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| Topic: The Cameras Are For 'SAFETY' ... Sure They Are. | |
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Here's everybody's favorite argument: Those 'red light cameras' are really put there for our 'safety'. There's no way the local 'government' would put 'em up for anything as crass and self-serving as 'revenue generation' ... can I get you more Kool-Aid® while I'm up ... ? Revenue generation is their ONLY purpose. Think they 'care' about you? Watch their level of concern AFTER you get rear-ended 'cuz YOU wanted to stop and the guy behind you wanted to GO when the light turned yellow ... oh yeah - they're 'concerned' ... about the fine you'll STILL OWE 'EM after you got rear-ended ... but that's 'fair', right ... ? Sure it is ... and the cameras will still be up 'n takin' pictures while you're laid up in the hospital ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/rear-end-collisions-jump-at-red-light-camera-706186.html Rear-end collisions jump at red-light camera intersections in West Palm Beach By CHARLES ELMORE | Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Posted: 5:15 p.m. Monday, May 24, 2010 WEST PALM BEACH — Rear-end collisions more than doubled and accidents increased overall in the first 70 days of red-light cameras in West Palm Beach compared to the same period of 2009, traffic records reviewed by The Palm Beach Post show. In the name of boosting safety, not revenues, West Palm Beach issued 2,675 camera fines worth a third of a million dollars in March alone. But at the three city intersections from Feb. 21, when fines began, through May 1, The Post found: - Rear-end collisions increased to five from two. Rear-end accidents sometimes go up with cameras because anxious drivers are more likely to stop abruptly. - Overall accidents increased to seven from six. - The only injury in either period came under cameras, in a rear-end crash in March 2010. The injury was "non-incapacitating," according to records supplied by cities and compiled in Palm Beach County's accident database. City officials did not dispute the data but said it was too soon to draw meaningful conclusions. "A larger sample size is needed to make any determinations about the program's effect on accidents," said city spokesman Peter Robbins. Advocates for a law passed this spring giving state authorization for the cameras said the whole point was to increase safety - and there was no time to lose. "We've got to do something," said state Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, during the legislative session that ended in April. The losing side in the debate contended another motive is in play. Motorist group AAA pointed out a private camera contractor working with West Palm Beach and several other cities, American Traffic Solutions of Arizona, is partly owned by Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs, which gained control of two ATS board seats in 2008. "It's more about the money than it is traffic safety," said Kevin Bakewell, a vice president with AAA in Tampa who unsuccessfully urged Gov. Charlie Crist to veto the state law. In West Palm Beach, a barrage of fines dwarfed the total number of wrecks, yet accidents still increased. The city issued 1,337.5 citations per crash in the first full month of fines, March. There were two documented accidents in that month at the three city intersections with red-light cameras: Australian Avenue at Banyan Boulevard, Belvedere Road at Parker Avenue, and Summit Boulevard at Parker. By comparison, there was one crash at those intersections in January, the last full month without fines. The state law that takes effect July 1 increases to $158 from $125 the standard fine mailed to car owners, but takes $70 to $100 of each fine for the state. Local governments share the rest with camera vendors. The state acted in response to lawsuits challenging local authority over cameras, but West Palm Beach had already become the first city in Palm Beach County to issue fines with red-light cameras. More than half a dozen cities and the county are poised to proceed with cameras of their own, and their public justification in each case has been safety. Wanna hear the story about the Tooth Fairy next ... ? |
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