AZ Moves to Ban Speed Cameras From Highways

by Robert Farago

Published: January 22nd, 2009

az moves to ban speed cameras from highways

AZcentral.com reports that the Arizona House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has voted 5-2 to recommend approval of House Bill 2106, banning the use of speed cameras on state highways. (The bill does not preclude cameras from city streets.) “This was done in the name of revenue,” pronounced an indignant Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert. Meanwhile, Pinal County County Supervisors voted to end their dalliance with Redflex’s mobile speed cameras. This after their top cop, Sheriff Paul Babeu, declared “I’m against photo speed enforcement completely. Here in Pinal, it’s failed miserably.” Babeu told the panel that the two cameras were activated 11,416 times, from September 2007 through December 2008. The result: 7,290 citations. Of those, only 3,711 were paid. “Babeu said most of the total $134,199.43 in fines and fees from the paid citations covered administrative and operational costs, leaving the county with a net profit of $12,391.58 that Babeu dismissed as paltry. Moreover, Babeu said, total motor-vehicle accidents increased by 16 percent in the same time period, and fatal collisions in the Queen Creek area doubled from three to six.”

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4 of 10 comments

Ponchoman49 on Jan 23, 2009

One more form on entrapment gone.

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ZoomZoom on Jan 23, 2009
kansei : ...I’m used to being constantly vigilant searching for speed traps, including using a high dollar radar detector... Here you fork over the dough for a radar detector with integrated GPS w/ speed camera maps, buy a GPS nav unit that can warn you of speed camera locations, or just remember where they are and keep up on news reports about new installations (hint: google maps will report construction delays and are quite clear that the construction is for speed enforcement cameras).... ...Never did I think I would feel secure driving a car without a radar detector running until I moved here. How do you justify the ability to speed-without-penalty as "secure feelings"? I'm sorry, but it's not our "right" to break the law. Change it, yes. Break it, no. If we choose to break the law, we have to accept the risk. Risk of being stopped/delayed, risk of being ticketed. It's part of the game, and by choosing to play the game (have a license, drive on our public roads), you have chosen to abide by the rules. Your "secure feelings" shouldn't be part of that decision. I don't like the cameras, and I don't like cops writing only speeding tickets. But this is principle-based, not some way for me to figure out how to get by with speeding. I still say that principle-wise, the cops (ie, living humang beings) should be required to catch you speeding; anything less is not proof of the accusation. But they should also be required to not ignore red-light running, stupid driving, dangerous lane-changes, or weaving in traffic, all of which they never seem to see. I also think that one reason we won't change unworkable or stupid laws (for example, speed limits that are unreasonably low due to low road population, red lights that are not properly timed, etc) is because of lax enforcement. We don't care to bitch about (or vote against) common-sense traffic laws because the stupid ones are inconsistently applied and inconsistently enforced. I think that if speed limits (even the stupid ones) were more strictly enforced, the electorate might be more inclined to vote accordingly. The Boston Tea Party was held because the tax was being enforced, not just "sometimes" enforced.

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AJ on Jan 23, 2009

Increased accidents is no surprise. I see that as a possibility all the time when a LEO is on the side of the road and traffic backs up for miles as people slow down to pass him. Just last week, I was lucky enough to get on the intestate right behind a LEO that drove just over the set mph across the city. Ahead of him, the interstate was wide open, and it was a parking lot behind him. I'm sure that he was laughing the entire time.

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Speed Cam on Oct 20, 2010

I love it that the county only netted 12 grand. They tried to make a profit for themselves and the only ones who made money was the contractor.

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