The Speeding Non-Crisis

One of the biggest arguments for speed cameras is some kind of urgent, pressing need to make our roads safer and reduce accidents. The problem is, this danger is never expressed in terms of reliable statistics that show that accident rates are "too high." Certainly, it would be fabulous if we could have accident-free roads. The reality is that this Utopian scenario is not obtainable and never will be. As a society, we have to decide what an acceptable accident rate is and decide to strive for that standard. Otherwise, if we decide that no one should ever die in an auto accident, then motorized transportation should be banned and we can all just go back to horses and buggies. The vague goal of "safer roads" is just as unacceptable as a publicly-traded company declaring their goal to be to vaguely "make more money." If there is a safety crisis, our officials need to declare specifically what it is and what their goals are so that we can know if they are successful. Without such stated goals, we can only assume this whole thing is a ruse and a scheme to generate revenue.

So if the first argument is that our roads are not dangerous enough to warrant these Draconian measures, the second argument is that these cameras are ineffective and either do NOT reduce accidents or actually INCREASE the number of accidents. We've assembled a list of reports, data, and information below.

The final argument about this alleged safety crisis is concept that changing the behavior of drivers is somehow going to be more effective/successful than simply re-engineering the roads and intersections that are alleged to be dangerous. This flies in the face of workplace safety philosophy that dictates that you employ mechanical safe guards and process safety improvement wherever possible so you don't have to rely on worker behaviors and training. On the roadways, this would include adjusting speed limits, yellow light timing, lane designations, and other rules. For example, it is well-established that intersection accident rates are greatly affected by yellow light times. Why not simply adjust the timing? Camera operators would like you to believe that red-light accidents are caused by people intentionally running the light, because, of course, only intentional behavior can be affected by enforcement. The reality is that most red-light crashes are caused by people unintentionally running red lights. For that, a camera serves only to document such events.

Reports showing speed cameras do not improve accident rates or that speed is not major cause of accidents

Reports showing red light cameras do not improve accident rates

With all of this information available, one has to wonder why our officials have chosen to ignore it. The obvious answer is the revenue. I believe that the real problem is the process. Districts have equipment vendors come in to meetings and give slick presentations promising safety and revenue which sounds "win-win" and "can't lose." The real problem is that the officials never or rarely seek out any information as to why they shouldn't install the equipment in order to counter the slick presentation. The key is public awareness, which is why we are here.