The True Reason Behind Speed Cameras

[Why?Town]

Just give it some time and we'll see the state create a special task force to start taking those pictures then putting any money left, after paying the special task force employees and others, into the state funding to keep it about the same amount while they spend some of the state funding on God knows what else.

Government in general is so screwed up it took me 10 minutes to type one sentence describing what I believe they will end up doing but I guarantee it would take three or more days if they were trying to explain it themselves.

[jazz218]

With the provisions of Ohio HB 62 taking effect on July 1, we will probably see a significant decrease in the use of speed cameras. State funding will now be offset by the amount of proceeds cities receive from traffic camera fines, appeals will now require judicial due process instead of administrative hearings, and speed cameras cannot be used on interstate highways. 

[Why?Town]

I doubt they give a XXXX about safety at all regardless of whatever time and day they do anything .

How much safety is obtained by them sitting there with a camera instead of actually pulling someone over?

Lets say they get 12 pictures of people speeding over a 5 minute time frame. None of them ever slow down but they do find out about the "ticket" a couple weeks later. Some of them may even get two "tickets", one from each money grabbing picture taker.

Now what if money grabber #1 actually pulled over "speeder" #3  after he missed speeder #1 and #2 (maybe donuts were in his way). The next nine speeders (#4~#12) will all see what's happening on the side of 680 and slow down. That just cut down the number of people speeding by 83% which I figure increases safety by a very similar percentage.

Why are camera tickets even possible? Maybe because $60/hr can pay for a ton of donuts. I'll admit I'm exaggerating on this part.

[jazz218]

I am certainly a proponent of safe highways, but I question whether speed cameras and the way they are used actually achieve such an objective.

I had occasion to be driving on I 680 through Youngstown at around 7:30 AM this past Sunday morning, and observed two YPD officers using the speed cameras. Traffic was very light and the weather was near perfect: sunny and clear.
One officer was kneeling down and hiding behind the parapet wall on the Wayne Ave overpass, and the other was in a patrol car sitting on the Oakwood Avenue on-ramp to I 680 southbound. On overtime pay, each officer makes around $60.00/Hour. I truly question whether either of these officers were engaged in any meaningful function that improves highway safety.

If one were to check accident records, I would venture to guess that there has not been an accident on I 680 at 7:30 on a Sunday morning during ideal weather conditions anytime during the last 50 years at least, and possibly never.

So what was the objective? Statistically, since there is no problem that needs to be addressed at such a time of day, the only alternative is to raise money. My problem is that cities hide behind the "safety" excuse when the true reason is to raise revenue.

If they were actually concerned about safety, how about weekdays between 8:00 and 9:00 AM, and between 4:00 and 6:00 PM? These are the times when all of the accidents attributable to dense traffic, reckless driving, and speeding occur.