It seems that some cops in West Palm Beach, Florida are dressing in drag to catch traffic violators. I wonder how long before Toledo gets wind of this and starts dressing up the photo cameras to resemble vacant buildings. And if that doesn’t work, how about dressing up officers as protesting Blade workers?
What gets under my skin about this, and the “red light camera” issue in general, is the portrayal as a safety issue. People who run red lights are going to run one at intersections with cameras or without. But, when the city is installing them at every high-traffic intersection, regardless of its accident record, it becomes quite apparent that money is the only motivating factor. The fines collected at no cost to the city are seen as cheap income – despite the fact that an out-of-town business (that employs no one in the city) is making far more than Toledo.
And, if that wasn’t enough, doesn’t this violate a whole bunch of privacy issues? By mailing the ticket, anyone at my home might open the envelope – and my child needs not know about my receiving a ticket. Oh that’s right, you have a right to privacy on phone calls to Al qaeda, but not in your car. And, what if the person registered to the car isn’t the one driving it? Try proving that in court – and you need to pay a fee to clear your name. I won’t even comment about your constitutional right to confront your accuser – the camera can’t answer and the “photo analyst” was not at the scene.
Margaritas ante Porcos,
Right Wing Toledo
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3 comments:
The first way to get this out from under your skin is to understand that red light cameras are not about red lights. They're all about green cash.
”What gets under my skin about this, and the “red light camera” issue in general, is the portrayal as a safety issue.”
Some would argue that motorists slamming on the brakes, rather than risk getting a ticket cause accidents too.
”People who run red lights are going to run one at intersections with cameras or without. But, when the city is installing them at every high-traffic intersection, regardless of its accident record, it becomes quite apparent that money is the only motivating factor.”
But the City doesn’t have them installed at only high-traffic intersections. They’re installed where they are most likely to catch red light violations first.
”The fines collected at no cost to the city are seen as cheap income – despite the fact that an out-of-town business (that employs no one in the city) is making far more than Toledo.”
Well, an officer does review the apparent violations and okays the issuing of citations, but WE pay him…
”And, if that wasn’t enough, doesn’t this violate a whole bunch of privacy issues? By mailing the ticket, anyone at my home might open the envelope – and my child needs not know about my receiving a ticket. Oh that’s right, you have a right to privacy on phone calls to Al qaeda, but not in your car.”
The registered owner of the vehicle gets the ticket, that is true. But it is left up to the registered owner to do the dirty work of confronting the guilty party.
”And, what if the person registered to the car isn’t the one driving it? Try proving that in court – and you need to pay a fee to clear your name. I won’t even comment about your constitutional right to confront your accuser – the camera can’t answer and the “photo analyst” was not at the scene.’
Seems to be lots of ground to block this kind of enforcement however, the government has become addicted to OUR money. . .
Incrementalism is the real enemy here. That and greedy governments.
But get this - I got one on a day and time when I was out of town. Nobody was driving my car, but the city refused the possibility that there was an error with the camera that caused the date and time to be incorrect. So I then requested a hearing (I have credit card receipts and affidavits stating my whereabouts on the date and time of the violation) but never got a response. Instead I was sent to collections, and when I argued with the collection agency about my request for a hearing - I was told "too bad" because I went over my 21 days to request the hearing! (It took the city over 60 days to respond to my first letter questioning the accuracy of the date and time.) Seems like the city of Toledo does a bang up job of violating citizen rights! Darn straight its all about the money!
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