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Scott, I must respectfully disagree with you on the camera issue...It is a very unfair system of enforcement for traffic violations...there is no way to allow for circumstances, driving conditions, etc. It has been proven MANY times in many places around the country that local government officials and police deptartments use speed traps, radar/laser, and cameras as revenue generators, and personal "piggy-banks", in some cases to ridiculous excess! There was a tiny town here in Georgia recently that was generating a laughably disproportionate percentage of their city's operating budget from ONE SPEEDTRAP! And that was not an isolated incident. The cameras Mike mentioned...There's a $100 fine, but no points on your license???? If that's not an obvious money-grab, I don't know what is!!! If you are a person of healthy financial resources, then what incentive would you have to stop violating the law in this particular location??? As long as you don't mind paying the fines, you can keep right on violating over and over and over with no consequence!
A couple of hypotheticals: What if another car is about to hit me, and I step on it and run a red light to AVOID an accident? The camera will still photograph my license plate, I will receive a ticket, and I WILL NOT pay it, because I was simply being alert and avoiding an accident. Nor will I have any proof that events occurred as they did, so I will have no ground to stand on when contesting the fine! An actual human officer on the scene would have witnessed the incident, and I would not be penalized for ensuring my own safety.
Consider also: what happens when you lend SOMEONE ELSE your car, they speed or run a light, and YOU get a ticket in the mail. Am I now responsible for anyone who breaks a law in my vehicle, even if I was not anywhere near? That's bulls**t.
Contrary to the propaganda that most politicians, police departments and insurance companies want us all to believe, there has never been a direct, statistically proven link established between the number of speeding violations a person receives and number of accidents/injuries/insurance risk of a given driver. UNSKILLED, CARELESS and INATTENTIVE driving kills people, regardless of speed, type of car, etc. Instead of trying to legislate idiot-proof solutions for everything, America should TEACH people to drive before unleashing them on the roadways, so such extreme and controversial means of enforcement would not need to be such an issue.
Our government has long been FAR FAR TOO INVASIVE in the average American's personal lives, and this is just another way they are increasing thier reach and tightening their already too firm grasp on your freedoms. Writing more and more laws solves nothing. Education and reasonable, common-sense enforcement of practical existing laws can solve a lot.
Mike
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