> I often hear people waxing lyrical over the inequity of speed cameras, red
> light cameras, traffic radar and traffic police in general. I do wonder what
> such people (and there is of course a range of opinions) would feel
> genuinely comfortable and happy with? No traffic rules? No speed limits*? -
> or perhaps limits but no enforcement. Maybe limits with very wide
> enforcement margins. (50 mph with 30 mph margin = typically 90 mph in town).
> I also wonder what they would do that they don't do now to protect their
> children under such utopian arrangements.

I think you are mischaracterizing the oppositions arguments here. It inot
that we feel that enforcement is a bad thing, it's that we feel
enforcement and regulations are being set up to generate revenue rather
than enforce the law.

Really. I'm all for improving traffic safty, but why not:
1) Fix the light timings. (cheaper)
2) Target dangerous intersections with the camera lights. (Seems more
   effective to me.)
3) Do studies to make sure you havn't just relocated all the accidents a few
   feet away from the lights?

I also object on general principle to having corporations involved in law
enforcement. These things should be run by the Town/City/State that has
them.

As for RADAR detectors, never had one, and only had two speeding tickets.
And I am called gramps by some of my co-workers because I generally
don't speed.

One for doing 65 in a 55 in OH. I drove right past the cop blithely
thinking I was doing the speed limit, my fault, should have paid better
attention to the signs, I'd just gotten used to the 65 MPH speed limit
dominant on most of my trip. Fair enough. I paid it.

The other however, was just wrong. I was going over a hill in West
Virginia and as I came over it the speed limit dropped 20MPH and there was
a cop at the bottom. He got me for 8 over. The ticket had a web site on it
where I could pay with my choice of credit card. I've seriously considered
getting a RADAR detector for travelling out of state since that happened.

It seems wrong to me also, to focus on ticketing travellers and tourists.
For instance in the VA papers we are often warned of upcoming speeding and
safty belt crack downs on certain heavily used by tourist roads. Why are
you warning us? Also, I've noticed that people with out of state tags seem
to be targeted by our city police (who are also well known for pulling
people going through yellow lights, never happened to me but I've seen it
happen right in front of me twice, I tend to go slow approaching
intersections here in case it goes yellow). What is up with that? My
guess is they don't want people who can fight it in the courts.

These are the reasons people dislike traffic enforcment the way it's being
done today.

And for the kickers...

While all this is going on, the police leave the following stuff going in
my area.
1) Rampant speeding in Residential areas.
2) People driving (at serious speed) down the shoulders during traffic
   jams.
3) People disregard solid lines (especially in our bridge tunnels),
   HOV lanes, you name it. If it isn't a stop light, they disregard it.
   Put some cameras in tunnels and let the cops nab them on the other
   side.

Oh, and the final insult.

If someone is brutally speeding, tailgating etc.. Odds are good they're
one of the city police. (Asides from warning locals of enforcement times,
our State Police are pretty nice, perhaps to nice.)

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