Speed Camera News

Speed Scamera Cop:  It is appalling cameras are now being used as almost a threat to the safety of road users

(Thanks to www.abd.org.uk for the link!)

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Use-camera-cash-wrong/story-15121369-detail/story.html
 

Use of camera cash is wrong
 
Friday, February 03, 2012
 
The Sentinel

BETWEEN 1995 and 2002, I was the manager of the Staffordshire Safety Camera Office and as a police officer with experience of both community policing and as traffic officer I understood the need for unattended 24/7 cameras to monitor and enforce inappropriate speeds. My understanding was that the cameras would, if located correctly, help reduce the severity of collisions and thereby make parts of our road system safer.

The value of the cameras would therefore be measured by the reduction of offences, as well as the reduction in injuries.

I was disappointed when the Government of the time and under pressure from the police and local authorities agreed to introduce the Hypothecation Project and turned the cameras into a method of indirect taxation. I decided then to walk away from the project I had so valued.

I was and always will support the deployment of cameras to enforce speed limits.

What I object to is the management of the cameras and the way money generated from them is used. The Hypothecation project was introduced with a direct link to the Exchequer's Office.

The project was then linked directly to the number of prosecutions with the numbers being increased with each tranche of the project.

Each partnership would be required to submit targets for the amount of money raised and if they failed to reach those targets the short fall would be met by the local authority.

Needless to say it was clear from those already involved in the scheme that they would ensure that they prosecuted greater numbers to ensure the targets were met.

At meetings I attended, the forecasts were that within three to five years speeding would be as anti-social as drink driving and that it would be difficult to catch speeders as most would have been put off because of the fear of being caught.

This statement was made 10 years ago to date. I now read in The Sentinel that the police and authorities are thinking of raising the prosecution levels in order to ensure that they get a flow of drivers to attend the driver improvement scheme. This is the exact opposite to the forecasts made by the then head of North Wales Police who was in charge of the project.

At the same time the Hypothecation project was introduced Staffordshire Police and many other forces reduced their traffic policing. Overnight Staffordshire reduced the traffic patrols from 200 to less than 20.

Rather than speeding being treated as anti-social in much the way of drink driving, I get the impression that drink driving is again on the increase. Figures released for the Christmas period were I believe disappointing with drivers being caught at all hours of the day.

In truth the lack of traffic patrols and the high visibility deterrent they have on drivers, I would argue, means that the roads are in fact less safe than previously.

It is appalling cameras are now being used as almost a threat to the safety of road users in Staffordshire.

Our safety and that of the public using our roads is being measured by the amount of money it can keep raising to fund itself and while I am sure that there have been casualty reductions it is clear that the path chosen was the wrong one. More road policing officers and reduced collision hot spots should ensure safer roads.

When I was a traffic officer the Association of Chief Police Officers offered the following advice: 'Target those drivers who are most likely to cause the greatest dangers to others.' This blanket process fails to do that and therefore is seen by the majority of just another stealth tax.

STEVE WALSH Ashley Heath

Scamera Attacks Week Ending 2/5/2012

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/37/3707.asp

France, Germany: Speed Cameras Burned
Speed cameras set on fire in Toulouse, France and Wiehl, Germany.

A speed camera was set on fire on the highway between Narbonne and Toulouse, France on Wednesday at 3:30am, La Depeche http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2012/02/04/1277608-un-radar-victime-d-un-gros-coup-de-chaud.html reported. Police have no idea who might be responsible for destroying the automated ticketing machine, admitting the public has not been willing to rush forward and identify the vigilantes. The area has twenty-five speed cameras and sixteen red light cameras, which are regularly attacked.

Vigilantes set fire to a speed camera in Wiehl, Germany on Thursday at 1am, according to Oberberg Aktuell http://www.oberberg-aktuell.de/index.php?id=75&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=130216&cHash=8827a1b22b. A canister of gasoline was placed on top of the device and set on fire. Only the camera lens suffered significant damage.

Redflex is having problems with people not paying, might try booting.  Lafayette might BOOT REDFLEX!

Comment from:

Betsy Burdin Arabie

Tony Tramel knows he would be treading on thin ice if he would attempt to boot cars....Judge Glennon Everett warned Lafayette Consolidated Government about this already.

Source: http://www.theind.com/cover-story/8778-a-fine-mess
District Judge Glennon Everett noted that because the right to request a hearing exists for 30 days after the initial notice is given, there is no forced collection and no judgment rendered before the ticket receiver is given the chance to contest the civil penalty. When “applying the same rationale” to the booting provision outlined by LCG’s ordinance, Everett ruled that the practice of booting Redflex violators “very well may not meet constitutional requirements of procedural due process.”

To stay informed about this SCAM locally and nationally check out "Four Citizens Against Red Light Cameras" on FaceBook. 

http://www.katc.com/news/booting-cars-an-option-for-redflex-offenders/

"Booting" cars an 'option' for Redflex offenders
Posted: Feb 2, 2012 10:28 PM by Shawn Kline
Updated: Feb 2, 2012 10:29 PM

  
If you are not paying your Redflex fines, Lafayette's Traffic & Transportation Department is coming up with ways to force you to. A boot is just one option on the list.
The SafeLight and SafeSpeed cameras bring in more than $6-million a year but it could be more if Redflex supporters start enforcing the penalties.

Take a look at this hilarious video on YouTube. That's a boot. (see link to site)
It doesn't improve your car's gas milage, but that's the purpose.

Too many unpaid tickets can land you one of those in some areas of the country and according to Lafayette's charter, it's a way of enforcing SafeLight-SafeSpeed fines too.

"To my knowledge, no cars have ever been booted for SafeLight- SafeSpeed violations," Councilman Jared Bellard said.

Here's what the ordinance says:

"...actions which can be used to enforce the payment of this civil penalty and related fees may consist of but not be limited to: immobilization of vehicles (booting), reporting the debt to collection agencies/credit reporting agencies, and/or initiating actions through the small claims court."

Tony Tramel, Lafayette's Director of Traffic & Transportation Department says he'd like to start putting some of those techniques to use.

Just last year, Lafayette sent out more than 64-thousand citations but only 63% of those were paid.

"It's a bluff," Denice Skinner said. "If he thinks he has that power, use it!"

Skinner doesn't support Redflex, or the idea that any of those techniques to get people to pay will actually work.

"If (Tramel) hasn't done it in four years, then there must be a reason why he can't do it," she said.

Tramel told KATC's Shawn Kline he's meeting with City-Parish Council to discuss the possibility of stringent enforcement.
Some councilmembers however, are looking at other options.

"The council could elect to just do away with it," Bellard said. "SafeLight-SafeSpeed- we (can choose) not to renew the contract (if) we don't want to."

Some members on City-Parish Council are seriously considering eliminating Redflex entirely, but that decision won't happen until March.

Ban the Cams comment:  Make no misktake photo enforcement is ABOUT MONEY, NOT SAFETY.  See this 2006 article on a former cop captured by undercover video by a UK paper:  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1390.asp

Quote:  A hidden camera captured a speed camera executive and former police chief admitting that their photo enforcement tools were part of a "scam." Jon Bond, CEO of Tele-Traffic, the UK's top laser speed camera importer, spoke with an undercover Mail on Sunday journalist who had posed as a prospective customer from Eastern Europe. Bond had previously been Chief Superintendent for the Warwickshire police and was responsible for establishing the area's speed camera program five years ago. Many of Bond's top employees now are former police officers.

"There will be so much money coming in you won't know what to do with it," Bond said. "It's a blank checkbook.... The money will come in in buckets."

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/37/3706.asp

Photo Enforcement Salesman Focuses on Revenue Generation
Speed camera vendor sells photo enforcement as a cure for budgetary ills.

Companies that operate red light and speed cameras are always looking for receptive city councilmen willing to sign up for automated ticketing services. The general public rarely has the opportunity to review the pitch these firms make behind closed doors, as it is often contrary to the message they present to the general public. This turned out to be the case after a salesman at an upstart photo enforcement provider B and W Sensors decided to email a member of the Arnold, Missouri city council.

"How can we provide a 'NO' cost solution to the enclosed picture?" asked company co-founder John M. Blaine in a February 1 email. The caption on the attached image read: "Budget issues? Take what you've got and make it work."

Baine had sent this message to Doris Borgelt, a recently elected member of the council who campaigned last year as a vocal opponent of photo ticketing. Borgelt made it clear she did not like red light cameras in her campaign literature, interviews and in door-to-door meetings with over a thousand Arnold residents. That did not deter Baine, who insisted B and W's speed cameras represented a solution to the city's budgetary problems, which was a suggestion Borgelt did not find particularly appropriate for Arnold.

"We may be in better shape than most cities," Borgelt told TheNewspaper.

Baine's pitch nonetheless laid out five points emphasizing his system is provided "at 'NO' cost to the community or the PD," that the system has "no cost, no termination fee, no exit penalty," that it is ideal for "relieving pressure on the streets and public works budgets," that the system is legal, and that it created the possibility of forming "strategic partnerships."

Arnold does not currently use speed cameras, and the interest in the red light cameras has waned since the city increased the duration of the yellow time at intersections one year ago. Violations have since decreased substantially http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/35/3596.asp in the program operated by American Traffic Solutions (ATS). The latest data from December show the positive trend has continued.

"It's a 91 percent decrease in violations," Borgelt said. "So if they're going to get a tenth of the income that they had been planning on, I don't see it being profitable for ATS to keep them there."

As a new entrant into the marketplace, Baine must sharply undercut the pricing of established competitors ATS and Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia. Baine offered a free tracking system as a reward for Arnold if it would sign up and issue a certain minimum number of tickets.

Read more: Photo Enforcement Salesman Focuses on Revenue Generation

Thanks to Camerafraud for the link

Ban the Cams comment:  This just shows you the creep effect of Scameras.

Today it is talking on your cell phone.

Tommorrow it can be drinking a bottle of water. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/03/331.asp 

  or smoking a cigarette.  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/21/2147.asp

Photo enforcement is citation by micro management long term.  (in fact that is one reason why you see some places citing for 1 km/h over the limit http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3266.asp).

Make no doubt, today it might be drivers they are going "after".  But with proposals for bicycle scameras http://www.banthecams.org/Legislative-News/bike-license-assemblyman-envisions-cameras-in-bike-lanes-too.html.  One wonders, will people walking about be next??? 

Or is "thought" crime next like this one motorists who was "cited" for the using the "V symbol"   http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/21/2147.asp

Sending someone a bill 3 weeks after the event, is NOT safety.  It is just a billing excercise.  That is all it really is.

PHOTO Enforcement is really taxation by citation (as some have already said).  And the scamera side will NOT just be going after cars with it either.  YOU CAN BET YOUR MONEY ON THAT!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095432/Dorset-police-testing-25-000-laser-speed-camera-spot-unbuckled-seat-belt-half-mile-away.html
 

Making a quick buck? Police force's £12,500 laser speed camera that catches drivers using a mobile phone from half a mile away

Concept II camera can if see if drivers aren't wearing their seatbelt
Critics say Dorset police are just trying to raise extra money

By Rob Waugh

Last updated at 4:15 PM on 2nd February 2012

Police have unveiled a laser speed camera that is so accurate it can tell if drivers are using a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt from nearly half a mile away.

Officers say it will help in their zero-tolerance approach to motoring offences.

But critics say Dorset police are using the equipment to 'maximise the number of offences' simply to raise funds.

Read more: Making a quick buck? Police force's £12,500 laser speed camera that cites for using a mobile phone

(Thanks to Todd Dube of WiseupWinnipeg for the link!)

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ex-mountie-latest-to-call-photo-radar-mere-cash-grab-138465399.html?plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey%3A46a3eec3-b23e-4124-8e9a-90cdb2fe1f13

Ex-Mountie latest to call photo radar mere cash grab
By: Bruce Owen

Posted: 02/1/2012 1:00 AM |

A retired Mountie vows he won't set foot in Winnipeg again until he has to show up for his day in court to fight two traffic tickets totalling $600 -- fines he claims go more to pad Mayor Sam Katz's pledge to freeze property taxes than road safety.

Arborg resident David Sigvaldason, who served 12 years with the RCMP in British Columbia before setting up a business in the Interlake town, also said the city's ongoing debate about photo radar and police speed traps is a black eye for the city.

"Your city has seen a recent surge in its citizens' pride," he said in a recent letter to Katz. "I urge you to end this policy. It is doing irreparable damage to the city's name and reputation."

Sigvaldason, 63, said he was ticketed Nov. 30 as he and his wife drove through St. Norbert on their way to Grand Forks. Police pulled him over on a stretch of Pembina Highway that received criticism recently for being poorly marked with signs telling drivers the speed limit is 60 kilometres per hour.

Sigvaldson said he was ticketed for doing 90 km/h and for having the windows of his new SUV tinted too darkly, despite it being recently approved in a provincial vehicle safety check. He'll be pleading not guilty.

"I'm just fed up with being the victim of a cash grab from the city," he said.

WiseUp Winnipeg's Todd Dube, who held a recent protest about the poor signage in St. Norbert, said Sigvaldason's case is just one of hundreds he's become aware of since WiseUp's profile increased in the aftermath of the public furor over tickets a photo-radar camera stationed at Grant Avenue and Nathaniel Street issued.

"This has literally become a full-time job," Dube said. "Now that people recognize that there's somewhere they can express their opinions on unfair tickets, we're getting bombarded."

Dube estimates he gets, on average, about 40 telephone calls, emails and letters a day. Each gets a personal response from him.

"Sigvaldason's letter is similar to the dozens of submissions we've received from non-residents, people from rural Manitoba or from the United States that come into Winnipeg for one reason or another and have vowed to never return because of the gross abuse of enforcement," Dube said.

He said WiseUp is gearing up for a Feb. 28 ticket case in which the accuracy of the city's photo radar will be put on trial.

Sigvaldson said he thinks traffic enforcement in Winnipeg is only based on how much money city hall can make from it.

"(Katz is) under pressure to bring in extra revenue because he cannot raise property taxes. He wants to keep his election promise, but this isn't the way to do it," he said.

A spokeswoman from Katz's office said money raised through photo radar and other traffic enforcement is split between the city and province, with the city's share going back into policing.

She said politicians do not decide where to place the cameras or enforce the rules of the road -- that's the job of police who base it on where it will do the most good to keep streets safe.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A letter to the mayor

"I know writing this is undoubtedly a waste of time, but I feel I must voice my feelings toward your policy of using your police force as a source of revenue for the city to enable you to keep your promise not to raise property taxes.

"As a retired RCMP officer I find it rather disgusting that you target peaceful, police-supporting citizens, visitors to your city where we read every day of the crime that runs rampant and feel less and less secure when we visit.

"After this ordeal we will not return. I realize this means nothing to you, but I find this is all I am able to do to protest. We will take our business to Selkirk and its local merchants whenever possible.

"My next trip to Winnipeg will be to attend my trial on these charges."

-- a portion of David Sigvaldason's letter to Mayor Sam Katz
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 1, 2012 A4
 

Quinn Buys "kool aid" of Emanuel, to sign Speed SCAMERA BILL many in PUBLIC OPPOSE!  Trigger speed 5 mph!

Ban the cams comment:  The "excuse" is this is about safety.  But from a past report on this, most of the deaths relating to pedestrians WOULD NOT HAVE EVER BEEN PREVENTED BY A SPEED CAMERAS:

http://mundelein.suntimes.com/opinions/9183953-598/our-view-not-a-pretty-picture-for-these-cameras.html

 Several studies say most pedestrian-vehicle accidents result not from speeding, but from a failure to yield, with distracted driving or drunken driving as other major causes.

also see:  http://banthecams.org/Speed-Camera-News/chicago-speed-scamera-fuzzy-math-on-statistics.html

OF EVEN MORE CONCERN is the FACT THAT CHICAGO MAYOR EMANUEL REFUSES TO HONOR A FOIA on email concerning the speeds scameras:  http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-30/news/ct-met-emanuel-fees-records-20111130_1_speed-cameras-vehicle-sticker-rate-hikes

Law Department spokesman Roderick Drew said the city identified about 1,300 relevant emails each for the speed camera and water rate issues, and about 700 emails relevant to the vehicle sticker increases. But the Emanuel administration refused to produce them on the grounds that it would be too much trouble to remove any opinions or deliberations that they say they are allowed to withhold from the public under state law.

Ban the Cams note:  So what is EMANUEL HIDING????

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/01/31/quinn-putting-finishing-touches-on-speed-camera-legislation/

Quinn Putting ‘Finishing Touches’ On Speed Camera Legislation
January 31, 2012 4:03 PM

CHICAGO (CBS) – A day after Mayor Rahm Emanuel urged him to sign legislation allowing cameras to catch speeders near Chicago schools, Gov. Pat Quinn said he would act soon, but hinted he might have some changes in mind.

WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports the governor said he expects to announce action on the proposal in about a week, shortly before the deadline for him to act before it goes into law automatically.

Quinn said he first had to work on his State of the State address, which he will deliver in Springfield on Wednesday.

He also said he had to “put the finishing touches on that particular piece of legislation,” referring to the speed cameras measure. The mayor said Tuesday that he’s made his case to Quinn to sign the measure, which lawmakers approved late last year.

The legislation would allow red light cameras near schools and parks to be used to ticket people who speed through those areas.

The Illinois House and Senate approved the measure last fall.

The governor downplayed reports that the vast majority of public input on the measure has been negative.

The Expired Meter website issued a Freedom of Information request on all calls, emails and letters from the public to the governor’s office about the legislation and found that of 224 calls, letters and emails about the speed camera bill, 91 percent were opposed to it.

Read more: Quinn Buys "kool aid" of Emanuel, to sign Speed SCAMERA BILL many in PUBLIC OPPOSE! Trigger 5 mph!

http://theexpiredmeter.com/2012/01/governors-office-seeing-strong-public-opposition-to-speed-camera-bill/

January 30th, 2012
Governor Quinn’s Office Seeing Strong Opposition To Chicago Speed Camera Bill
Public Response To SB965 Oppose Bill By 9-1 Margin

People really don’t like Illinois Senate Bill 965. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=965&GAID=11&DocTypeID=SB&SessionID=84&GA=97

SB965, also known as the Chicago speed camera bill, would allow the city to begin utilizing its red light camera system to do double duty issuing speeding tickets via the U.S. mail within 1/8 of a mile of a school or park.

But based on constituent feedback received by the Governor’s office, there is strong public opposition to the bill with public sentiment against the legislation heavily outweighing support by a 9-1 margin.

The Governor’s office released a report via a Freedom of Information request by The Expired Meter http://theexpiredmeter.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Public-response-to-SB965.pdf, that shows the Governor’s office has received a total of 224 phone calls, emails or letters from constituents regarding SB965, of which just 19 were in support of the bill. The other 205–over 91%–were opposed to the bill and urged the Governor to veto it.

In total the Governor’s office received 15 letters (11 opposed, 4 in support), 36 phone calls (35 opposed, 1 in support) and 173 email comments via the Governor’s website (159 opposed, 14 in support).

“I think that’s fantastic, but I’m not surprised.” said Cook County Campaign For Liberty’s Scott Davis about the public response to the bill. “People know speed cameras are not about safety, but about revenue.”
Perhaps the question is, how much does input from the public have on Governor Quinn’s final decision?

“I can tell you that the Governor is reviewing this legislation very carefully,” says Annie Thompson, spokesperson for the Governor’s office. “Public response is one of those (factors involved in the decision) and the Governor always wants to do what’s in the best interest of the people of Illinois.”

Governor Quinn promised to make a decision http://theexpiredmeter.com/2012/01/quinn-to-decide-on-speed-camera-bill-by-end-of-month/ on whether he would sign or veto the bill, which has been sitting on his desk since December 8th http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=965&GAID=11&DocTypeID=SB&SessionID=84&GA=97, by the end of January http://theexpiredmeter.com/2012/01/quinn-to-decide-on-speed-camera-bill-by-end-of-month/. Legally, the Governor has 60 days–until February 6th–to either sign or veto the bill.

While Quinn has kept mum on which way he’s leaning, it may be hard for the Governor to sign this bill when public sentiment is strongly opposed to seeing automated speed camera enforcement on the streets of Chicago.

Davis, who’s group is opposed to any sort of automated camera enforcement, thinks this may bode well for a veto of the bill because drivers will see the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars raised by the speeding tickets to be seen as increasing taxes as reported by this website in November. http://theexpiredmeter.com/2011/11/despite-changes-speed-camera-bill-would-still-bring-in-big-bucks/

“If he (Quinn) raises taxes on the poor and middle class by passing this bill, and gives tax breaks to companies like Sears, it’s not going to sit well with voters,” explains Davis. “Because he’s going to feel the political pressure when he’s up for re-election.”

The bill, passed the Illinois State Senate http://theexpiredmeter.com/2011/10/speed-camera-bill-zooms-through-senate/ on October 26th and the State House on November 9th http://theexpiredmeter.com/2011/11/breaking-illinois-house-passes-speed-camera-law/, was pushed through the General Assembly in breakneck speed by Chicago Mayor Rahm who claims the legislation will improve safety for juvenile pedestrians, while critics say it’s just a multimillion dollar revenue grab.

Chicago could equip up to 79 red light camera intersections with speed camera enforcement within 1/8 of a mile from a school or park or even deploy mobile vans in these zones to catch speeders.

Drivers caught at these camera enforced intersections exceeding the speed limit between 5 and under 11 mph would pay a $50 fine, while drivers exceeding 11 mph would be fined the original $100.

Enforcement hours around schools will only allow speed cameras to operate between 6 AM to 8:30 PM Monday through Thursday and from 6 AM to 9:00 PM on Fridays. No enforcement would occur on weekends.

RLC intersections within 1/8 of a mile of park district safety zones would have enforcement from one hour before the park opened until one hour after the park closed during weekdays.

Quinn is expected to make his decision on SB965 by Tuesday.

Speed Scamera Destruction Week Ending 1/29/2012

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/37/3701.asp

Australia, Italy: Lightning, Shotguns Blast Speed Cameras
Lightning destroys Australian speed camera and shotgun destroys Italian photo radar.

In Forli, Italy a vigilante leveled two shotgun blasts against a speed camera. The well-placed shots shattered the lenses on the automated ticketing machine and severely damaged its internal workings. Local officials upset by the loss of ticketing called said the incident was like the "Wild West," Il Resto del Carlino http://www.ilrestodelcarlino.it/forli/cronaca/2012/01/23/657796-colpi_fucile_contro_autovelox.shtml reported.

An act of God knocked average speed cameras in Canberra, Australia out of commission in December. Lightning blasted not only the cameras at Hindmarsh Drive and Mugga Way but also took out pavement sensors, according to the Canberra Times http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/lightning-strike-delays-cameras/2435992.aspx. The repaired system will not be certified until late February.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/chef-geoff-tracy-takes-on-dc-speed-cams/2012/01/24/gIQACOnTOQ_blog.html#weighIn
 

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/25/2012
Chef Geoff Tracy takes on D.C. speed cams
By The Reliable Source

Chef Geoff Tracy. (Fredde Lieberman )

Fans of chef Geoff Tracy got a little something extra in his e-mail newsletter Monday: A warning about speed camera tickets.
“All y’all that live in upper Northwest DC and drive on Foxhall Road.?.?. watch out for the new speed camera. It’s on a downhill so it gets you every time.” Where exactly? Tracy shared a map pinpointing the spot — and his own tale of woe: “I haven’t gotten a speeding ticket in 21 years. With the new camera, I got 3 in 3 days. Ouch.”

This is how the mild-mannered owner of the Chef Geoff restaurants (and husband of CBS White House correspondent Norah O’Donnell) became a speed cam provocateur. It all started when D.C. police installed one of nine new cameras on Foxhall Road near his home in late November. Offenders got warnings for a month, then tickets starting Dec. 21.

Speed cameras monitoring traffic in Rockville, MD. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Tracy, 39, said he didn’t know the camera was there until he received a couple of warnings in the mail — after the ticketing began and his Lexus was photographed going 10-15 miles over the 25 mph limit. The three fines came to $425, which Tracy said he can afford now but would have been a hardship when he was starting his career. Thus the Facebook, tweets and the e-mail blast to his 45,000 customers.
“It’s just a little protest on my part,” Tracy told us. Or maybe not so little: He’s planning to hire a guy with sign to stand on Foxhall Road for a week pointing out the camera. “It’ll cost me about $1,200 but I figure it is worth it from a goodwill standpoint,” he said.
And since you asked: Yes, he’s driving 24 mph on Foxhall Road these days. “I have slowed down. I programmed my GPS for that location — when I get within 1,000 feet, a little bell goes ding ding ding.”
D.C. police did not respond to requests for comment.
 

Scamera Destruction Week Ending 1/22/2012

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/36/3695.asp

Italy, UK: Speed Cameras Spraypainted, Scorched
Italian speed camera painted a fourth time while camera in England is disabled by fire.

Vigilantes set fire to a speed camera in Lincolnshire, England on Tuesday. According to the Stamford Mercury, the automated ticketing machine on the A15 Bourne Road in Langtoft was burned some time after midnight, disabling the device.

Spraypaint was the weapon of choice Friday in Forli, Italy. Vigilantes covered the lens of a speed camera on the via Firenze toward Villa Rovere in red paint, Il Resto del Carlino reported. The incident was the fourth in a series of multicolored assaults beginning with black paint on October 7. On October 20, they used pink paint and after that, silver.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/01/18/brodbeck-photo-radar-all-about-cash

Brodbeck: Photo radar all about cash

By Tom Brodbeck ,Winnipeg Sun
First posted: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 08:10 PM CST
 
Insert: 

A group of more than a dozen Grant Park High School staffers are upset they got photo radar tickets near the school. The group is rallying behind anti photo radar advocate Todd Dube. The staffers were mostly caught doing 75km/h in a 50 km/h zone. Thursday, December 8, 2011. Chris Procaylo / QMI Agency
  
You don’t have to look any further than the City of Winnipeg’s financial status report tabled this week at the finance committee to figure out why police are putting photo radar vehicles in weird locations.

The city’s traffic enforcement revenue — including photo radar — is down $3.6 million in 2011, according to the report.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the city is scrambling to try to make up that void, including finding new and creative locations to nail motorists on regional roads with photo radar.

That’s precisely what they’ve been doing at Grant Avenue and Nathaniel Street, ticketing hundreds of motorists using questionable radar methods for one reason and one reason only. Cash. Cold, hard moola.

They’re $3.6 million in the glue and they need to find a way to make up the shortfall — and fast. The city makes $4 to $5 million a year in photo enforcement profits. That’s after ACS Public Sector Solutions — the private, for-profit company that calibrates and runs the machines — takes its cut. How much you ask? ACS and the goofballs who drive the photo radar vehicles took in just over $5 million in 2010.

So if the city is $3.6 million below budget and they normally make $4 to $5 million a year in photo enforcement — that includes proceeds from intersection cameras — you can see why city bean counters and police brass would be in a tizzy.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

And that’s exactly why dozens of teachers and staff from Grant Park High School and many others in the area were getting bogus tickets in the mail from the Grant Avenue location.

They were getting tickets from a new, off-road photo radar location that had nothing to do with improving safety in the area and everything to do with making money.

Did they measure the number of collisions and injuries in the area before they started enforcing there? Nope.

Was this a problem area? If it was, then where is the data that shows collisions and injuries before enforcement and collisions and injuries after implementation?

They don’t have it. They don’t have the data because they don’t operate photo enforcement in that manner. They look for places where they think they can make money. And Grant and Nathaniel was one of those spots.

How do we know? Because every time we have asked for collision and injury data related to photo radar, police and the city always say they don’t have it.

Read more: Brodbeck: Photo radar all about cash

http://www.theind.com/news/9753-this-week-in-awesome-buckman-bites-back

This week in awesome: Buckman bites back

Written by Walter Pierce    
Thursday, 19 January 2012 

 
Buckman 

[Editor’s Note: This article has been modified to reflect that Dr. Buckman’s administrative-hearing appeal was for two prior RedFlex tickets, not for his most recent speeding fine on Farrell Drive.]

A UL journalism professor in a long-running spat with Lafayette Consolidated Government continues to one-up city fathers in their bid to collect on a speeding ticket issued via a RedFlex speed van. Dr. Robert Buckman, who is becoming as famous for his civil disobedience as he is for his home-brewed beer, this week thumbed his nose at a threat from a Toledo, Ohio, law firm contracted by LCG to collect the $25 penalty (plus a $12.50 late fee) for an infraction that occurred nine months ago.

In April of last year, Buckman was ticketed for travelling 36 miles per hour in a 30-mph speed zone on Farrell Drive. However, by the time Buckman received the citation in the mail, LCG’s transportation department had increased the speed limit on Farrell to 40. Reasoning that since LCG decided that 40 was a safe speed for Farrell and he was ticketed for driving four miles an hour below that safe limit, Buckman refused to pay the fine. Having unsuccessfully appealed two previous tickets in an administrative hearing, which Buckman has called a “kangaroo court,” the professor didn't formally appeal the Farrell Drive "infraction," choosing instead to send a letter of protest to Transportation Director Tony Trammel.

The Ohio firm charged with collecting gave Buckman 30 days to pay up. The professor waited 30 days before responding:

Dear Unnamed Person:

It has now been exactly 30 days since I received your letter with the file number 938279, telling me I have 30 days from the receipt of the letter to tell you whether this is a valid debt. Very well, it is NOT a valid debt. I have already disputed this ticket, and will continue to do so, because I was going 36 mph in an area where the posted speed limit is 40 mph. See enclosed photos.

This issue has already been reported in the Lafayette media, and I think they will now be interested in knowing why Lafayette taxpayers’ money is being wasted paying a law firm in Toledo, Ohio, to collect a $37.50 debt.

Yours respectfully,
Robert Buckman, Ph.D.
 

"How accurate can these RLC (Speed Scameras) be" if they (ACS Xerox) cite a man DEAD FOR 3 YEARS!

Thanks to stopbigbrothermd.org for the link!

Check this link out on a the interview by Kieth Daniels:

http://foxbaltimore.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wbff_vid_11692.shtml

Deceased Man Given Speed Ticket

by Keith Daniels

FOX45 Top Stories Video  (Check out Video on link above)
A speed camera ticket snapped in Baltimore alarmed an Anne Arundel County family, because the ticket demands money for a driver whose dead.

The citation issued in November for a man who's been dead for three years.

Micheal Keith was fined $40 dollar fine for speeding. According to the ticket, Keith was driving a pickup truck on Sinclair Lane, November 25, when a speed camera captured him going 43mph in a 30mph zone.

But Keith was dead and neither the truck nor the tag belonged to him. Still a ticket was snapped and sent.

FOX45's Keith Daniels has more.Deceased Man Given Speeding Ticket- Keith Daniels
Thursday, January 19 2012, 10:02 PM EST

Stop Big Brother:

Friday, January 20, 2012
Baltimore City Speed Camera Issues Ticket To the Dead

WBFF reports that a Speed Camera in Baltimore City issued a citation to an Anne Arundel County man who passed away over 3 years previously.  http://www.foxbaltimore.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wbff_vid_11692.shtml

Insert:  Wrongly i

The citation was issued by a camera on Sinclair Lane in Baltimore to Michael Keith for traveling 43mph in a 30mph zone on November 25, 2011 and demanded a $40 payment.  Unfortunately Mr Keith was unable to pay the fine or contest the citation, having passed away in 2008.  The family of the deceased stated that neither the tag nor the pickup truck shown on the citation were ever owned by Michael.  The family was originally concerned about identity theft.  After police were contacted, they stated that the tag was in fact not even valid. "The fact that my son passed away in May of 2008 and something like this is surfacing in November of 2011... which it's really against his name.  It's not right. It's not something that should happen." stated the mother of the deceased.

See complete story on WBFF  http://www.foxbaltimore.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wbff_vid_11692.shtml

The camera, owned by ACS State and Local Solutions (a division of Xerox Corporation) is located at one of approximately 142 sites http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Government/AgenciesDepartments/Transportation/SpeedMonitoringLocations.aspx published by the city of Baltimore.  Baltimore officials, like all jurisdictions using speed cameras, claim that all photo citations are carefully reviewed before being issued.

In February 2011, WBALTV reported that a police officer who had been deceased for months had 'signed' 2000 red light camera citations after his death. http://www.wbaltv.com/news/26821379/detail.html  Also in February 2011, StopBigBrotherMD reported on another instance where a Baltimore City camera cited the wrong vehicle http://www.stopbigbrothermd.org/2011/02/baltimore-city-cameras-ticket-invisible.html, where the image was so dark the vehicle was barely visible.  In that instance it took the motorist 7 months to get the flag cleared from his registration at the MVA, eventually telling StopBigBrotherMD that he would seek to register his car in another state to avoid these types of problems in the future.  In April of 2010, WBFF news reported that a speed camera in the city of Baltimore had mistakenly issued over 900 citations when it was configured to the wrong speed limit. http://www.stopbigbrothermd.org/2010/04/baltimore-city-speed-camera-issues.html

Thanks to Say No to Traffic Cameras in Muscatine for the link!

http://muscatinejournal.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letter-cameras-offer-bad-portrait-of-muscatine/article_99dcc04e-439a-11e1-bbf2-001871e3ce6c.html?mode=story

Letter: Cameras offer bad portrait of Muscatine
Bob Riepe The Muscatine Journal | Posted: Friday, January 20, 2012 1:09 pm

I received a letter from a New York company claiming I had been speeding in Muscatine about three weeks earlier.

Two friends of mine, both from the same small town as I, also received tickets, and apparently, on different days, we all were going the exact same speed at the exact same intersection - 1 mph over the limit to send a ticket.

What a coincidence.

I received a follow-up letter from one of Muscatine's finest policemen, asking for the money.

So, rest easy, Muscatine residents. You may not be able to walk the streets in many of your neighborhoods, and you may have the reputation as the dirtiest, crime-ridden town in eastern Iowa, but your cops are on the job, sitting at a desk signing off on phony speeding tickets for a New York company that is stealing from the Iowa taxpayers who pay the cops' salaries.

The motto for your corrupt little police department should be "to protect and defend the town's dirty little revenue stream."

Bob Riepe

Mediapolis, Iowa

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Police-asked-to-explain-why-public-wasnt--told-of-mobile-radar-on-Grant-137422938.html?plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey%3A2309e4ea-811d-4483-a414-2e8f77d0a166
 
 

Police asked to explain why public wasn't told of mobile radar on Grant
By: Staff Writer

Posted: 01/16/2012 11:17 AM | Comments: 284 (including replies) | Last Modified: 01/16/2012 12:00 PM | Updates

Two local groups say they want police to explain why they didn’t tell the public about mobile photo radar on Grant Avenue. Police are to respond to WiseUp and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation later today.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation and WiseUp Winnipeg said they have obtained emails from the Winnipeg Police Service saying a press release should have been issued last October about the photo radar on Grant Ave. west of Nathaniel Street. The two groups say they have copies of tickets from before the day the email was sent by a Central Traffic Unit officer.

The press release by the two groups says Sgt. Mark Hodgson sent an email saying a media release should be issued about the enforcement.

"We need a press release. We need to notify public when we do anything new, press release first," said the email, which the two groups have made available.

"I smell a press release regarding school zones. I need to know when we are going to start enforcing and we need to do a press release prior to start of enforcement. Please do not start enforcement till you have drafted a press release and we have notified the PIO and a release is done. Please!!!!!!"

The groups say they are disturbed by the way the matter was handled.

"Not only are the CTF and WiseUp Winnipeg disturbed about the decision to ignore the sergeant's recommendation to alert the public through the media about the new locations, they continue to question the accuracy of the tickets issued at the Grant and Nathaniel location. Especially as other cities recommend against what the City of Winnipeg is doing - parking photo radar vehicles in locations where light standards, street signs and fire hydrants are between the camera and target -interfering with radar reflections and producing incorrect and unreliable readings," said the press release

Both groups say because there was no notification by police that a mobile camera had been set up at Grant and Nathaniel tickets should be refunded.

WiseUp Winnipeg’s Todd Dube said 780 people have complained they were unfairly caught by the camera, which started issuing tickets in early October.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/01/mound_of_traffic_camera_ticket.html

Mound of traffic camera tickets shocks unsuspecting couple
Published: Sunday, January 15, 2012, 6:50 AM
 By Gordon Russell, The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune

Ryan Holiday and Samantha Hoover moved to New Orleans last summer after falling in love with the city. But that love affair almost died on the vine when the speeding tickets started showing up in their mailbox.

Samantha Hoover brought this picture of an upside-down sign across from the traffic camera -- evidence of her claims of confusing signage on Jackson Avenue -- to a hearing at which she sought relief. But she was rebuffed.

Each day brought a new one, all issued from the city's second-busiest traffic-camera location: Jackson Avenue and Chestnut Street.

Trouble is, by the time Holiday and Hoover got their first ticket, they had already racked up about 15 violations, thanks to the lag time between when a motorist commits an infraction and when he or she can expect to receive a ticket.

"I was not familiar with the city, but I did see the many 'Divided Streets/35 mph' signs, so I assumed that was the posted limit on Jackson," said Holiday, a writer from Los Angeles. "We had no idea we were violating any laws until it was too late. That's over $1,000 we could have spent on local businesses, on ourselves, on fixing up our new place. Instead the city took it, like a bully on our first day of school."

By ordinance, the interval between a violation and a ticket cannot be more than 60 days, according to Ryan Berni, a spokesman for Mayor Mitch Landrieu. He acknowledged that at times the average lag time has gotten close to that, in particular after a scandal erupted last spring over the use of police details to review violations. In fact, some tickets had to be dismissed because they weren't being reviewed in a timely manner.

The backlog was erased after the NOPD began using on-duty officers instead of private details to screen videos documenting violations, Berni said. But the typical lag time still runs between three and four weeks, he said.

  
http://media.nola.com/politics/photo/chart-trafficcams-123111jpg-b20a18175292fbb9.jpg

The slow turnaround bedeviled grad student Russell Wolfe.

"I had assumed the speed limit was 35 mph because the street has a neutral ground," he wrote in an email. "Unfortunately, I did not receive my first ticket until six weeks after the violation and during that time span I received four more tickets ... My small mistake became a $375 one -- a large sum for a broke graduate student."

Read more: Mound of traffic camera tickets shocks unsuspecting couple

Scamera Attacks Week Ending 1/15/2012

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/36/3689.asp 

Vigilantes Take On Cameras in Maryland, Australia, England, France, Italy
Cameras are burned, painted, shot and swiped in Maryland, Australia, England, France, Italy.

A pair of speed cameras in Baltimore, Maryland were set on fire last week. The first mobile photo radar unit on Howard Street was hit Wednesday and the next was attacked Friday, WJZ-TV http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/01/13/baltimore-city-dot-vandal-sets-two-mobile-speed-cameras-on-fire/ reported.

In Meuse, France, a photo radar unit was totally destroyed by fire on Monday. According to Est Republicain http://www.estrepublicain.fr/actualite/2012/01/10/erize-la-petite-le-radar-totalement-brule the insides of the camera on the Voie Sacree were completely melted by the intense blaze. On the same day, another speed camera in Bordes was also destroyed by fire, La Republique des Pyrenees http://www.larepubliquedespyrenees.fr/2012/01/11/le-radar-de-bordes-de-nouveau-vandalise,223146.php reported. The device on the RD938 had previously been burned on December 22 before the cameras had even been activated.

Vigilantes swiped a speed camera from a parked police car in North Devon, England last year. The North Devon Journal http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Thefts-police-premises-patrol-cars-revealed/story-14399071-detail/story.html newspaper learned this from a freedom of information request that forced Devon and Cornwall Police to reveal items that had been stolen from the force.

In Forli, Italy, the lens of the speed camera was spraypainted silver, rendering the device in Villa Rovere incapable of issuing tickets, Il Resto del Carlino http://www.ilrestodelcarlino.it/forli/cronaca/2012/01/11/650771-villa_rovere.shtml reported.

Vigilantes in Western Australia shot several rounds into a Perth speed camera early Tuesday, the Sydney Morning Herald http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/motorist-shoots-at-new-speed-camera-20120113-1pyez.html reported. The bullets shattered the camera lens but did not damage the inner workings of the device located on the Mitchell Freeway near the Karrinyup Road exit.

(Thanks to War on Driving for the link).

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/01/13/baltimore-city-dot-vandal-sets-two-mobile-speed-cameras-on-fire/

2 Mobile Speed Cameras In Baltimore Set On Fire; Police Looking For Suspect
January 13, 2012 11:20 PM
  
Reporting Andrea Fujii

BALTIMORE (WJZ)– Speed cameras set on fire. Baltimore police are searching for the person who torched two cameras in three days.

Andrea Fujii has the investigation and the growing anger over speed cameras.

Mobile speed cameras take pictures of cars going 12 miles or more above the speed limit. They are meant to catch speeders but they also spark outrage which may have caused someone to light two of them on fire.

“We want people to know that if you do plan to damage any of the cameras you will be held fully responsible,” Adrienne Barnes of the Baltimore City Department of Transportation said.

Both incidents happened in the 1200 block of Howard Street– one on Wednesday morning, the other on Friday.

Investigators now have both cameras but the burn marks are still visible.

Police say some type of accelerant was used to light the boxes. It’s not clear how much damage was done to them but WJZ is told they will be replaced.

This isn’t the first act of violence toward speed cameras.

In July, a man attacked a state speed camera vehicle on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway with its operater still inside.

And in College Park, residents rallied to have their cameras removed.

Read more: 2 Mobile Speed Cameras In Baltimore Set On Fire; Police Looking For Suspect

Maderia Beach Mayor suggested Speed scamera for a moment, but went back to speed bump and other ideas.

NOTE Courts have ruled this illegal already once.

Quote: 

Mayor Travis Palladeno agreed and pushed the commission to consider a number of alternatives ranging from speed humps to electronic signs displaying the speed of passing cars.

He even suggested the city could install cameras and pass an ordinance that would make speeding a code violation so the city could start issuing its own tickets to speeding cars.

That might not be legal, however, according to City Attorney Jim Trask, who stressed that sheriff's deputies could issue speeding tickets now without a new city ordinance.

He also reminded the commission that city government is "not a democracy" and that the commission can install speed humps if it believes they are in residents' best interests.

link from http://www.tampabay.com/news/transportation/roads/speeding-issue-to-be-addressed-in-madeira-beach/1209967

Ban the Cams suggestion:  Residents might want to check out another area that tried this.  Winnipeg and all the problems with it.  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/bad-law-is-really-taxing-135787313.html  also see:  http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/12/12/scrap-photo-radar-brodbeck

Ban the Cams note:  The last time someone tried speed scameras, that was Juno Beach.  The Courts found it ILLEGAL.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/court-rules-against-juno-beachs-speed-van-1230818.html