[-YYZ-]

If you rear end someone you're following too closely for safety, period. Sure, we almost all do it, at least sometimes, but that's still a fact.

[weegee]

Most accidents are caused by a failure to yield right of way and failure to control speed.

Yet there is a sign on 59 at 610 warning us that 23 people have died (2-6 people per accident?) in the past 4 years in that vicinity because of drunk driving. 610 gets 500,000 cars A DAY on the West Loop 610 corridor.

Those odds don't speak well of the government's stern "no drinking" policy. It is an infinitesimal contributing factor.

And the Houston cops are fighting for the ability to continue their dangerous chase policy (that often times ends when the perp crashes into some innocent civilian).

NONE of this is about public safety.

[IncPen]

If you rear end someone you're following too closely for safety, period. Sure, we almost all do it, at least sometimes, but that's still a fact.

True enough.

The problem with that is that these cameras have been shown to have been mounted on lights where the yellow-time is reduced, rigging them against the driver.

And frankly, if I'm approaching an intersection and the light begins to change, my decision about whether to stop is based both on cross-traffic and how close the driver is behind me. If I slam on the brakes and am rear-ended, tossed into the intersection and T-boned, am I any less dead? All to avoid a ticket from meddling big-brother?

This isn't about safety. It's about screwing you down and making you comply, and if you so much as flinch, they're going to take it out of your wallet