Nearly two-thirds of people in the Washington area believe the
primary role of speed and red-light cameras is to create cash for local
governments -- not to make roads safer.
Sixty-four percent of those surveyed in a new WTOP Beltway Poll believe the cameras are mainly revenue generators, with little variance between respondents from Virginia, Maryland or D.C.
Only about a third of those surveyed (35 percent) believe the primary role of the cameras is to make roads safer.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
We really need a referendum to get rid of these things. Especially the way they have been implemented in our county.
ReplyDeleteThe camera can't show up in court and can't be questioned as a witness.
If they want to use the machine to determine the violation and have an officer write a ticket - different story....but that invalidates the entire premise of the camera in the first place.....
no duh, what else to do you think taxes, fees and the rest are for? especially when the govt WONT, I repeat WONT balance a budget and just keep on spending...
ReplyDeleteDamn can Americans get anymore dumb and stupid? I guess when Obama bin laden wins another 4 years I will know then huh...
The cameras are run by a for profit company. That should tell you all you need to know about their legitimacy.
ReplyDeleteCash Cow? Good!
ReplyDeleteand the STATE of MD is paying dearly per camera to these under contract companies who instatll and maintain the cameras, 9:22. The for profit company is the one who is gaining financially and in turn make hefty campaign donations and lobby law makers.
ReplyDeletePoliticians say it's free money to the counties, some people will belive it and be appeased, thinking how can anyone ever turn down free money.
ReplyDeleteWhat the politicans don't tell you is the cost to the state not only in camera installation, maintanance and rental but also the state program that was creasted to oversee these cameras-The Safe Street Initiative (or something like that)within the Transportation Dept which in turn hired more state employees.
That's because most politicians jump on the bandwagon with doing the research themselves. Yes it's free to the counties but we are paying for it somewhere.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of how politicians listen to the will of the people. The MAJORITY of citizens DID NOT want seat belt laws. The snakes enacted them anyway. The majority of people do NOT want speed cameras. So what? It ain't about your "safety". They couldn't care less. Thats why drunk drivers get 4,5,6, even seven or eight convictions and STILL DRIVE! Its about the money. ALL about the money. And for all the cops who want to say "just obey the law" and you have no problem?? LOL!! COPS telling US to obey the law??? The same cops who blow past us at 70 in a 55? Who don't stop at stop signs? Who get their picture taken going 48 in 25 MPH zone with their KIDS in their car? Who tailgate and swerve between lanes? Your credibility is overwhelming....
ReplyDeleteI know one thing----The traffic has definately slowed by the Bennett School!!! Glad to see it to as sometimes it seemed like a speed way!!! Sooo, if it's slowing people down----Good!
ReplyDeleteIt's the Golden Rule lmclain-He with the gold rules. In this case, the camera contractors.
ReplyDeleteThe camera contractors BRIBE the legislators. As do the all-powerful insurance companies. Ever seen the governor travel in the state? His CONVOY (of state police drivers and escorts) consistently do 70-90 miles an hour. The people who SHOULD be setting the example flagrantly and openly do as they please. They are ABOVE the law and don't even care if you like it or not....by the way, Im STILL waiting for ONE SINGLE COP to come on here and answer the question --- what did you, as a cop sworn to uphold the law, do when you witnessed another cop violating the law? And I'm talking about beating a suspect in handcuffs, indiscriminately swinging his nightstick at unarmed citizens, or continually macing people kneeling down and NOT being a threat to anyone, things like that. Things that would put a regular citixen in jail, or prison. Still, no answer. Speaks volumes. Congressional investigations are begun because a soldier SLAPS a terrorist he just caught. And takes his rank, pension, and tries to put him in the stockade. A cop shoots a kid in the back (on film) and he gets suspended (WITH pay) until the ace kissing DA and his cohort judge says he was "justified" because he was in fear for his safety. Sign your name.
ReplyDeleteSuccess speaks for itself.The # of tickets issued has declined a lot.There is another option;have a governor installed on each vehicle to force people to drive the speed limit.
ReplyDelete@ 11:42
ReplyDeleteI used to speed by Bennett so I wouldn't get caught by one of the 15 traffic lights that will turn red at random.
Just slow down. do the speed limit. do not try to run red lights. the camera company will not gain revenue. they will take the cameras out. what a concept.
ReplyDeleteHere's something about the cost of these cameras. This is for 8 of them in Arlington county VA-$438,102 including $66,794 for a full time employee to review the images. The contractor is going to pocket $371,308 for installing EIGHT stinking cameras!
ReplyDeleteThis was in the arlnow's March 12th edition. I'm sure MD is paying just about the same.
We are getting screwed royally on these things.
MD law requires speed cameras to be calibrated annually by an "independant calibration laboratory." I wonder how much that costs?
ReplyDelete