The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "motorist" ...
-
Moving Targets
Reporters at the Las Vegas Sun look into the high number of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities on Las Vegas roadways. Using data and statistics from the NHTSA and the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, the reporters discovered that the problem lies in roadway design, motorist carelessness, and lenient laws.
Tags: traffic accidents; pedestrian fatalities; National Highway Transportation Safety Administration; UNLV Transportation Research Center; manslaughter; jaywalking
-
Price of neglect adds up
This investigation revealed how Lee County siphoned off nearly $50 million in tolls from Sanibel Causeway bridges to pay for other projects and now faces a $105 million bill to replace the bridges. The bridges have deteriorated so rapidly over the years because of a lack of maintenance. Motorists will pay for the new bridges; tolls have doubled to pay the expense. Following the story, county commissioners demanded an audit of the Sanibel bridge accounts. Sanibel officials are moving forward with a lawsuit against the county charging mismanagement of bridge maintenance.
Tags: bridge maintenance; tolls; bridges; bridge database; CAR; computer-assisted reporting
-
"No Brakes on Cash for Turnpike"
Investigation found that for nearly 20 years, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has spent billions of dollars, forcing motorists and taxpayers to pick up the tab for decades to come. It was also found even with the 44% toll increase set for August it still needs billions more for projects that are underway.
Tags: Turnpike; toll; motorists; road; expressway; toll increase; tax
-
Parking Tickets Unpaid
Motorists in Birmingham have gone years without paying traffic tickets. As this investigation finds out, people in the city owe over 12 million dollars for parking and traffic tickets dated back to 1989. As a result of this published article, the city is considering implementing an amnesty program to get motorists to pay up.
Tags: motorists; traffic tickets; parking tickets; amnesty program; Birmingham; Alabama; unpaid traffic tickets; traffic regulations
-
A Pattern of Suspicion
This fourteen month investigation into racial profiling began with the 2001 death of Timothy Thomas, an African - American teenager in Cincinnati. Thomas had fourteen police warrants before he was killed, all of which stemmed from unpaid traffic tickets for non-moving violations. These sorts of violations are often used as a pretext for seeing if suspicious motorists have drugs or guns. In nearly every city Dateline looked at, blacks were stopped or ticketed for non-moving violations at least twice as often as whites.
Tags: racism; profiling; traffic tickets; police corruption
-
Fast Times
The Patriot-News analyzed more than 2 years of speeding tickets-22,000 citations-handed out by Pennsylvania police. Findings showed motorists along Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania are driving faster, while state police enforcement is dropping . Reporters also spent two days clocking speeds with a radar guns. The story further explains their findings.
Tags: motorists; interstate 81; police enforcement; speeding tickets; Pennsylvania State Police; vehicle registrations; traffic ticket
-
Show and Tell Tape #1
2004 IRE National Conference (Atlanta) Show and Tell Tape #1 features the following stories: 1)Phil Williams (WTVF-Nashville) A hidden camera investigation proves that special interest lobbyists are buying Tennessee lawmakers. 2)Stephen Stock (WESH-Orlando) An investigation into new home inspections found inspectors conducting too many inspections daily with a passing rate as high as 99 percent in one county. 3)Anna Werner and David Raziq (KHOU-Houston) Children as young as 11-years-old were being physically abused at the juvenile probation department in Harris County, Texas. 4)Tony Pipitone (WKMG-Orlando)The Brevard School District in Orlando requested additional funding from the federal government for poorer schools but put that money toward helping the district as a whole. 5)Brian Collister (WOAI-San Antonio) A national report claimed that San Antonio police were among the best in the country for not targeting minority motorists, but an investigation proved police officers skewed the data. 6) Jacqueline McLean (KGMB-Honolulu) A cemetery that hasn't been licensed in nine years makes room for more bodies by removing old ones. 7) Chris Halsne (KIRO-Seattle) Mapping software found 605 sex offenders living near day cares statewide. None of the day cares were ever notified. 8) Bog Segall (WITI-Milwaukee) Many inmates use their phone privileges to call their victims, intimidating them in the hopes they won't show up at trial. 9)Larry Posner (Inside Edition) An investigation into Pitts, one of the largest door-to-door magazine sellers in the country, found the company charging high rates, abusing employees and hiring felons. 10)Randy Travis (WAGA-Atlanta) This undercover investigation found a state court judge having 19 drinks and then getting in his car to drive. 11)Jim Strickland (WSB-Atlanta) This investigation exposed forgery and fraud by an Atlanta Booting company. 12)Bebe Emerman (KIRO-Seattle) A problem with the powercord of one brand of oscillating fans was linked to 20 house fires. 13)Elisabeth Leamy (WTTG) This story discusses the lives of those held in concentration camps and the Nazi tattoos they received.
Tags: tape; show and tell; investigative; Atlanta; no transcripts; IRE
-
Danger In Tow
ABC 15 investigators focus on the U-Haul tow dolly and find that those renting the tow dollies to motorists were ignoring safety concerns, resulting in a number of accident deaths. Specifically, these accidents happen when the rental equipment forced people's cars out of control. Delving into documents of nearly 40 such cases, the investigators further discover that some U-Haul locations did not even check a safety hook-up before allowing its customers to rent a tow dolly.
Tags: safety; victim depositions; u-haul; motorist; accidents; deaths; FOI
-
Minority motorists searched more often; controversy dates to early 1990's; State examines how drivers of different races are treated
The Star reviews more than a quarter million traffic stops in order to evaluate racial disparities in treatment of drivers. The investigation reveals that Hispanics and blacks are searched more often than whites by officers from the Department of Public Safety. Ironically though, they found something to seize more often from the whites than from black or Hispanic drivers.
Tags: I-10; Coconino County; Lee Phillips; American Civil Liberties Union
-
Hospitals caught in the middle
USA Today's review of 10 studies found that injured drunken drivers taken to hospitals are prosecuted less than half the time.
Tags: drunk driving; drunk drivers; blood alcohol reporting; impaired motorists; hospitals; trauma centers; confidentiality; NHTSA; blood alcohol levels