Quote:

---

PALMER PARK, Md. - Many people find speed cameras frustrating, and some in the region are taking their rage out on the cameras themselves.

But now there's a new solution: cameras to watch the cameras.

One is already in place, and Prince George's County Police Maj. Robert V. Liberati hopes to have up to a dozen more before the end of the year.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Jongsstraw:

Traffic control cameras ought to have high-powered lasers or missiles built into them so they could zap cars running red lights or stop signs into oblivion. They deserve no better.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Er... Sorry. I was being really contrary for some reason. unicorns seemed funny.

But yeah, this camera thing is dumb, and I fully endorse any cross-wiring scheme with sports or pornography. If the police can't do their jobs competently, buying cameras upon cameras to compensate and entrusting law enforcement and security to modern-day non-AI computers is a load right out of an Asimov story.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Storymark:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Er... Sorry. I was being really contrary for some reason. unicorns seemed funny.

But yeah, this camera thing is dumb, and I fully endorse any cross-wiring scheme with sports or pornography. If the police can't do their jobs competently, buying cameras upon cameras to compensate and entrusting law enforcement and security to modern-day non-AI computers is a load right out of an Asimov story.

---

Id rather cash-strapped policice departments spend their time with more important crime. If people running red lights can be curtailed by a cheaper automated system that frees up bodies for more important work - Im all for it.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Bytemite Protip: assume sarcasm wherever likely.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Kwicko:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Storymark:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Er... Sorry. I was being really contrary for some reason. unicorns seemed funny.

But yeah, this camera thing is dumb, and I fully endorse any cross-wiring scheme with sports or pornography. If the police can't do their jobs competently, buying cameras upon cameras to compensate and entrusting law enforcement and security to modern-day non-AI computers is a load right out of an Asimov story.

---

Id rather cash-strapped policice departments spend their time with more important crime. If people running red lights can be curtailed by a cheaper automated system that frees up bodies for more important work - Im all for it.

---

Thing is, red-light cameras don't curtail much of anything, and have been shown in several studies to INCREASE accident rates at intersections where they're installed. So they're a revenue stream for the city and the private companies that operate them, but they don't really do anything at all about "crime", except possibly increase it.



"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

---

Quote:

---

One likely reason, said Megge, whose section advises communities on how to set proper speed limits, is that communities want speeding ticket revenue, and failing to conduct the required speed studies allows them to keep enforcing their speed limits that Megge calls "artificially low."

"I think money is part of it, and I find it reprehensible that communities aren't following the law," Megge said. "In many cases, the problem is the speed limit, not the motorist. Communities have to obey the law, too."
...
Sterling Heights spokesman Steve Guitar admitted the gesture was largely symbolic, since the speed limit increase was required by law.

"They know it's the law," Guitar said. "They just wanted to go on record to say they were concerned." He said the apprehension about the increase was over safety, not the potential loss of revenue because the number of speeding tickets issued by police might drop.

However, Ferndale Police Chief Michael Kitchen admitted revenue was the reason behind his recent decision to step up traffic enforcement.

"We have to write more tickets in order to avoid layoffs," Kitchen said. "I don't like how this looks to the public at all, but the bottom line is: If you obey the speed limit, we won't give you a ticket."

Kitchen admitted that the 35-mph speed limit on the most heavily-driven roadway in Ferndale -- Woodward Avenue near Nine Mile -- is likely too low.

"That speed limit would probably be 45 mph if they ever did a speed study," said Kitchen, adding that Woodward falls under MDOT's jurisdiction.

---

Quote:

---

These ultra low posted limits do not enhance safety, but they satisfy residents who do not understand that posted limits have almost nothing to do with safety or actual travel speeds, particularly at the upper end of the travel speeds scale. City officials do not explain to residents that raising or lowering posted speed limits by up to 15 mph will change 85th percentile speeds by not more than 3 mph, and usually by 1 mph or less. The only change is the speed at which tickets can be given, and most speeding tickets go to safe drivers at normal speeds when posted limits are set too low.

As one example, the City Council strongly objected when the State Police and MDOT corrected the speed limits on two segments of Washtenaw Avenue (Business Route I-94) in April 2008, from the former 30 and 35 mph to the current 40 and 45 mph to match actual and safe 85th percentile traffic speeds. The 85th percentile travel speeds remained unchanged (plus or minus 1 mph). The only thing that changed is these segments are no longer the speed traps they were before April 2008, when the former limits arbitrarily defined about 90 percent of drivers as violators.

---