Speed cameras are often installed with the primary purpose of capturing revenue, with no attention paid to road design, signage, or communication. The revenue collected is frequently funnelled to a private company, and the community doesn’t see a benefit.
This is the result.
I think cameras have a lot of potential but first - make it uncomfortable to speed, and clearly sign and alert speeders. I don’t like cars in urban settings but work in the world you have and all that
Also, maybe the USA should implement a speedometer accuracy law. When people get a ticket for 2mph over and their speedometer has no guarantee of accuracy, the manufacturer should see the fine. The NHTSA doesn’t require any accuracy for private vehicles and the SAE recommends +/-4mph which is ludicrous.
In my area, the cameras revnue was used to make those roadway improvements. IMO its a good middle ground. Updating roads to safer standards is a massive financial commitment & this ensure people speeding front more of that bill. Speeders rack up our tax dollars in enforcement costs and emergency services costs like healthcare which is less money to spend on road safety. Your city making just 1 of their stroads safer would completely decimate an annual budget and they’d still have a lot more roads to improve.
Certainly there is a chicken vs egg financial challenge, but when antagonizing drivers ends public support, and they’re banned (as in TFA), now there’s no road safety improvements.
People want to deny it, but the cameras themselves were a safety improvement. They reduced speed. Maybe not for every single car but certainly enough to make a statistical difference. The cameras my areas used were mobile and the speed reduction would linger for weeks to months after the camera had moved.
Speed cameras are often installed with the primary purpose of capturing revenue, with no attention paid to road design, signage, or communication. The revenue collected is frequently funnelled to a private company, and the community doesn’t see a benefit.
This is the result.
I think cameras have a lot of potential but first - make it uncomfortable to speed, and clearly sign and alert speeders. I don’t like cars in urban settings but work in the world you have and all that
Also, maybe the USA should implement a speedometer accuracy law. When people get a ticket for 2mph over and their speedometer has no guarantee of accuracy, the manufacturer should see the fine. The NHTSA doesn’t require any accuracy for private vehicles and the SAE recommends +/-4mph which is ludicrous.
In my area, the cameras revnue was used to make those roadway improvements. IMO its a good middle ground. Updating roads to safer standards is a massive financial commitment & this ensure people speeding front more of that bill. Speeders rack up our tax dollars in enforcement costs and emergency services costs like healthcare which is less money to spend on road safety. Your city making just 1 of their stroads safer would completely decimate an annual budget and they’d still have a lot more roads to improve.
Certainly there is a chicken vs egg financial challenge, but when antagonizing drivers ends public support, and they’re banned (as in TFA), now there’s no road safety improvements.
People want to deny it, but the cameras themselves were a safety improvement. They reduced speed. Maybe not for every single car but certainly enough to make a statistical difference. The cameras my areas used were mobile and the speed reduction would linger for weeks to months after the camera had moved.