Posted on 12/05/2016 1:05:19 PM PST by SeekAndFind
In Rochester, New York, the mayor is making a controversial change to the city’s law enforcement strategy. Normally when we’re talking about crime here I’m dealing with murders, sexual assaults and all of the truly horrible things which unfortunately happen. This one, however, has to do with traffic violations. Wait! Don’t stop reading yet… there’s a point to be made here.
Mayor Lovely Warren is preparing to shut down the city’s system of automated red light cameras which record motorists running stop lights and are used to issue tickets. Her complaint isn’t that the cameras don’t work properly or are leading to tickets being incorrectly issued, but with the fact that the tickets are disproportionately issued to low income drivers. (Route Fifty)
One of the reasons to pull the plug that was cited by Mayor Lovely Warren isn’t often heard in the wide-ranging local government debate over automated traffic enforcement: Violations recorded by the red-light cameras can disproportionately impact areas with higher rates of poverty.
In Rochester, a study commissioned by the city found that there were more total red light violations in five ZIP codes that had the city’s highest rates of poverty.
“I am particularly concerned that too many of these tickets have been issued to people who can least afford to pay them, which is counterproductive to our efforts to reverse our city’s troubling rates of poverty,” Warren said in a statement. “I cannot, in good conscience, wage a fight against poverty while also imposing burdensome fines that that have a disproportionate impact on people living in poverty. That just doesn’t make sense.”
Let’s focus for a moment on the two reasons why this is crazy, no matter how well the headlines might play in social justice circles. The first one should be obvious… this is not a case of discrimination. While I generally disagree, you can at least somewhat sympathize with complaints about stop and frisk or “overly aggressive” policing which takes place in majority minority neighborhoods. There are human cops involved who have to make daily decisions about who to pursue and how to handle each encounter. If the numbers stack up too far on one demographic side of the scale you can justify asking if there is discrimination going on either by race, gender or economic status.
These are cameras. There are nearly fifty of them installed at busy intersections all over the city. They don’t have any magical software which checks to see how expensive the car is, how nice the driver’s clothes are, the color of their skin or any other indicators of economic status. If you run the red light it takes a picture and reports it. If there are more low income people getting tickets through this system it’s because there are more low income people blowing through traffic lights.
The second factor to consider is that these cameras actually work and produce results.
The Insurance Institute says flipping the switch on the program will likely cost lives. According to their studies, cities that ran with red-light cameras between 2010 and 2014 saw a 21 percent drop in the number of fatal red-light-running crashes, while those that turned their systems off saw a 30 percent increase.
David Goldenberg, a spokesman with the Traffic Safety Coalition, said there’s no question data shows red-light cameras make intersections safer.
“The data is absolutely conclusive that cameras made Rochester roads safer and data from around the country shows that red-light running crashes, injuries and even deaths per capita go up when the cameras get turned off,” he said.
What this story comes down to is yet another case of an elected official forgetting about the rule of law in the interest of some sort of social justice reform. I realize we’re just talking about traffic infractions here, but the fact is that the city (as with pretty much everywhere in the country) has those laws on the books for a reason. You either feel the law is valid and producing positive results for the citizens or you don’t. In this case the data makes it rather obvious. Reducing the number of people running through red lights saves lives. Poverty is a serious problem which needs to be addressed, but giving people a pass on breaking the law – at any level – isn’t solving the problem you’re going after.
By that logic the mayor should direct the police to stop prosecuting people for theft if they are poor because they needed it more. That’s not how this works, Madam Mayor. Your city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this system and it worked to reduce traffic fatalities. Now you’re pulling the plug on that investment to score some political points.
“......“I am particularly concerned that too many of these tickets have been issued to people who can least afford to pay them, which is counterproductive to our efforts to reverse our city’s troubling rates of poverty,”.......”
I can't wait until the Cities are so addicted to the red-light camera money and so concerned about disproportionately harming people of color and the poor that they propose that red-light camera fines can only be levied on whites and those in the middle class or better. Yes, what I am sure this mayor feels is a need for race-based justice.
Heaven help us from the liberal wack jobs. (/sarcasm)
There is ALWAYS going to be a leading cause of accidents. It does not matter how many laws are instituted.
I loathe red light cameras and photo radar. I’d love to see them eliminated nationwide under whatever pretext. They are nothing more than revenue generators. And the statistical evidence used to justify them has been massaged and cherry picked.
Had a dumbass wetback rearend my Daughter on Paramount Blvd several years ago.
The dumbass jumped out of his van and started to threaten my Daughter; waving his arms, screetching in spanish, and pointing his finger at her. Dumb SOB didn’t know dad was one care behind him.
My daughter was slowing down to stop because the light was yellow, and the wetback sped up to make the light and ran right into her.
I got out of my truck and had a little discussion with that bastard; where’s your insurance card, oh don’t have one huh!
Lets see your license; this is expired you dipsh!t.
Lets see your registration; OH, this is a company car and you don’t have the registration, this just keeps getting better and better.
NOW GET THE F#CK OUT OF HERE BEFORE I CRUSH YOUR KIDNEY WITH A CROWBAR.
Fortunately my Daughter was driving one of my old trucks and there was just the wetbacks van paint to wipe off the heavy duty bumper, his company van was pretty smashed up on the front end.
He can explain it to his boss, I didn’t give a sh!t.
Never did hear back from his employer or any lawyers.
Goddamn greaser had my Daughter in tears, he’s lucky he drove away with all his body parts attached.
Love me an alpha male that doesn’t let anyone mess with his loved ones. I’m impressed.
I’ve seen that very thing happen here on Long Island, though not with police cars. I usually see it with ambulances. The drivers simply WILL NOT enter the intersection to clear the way because of the cameras aimed right at them.
Those cameras are menaces and should be removed. (Though this “disparate impact” reason is crap.)
Regards,
Well, intersections are the # 2 cause of accidents. Running red lights is a great way to kill and disable folks. Take a defensive driver course. You will see why intersections are so important.
Exactly! A two-second time where ALL lights are red will absolutely be safer.
But, zeugma...there’s no $$$$$$ in that, so we get these stupid, dangerous cameras instead.
Regards,
Here in Phoenix the west side of town is by far the most impoverished with high crime and gang activity along with a healthy illegal alien population. You bet your ass there are more accidents than in the more well to do areas. It’s also the nation’s capitol IMHO for hit and run car-pedestrian injuries and fatalities. How many of these ignorant and probably illiterate drivers have insurance let alone a driver license? Yes, it’s bad choices, lack of discipline and lack of forward thinking that keeps the impoverished in the state they’re in. They have no one to blame but themselves.
“YELLOW means slow down, caution, prepare to stop.”
Yes, of course.
I’ve driven a cab in this city for years now. Never got a red light ticket doing it. I know how to drive.
But if traffic is moving fast, and the guy behind you is eating your tail, and it turns yellow, but it’s a shortened yellow designed to increase revenue for the city. . .
well, don’t blame me. Seriously.
I guess you’d get rear - ended, instead?
Her problem isn’t that the majority of violators are poor, it’s that the majority of violators don’t pay their fines.
And they aren’t even good at generating revenue for the city...the hometown of FR dumped them after 3 years:
https://www.thenewspaper.com/news/06/632.asp
NEWS-FLASH / NEWS-FLASH: If the "Insurance Institute," is really concerned about lives, then campaign to outlaw the wheel. Just think, no Cars (how many deaths????), no Trains (how many deaths????), no Airplanes (how many deaths????), no Motorcycles, on and on.
"Insurance Institute," is only concerned about how much money $$$$$ it will lose. At the same time trying to shame us all to keep paying for their pawns (Red Light Company's.)
I get defensive driving, passing slow cars on a two lane roads so you don’t get hit by some jerk trying to pass several cars at once, and all that.
I’m talking about the point of diminishing returns for more and more laws. It should always be a requirement to stop at red lights.
Re: 18
Except that’s not how she pronounces the word “racist”.
I agree about limiting laws. Our state lawmakers and Congress need to take a course called Administrative Policy Formulation before running for office or voting. Whether it is a business, state, or country you only make policies that are essential. Whether I see an unnecessary stop light installed or unnecessary laws passed I always wonder -”Does the idiot or idiots who decided this have any idea what they are doing.” Look at our military that worked as designed from day one and now look at it with women and LGBT types. The left has trashed our military, our country, and much more. Common Core is setting kids up to fail. They learn zip about America. They are taught the Muslim prayer.
“If I don’t, I can’t renew my registration. I can’t get my driver’s license re-issued. And the fines and “interest” are very high.”
Wow! That IS bad! Here in Texas, if you refuse to pay, all they can do is report it to the credit bureaus as a bad debt, and you can always DISPUTE that! They usually just write it off.
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