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 ...
I live in Illinois. My current understanding of the law is speed violation cameras are only allowed in construction zones. That said, I haven’t been in a construction zone any where in Illinois that drivers obey construction zone speed limits.
Drivers can judge safe speeds all by themselves. You see, cars come off the roads when you go around curves too fast. So, the way speed limits are established on new roads is to observe the traffic speed before limits are posted, then make signs that are 10 MPH below those natural speeds. Those signs are posted. This is policy withing DOT offices. It is also why motorists generally must go 10 MPH over the speed limit before they are ticketed.
When an accident occurs, the speed limit is used to prevent the DOT or the local government from having liability. After all, the driver was "speeding". It never was about safety.
EXCELLENT!
it’s hard to explain things to people with a broom handle stuck up their ass ...
I used to be one of those pop-sickles, but I eventually woke up.
Lol, but true. I should’ve/could’ve responded with a simple question. How much farther do we let fedgov go to redistribute tax dollars?
YET
All the ships that were off shore waiting to unload are no longer out in front of LA, San Diego, or Malibu. They are all down in Mexico. That is how bidung fixes things.
https://www.vesselfinder.com/
When I worked commuted 250 miles a week. Have driven East Coast to West coast a half a dozen times. Longest it took was 5 days. Do know something about mileage.
don’t own a smart phone.
No, it's more that I don't care about YOU or YOUR FAMILY.
And I hope I get your little dog, too.
Fool.
Have driven East Coast to West coast a half a dozen times.
Moron.
Longest it took was 5 days.
Retard.
Do know something about mileage.
Freak.
don’t own a smart phone.
Weirdo.
Could care less about what other drivers do on the highway. Have seen their wrecks scattered all over the country. Have seen hundreds of them pulled over conversing with the local law enforcement officials. I choose to follow the traffic laws. You don’t have to, it’s your business, your choice.
Lucky you only 250 - I was closer to 500 per week in heavy traffic when I was working.
East Coast to West Coast about 4-5 time round trips ; Fla to Conn several times ; New Jersey to NC many times ; Puerto Vallarta to Mexico City to Cancun 4 times ; Frankfurt to Kassel dozens of times ; Hamburg to Paris several times ; Ankara to Trabzon 2ce ; tooled around Morocco too.
Smart phones will become mandatory as in mainland China.
Yea, it’s got nothing to do with safety, it’s all about the Benjamin’s and control.
I’m neither a speedster nor a reckless driver. I am pretty careful to drive within the law. You seemed to be wound up pretty tight, though.
That's a pretty ignorant statement as any one of those drivers can kill you regardless of how you drive. BTW, in another life I used to drive about 300 miles per day testing various vehicles for an engineering firm, and also have driven in 6 different countries for high profile clients.
Agree with your comment. These are the same people who supported the patriot act by saying if you have nothing to hide you shouldn’t mind if the government tramples your rights. Disgusting people indeed. I hope their chains rub them raw, become infected and they suffer pain until their pauper death. Harsh, yes but deservedly so.
Little “prissy” Pete needs to stay in his own lane. This ain’t going to happen in the states where I drive.
Looks like it is an on the spot fine of £100
But if you complain they can jack boot it to £5000
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