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Is there anybody not profiting off of these cameras that supports them? This type of thing is so disgusting to watch. Everybody hates these, yet they're imple

• neotek 14y ago
  The studies I've read from the Motor Accident Commission and the Victorian police here in Australia show a clear correlation between speed cameras and reduced incidences of accidents and fatalities, so yes, I support speed cameras. Having said that, there are some pretty suspicious placements that seem like clear revenue raising. For example, a new underpass was built here in Adelaide on a road leading into the city. It has a relatively steep incline and the road curves as you enter and exit the underpass. There's a speed camera placed in precisely the best place to catch people who happen to stray a few kph over the speed limit as they descend into the underpass, and it makes that underpass difficult to go through - you're aware of the camera so you're constantly watching your speedometer as you enter and exit, and as I mentioned before, the road curves and so you find yourself drifting over the line because you can't focus entirely on the road for fear you'll creep over the speed limit and get a $600 fine and a bunch of demerit points. There have been a few crashes on the underpass already, although thankfully no fatalities as far as I know.
  • ktizo 14y ago
    "The studies I've read from the Motor Accident Commission and the Victorian police here in Australia show a clear correlation between speed cameras and reduced incidences of accidents and fatalities" You also have to be careful with some of these statistics. Speed cameras often get put up in reaction to a series of accidents. But statistically you would expect the amount of crashes to go up and down, and if you have just had an unusually high level of accidents on a stretch of road, then you would expect the average measured afterwards to be lower in the majority of cases, irrespective of whether a speed camera was installed.
  • Maxious 14y ago
    The Victorian studies also show that the number of fines from a specific speed camera typically goes down over time, presumably because repeat offenders get fines/lose their licences http://www.camerassavelives.vic.gov.au/home/statistics/trends+in+fines+interactive+chart http://www.camerassavelives.vic.gov.au/home/statistics/trend... In many Australian states (including South Australia) the payments from fines goes to a Community Road Safety Fund which is then given mostly (except for funding for holiday double demerit campaigns) to community and motorist groups to run their road safety activities, not the road authorities or police who would advise on where to put the cameras. So hopefully there is no incentive for "revenue raising" cameras - wouldn't the potential and actual crashes in the underpass have caused the camera to be installed?
• nostromo 14y ago
  I do support red light cameras. Mostly because I'm a pedestrian that listens to music when walking around town. I have nearly been hit by careless drivers on more than one occasion. However, I think they should be more lenient on drivers that just barely infringe on a red light by a few milliseconds. And I think they should never be used to ticket speeders. Obviously, I also don't support shortening yellow lights to rake in more ticket dollars.
  • toomuchtodo 14y ago
    Shouldn't you be a less careless pedestrian by not listening to music while in the road?
  • sukuriant 14y ago
    Please keep your eyes attentive. Whatever the laws in your country province or state about hitting a pedestrian, you are small and a car is big, and at any reasonable speed, there's a chance it will kill you. Pedestrians need more respect of the big metal things zooming around and potentially not doing everything right (hey, the brakes could fail)
  • mistercow 14y ago
    >I do support red light cameras. Mostly because I'm a pedestrian that listens to music when walking around town. I have nearly been hit by careless drivers on more than one occasion. Then you should not support red light cameras. Instead, you should support longer yellow lights, or accelerating to beat them. Studies have pretty well nailed down that traffic light cameras do not reduce accidents. Any benefit they have as a deterrent is canceled by drivers slamming on the brakes at yellow lights. Worse, many local governments have been caught illegally shortening yellow lights to increase ticket revenue from traffic light cameras. That's particularly awful because increasing the duration of the yellow light has been shown to be one of the most reliable ways to reduce traffic light accidents.
    • mistercow 14y ago
      Wow, I should not edit comments when I'm that tired. I added ", or accelerating to beat them" to the wrong line that ended with "yellow lights".
• bhickey 14y ago
  Downtown Palo Alto could use red light cameras. I haven't seen a many drivers running red while trying to cross on a late yellow. Instead the problem is drivers sitting at a red and driving through it because they're frustrated.
  • Evbn 14y ago
    That is a bug in the lights, not the drivers.
    • bhickey 14y ago
      Running a red light because you're frustrated is a driver bug. Failing to allow drivers to make a left is a light bug.
• lotharbot 14y ago
  I, for one, would love to get one of these on my corner. We get a lot of people speeding past the elementary school, blowing through the stop sign, and occasionally plowing into my fence, because they're trying to save twelve seconds by avoiding the traffic light a couple blocks up.