[geeks] Stuff fo' sale

[Mike Meredith]

On Fri, 11 Aug 2006 18:09:22 -0400, Nick B. wrote:
> > At least in the UK, reports (at least one by the government and
> > another by independent researchers) indicate that speed cameras
> > *are* improving safety.
> Well, at least in the US nearly all traffic cams are there to increase
> profit.
> http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/06/687.asp

And that's a report by a genuinely independent organisation with no axe
to grind ? Well assuming it's true, there seems to be something odd
about these traffic light cameras.

> That's just the first instance I found, and while DC is the worst
> (they nearly always shorten the yellow to boost profits) they are not

I guess that US rules on 'yellow' (we call it 'amber') are somewhat
different to the UK rules, because 'stop unless you're too close to the
line to stop safely' is unlikely to result in greater profits if you cut
the time on amber. Of course 'increase speed to avoid getting stopped by
a red' as commonly practised would tend to increase profits.

> alone.  In VA the increase is closer to 70% overall.  I personally
> think this is criminal, as the politicians have traded the safety
> which they are in theory protecting for additional money to waste, but

Time to fire some politicians rather than throwing away a method that
could improve road safety. Of course I'm in favour of causing
politicians pain so I guess you can disregard my comments as prejudiced
:)