Dallas officials cite drop in accidents, tickets with red-light cameras

Dallas News ^ | 11-20-07 | Tanya Eiserer

[jim_trent]

> “I think no single step would do more for traffic safety than removing fines entirely.”

??????

What incentive is there NOT to break the law, then? Why shouldn’t people continue to do whatever they were doing wrong if there are NO consequences? There has to be a cost to the driver or there is no incentive to change.

[jim_trent]

> “Only half the money goes to the general fund. The other half goes to a private corporation, probably located out of state.”

I thought that was the way it was supposed to be. Shouldn’t we privatize everything instead of having government bureaucrats do it? I can just see City Union people buying the cameras, putting them up, maintaining them, sending out the tickets, and collecting from deadbeats. Now, that would REALLY be expensive.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Yes and police officers who are not on a call, Metro bus drivers, school bus drivers, and plenty of other people on the public workforce are learning this and being finally asked to pay THEIR fines.

And I see that as a good thing. No one is exempt from the law.

You see, the private company that runs such cameras doesn't care WHO the violator is.

Again...a good thing.

They want their cut.

Government doing something more efficiently by parsing out a functional part of its duties to private industry...thats a bad thing?

Or is this all just birthed from a fear that cameras at stoplights will also eventually morph into a more efficient way to prosecute speeders too? (thus infringing upon our "right" to speed) :)

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Their sole purpose is revenue generation and not actual safety or law enforcement.

The article stated there was a drop in accidents and tickets since the programs inception. Was the mayor and police chief disappointed? I would call this a failed attempt at generating revenue.

Soon we’ll be under surveilance from the time we are born until we die. Those cameras will mostly be used to modify our behavior on things the government doesnt like.

To my knowledge...these cameras do not reside on private property.

[VOA]

I’m surprised that rear-end accidents would go down with those cameras
are put in.

Actually, you'd think the rear-end accidents would RISE as drivers
would now attempt to actually NOT go through "judgement call"
yellows-going-to-red.
I've not seen any figures, but wouldn't be suprised if that didn't
happen for a month or so after the cameras went in.

But, from what I saw in Los Angeles over the years before, during and
after introduction of traffic cameras at certain intersections
on the west-side of LA...
people soon learned that other drivers would actually try NOT to
slide through on a yellow-going-to-red.
I think a new, unspoken caution/paranoia got drivers to assume that
that person in front of them would most likely not try to blast
on through the intersection with a yellow-going-red, like the
good-old "pre-camera" days.

Hence, via caution/paranoia, people REALLY strived to avoid
sliding into the rear-end of cars at intersections.

[pnh102]

Let’s also look inside the windshield for people who aren’t wearing seat belts. Don’t want a ticket? Wear your belt.

And let’s also look for expired inspection stickers. It’s the law.

And why would it be wrong to enforce these traffic laws via cameras? We'd get a ticket if a cop saw us driving without seat belts and valid inspection stickers.

And how about minors out after curfew? “You were photographed out at...”.

Photographs are used to routinely identify and prosecute law breakers. Why would it be wrong to use photographs to identify minors who are breaking a curfew?

[driftdiver]

“The article stated there was a drop in accidents and tickets since the programs inception”

A drop in the tickets generated at these intersections.

“To my knowledge...these cameras do not reside on private property.”

And that makes it right? In one place the school pipes camera video straight into the police station. In South Florida they are installing speakers to advise citizens when their behavior is incorrect.

Sounds perfectly Orwellian to me.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

And that makes it right? In one place the school pipes camera video straight into the police station.

It may not be right...but they have the right to do so. (school is public property)

In South Florida they are installing speakers to advise citizens when their behavior is incorrect.

I'd be most interested in a link to that story, and any other related facts that go along with it.

[Xenalyte]

A couple years ago I received a letter from the county traffic department. It stated I was observed at a particular place at a particular time. It provided the time and place where I had been driving. For a traffic study they asked me to provide where I was going, where I was coming from, the purpose of my trip and who I was meeting.

Did you cordially invite them to (insert nasty verb here) off?

[CGTRWK]

What incentive is there NOT to break the law, then? Why shouldn’t people continue to do whatever they were doing wrong if there are NO consequences? There has to be a cost to the driver or there is no incentive to change.

The consequences should be points on your license towards driver improvement courses or revocation.

When the consequences come in the form that is also a benefit to the state, the inevitable result is speed traps at the bottom of hills and shortened yellows to reap maximum benefits with minimal man hours.

[jim_trent]

> “The consequences should be points on your license towards driver improvement courses or revocation.”

I don’t know where you are at, but that already happens where I am at. It doesn’t seem to stop anyone since so few people actually lose their licenses. Money out-of-pocket seems to work better.

[driftdiver]

“It may not be right...but they have the right to do so”

People have rights, govts do not.

“I’d be most interested in a link to that story, and any other related facts that go along with it.”

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58763

[CGTRWK]

Money out of pocket works great, it works at putting traffic enforcement on the behavior that will get the most money out of your pocket and into theirs.

How many police have you ever seen out driving with traffic looking for oblivious drivers on their phones, jerks cutting you off, racers weaving through the lanes?

Why not?