Speed cameras - big brother is here

[shira]

I got 4 $40 speed-camera tickets the first six months this year. In Montgomery County, MD, there are no points involved and your insurance rates can't go up. Still, the feeling you get when you rip open a "Safe Speed" envelope that arrives in the mail is one of outrage.

It's easy enough to say, "Obey the law," but going "11 over" on roads with absurdly low speed limits is pretty easy to do if you're not totally vigilant. On the 55 mph highways around here, no one even looks at your for going 70, but on a 6-lane boulevard marked 30 mph for no apparent reason, you can go 41 mph just coasting. Once you've been burned, you learn to play the game: You slow to a crawl as you pass the camera, then quickly increase to "normal speed" once you're out of range.

Originally in Maryland, they were legal only in Montgomery County; as of 10/1, they're legal everywhere. And Maryland is far from the only state. They're spreading. And voter outrage isn't far behind.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...1/04/AR2009110404747.html?hpid=topnews&sub=AR

 

[Sinsear]

Used to drive me nuts when I lived in Germany from '99-'06. I got so many tix from the speed cameras. They used to set em up at the damndest places too. Like as you're getting off the highway and the speed changes from 120khm to 50 khm. No way you can avoid gettting one.

 

[blackangst1]

We've had em here in AZ for quite some time. I read something here recently that only about 30% ever get paid. Another thing, if it catches you 30+ over, you can get it overturned, as at that speed the crime requires a witness, and a camera isnt one. Interesting politics behind these.

 

[DealMonkey]

Surely, there's some technological way to combat those cameras. Reactive license plate frame? Camera-seeking missiles? Something...

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

Surely, there's some technological way to combat those cameras. Reactive license plate frame? Camera-seeking missiles? Something...

I watch MythBusters a while back and they debunked the license plate covers...BUSTED.

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode87

 

[BoberFett]

I think we need to go further if taxpayers going to be footing the health care bill for you goddam speeders injuring people in accidents. We need not only cameras every few hundred feet but government monitored GPS in every automobile. I don't want to pay for your lawlessness.

 

[DealMonkey]

I watch MythBusters a while back and they debunked the license plate covers...BUSTED.

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode87

Well here we go ... apparently we just need to drive by the cameras at speeds approaching 300MPH and the stupid camera won't even know you went by.

REVISITED: A speed camera can be beaten by extreme speeds.
CONFIRMED
The Mythbusters obtained a race car dubbed “The Beast”, which used a jet engine that could propel it to speeds of up to 300 miles per hour. In the first run, The Beast hit 245 miles per hour and managed to pass the camera so fast that it never took a picture. In the second run, the speed camera was slightly modified to account for the increased speed, but still failed to take a picture of The Beast, which traveled faster than the first run. Even though the speed camera was beaten, the Mythbusters pointed out that only specialized cars like The Beast could achieve those kinds of speeds and would therefore be very easy to find by the authorities.

 

[MotF Bane]

You can probably find or contribute to a GPS database of where the cameras are located, or use a radar/laser detector to pick up the locations as you approach. If they transmit radar, not much you can do besides slow down. If it's laser based, buy a jammer, and win.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Don't like the speed cameras? Encourage other citizens to speak up and make it an election issue or better yet, a referendum.

 

[DaveJ]

I think we need to go further if taxpayers going to be footing the health care bill for you goddam speeders injuring people in accidents. We need not only cameras every few hundred feet but government monitored GPS in every automobile. I don't want to pay for your lawlessness.

That's funny, considering you're already paying for them, assuming you have insurance. How else do you think insurance works? The only people not paying are the ones without insurance who either pay cash for healthcare, or go bankrupt because they can't pay.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Are speed cameras new in the USA or something? We've had them since the beginning of time. I find the best way to defeat them is to drive within marked speed limits. Extreme, I know.

 

[MotF Bane]

Are speed cameras new in the USA or something? We've had them since the beginning of time. I find the best way to defeat them is to drive within marked speed limits. Extreme, I know.

Ridiculous.

 

[Deeko]

Are speed cameras new in the USA or something? We've had them since the beginning of time. I find the best way to defeat them is to drive within marked speed limits. Extreme, I know.

Don't worry, the US is approaching the level of nanny-state-ism that you've enjoyed since the beginning of time.

 

[K1052]

Haven't seen any here yet but we have plenty of red light cameras, though several municipalities are rethinking deploying those so widely.

They put one up near a popular mall in the burbs here and it racked up over $1M worth of $100 fines in two months because people weren't coming to a COMPLETE stop for a right on red. It pissed off so many people that they had to take it down.

It is technically possibly for our tollways to regulate speeds using the electronic pass system but whenever that is mentioned they back off pretty quick once the wrath of drivers comes down upon them.

 

[Genx87]

MN's constitution makes these damn things illegal

The city of Minneapolis installed red light cameras but lost in our State Surpreme Court. Basically a camera cant prove who is driving the car at the time of infraction. The city was even forced if asked by people already billed to repay the fines.

 

[SneakyStuff]

I live in Montgomery County where the OP is talking about and I can't help but laugh at the whole thing. The cameras would all be gone in a month if people STOPPED SPEEDING! No speeding = no money = no incentives for lawmakers to place more of these annoying cameras.

 

[DrPizza]

Suggestion for any of you enterprising individuals in areas with speed cameras: 2 signs & a bucket.

Sign 1, before camera: "Speed trap camera ahead! SLOW DOWN!"
Sign 2, after camera: "You're welcome. Tips accepted."

I'll bet you could rake in a couple hundred bucks a day. (If it saved me from a ticket, I'd toss a couple of kids $5 or $10 bucks for saving the day.)

 

[blackangst1]

Don't like the speed cameras? Encourage other citizens to speak up and make it an election issue or better yet, a referendum.

Thats what we're doing in AZ. Theres petitions going around now to get the issue on the 2010 ballot.

 

[MotF Bane]

I live in Montgomery County where the OP is talking about and I can't help but laugh at the whole thing. The cameras would all be gone in a month if people STOPPED SPEEDING! No speeding = no money = no incentives for lawmakers to place more of these annoying cameras.

Raise the speed limits. The fines are in place for revenue generation.

 

[XZeroII]

wow. Is it that hard to stop speeding?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Are speed cameras new in the USA or something? We've had them since the beginning of time. I find the best way to defeat them is to drive within marked speed limits. Extreme, I know.

The problem is that many of the posted speed limits are, objectively, lower than what they should be. If 85% of the traffic feels comfortable driving at a higher speed, that's an excellent indication that the speed limits are too low.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Haven't seen any here yet but we have plenty of red light cameras, though several municipalities are rethinking deploying those so widely.

They put one up near a popular mall in the burbs here and it racked up over $1M worth of $100 fines in two months because people weren't coming to a COMPLETE stop for a right on red. It pissed off so many people that they had to take it down.

It is technically possibly for our tollways to regulate speeds using the electronic pass system but whenever that is mentioned they back off pretty quick once the wrath of drivers comes down upon them.

One problem with the red light cameras is that they can cause a slew of rear-end collisions if paranoid drivers start slamming on the brakes whenever they approach a stale green light or it suddenly turns yellow on them. They are dangerous IMHO and cause a large negative unintended consequence.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I live in Montgomery County where the OP is talking about and I can't help but laugh at the whole thing. The cameras would all be gone in a month if people STOPPED SPEEDING! No speeding = no money = no incentives for lawmakers to place more of these annoying cameras.

The cameras would also be gone if an angry and vocal mob of voters threatened to hunt down the lawmakers and hang them in the town square.

 

[MotF Bane]

One problem with the red light cameras is that they can cause a slew of rear-end collisions if paranoid drivers start slamming on the brakes whenever they approach a stale green light or it suddenly turns yellow on them. They are dangerous IMHO and cause a large negative unintended consequence.

Similar concept with short yellows being a problem.

 

[Triumph]

I live in Montgomery County where the OP is talking about and I can't help but laugh at the whole thing. The cameras would all be gone in a month if people STOPPED SPEEDING! No speeding = no money = no incentives for lawmakers to place more of these annoying cameras.

I bet you were that kid in class who told everyone in class to be quiet, because you were trying to learn.