[QUOTE]Originally posted by Penforhire
[B]It feels like after a few more steps in the process we'll all have government GPS monitors in our cars and if you exceed the posted limit they'll mail you a ticket (and know where you are at all times).

 

How many co-ed's are disabled each year due to injuries sustained while showering? Maybe steam-proof cameras are needed "for their safety." Dorms are public places, so there is no implied right to privacy. We must do everything we can to preserve our young, whether they like it or not.

 

For 00SType, an excerpt from the article that started this thread (RLC stands for Red Light Camera):

Contrary to RLCs contributing to lower accident rates
and few violations, studies show simply raising the time limit
on the yellow light is the most effective measure a city can
take to lower red light-running incidents, according to the
testimony given at the hearing.
The city of San Diego was forced to release internal
documents on its RLC program when it was sued over the
issue. Those documents showed that at one particular
intersection red light violations dropped from more than
2,000 to about 200 after an RLC was installed. However,
while public officials and law enforcement attributed the drop
to the RLC, what the documents actually showed was that
the city increased the yellow light time by 1.7 seconds. Yet
the city didn

 

I'm inclined to agree about the potential monitoring aspect of it. Here we have cameras everywhere already... on intersections, highways, malls, department stores, apartment buildings. The whole 'big brother' infrastructure is in place regardless of what it's currently being used for.

 

To comment on a couple of points mentioned:

In Arizona you do not have to respond to any ticket not given to you by a person. ie you have to be served. Through the mail does not count.

In this state red light cameras are triggered by a magnetic/electric coil in the pavement. It supposedly will only trigger if it is crossed AFTER the light has turned red. If you enter the intersection while it is yellow or it turns red while you are still in the intersection, it does not trigger.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SCS2k
[B]To comment on a couple of points mentioned:

In Arizona you do not have to respond to any ticket not given to you by a person.

 

While I don't necessarily agree with RLCs, I wish I could get the kind of ROI these cities seem to be getting.

 

First, I want to unequivocally state that I am a civil libertarian and constantly oppose the continuous intrusion into our personal lives that the right wing politicians continuously advocate, but that being said, where the

 

Man Aran, I live where you live and I'm not seeing what you're seeing. And interestingly enough, I got one of these just the other day.

I was doing the speed limit 55 and according to the ticket, the light was yellow for 5.03 seconds (not, I understand a short time.) Also according to the ticket, the light was red for .33 seconds when I entered the intersection. To give you an idea of how little time this is, the front of my car looks to be IN the intersection at the time of the "violation". It is also less time than the customary delay between red in one direction and green in the other.

Needless to say, I wasn't acting with any of the maliciousness you describe and neither were 95% of those who received this newest variation of the "Random Road Tax".

What's the most scary about Maryland's camera law is that it specifically says that "Intent" is not a factor in the criminality of the act. This is the scary erosion of civil rights. You must no longer intend to commit a crime (or be proven to have committed one) to be found guilty.

BTW, just who decided that driving was a priviledge. No one asked me. This is often repeated as if it is a fact. This is just a convenient legal interpretation (see Second Amendment rhetoric on both sides for another example of convenient interpretation.)

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Strike
[B]

Your two statements seem to contradict each other.