Speed Cameras. Coming soon to your town?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

bigjohn2441

Refugee
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Messages
1,593
Speed Cameras Appearing on U.S. Roads - AOL Autos

looks like more "big brother" stuff to me disguised in the name of saving the children.

As you might know, im from PA which is like the 2nd strictest state on speeding, behind Ohio. I believe some speed limits are good to have, such as in school areas with heavy student traffic on the streets. But I feel most of them are way too low and the speeding tickets are waaaay too expensive for the "crime" committed. These speed traps are mostly just for towns to make easy money because they know people speed and will probably always speed. And they are unconstitutional in the sense that if you try and fight a ticket you are guilty until proven innocent. The idea that you can get a ticket in the mail because a camera took your car's picture supposidly "breaking the law" is pretty frightening to me. An then you have to PROVE your are INNOCENT to the judge, who probably gets kickbacks from the companies that make the cameras and also gets a piece of the money from the speeding tickets written by an actual human being.

I speed a lot. I dont agree with most of the speed limits and certainly dont agree with the fines associated with them. I know it's against "the law", but i dont care and im not going to try and deny that. I feel that when i drive ill go as fast as i want to, within reason. But i know how fast i can go depending on the conditions up to the point of becoming unsafe. I never talk on the phone while driving, and i am always on the alert and i've never had an accident yet. And i've had training in defensive driving, so that helps.

Thankfully i'm in the virgin islands right now where the police dont give a shit about traffic laws. :lol:
 
You didn't have them before? Didn't know that.

Well, I generally agree with a big brother tendency of our beloved governments, but wouldn't include speed cameras here. Maybe it's because in Germany they have been around for decades now, some mobile and some immobile, but I also think that they are different because they really just take a pictures if you are driving too fast and use the information from your license plate to send you the ticket.
It's certainly not unconstitutional. I'm sure American law, like German law, allows for a reversal of the burden of proof in some cases. And the Freedom of Information Act should make access to the necessary information accessible more easily.

Sure, some towns like to exploit those cameras for making money, but I'm sure they are already placing cops with laser speedometers in those areas. And especially in school areas I don't mind if they enforce speed limits.

And with the number of police watching traffic in the States speeding, in my view, is not really attractive. I agree with you that the speed limits on interstates are rather too low, but didn't mind the limits in towns.
 
Speed Cameras Appearing on U.S. Roads - AOL Autos

looks like more "big brother" stuff to me disguised in the name of saving the children.

As you might know, im from PA which is like the 2nd strictest state on speeding, behind Ohio. I believe some speed limits are good to have, such as in school areas with heavy student traffic on the streets. But I feel most of them are way too low and the speeding tickets are waaaay too expensive for the "crime" committed. These speed traps are mostly just for towns to make easy money because they know people speed and will probably always speed. And they are unconstitutional in the sense that if you try and fight a ticket you are guilty until proven innocent. The idea that you can get a ticket in the mail because a camera took your car's picture supposidly "breaking the law" is pretty frightening to me. An then you have to PROVE your are INNOCENT to the judge, who probably gets kickbacks from the companies that make the cameras and also gets a piece of the money from the speeding tickets written by an actual human being.

I speed a lot. I dont agree with most of the speed limits and certainly dont agree with the fines associated with them. I know it's against "the law", but i dont care and im not going to try and deny that. I feel that when i drive ill go as fast as i want to, within reason. But i know how fast i can go depending on the conditions up to the point of becoming unsafe. I never talk on the phone while driving, and i am always on the alert and i've never had an accident yet. And i've had training in defensive driving, so that helps.

Thankfully i'm in the virgin islands right now where the police dont give a shit about traffic laws. :lol:

I'm not one to say "the law is the law" but in this case I think it is definitely within reason to put up speed cameras. It's not that difficult to drive slower.

I'm not sure what to think about you. You're partially right about it being a computer catching you, and the extreme fine, but you're totally wrong that your speeding is not an endangerment to others on the road. You might feel comfortable traveling at 50 miles per hour in a residential zone, but the old grandmother in the lane next to you is freaking out. And the kids that chase after the ball just couldn't see you coming in time to move.

Highways are a different matter. I used to speed quite a bit in my younger years, but I've totally curved that behavior now. Mostly because I've seen traffic accidents happen feet away from me because someone was recklessly driving.

Anyway, you might feel in control because of such and such reason, but there are plenty of people who speed while on their phone, sipping from a Starbucks coffee cup and changing the radio station. They deserve their fines before the end up with a vehicular manslaughter charge.
 
Cameras are old technology.

Many companies already track their vehicles location and speed through GPS or computer chips (black boxes) in the engine. That information can already be subpoenaed for criminal cases and it's just a matter of time before it will be used in traffic court.
 
of course if there is heavy traffic or you are in an area known to have kids playing in the streets, or you see them up ahead, of course you slow down and drive even more carefully, thats just common sense.

im talking about in areas without heavy traffic and highways, not blowing down Elementary School Drive at 50 mph.
 
Cameras are old technology.

Many companies already track their vehicles location and speed through GPS or computer chips (black boxes) in the engine. That information can already be subpoenaed for criminal cases and it's just a matter of time before it will be used in traffic court.

yeah, but your car cant tell you are in a 35 zone doing 50 and then transmit the data and then a week later you get a ticket in the mail, like these cameras do.

at least i hope not :yikes:

that information is only used after you have been caught by other means.
 
This is news how exactly ?

They've been in use in some parts of the US for a long time.

I'm sure we all think we're great drivers, problem is always the other guy anyway.
 
well, no shit?!?!

i was replying to the previous post about the gps technology used in cars that can could be used in court VS these cameras

use your brain and eyes and you'd see that :wink:
 
I dont agree with most of the speed limits and certainly dont agree with the fines associated with them. I know it's against "the law", but i dont care and im not going to try and deny that. I feel that when i drive ill go as fast as i want to, within reason. But i know how fast i can go depending on the conditions up to the point of becoming unsafe. I never talk on the phone while driving, and i am always on the alert and i've never had an accident yet. And i've had training in defensive driving, so that helps.

I think it's great that you think you're a great driver :up:

But for someone who's lost three loved ones to auto accidents, all that could have been avoided, I don't trust you, the new drivers, the old drivers, or the distracted drivers to allow their "reason" to dictate my safety.

You may think 80 is safe and within reason, the teenager may think 95 is within reason, and grandma may think 45 is within reason AND you may all be wrong.

That being said, cameras are not new. So far I've never been snapped by one, although I know I've sped through a few *knocks on wood*

I can't remember which state is was I was driving through but they had a prop plane that was radaring drivers and then calling down to cops stationed along the highway in cars... :crack: My cousin got a ticket.
 
i know the cameras posted at the red lights that catch you going through them have been used for some time now. but these cameras that catch your speed seem new to me, and if you read the article, you'd know they are in fact new, and theyve only been used in MD and AZ.
 
We've had those for years in Denmark - it actually helps, and it's much less Big Brother than, say, surveillance cameras. I'd say thumbs up :up:
 
i know the cameras posted at the red lights that catch you going through them have been used for some time now. but these cameras that catch your speed seem new to me, and if you read the article, you'd know they are in fact new, and theyve only been used in MD and AZ.

From what I gather they are only new to freeways. I know we had them when I was living in Dallas tracking speed for I know people who have gotten tickets, and I think in Chicago they may have had them on the toll roads there.
 
in the VI, some of the roads are 10 mph. get that? 10 mph. and these roads are out in the middle of nowhere. granted they are pretty mountainous and windy, but NOBODY goes that speed on those roads, and i mean nobody.

fortunatly, like i said, the police dont really enforce traffic laws, they have bigger things to worry about, like gangs, guns, and drugs.
 
This only works to increase safety if there is evidence that it functions as a deterrent and if there is evidence that accidents on the roads where they are installed are caused at least in part by speeding.

I think the red light cameras do function as a deterrent insofar as I know that I personally won't risk running a yellow if I could end up with a ticket for $85 or whatever it is. As for the speed cameras, I'm not sure what the statistics are.
 
i think, and Hyper could back me up on this, as far as PA goes, they are like i said the 2nd strictest state on speeding, and yet people still speed and the PA cops still write record amounts of tickets year after year. people must know that the possibility of getting caught is higher here than most, yet they still speed and the cops still write record numbers of tickets. does that mean people dont care and will continue to speed anyway? maybe.

i dont know if any of you have ever driven through PA, but it's like a different world. You'll ALWAYS see people pulled over on the turnpike. When i commuted back and forth to college, i always had to be on the lookout for them, and these were on state routes in the middle of nowhere. id see them pulling people over at least twice a week on those roads. yet i would still speed cause i knew all their hiding spots. :D
 
i think, and Hyper could back me up on this, as far as PA goes, they are like i said the 2nd strictest state on speeding, and yet people still speed and the PA cops still write record amounts of tickets year after year. people must know that the possibility of getting caught is higher here than most, yet they still speed and the cops still write record numbers of tickets. does that mean people dont care and will continue to speed anyway? maybe.

i dont know if any of you have ever driven through PA, but it's like a different world. You'll ALWAYS see people pulled over on the turnpike. When i commuted back and forth to college, i always had to be on the lookout for them, and these were on state routes in the middle of nowhere. id see them pulling people over at least twice a week on those roads. yet i would still speed cause i knew all their hiding spots. :D



Hell when the cop has someone pulled over in PA it's just an excuse to speed, since he's already busy.


I never said anything about STOPPING anything. In fact you said "doesn't slow anyone down".

:doh:



What part of still issuing speeding tickets equating not slowing anyone down don't you get? They put cameras up all over the UK to "prevent" crime, now when you get stabbed there is a good chance they'll catch the guy a day sooner.
 
i think, and Hyper could back me up on this, as far as PA goes, they are like i said the 2nd strictest state on speeding, and yet people still speed and the PA cops still write record amounts of tickets year after year. people must know that the possibility of getting caught is higher here than most, yet they still speed and the cops still write record numbers of tickets. does that mean people dont care and will continue to speed anyway? maybe.

i dont know if any of you have ever driven through PA, but it's like a different world. You'll ALWAYS see people pulled over on the turnpike. When i commuted back and forth to college, i always had to be on the lookout for them, and these were on state routes in the middle of nowhere. id see them pulling people over at least twice a week on those roads. yet i would still speed cause i knew all their hiding spots. :D

Apparently it's second place, behind Ohio.

What State Gives the Most Speeding Tickets?
 
Back
Top Bottom