OT: Speed Cams

[Craig White]

On Thu, 2009-04-02 at 09:24 -0700, Josef Lowder wrote:
> On 4/1/09, Bryan O'Neal <boneal at cornerstonehome.com> wrote:
> > I have no issue with red-light cameras, if they provide a yellow light of
> > adequate length to safely stop after noticing the light change, say 5 or 6
> > seconds.  As for the speed cameras, well, I am agenst speed limits and
> > believe it should be safe and prudent as seen by an officer and confirmed by
> > a judge. As for the cameras in particular, no one has been able to make
> > public a report showing they do anything other then annoy drivers. Accidents
> > have not gone down ...
> 
> Photo radar saves lives.  Period.
> 
> According to the Arizona State Department of Public Safety, because of photo
> radar, crashes are down by 12%, injuries have been cut by 17%, and fatality
> collisions are down by 29% on Phoenix-area highways.
> 
> No clear-thinking person would want to eliminate photo radar simply because
> of their personal desire to want to disregard and disobey highway speed laws.
----
The state tried to increase revenue with these cameras and implemented a
system where there was only a single financial penalty for being
captured on photo radar. No points against your license, no report to
insurance...just money.

While there is a direct correlation to speed and fatalities, there's no
accommodation for reasonable and prudent, only a hard line between 75 &
76 mp/h where money changes hands. 76 mp/h during rush hours is
infinitely more dangerous than at 11:00 pm when the traffic is sparse.

If speed were the only issue, let's just lower the speed limits
everywhere and people will be much safer. I am quite certain that if the
speed limit on the 101 was 45 mp/h, there would hardly be any
fatalities.

Craig


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