Gee Willikers Batman!  NJ CITY CHARGES MOVIE SET FOR LOST RLC REVENUE WHILE STREET SHUT DOWN!!!!!!

Thanks to www.stpetecameras.org for the heads up on this link!

'The Dark Knight' reveals profit motive behind red-light cameras
Published: Friday, October 28, 2011, 2:11 PM
 By Star-Ledger Editorial Board The Star-Ledger
 

If you’ve ever doubted whether red-light cameras were about money or safety (hint: they’re about money), there was this morsel in a story today by Star-Ledger reporter Victoria St. Martin on the filming of a Batman sequel http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/red_light_cameras_put_profit_o.html in Newark next week:

“The (production) company is even reimbursing the city for the loss of red-light camera revenue along the avenues that will be shut down."

Now, if red-light cameras were installed solely for safety, the city would be ecstatic that the streets were being shut down – because the only vehicle running red lights would be the Batmobile.
 

But, of course, red-light cameras have become cash cows http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2011/02/red-light_cameras_save_lives_a.html in sheep’s clothing. (Red-light cameras now operate in Newark, Wayne, Jersey City, New Brunswick, Woodbridge and Linden.)
 

While mayors and council members camouflage their greed in the warm and fuzzy rhetoric of “saving lives,” the studies are inconclusive. For every survey that says cameras make intersections safer, there’s another study that says they lead to more rear-end accidents because nervous drivers slam on their brakes at the sight of a camera – whether the light is green, amber or red.
 

And then there are the studies that have shown that the companies contracted to maintain the cameras rigged them because they get a cut of the revenue.
 

The New Jersey Public Interest Research Group recognized this problem and recently called upon municipalities to stop making red-light cameras a for-profit operation.  http://media.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/other/Caution%20Red%20Light%20Cameras%20Ahead%20-%20vNJ%20web.pdf
 

With red-light cameras, NJPIRG said, towns and cities are signing away power to companies who care more about profits than public safety.
 

Driver’s education teaches us to drive with both hands on the wheel, but New Jersey drivers might want to take another tack: One hand on the wheel, the other on their wallet.
 

Because the next wave of “safety” policy is coming: speed cameras.  http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2011/04/get_ready_drivers_because_spee.html (This is a great interview in April with Ron Ely, editor of StopBigBrotherMd.com)

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