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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Do Our Elected Officials Really Care About Our Kids, Or Is It All About The Money

If you truly want to slow people down in school zones, install multiple speed bumps. However, feeding us the line of crap that speed cameras are about kids safety does NOT slow people down, period.

If they gave out ONE single ticket from those cameras, clearly they continued to allow people to speed in those areas. Heck, we have proven that even local Police Officers have received multiple speeding tickets in these zones, did it stop them?

Mrs. Fredericksen received multiple tickets in these speed zones, SO THEY DON'T WORK. They do not save the children and receiving so much revenue from these cameras proves its not slowing people down.

So why did most of the County Council buy that load of crap spewed by the Sheriff's department yesterday? Why do we as Americans continue to buy the load of crap spewed to us by our elected officials? From the President all the way down to a City Council Member, we're constantly sitting back going, OK, I guess they know what they're doing. I guess it is all about the safety of our children. BS!

If you want people to slow down, put in multiple speed bumps. The first time some jackass tries to fly through that area and screws up their front end, believe me, they'll never speed through that area again. Sheriff Lewis is quickly becoming a politician selling his snake oil to those who voted for him.

16 comments:

Carly said...

Why are you so against this. It frees LE and it brings in revenue. If your car speeds (no matter who the driver) the law is being broken. When you or your car speeds past a camera you deserve a fine. Now LE does not have to sit and wait for you.

Mrs Fredericksen, who twice (multiple, if the meaning is more than once) was speeding by a camera was caught (who might have just received a warning from LE) and required to pay the fines. The speed cameras don't care who you are or what strings you think you can pull - everyone pays $40.

I'd like to see speed cameras on ever road and street in America, for idiots, who cannot read, or understand or ignore or break speed limit rules.

Photo enforced” signs under speed limit signs on the designated roads will alert drivers that speed cameras may be in use in that area. (So a driver is forewarned but chooses to speed right on by.)

Keep putting them up, eventually people will get it through their brain -
speed camera = $40. Obey the speed limit and keep the $40

jeffrey a said...

i'd much rather deal with a camera..than i would one of shorty's flunkies. a camera can't lie..a cop can and will!

Anonymous said...

To 8:13 AM

I'll tell you why people are so opposed to speed cameras. By and large it is because you are opening the door up to pandoras box for Big Brother to do whatever he desires - NO RESTRAINT.

With each speed camera citation - they will enact additional court costs. They will tack on an ambulance fee, medivac fee, administrative court cost fee - (if not already). Then next - they'll install complementary red light cameras, then tolls. Motorist will soon be finding themselves being taxed on top of more taxes.

Case-in-point - look at the intial conception of these devices. Fruitland was the first, now it SKYNET being installed to monitor virtually everything.

How about the poor UPS driver and/or Fed-Ex delivery person that has an assigned schedule with standards attached.

Hope this helps to clarify why people are so adamantly against these devices.

Anonymous said...

When I first moved here twenty years ago my new boss told me,"don't speed here on College Ave because there's a school zone and you'll get caught for sure." You know what? I don't speed through there and I don't get a ticket. I don't worry about the ticket because I don't speed. It really is that simple.

Anonymous said...

As a law enforcement officer these cameras are about revenue. Otherwise why haven't are superiors directed us to work the zones and write state citations. ANSWER: the locals do not get any of the fine from a state issued citation. Also a person cited by a speed camera is most likely to pay a $40.00 no point ticket then and $110.00 two point ticket and they know these stats going into the program. Ninety percent of these school zones are state roads and the state and the Feds would never authorize speed bumps on these roads. So for now this is what the citizens are stuck with and the local governments are padding their pockets.

Anonymous said...

8:48 Most people are not thinking that far into the future. Most people only think after the fact.

Joe where do you get your statistics to say "....speed cameras ......does NOT slow people down, period." If you check with local authorities you will find the number of tickets has declined greatly since installation. As far as the speed bumps along the school areas, traffic would be reduced to a very slow crawl, causing parents and buses to depart from home, and pickup areas, at least an hour earlier each day, in order to get students to school on time.

If speed cameras were hidden, they are worthless as a deterrent and only useful as a cash catcher but since they are in full sight with a warning sign, I feel they are for safety purposes, with a bonus of making violators pay. It is senseless to turn them off on non school days. The speed limit is the speed limit and people should be in the habit of driving it 365 days a year, or they can pay the price for not.

Baltimore is now using these cameras in work zone areas also, with great results. Good idea for here maybe.

JoeAlbero said...

anonymous 9:24, What an Idiot. OK, so let's all open a business KNOWING we're going to LOSE business. Come on now, are you really that stupid?

The cameras are making close to $20,000.00 a month. It's all about the money. Just wait until the new one on Rt. 50 goes live. I'd guess you'd see close to $50,000.00 a month on that camera.


Sure, some will slow down, those who live close by. However, Fredericksen's Wife is perfect proof that some people ignore them and speed in those areas anyway, time and time again. That goes for Sheriff's deputies who have been caught two times in a row as well.

Nevertheless, to suggest they would install cameras knowing they'll lose money is just plain, (fill in the blank) _____.

lmclain said...

8:48 hit it perfectly. Americans with any sense of our history and our Constitution understands that we, as a people, have discourged and resisted governmental oversight, intrusion, and power. It's right there, written not only in the Constitution, but in the correspondence between the writews of that great document. China, North Korea, Iran, etc., constantly monitor everything their citizens do. But thats not America. Except for the lemmings who fall for the idea that we MUST be controlled by any means necessary --- because its for our own (collective) good. They are shortsighted, ignorant of our proud history, willing to surrender EVERYONE'S freedom and rights to make themselves feel like "good citizens", and often just plain stupid. Please move to one of the above-mentioned countries where I'm certain you will feel much more comfortable. They will be very happy to have more people like you.

Anonymous said...

If the intent of the speed-camera is to protect the well being of children then i would say thats not working..ppl will still speed and pay a small fine until they hit and kill a kid walking home from school...the only way to really protect(kids) them from speeders is to put in road bumps like in the picture above..seems to me speed-cameras are for revenue generation not child protection.

j.l.

Anonymous said...

for the naive and clueless out there in wonderland; cameras equal big brother. this is just one more step in keeping tabs on you my clueless friend.

Anonymous said...

@ 8:13 giving up your liberties and right to privacy for "perceived" safety is is horse crap.

Those of you agreeing with the cameras are probably the old farts that drive 10 under the limit no matter they are going.

My biggest complaint with these cameras is they are managed by a for profit company.

So now you have a company that's out to make a buck issuing citations anonymously, what about that seems right?

For those that were wondering, the company im referring to is Brekford, based in Hanover, MD.

Anonymous said...

If you want to issue speeding tickets, how about doing it the old fashioned way. Let the cop be out there to catch the speeder.
Cops are doing more and more of their work "automated".
What this ends up doing is, like Joe said, raising A LOT of revenue. However, the other side of this is it lowers the visibility of the police agencies.
This is not acceptable!
I believe this is part of Salisbury's crime problem. Look at all the robberies!
If the police aren't VISIBLE, the crooks KNOW they can't get caught, at least not by a cop that SEES them or is able to respond while the crime is taking place!
Yes, most criminals are idiots, however, many of them are smart enough to figure these things out!
Cops need to be back on the beat and not sitting in offices!

Anonymous said...

The only reason people are up in arms about speed cameras is the FACT EVERYONE and their mother speeds and now will get caught more frequently. That's it, plain and simple. All the other BS is just smoke and mirrors. You are responsible for your driving, no one else!

Anonymous said...

Point taken; don’t speed, nothing to worry about…. But stop the hypocrisy!
If it was a safety thing and in protection of our children, make it a points only penalty! That would keep bad drivers off the roads, in the courts, and dealing with increased insurance rates!!
The fact is, it’s a money thing. So, just keep your speeding below the 12 MPH grace and the citations will continue to decrease. Once the decrease is enough to make it unprofitable for the speed camera company, sheriff, and county… it will stop.

Anonymous said...

Dress it up any way you want it.. It is still all about the money.If the money had to be donated to charity, see how fast the government would lose interest.

Anonymous said...

EXACTLY 8:48.. AS the vice turns...Most sheep agree its a win win, but for every inch we allow their, stinky, greedy evil foot in the door it will expand until it's around your neck and you can't breathe..The constitution was set up to prevent the tyranny of an overbearing GOV..Hell eventually they may even want to imbed a chip or mark all for the good of the children..! IF YOU BUY ALL THIS CARP YOUR PART OF OUR PROBLEM..