OT: Speed Cams

[der.hans]

Am 02. Apr, 2009 schwätzte Josef Lowder so:

> 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.

No. Photo radar is a cash cow for the government and a company in
Scottsdale.

> 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.

DPS came out with its study stating that photo radar had reduced
accidents, but in the same announcement had to admit the study hadn't
taken into account that there might've been reductions in the traffic
due to the cost of gas ( the study was done during the height of the gas
prices ) or due to people being unemployed and no longer on the road or
any other reason. It was acknowledged that traffic known to be was down,
but that wasn't considered as a potential reason for the reduction in
accidentѕ.

It's a bogus study. Heck, it starts off with "Speeding is recognized as
one of the most important factors causing traffic accidents.", so it's
not even trying to appear to be a neutral study. Photo radar has been
around for decades in various forms. And yet, there is only one study
touting photo radar's benefits and that study is biased, prejudiced and
compromised?

Ha, ha. Douglas Adams makes an appearance since the speed enforcement
program is abbreviated as SEP. I think that explains how the government
has been able to get away with the improper relationship of having a
private company get bribed to do law enforcement.

> 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.

I want photo radar eliminated because I'm opposed to big brother[0],
illegal business contracts, allowing companies to masquerade as law
enforcement, artificially dangerous road conditions[1], and Dukes of
Hazzard style changing of speed limits in order to ambush people with the
cameras[2].

In any case, there's a ballot initiative where we can partially vote them
out.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/131797

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Arizona_Citizens_Against_Photo_Radar_(2010)

http://camerafraud.wordpress.com/

[0] There are reports that the cameras are also taking HD video all the
time.

[1] The photo radar flashes can cause a white out effect on the driver
when they go off. This is a huge problem for motorcyclists as it blinds
them for a second and worse blinds the car drivers near them[3]. I have
even had my cabin white out due to a photo radar flash at dusk while I
was on an access ramp waiting to get on the freeway. My eyes are just
fine. Photo radar flashes are unsafe.

[2] Phoenix seems to be getting better about this by actually posting the
speed limit changes far enough in front of the cameras to actually read
the new numbers before getting to the cameras. Tempe, however, appears to
be changing signs to lower speed limits :(. For months there was photo
radar after freeway interchanges where the speed limit had changed, but
there was no sign to indicate the change.

[3] Getting blinded as you're legally turning left after a yellow on a
motorcycle sucks. Period.

ciao,

der.hans
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