{"id":59066,"date":"2022-02-09T06:00:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T11:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=59066"},"modified":"2022-02-06T17:42:16","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T22:42:16","slug":"speed-cameras-will-be-watching-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2022\/02\/speed-cameras-will-be-watching-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Speed Cameras Will Be Watching You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While driving in Australia on a lonely road at night, you may be startled by a sudden flash of light.\u00a0 You have just been caught by a speed camera.\u00a0 The ticket, charging a hefty fine, will be mailed to the address linked to your automobile tag, whose picture has just been taken.\u00a0 The speed cameras are typically set right at the speed limit, so even one kilometer per hour over the limit will trigger the cameras.<\/p>\n

A further problem for the speeder is that you will be assessed \u201cdemerit points<\/a>,\u201d between one and six depending on how fast you were going.\u00a0 Once you get thirteen points over a three year period, your driver\u2019s license gets suspended for 3-6 months.\u00a0 And if you lent your car to your teenager who drove too fast, you get the ticket and the points.<\/p>\n

\n

Not as many traffic cops are on the highways because the cameras catch the speeders, who cannot escape.\u00a0 Drivers find themselves driving significantly below the speed limit, lest they inadvertently trigger the cameras, which are often hidden.<\/p>\n

This is automated law enforcement.\u00a0 Other countries\u2013including the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and Brazil \u2013have similar systems.\u00a0 The speed cameras bring governments significant revenue in fines and have the safety benefits of slowing down traffic, but drivers typically hate them.<\/p>\n

Now an accelerated program of speed cameras is coming to the United States!\u00a0 That infrastructure bill that Republicans joined Democrats to pass included $14 billion for the things,\u00a0and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is planning to promote their use throughout the nation.<\/p>\n

Eighteen states already use them on a relatively limited basis, though eight states have laws forbidding their use. \u201cTraffic cameras\u201d often monitor intersections to catch people who run red lights. But what Secretary Buttigieg has in mind would seem to go far beyond what we have now, a movement to automated traffic law enforcement similar to what these other countries have.<\/p>\n

The British newspaper the Daily Mail<\/em> has an informative article on the subject entitled\u00a0The speed camera nightmare that\u2019s coming to America<\/a>, with the tabloid style description, \u201cHow the UK\u2019s hated war on motorists \u2013 costing drivers $56M in fines every year \u2013 provides a chilling glimpse of what\u2019s in store under Pete Buttigieg\u2019s plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what are we to think of this?\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe this shift to automated enforcement received much attention or consideration from the public.\u00a0 It was buried in the mammoth bipartisan infrastructure bill as a safety provision, along with the alcohol-monitoring devices built into new cars, which we blogged about<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Daily Mail<\/em> piece says that the speed cameras are \u201chated\u201d both by conservatives and progressives.\u00a0 But isn\u2019t it for our own good?\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t safety be our top priority?\u00a0 The article cites some experts who claim that reliance on speed cameras actually harms safety, because there are fewer police on the road to deal with worse offenses.\u00a0 But surely driving faster than the speed limit is against the law, and we drivers, like it or not, should really be obeying that law.<\/p>\n

This is true.\u00a0 We should obey traffic laws.\u00a0 Ideally, by the canons of civic virtue, we should obey them of our own free will.\u00a0 We should obey them for the common good and out of recognition for lawful authority.\u00a0 And if we don\u2019t obey them, we should accept our punishment.<\/p>\n

But automated enforcement takes obedience out of the picture.\u00a0 A surveillance state or a nanny state seeks to make non-compliance impossible<\/em>.\u00a0 When cameras monitor your behavior so closely that you do not dare step out of line, you are not being obedient.\u00a0 You are being controlled<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Maybe a comprehensive speeding camera program can be justified.\u00a0 Feel free to make that case in the comments.\u00a0 I am certain, though, that it will be wildly unpopular.\u00a0 And if the program gets identified with Pete Buttigieg, it won\u2019t help his political career.\u00a0 Ordinary Americans of the left and the right will overcome their polarization by joining together to complain about it, though our ruling class, loving to rule, will think it is a great idea.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo:\u00a0 Average Speed Cameras<\/a> (UK) by J, via Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0.<\/a>\u00a0 No changes.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many countries automate traffic law enforcement with extensive networks of speed cameras. The bipartisan infrastructure bill included $14 billion to build such a system in the United States, which is being planned by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Do you see the problems with this?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":59118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[600,15,19,26,44],"tags":[11655,11652,10646,11646,11649,11658],"class_list":["post-59066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-ethics","category-government","category-law","category-technology","tag-auto-safety","tag-automated-law-enforcement","tag-infrastructure-bill","tag-speed-cameras","tag-surveillance-state","tag-traffic-laws"],"yoast_head":"\nSpeed Cameras Will Be Watching You<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many countries automate traffic law enforcement with extensive networks of speed cameras. The bipartisan infrastructure bill included $14 billion to build such a system in the United States, which is being planned by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 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