Big Brother wants to catch you speeding

Seems officials in Beverly Hills are going to throw their weight behind a bill in the state Legislature to allow the use of cameras to catch cars breaking the speed limit, our traffic guru, Steve Hymon, reports. The bill would:

...create a pilot program allowing a marked mobile unit to set up only in school or residential neighborhoods where the speed limit is 25 mph or less. Signs would be posted to warn drivers that cameras were present, Hines said, and officers would oversee the cameras and inspect the photos before mailing them to vehicle owners with citations attached.

The cameras have been a success in other states, but visions of Big Brother have kept the program from getting off the ground here in California. And then there's the story about the guy who was caught by a camera going 147 mph because, as he later told police, he was late for work.

All the details in Steve's full story here.

-- Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Susan]

Short of a life-threatening situation in the car (like someone bleeding to death, having serious trouble breathing, etc.), there is NO EXCUSE for speeding that is reasonable. There are all sorts of UNreasonable excuses, but unfortunately they don't address the issue that going over the limit is ILLEGAL. When did we become a nation that thinks the law is not meant to be obeyed? Is it a general sign that almost no one wants to submit to authority (man's OR God's), even if it's for their own good or for the good of others? Here's the bottom line: We need to discipline ourselves (wow, what a concept!) to obey all laws to the best of our abilities, with no excuses. If the law seems unreasonable or unfair, then we need to work through the system to change or abolish the law. Isn't that what our forefathers espoused? Another point: It is NOT a law to drive AT the limit, but if we all did, one car would not gain upon another car except at a red light, stop sign, deceleration lane, accident, etc. People merging into traffic from acceleration lanes could--as they are supposed to do--fit into the (healthy) spaces between cars . . . without very much change in speed of the cars already on the freeway. Sure there would be minor variations in speed, but if we all would just try to go at or very close to the speed limit (but not OVER it), thereby doing the right thing and obeying the law of the land, death and destruction on the highways would go down immediately, and traffic would flow as the road engineers planned it. Also, the driving experience would be much nicer for all of us. Think about it. Are you a decent, law-abiding citizen; or a selfish and arrogant driver that cares nothing about laws and other people?

[Nupur]

In a place like Los Angeles, I'm sure there are worse crimes than speeding. Do we really want to invest in cameras to catch speeders?

[Cici]

I would like to see some data on how much speeding poses a threat to other drivers in terms of accidents and fatalities before shelling out that much money for citywide cameras. In Arizona, it made sense because the accident rate was high. How about here in L.A.? Otherwise, it's clearly another way to juice the common citizen for more fines and fees. I would rather see those funds slated for cameras invested in public transportation.