Amen! And the cameras hath gone…
Well, it seemed only a matter of time. Web sites, protests, and even a murder later, Arizona has finally cancelled the speed camera contract with Redflex out of Australia. The murder was a tragedy, to be sure, but the cause wasn’t entirely routed in the brain of a psychotic (though perhaps that could have been the cause). In fact, the man accused of the murder was a 68-year-old Phoenix resident.
The speed camera contract was a pet project of former Governor Janet Napolitano (now tasked with running the nation’s security), which undoubtedly hoped to both increase public safety and raise funds for the state. On both accounts, it failed. At best, the program did little to educate the drivers of the state, and at worse, it stole funds directly from their pockets.
Legislators should heed the result as a warning that implementation of automated traffic enforcement systems ought come with a direct vote of the people, just as the people might vote to raise taxes (which the program arguably was doing) or legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.
What’s that line, a government by the people…
So now what? With government funds tightly controlled these days, you can bet Arizona’s beleaguered happenstance governor Jan Brewer will be loath to spend precious dollars to patrol the highways for would-be speeders. Instead, the state needs to take a more practical approach. It should educate and mandate.
Educating drivers on the importance of steering clear of electronic devices, smoking, eating, and even shaving while driving. Drivers need a refresher course in road safety and the state needs to remind them that the right lane on the highways are for the pokey drivers.
The state must also mandate safety. Take a short drive on any Phoenix street and you are sure to see a car without a front bumper, without operational lights, worn tires, dodgy brakes, or worse. State government must enforce vehicle inspections and do so shrewdly. Those with cars out of compliance should be forced to fix them or face stiff fines and/or impoundment. As this site has reported, many new cars now feature state of the art safety technology, but for those without, we must be very weary.
Below is a letter to the editor this publication sent to the Arizona Republic shortly after the speed camera contract was denied renewal.
Dear Editor,
Though I disagree with much of your editorial on the removal of Arizona’s speed cameras, I do agree with one area – the road signs must come down. For people to follow speed limits and road signs, they must feel that they are posted with purpose and backed by evidence suggesting their benefit. The state squandered the opportunity to provide additional safety, instead choosing to pick drivers’ pockets in a recession whilst doing nothing about increasing driver awareness – the decisive factor in reducing traffic injuries.
Speedway hyperbole aside, the state needs to educate drivers about safer driving and its benefits. As Germany demonstrates, fast driving can be safe driving. You may see our Teutonic friends safely driving at 120 mph as a trip to the Autobahn will prove, but be sure that they have been trained to drive at high speeds, keep slower traffic to the right lanes, and use lane change signals.
A better strategy for the state would have been to educate and to assure citizens that fines would not go into state coffers as a sort of “taxation without representation”. Fifteen states have banned automated traffic enforcement through legislation or judicial decision – perhaps Arizona should join the list.
Sincerely,
Sean Patterson
Editor, BeyondTheKM.com