speed trap
I read an article sometime over the weekend that was about Arizona expecting the revenue from its new "speed control cameras" to curtail the states expected financial short fall this coming year. Now while there is a pausible argument against using anticipated speeding revenue to fix state budgets what i really wanted to discuss was the actual use of this new type of speed control. For those not familar (as i was until the article) sensors are implanted in the pavement and when a speeding car is detected (with this being determined by a computerized control box that has been preprogrammed) cameras placed along the highway snap pictures of the speeding motorist license plate and this is sent to the state DMV where the driver is processed and mailed a ticket (similar to how traffic light cameras operate). Apparently this system was tested in a suburb of Scottsdale Arizona and a study found that it cut accidents and speeding by well over 50%. Thats the background.
My problem with this system is that it smacks of Big Brother, plain and simple. But first beyond privacy lets examine the other problems with a system such as this. Although the cost of implementing a system of this complexity is i'm sure astronomical i'm sure the government bean counters have already figured the cost to revenue ratio and figure that the speeding revenue generated will far outweigh the costs, particularly since Arizona thinks they can balance their budget with this. But any computerized system is prone to bugs and even after those are worked out, eventual failures are inevitable so now there probably has to be a whole new department just to maintain this speed monitoring system. Also as a computer their are no exceptions to the rule, there is no rational judgement, theres just black and white, or, better put, 0's and 1's. On the surface i'm sure everyone will sit here and say theres no excuse for speeding on public roads, its dangerous. And as a generalization thats true, but its exactly that a generalization. But lets take it to the personal level- example: you found out that yr mom has just had a heart attack and u race to the hospital (not tearing through the city streets blowing doors off and knocking over pedestrians but lets say 70 in a 55)- now if yr stopped by an officer, you explain what has happened, u appear visibly paniked, he more than likely will be compassionate, give you a warning, tell u to slow down, and let u go, or very possibly even give u an escort. Now was speeding right in this case, of course not, but we're humans sometimes we make mistakes or rash decisions in the heat of a crisis. Now if the same senario played out with Arizona's new system, then you can expect a ticket in the mail in one to three weeks because the camera doesn't care that your mother may have been minutes away from death or that you weren't paying attention to yr speedometer b/c yr thoughts are on how u may never see her again. With this system there is no room for error only cold judgement.
Also, on this same vein, normally police officers give motorists a certain leeway when it comes to speed limits, normally anywhere between 5 (for regular two lane roads) to 10 miles over (for highways and interstates). If this is not built into the system then there is absolutely no room for forgiveness, and even if it is if enough leeway isn't given then motorists who say have never driven more than 8 miles over the speed limit in their entire existance are suddenly getting tickets b/c the traffic camera doesn't care. And what of the officer who sees a car going 15 over at two thirty in the morning on a dead county road, chances are that they will let the driver pass, its late, the chance of danger to others minimal at worst- not so with the camera- thats an automatic ticket. Sure you could build in time frames for how much leeway one gets with these cameras ie. b/t 1 and 5 cameras are tiggered only for 10 mile over violations at other times its 5 and above. But remember the more complexity a system has (particularly an expanisve system such as this) the more bugs it may have and the more prone it is to failure, and the more difficult it is to correct that failure once it occurs. The human factor is what keeps us from crossing the line between a civil society of laws into a military state where there are no exceptions only punishments.
I'm sure another argument for this kind of traffic control is that it will free law enforcement for other purposes- in an ideal world yes- in reality probably not. These cameras only watch speeders- they don't catch drunk drivers, they don't notice erratic driving, they don't (at least not in the current incarnation) catch "slowers" -those driving below a minimum speed on roadways designated with such, they don't notice cars without lights, they don't notice seatbelt violations, they don't notice motorcyclist without helments (where this is a law), they don't notice anything but the speeder. So one of two situations occur- these cameras give a false sense ofroad safety meaning less officers to watch for these other driving offenses or the same amount of officers patrol our roads doing what they're always done, less running radar. Sure they will have more free time to pursue other offenses but i personally doubt that this increase is going to be anymore than marginal. So much for manpower savings.
Lastly, my father was a police officer for 10 years and he would tell you that motorist that drive below the speed limit are the biggest cause of accidents. Before anyones scoffs, how many times have you been in a rush and gotten behind someone driving 15 in a 55 with a no passing zone- u get upset and possibly end up passing them illegally going 70- most of the time this passes without a hitch- but what if one of those times in yr anger you go to speed around this person and head on with that truck u hadn't paid attention to, or side swiped the car in the next lane. Now the slow motorist putters on away never being involved in the accident- so though studies will show that slow motorists (which are mostly comprised of the elderly) are involved in far less accidents the statistics are flawed b/c the real question shouldn't nessecarily be involvement but rather causation (however this is hard to measure so statistic of this nature are minimal). In no way am i saying ALL accidents are caused by the slow or the elderly but a larger percentage than we are led to believe are- and where does this tie back in you say. These cameras only identify speeders- not those impeding the flow of traffic.
Lets also think about the department that will inevitably have to be set up to handle all these tickets generated by this new system- yet another addition to most states already burgeoning buearcray and this country's already overburdened and oft inefficent DMV's. And supposing there are errors with the system (which are almost inevitable at the state scale size) whos dollars go into correcting these (assuming tickets are issued in error for example) and what does this department do about plates that are expired or stolen sure these errors could be corrected but this could take weeks and maybe months whereas in the presence of an officer these issues could be handled on the spot. Stretching the arm of the law causes extended wait times for error correction and delayed handling or totally overlooking other offenses.
Lastly, there is the issue of privacy, and yes privacy also exists in public, i personally don't like the fact that my every indiscretion is being monitored by a camera or some sensor. This system, if implemented on the large scale, seems to have the potential for abuse and so-called "over monitoring" by governmental entities. I'm wholly against the use of this type of speed monitoring system, to be applied in areas such as school zones is a great use of this technology, however i am against mass implementation of such a system. Computers make no exceptions, and any world run with no exceptions is one without compassion and one where mistakes are not allowed.