9 School (Park) Zone Speed Scams!
When people heard of Chicago wanting speed scameras for "safety" of the children, many people saw it for the money grab that it was.
I wanted to share with you 9 School Zone Scams I have seen through the years.
1. Non functioning yellow light (or burned out bulb). http://blog.thenewstribune.com/street/2011/01/26/speed-cameras-go-awry-but-its-not-their-fault/
Quote: “The lights on the “SPEED LIMIT 20 WHEN FLASHING” were not flashing so motorists thought the speed limit was the normal 35 mph.”
The cameras, however, were rigged for 20 mph. FLash! Flash!
One upset motoriosts e-mailed The News Tribune: “The city can’t have it both ways. You can’t give someone a ticket if the WHEN FLASHING sign isn’t on.”
2. Using Speed Scamera in school zone where school was CLOSED. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-10-09/news/bs-md-school-zone-watchdog-20101008_1_school-zone-speed-camera-red-light-camera Quote: The problem: A Southwest Baltimore school closed in June, but the "school zone" signs — and a speed camera — remain.
Now, the parking lot off Desoto Road is filled with the vehicles of employees of St. Agnes Hospital, not school faculty. But yellow "school zone" signs at the intersection of Wilkens Avenue and Desoto still remind drivers to slow down, and a red light and speed enforcement camera monitor their behavior.
William Debord, who lives in the Morrell Park neighborhood, drives his grandson past the former Gibbons campus through that intersection to Mount St. Joseph High School, and he often sees the speed camera flash when drivers turn right on red. A sign bars right turns onto Desoto between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. — traditional school hours.
"I think it's ridiculous to have it that way now," Debord said. "There's no school there."
3. Using Speed Scamera in ILLEGAL SCHOOL ZONES. http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/tom_brodbeck/2010/10/14/15697776.html
Quote: “The City of Winnipeg set up an illegal school zone on Henderson Highway which police have been using to ticket motorists with photo radar, a judicial justice of the peace has ruled.
This is the case of David MacKay, who received a $215 photo radar ticket in an area police claim is a school zone on Henderson Highway just north of Bonner Avenue.
The ticket was thrown out of court last week.
There are signs designating the area as a school zone. But according to court transcripts obtained by the Winnipeg Sun, judicial justice of the peace Weldon Klassen ruled that not only did the photo radar operator not know where the school in question was, he said the zone itself violates the province's Highway Traffic Act.”
4. Playing with trigger speeds to increase "violations" http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-17/mobile-cameras-target-low-range-speeding/3575038?section=nsw (though not mentioning school zones, if this can be done here in one zone, it can be done in ANY zone!) IN fact a few years ago AZ tried to do this. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/30/3053.asp Quote: Under the current program, for example, a vehicle must be accused of traveling 11 MPH above the speed limit before Redflex can mail a photo citation. The Redflex legislation eliminates this buffer and allows the issuance of tickets for driving as little as 1 MPH over the limit in either a school zone or highway work zone.
5. Using school zone scameras during summer when school is out (also on holidays too). http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/18/1859.asp Quote: Speed cameras in Lakewood and Auburn, Washington will continue to issue speeding tickets worth $189 to $784 each in school zones even though students are home for the summer. Both cities claim that a free lunch program brings enough children into the area during the break to require automated ticketing efforts between 6am and 6pm daily.
6. Not posting school zone hours to confuse drivers. http://www.cleveland.com/roadrant/index.ssf/2010/08/most_school_zone_signs_earn_a.html Quote: Twenty mile-per-hour school zone speed limits return to many neighborhoods this week during "restricted hours." What times would that be? Oh, that's going to require an educated guess, folks.
7. Extend "zone" hours to increase take. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/08/865.asp
Quote: Mesa will now ticket motorists if they drive 40 MPH near the Rhodes Junior High School between 7:30am and 6pm, even when no children are present. The road has a 45 MPH speed limit except during school hours, but no flashing warning signs are present to remind motorists to adhere to the lower 35 MPH limit. The city recently extended the school zone hours from 4pm to 6pm.
8. Creating new "zones" that were never there before speed scameras. Also known as FAKE school zones:
http://www.stopbigbrothermd.org/search/label/Fake%20School%20Zones Quote: The Prince George's County Government will be holding a public hearing on July 12th on a list of proposed speed camera sites. The list include 55 'established school zones' and 58 sites which are not currently designated school zones, but which would become school zones under the new plan.
Also see: http://www.stopbigbrothermd.org/2010/01/big-school-zone-scam-continues.html
9. Even dubious school zones tickets after school zone has ENDED for the day have even happened: http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/speedcamerabacklogleadstohikedfines-116355934.html Quote:
“Babin’s citation was for a school zone speed violation at the intersection of Canal and St.Patrick. The ticket said Babin was going 27 miles per hour on December 16, 2010, but the ticket is time-stamped 3:55 p.m., ten minutes after the school zone expired. “I still got a ticket anyway,” she said.”
The reality is this is being done more for cash than safety. IN fact a great editorial on it by a former AAA Editor said this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/snapshot-of-a-montgomery-county-speed-trap/2011/11/09/gIQAW3BDDN_story.html
Quote: Authorities pitched the cameras as a way to protect children and people trying to cross their own streets. Yet we commonly find the cameras on busy, four- and six-lane roads, in areas that are commercial or sparsely developed.
The reality is that Driver error is what is really deadly: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/motoring/article-1378192/Driver-error-13-times-dangerous-breaking-speed-limit-report-reveals.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
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