Speed Camera News No big driving changes since photo radar ended (AZ)
Quote:
Beach said he has not seen an increase in crashes, however.
by Bob Mc
Clay/KTAR (September 17th, 2010 @ 10:47am)
PHOENIX -- The director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety has not seen much of an increase in speeding drivers since the photo radar cameras went off on state freeways two months ago.
"I haven't seen any changes in behavior, I don't see people sort of flying down the highways, although I'm sure it exists some place," says Alberto Gutier.
Plenty of drivers always push the limit, Gutier said.
"They were doing it before with the cameras and now they're doing it without the cameras. They're still going to try it because they think they're not going to get caught. They're the first ones to cry and call and complain, `The patrolman gave me a ticket, it's going to cost me a lot of money and insurance points.' Well, if you were doing the speed limit and staying with traffic instead of passing everybody, you wouldn't have those points on your license and have to go to court or pay a fine."
The cameras were turned off July 15 and all are to disappear from state highways by January.
Gutier said during one 13-week period, speed cameras on the Loop 101 in Scottsdale caught more than 220,000 drivers doing 75 mph in a 65 mph zone. On the other hand, he said drivers on State Route 51 slowed down near the cameras.
One statistic shows Arizona drivers are being more careful, Gutier said.
"The percentage of fatalities based on miles traveled went down significantly from 1.52 to 1.29 based on 100 million miles traveled.. That's one of the statistics that the feds and us look at all the time."
News/Talk 92.3 KTAR's traffic reporter, "Detour Dan" Beach, believes drivers are taking advantage of the speed cameras disappearance.
"In the areas I'm most familiar with -- where we had cameras on the 51 and the 101 -- there are a couple of locations, in particular, where I have witnessed traffic way, way over the speed limit to what it ought to be. That wasn't like that while the cameras were still active."
Beach said, "Something else we've noticed, since the cameras went down, some of the DPS radar zones, especially near construction zones, have become way more active. There's been a lot more speeding in those areas, a lot more DPS traffic stops."
Beach said he has not seen an increase in crashes, however.
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