SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
WJLA reports: Washington D.C. issued a record $1 billion in traffic and parking tickets in three years
D.C. has long been considered one of the most onerous places in the country for traffic fines, seeing a steady climb year to year in tickets issued and revenue generated. But recently the District broke into stunning new territory, issuing more than $1 billion in tickets in just three years. [...] We asked the District to show us its evidence that D.C.'s cameras, and the high fines, translate to fewer accidents, fewer injuries and fewer deaths. The District told us it hasn't done any studies.
Yet the fines keep increasing, generating more money than alcohol, cigarette, motor vehicle, fuel and estate taxes and all revenue from licenses and permits, and personal property taxes combined.I don't know another local jurisdiction in the entire nation that has generated as much money from traffic tickets, parking tickets and moving violations," said John Townsend, Public Relations Manager of AAA Mid-Atlantic. "That tells us that things are out of control and out of hand in the District of Columbia."
"No one really believes this is about traffic safety any longer," said Townsend, "which is the reason we're withdrawing support for the automated enforcement program in the District."That means AAA is likely to declare Washington, D.C. a "traffic trap" (or speed trap as it is commonly referred to) to its 60 million members. In 2005 AAA declared D.C. a "strict enforcement zone," one step below the "traffic trap" designation.
The AAA is the American Automobile Association, also frequently called "Triple A," known for its roadside assistance and other motorist related programs.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Friday February 21 2020, @12:18PM
Got a citation for that?
If red light cameras are employed responsibly, then, yes, they can help improve safety. But ever since the beginnings of travel by automobile, traffic enforcement has been a massive conflict of interest. Local governments have far too much incentive to abuse their enforcement powers for purposes of extracting revenue from travelers. And they do. They do. Stories of speed traps, parking meter rackets, ticket quotas, weird ordinances, and other such unfair schemes, are legion. Red light cameras are merely one of the more recent manifestations of this. Officials and vendors clearly think that the impartial seeming nature of these electronic devices helps deceive the public into thinking they might be fair. They've been caught shortening the yellow light, in order to cause more red light violations. Shortening the yellow is one of the worst ideas. Greatly reduces safety. Makes drivers so nervous about traffic lights, they will panic stop when a light changes to yellow, and that leads to more rear end collisions.
The AAA was founded by motorists to combat the crap that local swindlers would pull on travelers. Some of the shit they used to try back in the early 1920s, when automobile travel was new, was worse than red light cameras. Such as, neglecting to mark the roads, so that travelers might get lost more easily and then have to spend more time and money on their travels. The AAA countered that by producing the best maps they possibly could. Prior to 1926, the road system was a collection of private roads, with names such as Lincoln Highway and Dixie Highway, and some of the owners were none too scrupulous. They'd hit up the towns for money, changing the route to bypass towns that refused to pay, and also to send gullible travelers a long way around, the better to mulct them. One of these private roads, from Nashville, TN to Birmingham, AL at one point in time directed travelers through Gadsden, AL, some 50 miles off the direct route. I don't know how many tire shops would drop nails in the road, but there was probably more than one. Ultimately, public demands that something be done to clean up the corruption resulted in the creation of the numbered highway system.