Tires used in
NASCAR racing are embedded with RFID to keep tabs on these high performance tires. Many in
the auto industry have identified recalls as one of its possible uses. With a chip embedded in the
sidewall and inexpensive readers installed in service shops (or an interface with the vehicle
computer), motorists could have the status of their tires checked every time they take their
vehicle to be serviced, or through their instrument panel."
( https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ZrXHlyRR8y4J:http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/Recalls_RFID.pdf%2BFirestone+tire+RFID&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&hl=en&ct=clnk )

Here are some specifics regarding one manufacturer of the technology:

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:_cXTVCFeXZIJ:http://www.lawfuel.com/860-to-950mhz-rfid-tire-tag/%2Btire+RFID+federal+law&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hl=en&ct=clnk

Interestingly, I found the following article--front-page, main headline--in a nearby news-outlet this morning. By the time I started writing this post, it had been yanked from the outward-facing website:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/09/12/3200503/study-proposes-tolling-interstate.html

"The sad fact is that so much money is being spent, no one can even keep count." Except in the US, guys like this are sending millions in Medicare money to Cuba to give Castro's economy a much-needed boost: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/10/18/2734149/laundering-ring-moved-medicare.html

That was an initiative to ban red light cameras state-wide. Failing there, just go one step lower: Redmond got rid of a bunch of new cameras recently after strong negative feedback and no beneficial record for the one-year test period, and Sammamish didn't even bother to try them out based on that experience.

Same goes for Redmond.

But my favorite is Sammammsh, which didn't even bother with red light cameras because, aside from everything else, "there’s this perception in the public that they’re being used to collect revenue rather to increase traffic safety" and “It feels really ‘Big Brother’”.

How about this? A real-world study, running for several months, ended up in the city council ditching most red light cameras because "the data that was collected showed that there was not a significant or discernible change in the safety of the three intersections we were using to program it", and also "there were three more crashes at the intersections with red-light cameras in the first six months of the year .. two were rear-end crashes ... they stopped short of the light because they indicated they didn’t want to get a ticket".

On the other hand, they've kept one speed-zone camera near a school, for which data showed a marked improvement in how people drive in the area.

Here's a great article on the almost baffling admission by Washington state's governor that "she "has no path forward". This statement was in direct response to the voters' No Tax Hike message this year. Washington State's so-called leadership has failed to lead. Hopefully the voters will remember this next election cycle.

Here's your proof, an article in the local paper.

bellingham.net -- slash-style local news and events site.

bellingham.com -- general info.

The Bellingham Herald -- local newspaper and its local entertainment and events site.

Bar Stop -- should be self-explanatory. ;^) Bar Stop has a guide to places to stay and restaurants.

City of Bellingham official site.

bellingham.net -- slash-style local news and events site.

bellingham.com -- general info.

The Bellingham Herald -- local newspaper and its local entertainment and events site.

Bar Stop -- should be self-explanatory. ;^) Bar Stop has a guide to places to stay and restaurants.

City of Bellingham official site.