Posted on 07/09/2011 3:15:15 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
Bloomberg News, so linky only...
Drivers Stopping Means Red-Light Cameras Don’t Yield Cash Goals
Looks like the traffic camera scam isn’t the huge cash cow the the police thought it would be, now they’re upset because drivers are obeying the law...
Classic!
You give this economy a chance and they'll be running down babies for the chance to bust into a redlight!
red-light cameras are as much about safety...
...as 0bama care is about health insurance.
the primary purpose of politicians and government is to figure out how to extract more money from you, and then do that.........
Law, regulations, legal framework, etc., need to be set up so everyone profits when good things happen, not when bad things happen in order to succeed.
Same type of issue in many areas; employee bonuses for example. If the carrot and stick are not designed correctly, you get unintended consequences.
as DWI checkpoints are.
They usually deal with the ‘revenue’ problem here in Texas by shortening the yellow light times - that usually gets the cameras to pencil-out pretty quickly.
I wonder how many of those cameras have been shot or otherwise POOS? (put out of service)
Open question:
About six months ago there was one of these “red-light camera” threads in which the revelation that the camera manufacturers (also the operators) were manufacturing statistics in order to justify their use. They were claiming a greater decrease in accident rates at intersections equipped with the cameras than there had been previous to their installation.
I want to use it as supporting evidence in my continuing quest to persuade our mayor to abandon the damned things but now I cannot find it. Anybody recall that article?
The police state we are morphing into craves control above all else. Money is second and actually obeying the law or preventing injuries are a distant third and fourth.
Just shorten the yellow.
The dirty little secret is that "problem intersections" are caused by too-short yellows.
Make the yellow appropriately long for the intersection and nobody runs red lights.
But there is no money to be made by lengthening the yellow.
"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."
Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
A lot of the articles on red light cameras posted at FR are from that site. It's also a good source of info on red light and speed cameras.
I have been driving a firetruck for quite some time and have witnessed the red light cameras go online where I work. Prior to their introduction, when we came to an intersection with lights and sirens blaring, people would look both ways and if it was safe to do so, clear the intersection.
Now with the cameras, they just sit there, as would I. Karma would be that full arrest we are heading to is the idiot that approved these things.
Soap box mode off.
Thanks - I’ll check it out.
I hadn’t even considered that aspect. I know how rattled many drivers get even under routine conditions when they encounter emergency vehicles.
I’m going to do my best to build up a head of steam to have the cameras in our town decommissioned.
When is safety the concern of Statism?
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