"J. Clarke" wrote in message
in.local...
In article ,
says...

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..
"PrecisionmachinisT" wrote in
news:U6KdnVel4OUkaozNnZ2dnUVZ_rqdnZ2d@scnresearch. com:

And then of course there are people like YOU...

KooKs....who do not realize that government is "by the people and for
the
people" and who instead imagine "government" as being some kind of
evil,
uncontrollable monster that was created by lazy, selfish individuals
in
order to make life miserable for everbody else [...]

That's not what it was created as, of course -- but that *is* what it
has
become.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_P...of_Bureaucracy


I can happily report that our own community, through public involvement,
was
recently successful at reversing city policy which had been poised to
greatly expand the use of red light cameras...

At this point in time they have removed all of the cameras and
additionally,
city planners actually hired a consulting firm and then followed their
recomendations of instituting low-cost safety improvements which included
extending the yellow interval to meet or exceed federal standards and
adding
an all-red phase to EVERY light-controlled intersection.

Which sure beats the crap out of having to try and decide within a split
second whether you'd rather get a ticket or have your dog and groceries
forcefully impact the windshield.

That's good but when the Feds start telling the states that they _must_
install such cameras or lose their highway trust fund income do you
think it's going to be as easy to reverse? After all if it only saves
one life . . .


The problem with your logic is that it's actually federal studies that have
repeatedly shown that red light cameras rarely if ever result in a overall
level of improved safety at intersections that couldn't have been attained
by low cost methods ( maintaining an adequate yellow duration and
incorporating an all red phase )

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersect...ras/qas.cfm#q4

What is happening instead, is that municipalities are intentionally
shortening the yellow phase to well below the minimum that's required to
make a safe stop, in order to generate revenue by manufacturing scoffaws,
with deadly results.

http://www.alternet.org/story/145752...eadly _profit

For what it's worth, pretty sure red light cameras aren't allowed on the
federal highway system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_lig...#North_America