Posted on 01/29/2022 4:20:36 PM PST by algore
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's plan to 'promote speed safety cameras' is raising the troubling specter of ubiquitous automated traffic enforcement in the style of the UK, where the cameras are widely despised.
Buttigieg's 42-page plan road safety plan unveiled on Thursday and backed by $14 billion in funding from the new infrastructure bill, contained only brief mention of the speed camera plan, but it was enough to set alarm bells ringing for worried motorists.
Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson slammed the plan as a misuse of the funds in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Bill, fuming that 'you're about to get a lot more speeding tickets from robots.'
'When the country applauded $1.2 trillion going to fixing the roads, bridges and buildings, a lot of us were dumb enough to think that's what might actually happen,' he said.
Speed cameras have also drawn sharp criticism from some on the left, who are angry that the fines are often directed to fund police departments, making the issue rare grounds for bipartisan agreement.
Currently, eight US states have laws specifically prohibiting speed cameras. Only 18 states plus DC have speed cameras in use by law, with the other states having no law on the books authorizing their use. Buttigieg's strategy recommends pilot programs to study and promote greater use of speed cameras
Buttigieg said new federal data being released next week will show another increase in traffic fatalities through the third quarter of 2021.
Those numbers are expected to point to a sizable increase in deaths compared with the same period in 2020, adding to a half-year traffic death total of 20,160 that already was the highest half-year figure since 2006.
'It doesn´t look good, and I continue to be extremely concerned about the trend,' Buttigieg told the AP in an interview.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
SPJNK.
Sounds like a source of free cameras for a home security system.
And the PRNJ isn’t?
“People like you are dangerous. Going 55 when everyone else is going 75. Enjoy your supposed superiority.”
That is not fair to the poster. He has a valid point. I generally drive the speed limit, or, if traffic is heavy I drive with the flow of traffic. But his point is correct. If you don’t speed all the time, you don’t have to worry about a ticket.
BTW, I think most speed limits are too slow by 5-10 MPH.
if he’s driving slow in the left lane then he’s the most dangerous driver on the road ...
Seems like that kind of guy.
There are many such sites, here’s one: https://english.controleradar.org/burning-gatso.php
Drive 12 -15 thousand miles a year
school zones where I live are 25 mph. No problem meeting that requirement.
No, he is not. The most dangerous driver is the one not paying attention. The 2nd most dangerous is the one driving with the greatest differential in speed, whether too fast or too slow.
The driver in the left lane driving the speed limit is a nuisance to those speeding.
The left lane is for passing slower vehicles.
I have to drive a road every day that is under construction. 45 MPH. Traffic stacks up behind me and nearly hits me constantly. #1, I don’t want a $300+ speeding ticket. #2, people need to slow down in construction zones.
I disagree with you ... leave it at that ...
“Your honor. I call the traffic camera to the stand”
Look at New Jersey. They used to have them, but threw them out just a few years ago.
I think the real problem here is that “I never speed” is a talking troll.
No one can drive for even a half hour and never get over the limit unless he has set his personal limit 5 to 10 MPH under the posted limit.
Cruise control in cars older than those with adaptive braking have a 5 MPH plus and minus spread. In hilly country the vehicle will run 5 over before downshifting or engaging the exhaust brake. They hold a little better going up hill but a 5 MPH loss is ordinary.
If the hills are steep and short, common when near mountains, the cruise control cant’s see ahead as we do so it still is pouring the fuel to the engine as it crests the hill top and that causes it to get well over the 5 MPH spread going down the other side.. A human will let up on the accelerator just and instant earlier resulting in less excessive speed.
But in real life the ordinary non professional driver does not kick the mule soon enough starting up the hill and forgets to back off going down hill and is a pain to be behind.
Even the preacher’s wife speeds occasionally. if not intentionally.
I got my driver’s incense in 1944, made a living traveling the entire eastern US from the Canadian border to the Gulf and I have seen it all.
And anyone who says he never speeds.....
Speed is largely a contributing cause to carnage but, way down the list as a primary cause.
Unsafe lane change
Following to close
Driving while impaired
Over driving conditions
Over driving vehicle capabilities
Etc
Etc
Etc
Speed is down the list....
Driving under traffic flow is as dangerous as other conscious acts while driving as it causes people to swerve, back up, forces irregular traffic patterns and generally “passive aggressives” and everyone who drives a Peius is pretty much a menace and a jack wagon
So, my car was caught speeding. Who was driving the car? I was at work and have an alibi that is air tight. who was speeding? Who would be liable for the speeding charge? My wife. my son, my daughter, my neighbor, my mother, my mother-in-law, or the person who stole the car?
I wasn’t driving it.
So, my car was caught speeding. Who was driving the car? I was at work and have an alibi that is air tight. who was speeding? Who would be liable for the speeding charge? My wife. my son, my daughter, my neighbor, my mother, my mother-in-law, or the person who stole the car?
I wasn’t driving it.
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