People that complain about Speed Cameras are "whiners"

[STiMULi]

I printed the whole thing as all of is either a letter to the editor or a reply to the OP
original thread link

From Prescott AZ...




4/21/2010 9:56:00 PM
Letter: Photo radar whiners wear thin with reader

EDITOR:

I am tired of letters about people's dislike for radar enforcement of "our laws."

We have gadgets in our cars that tell us that someone is trying to steal it. We invest in expensive units to wire our house to detect intruders and facilitate a phone call to us to warn us of an intruder. Yet we are offended when we get a letter telling us we jeopardized someone else's life by driving outside the laws designed to protect us. We sound like a bunch of kids upset because we got caught with our hands in the cookie jar.

And don't think we haven't been tagged. We've paid our share and it hurt; but we enjoy the scenery and are clearly more relaxed when we get to our destination.

The statistics clearly show that lives have been saved and accidents reduced.

Jack and Ellen Suderman

Dewey





Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: Candid Camera

Here is what you do with the photo radar tickets. You toss them in the nearest trash can. They are not worth the paper they are printed on. Don't sign them, don't even acknowledge them. They are illegal if you are not served in person within 90 days. I have never seen so many people willing to give up their right to face their accuser. Are the cameras even accurate, how do you know? Go ahead and trust the things….. pay the ticket if you think it is a fair way to conduct business. I don’t, I won’t and never will.

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: a c

i dont mind the radar vans cuz I dont really speed. I do mind the stationary cameras that cause people to slam on their brakes to well below the speed limits because they are in fear of a camera malfunction. one little distraction when someone slams on their brakes and we are going to have a 10 car pile up. Obviously the simple solution is straighten up and drive right and not overreact but that's just too easy for people right?

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: Jeff Teller

Jack and Ellen, you are absolutely wrong! Photo radar does not save any lives or reduces accidents. It just steals money. Honestly. Don't believe me? Go to the Glassford intersection and watch. People slow down at that intersection, then speed right up once they're through it. It doesn't help slow anyone down ever, only just in that one little square of an intersection. Do you not see all the tail lights being slammed on right before, then them speeding off right after the cameras? Duh! Same with the photo radar vans, slam on the brakes, drive the speed limit, look innocent, then floor it like everyone else does. If they put a cop 250-500 feet from the intersection right after the photo radar, they'd be nailing people left and right.

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: C R

AMEN Eric Wildung!!!! You nailed it right on the head!! Money, Money, Money!!!!!!!!

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: Founding Fathers demand liberty

"The statistics clearly show that lives have been saved and accidents reduced." --- If that is the goal, then why not post a policeman outside every bar in town and breathalyze everybody leaving the place before they get behind the wheel? Sure, that will be very expensive, but if just one life is saved, *it's worth it*.

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: A dissappointed conservative *

I like the idea of putting up the cameras but having people do commuinty service, as an option, when they are caught, like cleaning up the roads, or other more creative projects, that way the gov won't get confused between safety and money.

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: Eric Wildung

I don't think you and some others understand some facts about photo radar.

1. Photo radar has nothing to do with public safety. It strives to generate revenue for the Arizona Government and a foreign company from Australia called Redflex.

2. The claim that photo radar slows traffic down is an illusion. People slow down until passing the photo radar cameras and then speed back up again. Plain and simple.

3. Photo radar does not stop drunk drivers or people driving in a careless and reckless manor. If a person is speeding and endangering other motorists, photo radar does nothing to stop that behavior. The driver may not even know they are driving in a careless manor. Only being pulled over by a Law Enforcement Officer will stop someone from breaking the law.

4. Only 23% of the people pay the photo radar tickets.

5. Redflex gets 50% of the money from a photo radar ticket fine.

This is not a fact only my opinion. I feel almost 90% of the people on the road don't pay attention and have poor driving skills. Put the cell phones down, the cigarettes out, and turn off the ipods and pay attention when driving. I would rather see more Police Officers saving lives by stopping people from driving in a careless manor than a useless camera that makes money for some Foreign Company.

Eric

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: Just A Thought

Well said, Jack and Ellen. Once again the lawbreakers are out whineing about their freedoms to justify their stupidity. They are still free to speed if they want to. It just may cost them. If they were innocently involved in an accident at an intersection, they would be the first ones wanting the cameras to prove their innocense. I'd much rather lawbreakers pay fines than have my taxes go up. Now just sit back and read all the crazy excuses for why they should be allowed to break the law. They can be quite entertaining. Just a thought.

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: Gus Patrick

To all

"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing the one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: Paid Your Share?

Sounds like you and your wife are law breaking speed demons that are jeopardizing my life when I travel through Dewey and the surrounding areas. Slow down and stop paying all of those fines to Redflex. I am sure that you have figured out where the traps have been set and just slow down in those areas. So have I. Happy speeding.

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: Kim Storm

Yeah, and I can be driving around with a cracked windshield, four bald tires, 14 kids in the back seat and a beer in one hand and a cell phone in the other, and as long as I slow way down at the intersection, who's going to stop me? Photo radar is a money-maker, nothing more, and for too many of us, cameras on street corners conjure up images of Orwell's 1984. It's said that anyone who will trade freedom for security deserves neither the truth is that you shall have neither.

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: Irving Zisman

I really hate photo radar. But you know what, it works. The area is much safer and cars seem to be alot slower than they were 4 years ago.

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: How about both sides top whining?

Some people enjoy beng managed and controlled, even by inanimate objects. Some don't. It takes all kinds. I'm tired of hearing the whining about people that do not like photo radar.

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: You nailed it.

You nailed it. IMHO, the people who get caught by the photo radar deserve the ticket. They were driving 11 MPH over the posted speed limit or they ran a red light. I drove Glassford Hill twice a couple of weeks ago. The funny thing is that the cameras are shut down yet people were driving at or below the speed limit. They worked even when they weren't working. :-)

Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by: V Putin

You would feel perfectly safe in my home country then. It was called the United Socialist Soviet Republic.You are lucky it is coming to your neighbourhood.Courtesy of you and people who are ignorant of the history and social sciences.Good Luck.
I kept my old passport and you are not welcomed.

[voyager7]

Because you complain about an unfair device you are a whiner?

[Maestro]

These are people who lack any control in their lives and they want someone to tell hem what to do and how to do it and enjoys the government being their mother since obviously they never had one growing up.

These are the same type of people who stood by and watch Hitler try to take over the world. They see nothing wrong with everyone having to conform.

[<<JAZZY>>]

This is going to sound stupid but if I got a red light camera ticket, can I throw it away?

Would it be the same as not paying a speeding ticket? Will they eventually have a warrant out for my arrest or something?

I feel like I read a lot on this forum but I know nothing about this.

[v1user]

This is going to sound stupid but if I got a red light camera ticket, can I throw it away?

Would it be the same as not paying a speeding ticket? Will they eventually have a warrant out for my arrest or something?

I feel like I read a lot on this forum but I know nothing about this.

I think Maxima Lover said St. Louis RLC tickets are child's play, so yes, in this particular scenario. I think it depends on the state or city law.

[R.J.]

In NYC, you don't have to be served in person or prove who was behind the wheel when the violation occurred. They're considered a civil infraction (much like a parking ticket) with the fine set at $50.00 and no points. If you fail to answer the ticket after 100 days, you will be automatically convicted and assessed late fees.

I'm not sure if you're license can be suspended for failure to pay since it's considered a civil infraction but failing to pay parking tickets results in being unable to re-register your vehicle. The city has gone after people that have accumulated numerous tickets with fines in the thousands.

No doubt the fines are kept low with no points so most won't make an attempt to contest the them. It's quite a racket.

[STiMULi]

Here is my letter if it makes it to the site:

Dear Jack and Ellen Suderman,

Whether you feel it is true or not, statistically every time you get behind the wheel you are endangering someone’s life. If you want to save the world, stop driving. If you try to pretend for a moment that you have never caught yourself driving over the limit you are lying. It happens to all of us.

Some people speed because they can and some people speed because they feel that it gets them there faster. Others speed because they failed to keep a close eye on the ever changing signage or speed at which they are traveling.

Different jurisdictions have made an effort to take advantage of those times that we are unaware of our speed in relationship with the authorized speeds. This is obvious when you look at the placement of cameras, generally in areas where they would earn the greatest amount of money for the vendor and the jurisdiction. I have discussed this and the shortening of yellow light timing at camera intersections with the Traffic Engineers themselves. For the most part the Traffic Engineers see the implementation of these cameras as a cause of accidents rather than a means to save life, limbs or property.
The best term I have read for this type of “Road Tax” is the Jurisdiction using the vehicles as drive-by ATMs to make up for shortages and mismanagement in other areas of the government

Jack and Ellen, I hope between the 2 of you can put your heads together and have enough of a brain to think this through and realize that Big Brother handing out tickets in a robotic society is not a way to serve humanity as a whole.

STiMULi

[Maestro]

Yours made it and the one below yours is base on the Dr Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham philosophy of life