cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/45991302
Ford calls speed cameras “nothing but a tax grab.” As do many reckless drivers. But surely he knows that speeding fines are not taxes. Even if they were, they’re voluntary: If you don’t want a speeding ticket, don’t speed.
…
In Ottawa, compliance with speed limits rose from from 16 per cent before speed cameras to 57 per cent after only three months, and to more than 80 per cent after three years. Instances of speeding at more than 15 km/h above the posted limit dropped from 14 per cent, pre-speed cameras, to less than one per cent after three years of the city using them.
A survey of more than 1,000 Ottawa residents, meanwhile, determined that of the 35 per cent of respondents who had been dinged with an speed camera fine, 69 per cent said it changed their driving behaviour. That’s what we want from these cameras.
And of course:
A study conducted by SickKids hospital in Toronto and published in July in the British Medical Journal’s Injury Prevention journal found that the use of speed cameras in school zones led to a 45 per cent reduction in speeding motorists, while the 85th percentile speed — the speed at or below which 85 per cent of the drivers travelled — dropped by almost 11 km/h. “The observed reduction in speed is likely important in reducing collisions and injuries,” the study noted
I don’t even drive, but getting people accustomed to having computerized surveillance systems watching over the city and handing out fully automated fines for whatever minor offences are easy to enforce seems like a somewhat bad idea.
It’s a minor offense until it kills someone. These aren’t cameras on freeways, they’re in school zones and next to parks.
These are not minor offences, we have traffic fatalities basically every day
Canadian road fatalities are increasing. I generally agree with your sentiment, but inattentive drivers are too dangerous. A properly administered speed camera system is fine in my books.
But it’s been in place for decades in other cities already? Winnipeg has had speed radar since early 2000s. The cameras only cover the roads. The cameras are marked in Google and apple maps, and it’s just part of life; of you speed or blow a red light, you get a ticket in the mail with a pic of your plate.
I’m not advocating for surveillance here, but I think there are better uses for this energy.