Florida Senate passed HB325,

On February 18, 2010, we sent an email alert to you in which our FL State Activist Henry Stowe noted:

"The Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act (House Bill 325) will officially sanction red light cameras used by cities and counties for use on state roads as well as on local streets. It will end the DOT prohibition on state roads. If the legislation takes effect, red light cameras will proliferate across the state with a perverse revenue sharing arrangement to go along with it."

Word comes today that the Florida Senate passed HB325, which means it will be on Governor Charlie Crist's desk any time now for his signature to turn the bill into state law. As Florida Attorney General, Crist actually ruled red-light cameras to be illegal. He is now expected to sign the measure unless Florida residents immediately flood him with letters demanding that he veto HB325.

Governor Crist's email address is Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com. His phone number is 850-488-7146. Time is too short to send a letter by postal service. PLEASE CONTACT GOV. CRIST RIGHT AWAY TO LET HIM KNOW THAT MANY OF HIS CONSTITUENTS ARE OPPOSED TO HB325 AND RED-LIGHT CAMERAS.

Case study after case study indicates that ticket cameras do more harm than good, creating higher accident rates while heavily penalizing motorists with tickets for ill-defined right-turn-on-red violations and (literal) split-second entries into intersections between the yellow and red light cycles. In fact, it is well-established (Loma Linda, San Carlos among others) that lengthening yellow light intervals by as little as 0.5 to 1.5 seconds can virtually eliminate all but the most egregious red-light running incidents. But while properly set yellow light durations and reasonable right-turn-on-red enforcement practices are ! proven solutions to making intersections safer, they don't create the ongoing revenue stream for local municipalities that ticket cameras are known for.

Use this information when contacting Charlie Crist. Point him to the dedicated page on the NMA site that dissects the topic of photo enforcement, and provides many more academic studies, investigative reports and irrefutable logic in the argument against red-light ticket cameras.

Unless you want to give free reign to the proliferation of red-light cameras throughout the state of Florida, you must let Governor Crist know right now that you are opposed to the cameras for all of the reasons stated here.

Thank you.

Gary Biller
National Motorists Association

Emailed him just now.



Governor Crist,

You did the right thing with respect to red light cameras as Attorney General.

Please don't change your tune now, even if the foreign jackals who stand to profit the most from these arrangements promise buckets of revenue. You can't put a price on safety, and red light cameras are unsafe. We can lengthen yellow lights if we're interested in preventing accidents.

We can add red light cameras if we're disingenuous about our motivations, want to fork over half the revenue to foreign corporations, and don't care about the citizens of our state who will be hamstrung by these unfair devices--to say nothing of all the injuries and expense stemming from accidents where overcautious drivers slam on the brakes and cause wrecks.

There are better ways to make up our budget shortfall that don't involve whoring ourselves out to Redflex and their ilk, and there are better ways to increase safety on the roads. Perhaps a cell phone ban while driving (that's actually enforced) or active enforcement of the "keep right except to pass" notion that makes driving so much safer and easier in countries with better lane discipline.

Thanks for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
TIV