Becker wrote:
Jim Bernstein wrote:
I strongly second Chris's position! The analysis done by the Weekly Standard is quite an eye opener! If Minneapolis is going to adopt this strategy, we need to make sure that the red-light camera scam being used in other cities is not repeated in Minneapolis!
It should be noted that the "Weekly Standard" is an ultra-conservative right wing newspaper known for its biased pseudo-journalism. It is owned by Rupert Murdoch and is perceived to be one of the leading neo-conservative papers, well read by the Bush administration. It does not support itself through its own revenues but are funded by Murdoch as an outlet for the neo-conservative movement rhetoric. It was one of the major outlets for the untruths about the Clinton administration made up by the Arkansas Project along with the "American Spectator" and other neo-conservative "pseudo-newspapers".
That may well be, Carol, but smearing the article without reading and understanding it simply based on this is hogwash. And I'm a bleeding-heart liberal.
I read the article. I know a lot about engineering, traffic safety and related issues as it has been my vocation and/or avocation for 25 years. The article easily passes the "smell test." It is not a biased, distorted rant. It is, in fact, one of the better pieces of investigative journalism I have read recently.
Moreover, I happen to have had conversations with a number of the plaintiffs in the San Diego case, where a class actino lawsuit resulted in a judge throwing out the use of red-light cameras completely -- so not only do I know that portion of the multi-part story to be accurate, but it is solid evidence that other claims made in the story are likewise correct.
The plain facts are these:
1. No government entity mentioned in the article, from San Diego to Washington, D.C., has fairly, ethically and most important CORRECTLY used red-light cameras to improve safety. It's plain obvious when red-light cameras are NOT installed in the top 10 intersections with the most intersection incursion accidents, but are installed at other locations.
2. The correct way to improve intersection safety is to use proper traffic engineering. In many cases, this means lengthening the yellow light times, yet in case after case, yellow lights were shortened specifically in order to INCREASE the number of people caught on camera running the red lights and the resultant revenue for both the private company supplying the equipment and the sponsoring government entity. Doing so also reduces safety.
3. The priviate companies providing the equipment also provide contract services to issue the tickets. To do that, they gain unlimited access to the state's motor vehicle registration data (names, addresses, cost of automobiles, etc. etc.), yet have no apparent policies or programs in place to maintain citizens privacy. The same companies also arbitrarily rule in or rule out giving tickets to people caught on camera, a situation ripe for abuse and error.
Now I am as angry about people running red lights and stop signs as the next guy, and I am equally annoyed at right-wing media like Rupert Murdoch's empire pretending to be actual journalists instead of the propoganda pieces they are, but this series of articles stands on it own as accurate reporting. It correlates well with everything I know about the situation. Lastly, the series takes the Big Corporations who sponsor these red light programs to task, and you can bet your bottom dollar that these Big Corporations are big Republican supporters. So it seems abundantly clear to me that the articles are both accurate, and that it matters not one whit that they were published in the Weekly Standard.
Chris Johnson - Fulton
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