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If speed cameras are less biased than humans when issuing tickets, I see them as a fairer method of speed enforcement. Also safer for BIPOC individuals to receive a ticket in the mail, as opposed to a roadside traffic stop.
I don't disagree, but I also think speeding is the least dangerous thing that happens on the road.
Where are the cameras catching tailgaters, people who don't signal, people cutting others off, people cruising in the left and not passing, people blatantly running stop signs, people texting or doing makeup?
These behaviors are all far more dangerous.
Speeding is a psychological problem. You can't take a four-lane, straight, flat, state highwayswith few cross-roads, and all of a sudden it's a 20MPH zone because there's a high school on it (and an elevated crosswalk at that), then throw a camera on it and make a money generating machine.
I mean, you can...Rhode Island does it. At least in the poorer neighborhoods. They don't do it in the nice neighborhoods (well, most of them...I guess Blackstone Blvd is like the one exception). But it's not really doing anything but pissing people off.
Maybe just...don't build the highschool on a four-lane, flat, straight state highway with few cross-roads? Ain't nobody living in walking distance of it anyway.
You're right that streets should be designed such that low speeds feel inevitable and not something you have to think about, and that they should serve one purpose and not two (no stroads). And highways should completely bypass cities, because the idea that they should cut through them is just absurd.
Where are the cameras catching tailgaters, people who don’t signal, people cutting others off, people cruising in the left and not passing, people blatantly running stop signs, people texting or doing makeup?
The technology to do this is more challenging then detecting speeding. Red-light cameras are also very common, because they are relatively easy to implement. I believe there is some tech for texting while driving at least, but I'm not sure how automated it is.
people cruising in the left
This is a camera on a single lane road in the UK. They should be driving on the left.
You sure showed them...
Force = Mass times Acceleration.
As pointed out already, acceleration here is massive, as collision takes split seconds.
A more useful formula is: F=m*∆V^2 /2, where F is the force, m is mass, ∆V is speed difference (essentially your entire speed if you're gonna hit the wall, and that's very likely).
Notice that speed in this formula is squared, so doubling the speed results in four times the impact.
22% higher speed leads to 50% higher impact.
41% higher speed doubles the impact energy.
Etc. etc.
Also, mass of your car, even though it's not squared, impacts the result greatly. Twice as heavy car will exert twice the energy at the same speed.
and the acceleration of a collision is measured in split seconds, so the acceleration is going to be way higher than your velocity suggests.
Sure. But speeding doesn't cause collisons nearly to the level of any of the other things.
Going slow is a great way to reduce damage once a collision has occurred. Artificially slowing down roads (by throwing up a camera and a sign and nothing more) doesn't do shit to prevent collisions in the first place. It might slow down the road. It might make someone panic and jump on their brakes to avoid a ticket. It might get people paying closer attention to their speedometer than to the crosswalk up ahead.
Put another way, you're referencing the second law. Second law doesn't matter until the first law is broke. Don't act upon an object, won't be no actions upon another object.
Going the posted speed limit is not going slow.
Speed is a leading factor in collisions resulting in serious injuries and death.
Where I live, going the speed limit gets you run off the road. I'm not even exaggerating.
If only there was a way to remotely monitor and cite speeders
They tried that for a few years. People went to court to challenge them, overwhelmed the court system, and made it not cost effective to pursue people.
Where they winning cases on merit or just so many cases filled that the court could not process the number of cases? I would be interested to read up on that if you had something on that.
I know of a situation where a municipality had not done the required traffic survey to justify the speed limit. In that case, if challenged in court, tickets get dismissed. One individual knew the law, was constantly cited, kept going to court to get the tickets dismissed. Eventually the individual filed a RICO suit against the government that forced them to do the traffic study, which resulted in the speed limit being raised.
I think most people who challenged lost, but it didn't stop them from trying... Regardless, the courts weren't getting the money from the fines, at least not enough to compensate for the amount of time people took up.
https://www.ncsc.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/16769/sosa_photospeedenforceaz.pdf
Thanks.
This reads as a classic project management failure. Lack of stakeholder engagement impacting the forecasting of requirements, leading to insufficient resources allocated, human and material. Lack of training prior to rollout. Inadequate quality control mechanisms relating to vendor performance. Poor monitoring post implementation leading to slow corrective actions. All of the above led to inefficiencies causing costs to exceed revenues.
Self sustaining budget was a secondary goal. The paper does not delve into the stated primary goal, increased safety. Were speeds and or accidents reduced. If accidents were reduced, were costs related to emergency services and infrastructure repair also reduced. What was the total impact to municipalities budget, not just the judicial system.
It's less a problem with racial profiling and more a problem with it being a poverty-tax.
Enforcing a flat-rate fee structure with speed cameras disproportionately hurts low-income drivers (who are already economically unstable), and allocating state/city funding toward road maintenance instead of public transit infrastructure pushes people into a loop of auto costs-> traffic fines -> loss of work -> more financial insecurity, ect.
True enough: reducing officer interactions is a good thing, but those cops end up spending that saved time escalating other non-violent interactions instead. If that's your goal, you should be de-funding and reforming law enforcement, not automating fine collection.
Well said. My biggest issue is tickets funding road maintance, rather than traffic calming and transit. But flat-rate is also a big issue.
All true. It could be a positive step but very small change by itself. Police are one part of criminal justice system that need massive reform.