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View Full Version : Speed sensors on red-light cameras could raise money fast


CitaDeL
01-09-2010, 09:00 PM
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget-cameras9-2010jan09,0,3286125.story

Speed sensors on red-light cameras could raise money fast

Reporting from Sacramento - Speeding may be dangerous for drivers, but it could soon be a boon for California's fiscal health.

Tucked deep into the budget that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled Friday is a plan to give cities and counties the green light to install speed sensors on red-light cameras to catch -- and ticket -- speeding cars.

Those whizzing by the radar-equipped detectors at up to 15 mph over the limit would have to pay $225 per violation. Those going faster would be fined $325.

Small-government advocates want to put the brakes on the plan.

"This is a budget item for the state?" said Lew Uhler, president of the National Tax Limitation Committee. "This is totally reprehensible."

Red-light cameras are already in place in communities across the Southland. The governor wants to install speed detectors in 500 of those cameras, which would nab an estimated 2.4 million speeding violators a year, according to the state Department of Finance.

In Beverly Hills, for instance, there are nine red-light cameras, which could catch 835 speeders a month, the Schwarzenegger administration estimated.

That would add up to big bucks for cash-strapped California -- about $337.9 million through June 2011 -- to pay for state courts. Every year after that, the program would generate nearly half a billion dollars, the Finance Department says. Local governments would get a share.

All of which annoyed Uhler.

"I was nailed by one of these [red-light] turn cameras. It's so irritating," he said. As for the possibility of driving a smidgen over the speed limit and receiving an unwelcome ticket weeks later in the mail: "Just obnoxious," he said.

The proposal also touted safety: "There would be . . . fewer accidents and injuries to drivers, passengers and pedestrians."

Notice that the truth comes out....

Safety is a secondary consideration to revenue when it comes to red-light cameras.

Commander Bunny
01-09-2010, 09:43 PM
The sad part is that the Muninicpalities/Cities using these cameras only make a fraction of the fine, a majority goes to the Companies that sell/install/maintain them.

Jeanfromfillmore
01-10-2010, 12:45 AM
The sad part is that the Muninicpalities/Cities using these cameras only make a fraction of the fine, a majority goes to the Companies that sell/install/maintain them.You're exactly correct. And then you have to consider the court cost for those tickets that are contested. Yet, someone here illegally would just walk away. They overspend to cover the cost of the invasion and their anchors babies, and punish everyone to make up for it. Where is the responsibility to handle our taxes and deliver services to meet our needs? The Democrats are paying a high price to get all those votes. Soon they will be governing a wasteland.

Ayatollahgondola
01-10-2010, 08:17 AM
I don't care for this right out the gate,

Their sole purpose is monetary gain? How does this bode for the public? Not well methinks. How does one contest it after you get the tickee in the mail. You're a long ways away, and you have zip in the way of physical evidence collected. when a cop stops you, you can point to where you were stopped, where he was, the distance etc. Typical scam as I see it.
By the way, I heard yesterday of the first case that I know of a person getting cited for burning in their fireplace on a no-burn day. The cite also came in the mail.