[CTRL] Armey takes on traffic-surveillance cameras
-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Armey takes on traffic-surveillance cameras Lawmaker says cities have shortened yellow lights to raise revenue -- -- Editor's note: In collaboration with the hard-hitting Washington, D.C., newsweekly Human Events, WorldNetDaily brings you this special report every Monday. Readers can subscribe to Human Events through WND's online store. By Joseph A. D'Agostino © 2001 Human Events House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, is crusading against the red-light cameras that have sprouted up at intersections around the country, saying that they violate constitutional principles and that localities have deliberately shortened yellow-light intervals in order to raise revenue. Traffic will be safer, said Armey, when local governments increase yellow intervals and stop trying to trap motorists in petty red-light violations. We are responsible for protecting people's constitutional rights, Armey told Human Events. We believe that this is an intrusion against people's constitutional rights. We have the state legislature in New Jersey that agrees with us, said Armey, and we have the Supreme Court in Alaska that agrees with us. We ought to hold some hearings on this. No committee has yet committed to holding hearings on Armey's proposal. There's been an evolution of the federal standards and recommendations that has moved us away from the time-honored and effective business of using the length of the yellow light to ensure safety at intersections, Armey said. We believe that they have consciously done just the opposite of good yellow-light policy to increase the stream of revenue. They have not demonstrated any improvement in public well-being because of these cameras, Armey added. The House Republican leader said he does not want to use federal regulations to micromanage states and localities in their use of cameras for issuing traffic citations. I am against that on principle, he said. Instead, Armey opposes traffic cameras of any kind, period, as a matter of constitutional principle. I have taken the same position with regard to speeding cameras, he said. The problem with electronic surveillance is that you are denied your right to face your accuser and you are assumed to be guilty until you have proved yourself to be innocent. In fact, you are assumed to be there. A police officer has immediate identification of who's driving the car. Armey warned that the United States could end up like England. I would say that I could leave my residence in London, travel all around town and make three or four stops, and there would be a record of everywhere I went. The surveillance there is that thorough, he said. Said Armey spokesman Richard Diamond, The British government has proposed increasing the number of tickets issued by cameras from 550,000 to 10 million a year. At present, no American municipality is planning to use traffic cameras for anything other than red-light running and speeding. A report prepared by Armey's office says, Today's formula for calculating yellow times yields yellow times that can in some cases be about 30 percent shorter than the older formula. Armey's office collected traffic studies from around the country and found that when the yellow-light time increased, red-light running decreased. In Mesa, Ariz., for example, the number of vehicles entering an intersection on red dropped by 73 percent; in Georgia, by 75 percent; at sites in Virginia and Maryland, 77 percent or more, including two sites where researchers reported that the red-light running problem was virtually eliminated. But lengthening yellow times does not raise revenue. Fifty cities in 10 states now use red-light cameras. In 18 months, San Diego's 19 cameras have raked in $30 million. West Hollywood, Calif., earns $4.9 million annually from its cameras. New York City's 15 cameras made $5.4 million in their first year. San Diego's red-light camera ticketing program suffered a setback this month after the city discovered a glitch that meant some motorists may have been ticketed unjustly. After a lawsuit was filed in February, discovery turned up a Potential Intersection Worksheet prepared for the city when it was deciding where to install red-light cameras. Five of the potential sites were rejected because long yellow, vio [violator] volume not there. Other noted reasons for rejections included long yellow phase and timing clears out traffic. A copy of an agreement between Mesa and Lockheed Martin, the company with which the city contracted to provide its red-light cameras, prohibited the city from lengthening yellow times at intersections with Lockheed cameras. The contract gave Lockheed a cut of every ticket issued by its cameras. Last year, a red-light camera in Washington, D.C., was turned off after the local police department admitted that
Re: [CTRL] Armey takes on traffic-surveillance cameras
-Caveat Lector- While he's at it why doesn't he do something about the passive radar put in airports to look at naked people, and the infrared devices used to illegally search someones home without warrants, and the numerous cameras on display throughout the country spying on us everywhere we go. This is a small issue but indicative of larger more serious trends. On Mon, 18 June 2001, Bill Richer wrote: -Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Armey takes on traffic-surveillance cameras Lawmaker says cities have shortened yellow lights to raise revenue -- -- Editor's note: In collaboration with the hard-hitting Washington, D.C., newsweekly Human Events, WorldNetDaily brings you this special report every Monday. Readers can subscribe to Human Events through WND's online store. By Joseph A. D'Agostino © 2001 Human Events House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, is crusading against the red-light cameras that have sprouted up at intersections around the country, saying that they violate constitutional principles and that localities have deliberately shortened yellow-light intervals in order to raise revenue. Traffic will be safer, said Armey, when local governments increase yellow intervals and stop trying to trap motorists in petty red-light violations. We are responsible for protecting people's constitutional rights, Armey told Human Events. We believe that this is an intrusion against people's constitutional rights. We have the state legislature in New Jersey that agrees with us, said Armey, and we have the Supreme Court in Alaska that agrees with us. We ought to hold some hearings on this. No committee has yet committed to holding hearings on Armey's proposal. There's been an evolution of the federal standards and recommendations that has moved us away from the time-honored and effective business of using the length of the yellow light to ensure safety at intersections, Armey said. We believe that they have consciously done just the opposite of good yellow-light policy to increase the stream of revenue. They have not demonstrated any improvement in public well-being because of these cameras, Armey added. The House Republican leader said he does not want to use federal regulations to micromanage states and localities in their use of cameras for issuing traffic citations. I am against that on principle, he said. Instead, Armey opposes traffic cameras of any kind, period, as a matter of constitutional principle. I have taken the same position with regard to speeding cameras, he said. The problem with electronic surveillance is that you are denied your right to face your accuser and you are assumed to be guilty until you have proved yourself to be innocent. In fact, you are assumed to be there. A police officer has immediate identification of who's driving the car. Armey warned that the United States could end up like England. I would say that I could leave my residence in London, travel all around town and make three or four stops, and there would be a record of everywhere I went. The surveillance there is that thorough, he said. Said Armey spokesman Richard Diamond, The British government has proposed increasing the number of tickets issued by cameras from 550,000 to 10 million a year. At present, no American municipality is planning to use traffic cameras for anything other than red-light running and speeding. A report prepared by Armey's office says, Today's formula for calculating yellow times yields yellow times that can in some cases be about 30 percent shorter than the older formula. Armey's office collected traffic studies from around the country and found that when the yellow-light time increased, red-light running decreased. In Mesa, Ariz., for example, the number of vehicles entering an intersection on red dropped by 73 percent; in Georgia, by 75 percent; at sites in Virginia and Maryland, 77 percent or more, including two sites where researchers reported that the red-light running problem was virtually eliminated. But lengthening yellow times does not raise revenue. Fifty cities in 10 states now use red-light cameras. In 18 months, San Diego's 19 cameras have raked in $30 million. West Hollywood, Calif., earns $4.9 million annually from its cameras. New York City's 15 cameras made $5.4 million in their first year. San Diego's red-light camera ticketing program suffered a setback this month after the city discovered a glitch that meant some motorists may have been ticketed unjustly. After a lawsuit was filed in February, discovery turned up a Potential Intersection Worksheet prepared for the city when it was deciding where to install red-light cameras. Five of the potential sites were rejected because long yellow, vio [violator] volume not there. Other noted
