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From NBC4i.com:
Red-Light Cameras Could Catch Speeders, Too
By Angie HissongColumbus is considering adding a new function to its red-light cameras. The program would function as a speed-enforcement camera as well, catching speeding drivers so they could be ticketed through the mail. The mayor’s economic advisory committee believes adding speed detection to the cameras would generate $2.1 million a year.
no
I wonder how much controversy this could cause when the city starts noticing city vehicles ignoring speed limits minus lights and sirens.
I don’t even know what to say to this. Is it possible to organize a boycott of driving on specific roads?
Not unless their license plates say Michigan
I think that a lot of the rationale for the red light cameras, which is reducing t-bone crashes at intersections, just doesn’t translate to speed cameras. Especially in this case, as they’re being pushed primarily as a revenue generating device.
I find the plan to be suspect.
In all fairness, the article mentions that most of these would be placed around school zones, which I personally would have no problem with. I don’t have too much road rage in me, but I’d say it’s a pretty big pet peeve of mine to see people going 40mph in a school zone when the lights are flashing.
Slippery slopes are fun…. wheeeee!!! If you don’t think we’re headed for Big Brother, just check out the civil liberties scene in Great Britain. They started a few years before us, and now you can be arrested on petty charges which don’t even call for jail time, arrested for taking photos of police. Surveillance cameras are used to cite people for trivial things such as setting trash out too early, or used for spying on attractive women, etc. Maybe I read too much Boing Boing, but it seems they are going overboard across the pond, and it all started with these ubiquitous cameras.
Maybe you do read too much Boing Boing. ;-)
The problem is, the present speed limits are designed to be broken just a little bit, and everyone knows it, including the police and (probably) the people who set the speed limits in the first place. So there’s a little flexibility built in. Using cameras and establishing a zero-tolerance policy for driving over the limit screws that system up. It’d be fine if we added 5-10 mph to all of the speed limits at the same time….
It is excessive and it is ridiculous to me that a government will find more ways to tax people when so many people are already financially strapped. I mean, speeding and running red light’s are dangerous and should be checked, but will they fine you for going one mile per hour over the speed limit. I mean, I believe you can be pulled over and fined for going one mph over the speed limit, but you don’t get pulled over because to the police, it is a waste of time. But for something that is automated, it won’t be an inconvenience. UncommonSense also has a point…where does it end?
Just one more money-making scheme. If there is empirical evidence that they actually make road conditions safer, then maybe I’ll get behind the idea. But if you need more tax revenue, just raise taxes and deal with the consequences. I’m sick of all the scheming to get more tax money by nickel-and-diming us.
I agree with UncommonSense and Bear. I think this is getting into dangerous territory, and it will only get worse if we start down a road that allows machines to make “decisions” about whether someone is breaking the law or not.
I have no problem with this.
Welcome to the point of no return. The more “big brother” government we have the worse off we are. While speeding drivers are a major pet peeve of mine, I surely don’t want the government having more power to “watch over” everything we do. This is the start of a new governmental generation…and I don’t like it.
I agree with Jeffz and fish , But I do agree about the peeve in school zones. One thing that kills me it driving way under the speed limit also can cause accadents so ticket the people who don’t want to go the posted speed too :)
What about the right to confront your accuser… who or what is the ‘accuser’, and how do you confront them/it??
The idea that it’s for school zones is just the sugarcoated starting point. It won’t end there.
BTW, this is the point to focus on:
“The mayor’s economic advisory committee believes adding speed detection to the cameras would generate $2.1 million a year”
If it’s a safety thing where there is empirical data to show fewer fatalities and wrecks, fine. However, the administration freely admits that it is a money making scheme. Here’s an idea, maybe spend less money and you won’t have to worry about coming up with gimmicks. Oh wait, I forgot liberal Dems and their big union special interests run everything so scratch that idea.
I am more in favor of those boxes that tell you how fast you are going. They have them in Cinci and if I notice I am going to fast I will slow down. I think they also spook some people and make them think they will get a ticket.
i do know that with the current cameras, an actual police officer or officers looks at every possible ticket at the end of everyday and they make the call on who gets a ticket. i would doubt that a computer will be spiting out tickets all day. i also know that with the current system points are not added to your license, just a paid waiver fine is required.
i have run sooo many of those cameras its really not funny and i have yet to receive a fine in the mail. no lie at least 25 times in downtown.
Safety isn’t even the reason this idea was proposed. It’s a revenue enhancement. They are trying to fix a “structural deficit” with patches like the speed camera, which, if it has the intended effect, will reduce speeding and therefore revenue. Dumb.
And if we will acquiesce to anything in the name of safety, where does it end? Statisitics would probably support the notion that an adult curfew after midnight reduces the number of accidental deaths at 2:30 AM by 100%. Good idea?
make money money. make money money money.