Camera tricks part II

The red light/speed camera debate is getting a little crazy. Chief Bladel says accidents are down at the intersections where cameras are installed. I have nothing against Chief Bladel, he's just doing his job for a department that could really use extra funds. In talking to him I think he is a nice guy. I also think he believes the cameras are for safety. It's just that myself, and others, do not. According to the Iowa DOT, accidents are down state wide. In most cases, from fatalities to property damage, the numbers have been going down for a decade. But what about other parts of the city? We just had a pretty bad wreck on Jersey Ridge; was that because they don't have cameras in the area, or was it driver error? These things are called accidents, not assault by distracted driver.

With the fewer accident defense comes the question of traffic flow. If the Iowa DOT was complaining that when gas went up people bought less gas; how can they drive more? Also, alot of the cameras are located on highways that truckers and others that have to drive use. While I believe traffic flow actually went down, it could also have gone up. But not by much. If people from out of town, and out of state, aren't visiting Davenport because of these cameras, it just doesn't make sense that traffic flow is up. Also working against the fewer accident defense is the weather. We haven't had any bad hail storms, freezing rain storms, snow storms, or other adverse weather that affects the accident rate.

Another snag is these people complaining they've gotten 5 or 6 of these tickets. If they were true tickets, turned into the state, they wouldn't have a license either. If the lawbreakers aren't learning from their mistakes, and the law abiding people aren't getting caught, it's not really safer.

If my wife takes our new car to the dealer, and the mechanic blows through a light test driving it, giving the car a ticket; you'll be hearing from me. How it can be legal to give the owner a ticket, without proving guilt, is beyond me. Until I get a day in court, with someone proving I broke the law, not just my vehicle, I cannot back these cameras. My wife and I haven't got a ticket because we don't speed and we don't blow through red lights. That's what tells me it's not about safety, it's about the money.

Drive up Brady south of the cameras, and you feel like you're at Daytona. Get within a block of the cameras and the brake lights come on. Get through the camera range and it's Daytona again. So it may be safer at these intersections, but until someone comes up with data that says it's keeping the whole city safer, no sale; it's about the money.