Quote:
Originally Posted by gweeks
Unfortunately that's not true. The reason the red light cameras have such a bad reputation in the U.S. is because many of the cities that put them in use them as a revenue source rather than enforcement of the law. When you put the camera in and shorten the yellow time to 1 second or less it's obviously not about law enforcement. Speed cameras have been treated the same way in many locals. Kind of like how when you extend the copyrights from life+50 to life+70 it's not about remunerating the author or getting him to create more works.
Greg Weeks
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But just because speed cameras are used in nefarious ways somewhere in the US, does not make them an instrument of evil of simply another way for the government to reach into your pocket.
A couple of miles from where I live lies one of the most dangerous roads in the area, mainly because it's a great place for kids to test how fast their cars can go. When speed cameras were installed, the number of annual fatalities dropped by 40% and serious injuries by 32%. I'm sure the county (or wherever speeding ticket income actually ends up) has made some extra money as well, but that's frankly neither here nor there.