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yowzadave

What's the problem with traffic cameras? They seem fairer and more effective than discretionary police enforcement.

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https://nypost.com/2012/10/08/citys-gotcha-traffic-cameras-u...

Lots of stories of yellow light being shortened to create more tickets.

They are a revenue source for a city above all else.

Maybe cities should explicitly charge for using roads instead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congestion_pricing

The traffic cameras were installed on intersections where they would generate the most revenue rather than on intersections that generate the most accidents or injuries.

The goal is safety, not effective enforcement. Cameras have increased accidents in many areas.

That seems an exceptional claim. Where I live folks obeyed the speed limit scrupulously where traffic cameras were in use. That has to reduce accidents, as expected?

Hes probably talking about cities shortening yellow lights after they install red light cameras to make more people into "offenders" and cause accidents as a side effect

https://ww2.motorists.org/blog/6-cities-that-were-caught-sho...

https://www.salon.com/2017/04/05/this-may-have-happened-to-y...

Ah. We only have speed cameras.

Any road has a "natural" speed that ~80% of drivers will drive at if not otherwise restricted. If you limit the speed below that, you have a lot of annoyed, frustrated drivers and that is a recipe for more road rage and accidents.

My objection to that is that the "natural" speed may not be taking into account unexpected conditions. For example, it may drive by a school or playground and the speed limit is there because of the danger of children running out. The "natural" speed isn't going to take that into account.

The correct solution here is road engineering so that the natural speed of the road is slower, rather than artificially slowing down traffic via a posted limit. This can be done by adding curves or thinning the road

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