Comments on: Police chief slams iPhone-driven speeders

Washington, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says using iPhone apps and other GPS devices to avoid speed cameras is a "cowardly tactic."

[gggg sssss]

and sitting your fat donut filled a** in an airconditioned cuiser hedden behibd a tree over the hill is not cowardly?

[lorincpartain]

If nothing proves that "law enforcement" is not really concerned about your safety but is really about revenue collection this statement should. If people are slowing down as a result of this iPhone app then isn't that what they are supposed to be doing ? Doesn't make sense for a "law enforcement" officer/chief to be upset about people obeying the law, until you realize the truth that they are about collecting more revenue and not safety. Safety is just another excuse for government tyranny.

[Blue_buzzard]

With state and city dollar sources drying up illegal harassment of unsuspecting drivers is on the rise world wide. The following describes an Italian illegal activity involving police radar cameras that backfired.

Italy: Police Raid Speed Camera Company Caught in Fraud Scandal
Italian police find 81,555 speed camera tickets worth $16 million were fraudulently issued.

Italian police yesterday raided the Brescia headquarters of a speed camera manufacturer accused of fraud involving seventy municipalities throughout the country. Officers from the Guardia di Finanza, the law enforcement arm of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, seized computers, machine components and fifty speed cameras as evidence.

Salerno prosecutor Amato Barile ordered the raid after discovering evidence that Velomatic 512 photo radar units bearing the same individual serial number were being used by different municipalities located hundreds of miles apart. Under Italian regulations, each camera used for issuing citations must be properly calibrated and approved. By cloning serial numbers, the company avoided testing requirements. Prosecutors also believe that some of these cameras were calibrated in such a way that motorists adhering to the speed limit would receive citations.

As a result of a criminal conspiracy, 81,555 tickets worth 11.3 million euros (US $16 million) fraudulently issued between 2007 and 2009 have been canceled, refunds will be given and license points will be removed. The consumer watchdog group Codacons wants permanent changes in the law, including banning the ability of municipal governments to pad general funds with photo ticket revenue and a minimum five-second yellow warning time at intersections. In January, the makers of the T-Red brand of red light cameras were similarly arrested for fraud after prosecutors found motorists were being trapped at intersections with short yellows and improperly certified equipment.

"That yet another seizure has happened on the national territory demonstrates how municipalities are using illicit means and violating the law in order to make cash," a Codacons press release stated.

Yesterday's raid was given the code name "Operation Devius." The investigation is ongoing.

Any legal means to avoid paying more bills is on the table.

[Daddio2009]

I live in the DC area...and the cameras are an intrusion on my civil rights. Anyone who supports these intrusions is not in the DC, MD, noVA area. They act the sanctimonious fool.

[kc6hur]

This not just iPhone related. There are databases where anyone with a GPS can download traffic cam AND speed trap locations. Then they can get alerts when approaching a "dangerous" location.

[Havoc70]

As a former employee of a redlight enforcement system, i can state with a fact, that not all companies use these types of tactics, in fact in the state of Ca, you are not allowed to touch the traffic controllers without an official worker from the state or from Caltrans. Also the timing on yellow is not allowed to be altered by CA law, this is all overseen by Caltrans. So for those companies who are shortening yellow times, they are illegally accessing controllers and also Caltrans is responsible as their are supposed to be checking the timings of all intersections at mandated intervals.

I for one have seen the reduced rate of redlight accidents at several intersections that were installed, and over the period of 4 years the amount of red light violations go from approximately 45 a day to 0. I think this system is defiantely a factor in reducing redlight accidents, but as usual there are those who screw with the system and make it all about $$$$.

[8301]

Firstly, I would hope that all states and municipalities outlaw tampering with traffic controllers. I've never seen one without a lock on it anyway.

Secondly, if the camera catches you at an intersection where the yellow interval is too short, you can easily defeat it in court by demonstrating that there isn't enough reaction time to respond to the signal, assuming you weren't speeding and didn't actually try to run the light.

[yogibear224]

We've had the cameras and the GPS mapping devices and the camera capable radar detectors for a decade in the UK. It's not cowardly, it's fighting back. The cameras aren't in accident blackspots (which would be reasonable) they're in the places likely to raise the most revenue. So the police chief should step down off his high horse, he is FAR from the moral high ground!

[professionaladventurer]

We stopped speeder cameras here in Anchorage (mainly since the company that ran them company got like 80% of the revenue instead of the police department) We do have red light cameras, but we have some of the worst drivers in the country (look it up) and need those.

[joepmd]

As a DC area resident - I received a $50 tax for exceeding a 40mph speed limit on a dc highway. No points - just the fine. Not a school zone, but a 6 lane highway near the entrance of 295 in the district. If there was a speed limit camera sign in sight - it is well hidden. As a matter of fact I do not even see a speed limit sign around there. This is up there with the parking enforcement scams in DC. Just try and figure out which meters you can park at during the day.
This is getting to be 1984. Big brother is watching us more and more. Traffic cameras, internet monitoring, phone call monitoring. Companies are monitoring your spending habits. Buy something at an undesirable vendor - American Express flags you as an at risk customer and cuts your limit. Privacy is dead. That's the worst of it. Now the government will be telling me what I can eat or drink. Obviously I can't smoke. Oh and if I work too hard - well - I get the penalty of paying extra taxes for that too. Soon, we'll all be like the humans in WallE.

[Blue_buzzard]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/05/texas-towns-wont-put-down-red-light-camera-crack-pipe.ars

Texas towns won't put down red light camera crack pipe. Some cities are so in love with the revenue that they're apparently unwilling to accept it when their state government tells them to stop.

By John Timmer | Last updated May 26, 2009 10:09 PM CT

"The advent of digital technology is slowly bringing change to traffic safety enforcement. Digital cameras and radar guns, combined with software that can recognize license numbers, can remove the need for having officers on the roads to enforce speed limits?as well as limit the instances where said officers get talked out of issuing a summons or fail to show up in court. Red light cameras provide an equally reliable addition to the revenue streams for municipal governments, but they have a far more complex relationship to public safety, which has led a number of states to ban them. Now, some cities in Texas, where a ban of this sort included a grandfather clause, are committing themselves to long-term contracts with the camera provider in order to escape the ban.

Ostensibly, traffic laws are all about public safety, as they prohibit drivers from a variety of behaviors that correlate with increased risk of accidents. And, in the case of speed cameras, the relationship should be pretty straightforward. Assuming that the speed limit on a given road is set based on the road's layout and prevailing traffic conditions, anything that keeps drivers from driving too far above the speed limit should benefit public safety. The fact that they bring in a steady stream of fines is just an added bonus.

The situation is much murkier when it comes to the speed camera's close cousin, the red light camera. The device's public safety justification seems clear up front?keep people from running red lights?but the pattern of their actual deployment suggests their focus is really on generating revenue. It has been argued that the surest way to increase safety at red lights is by extending the yellow period; in most cases, lights are run within the first second after they turn red. Installing the cameras does appear to change driver behavior, but its a bit of a mixed bag, as in one town in Texas, where accidents dropped only slightly due to a large rise in rear-end collisions.

But the cameras are generally run by private companies, which have little interest in installing them on red lights where violations are infrequent. For example, the company that installed cameras for Chattanooga, Tenneessee would only install them on lights that have a yellow time of less than four seconds, even though state law mandates that the minimum yellow time is 3.9 seconds. Extend the yellow light time, and you might limit not only accidents, but also the revenue provided by the cameras. Overseas, it seems there has been at least one case where cameras were deployed on lights rigged to change rapidly.

The fact that there aren't hard numbers to base these arguments on suggests that many towns are leaping into the use of cameras without ever bothering to look into their safety implications. Denver, for example, had a contract that mandated the reporting of statistics from the cameras, but the city never bothered to ask for them.

As a result, a number of states have now banned their use. To be fair, based on legislative arguments over speed cameras, the bans may have been as much the product of the fact that state legislators don't want to be caught by them, but the questionable ethics of the red light cameras undoubtedly helped them justify their decision.

But cities aren't content to see a source of revenue slip from their grasp, especially in the current fiscal environment. A site called theNewspaper.com, which tracks the politics of traffic laws, is reporting that some cities in Texas, which banned the installation of new cameras but grandfathered them in existing contracts, are attempting to evade the intent of the legislature. When faced with the prospect of having their existing contracts with a camera supplier gracefully expire when they run out, Arlington and Southlake are locking themselves into long-term contract extensions. Southlake has extended it for 20 years, by which point technology may have made the whole issue irrelevant.

Apparently, a similar thing happened when Montana passed a bill with exemptions for existing contracts, and the Montana legislature responded by passing a bill that stripped out that exception.

Rather than taking on the legislature, the cities might want to consider doing what they should have done in the first place: perform an analysis that shows that a specific combination of yellow light times and red light cameras actually improves public safety. Given hard data, it might be possible to convince the state that the cameras make sense in ways other than filling out the municipal budget."

[kc6hur]

based on the recent Supreme Court ruling, when you get a fine/summons from one of these automated systems, can you go to court, ask the installing tech to appear, the guy who wrote the software, the guys who checks the calibration, etc, to appear as well. Since according to the Supremes, the guy who does your blood test must now appear, not just his report, I wonder how these other system will now stand up.

[joepmd]

As a DC area resident - I received a $50 tax for exceeding a 40mph speed limit on a dc highway. No points - just the fine. Not a school zone, but a 6 lane highway near the entrance of 295 in the district. If there was a speed limit camera sign in sight - it is well hidden. As a matter of fact I do not even see a speed limit sign around there. This is up there with the parking enforcement scams in DC. Just try and figure out which meters you can park at during the day.
This is getting to be 1984. Big brother is watching us more and more. Traffic cameras, internet monitoring, phone call monitoring. Companies are monitoring your spending habits. Buy something at an undesirable vendor - American Express flags you as an at risk customer and cuts your limit. Privacy is dead. That's the worst of it. Now the government will be telling me what I can eat or drink. Obviously I can't smoke. Oh and if I work too hard - well - I get the penalty of paying extra taxes for that too. Soon, we'll all be like the humans in WallE.

[pwrhamr]

The cameras are saving lives if people slow down. The same as when you see a patrol car. What the app does is take away the financial benefit to the police! Is Lanier mad because people are slowing down or cause she isnt getting money from people not slowing down?

[iluvrio]

What the app does is take away the secrecy of the cameras and thus reduces their effectiveness. If a driver who wants to speed doesn't know where the cameras are located he's likely to drive the speed limit as he passes through the city for fear of being caught on said unknown cameras. Now if that driver knows exactly where the cameras are located he'll either avoid those intersections all together and speed or only speed until he reaches an intersection with a camera. Lanier is mad because people are slowing down at revealed camera intersections and speeding up afterwards.

[drfrost]

In as little as 10 more years we won't be able to see the traffic cameras. In another decade or two after that... the government will literally be able to put cameras on every corner of every city... small enough no one will even notice them.

[amitg1979]

How does the app tell you there is a speed camera in place? If there is an audible warning then its not too bad, but if you have to look at the iphone to see where one is, then you are taking your eyes off the road which is more dangerous.

[Michichael]

I have yet to meet a police officer that works for any state that isn't a ****-bag. It's not about protecting the people, it's about seeing how much money you can wring out of them.

[gggg sssss]

And elsewhere, it seem sthat tasering traffic violator sis no wthe thing to do.

[jessiethe3rd]

Just a fact - 80% of the reason why the cameras were put into place was to increase revenues for the respective cities where they are deployed. Honestly, a few more seconds on a yellow through an intersection would save more lives then a camera and system which is almost a money printing machine for the cities.

I don't blame them though - with the cuts in federal money at the city / state level the best thing to do is pull more revenue from these types of services.

[kingofthebrittains]

Cowardly? Look who's talking! Cops now drive around in UNMARKED cars in AZ and WA state, 2 states that I know of for sure and prolly in others. What are they, the Secret Police now? They put up Cowardly Cameras instead of working their beat. And when you go to court, it's you, a private citizen against a cop (acting as State Prosecutor) and a judge who both stand to gain monetarily by the exorbitant, fine they impose and work for the same corrupt system. Now, how the hell are you supposed to get a fair shake outta that cozy incestuous arrangement? In Corpmerica, Lady Justice has her eyes wide open, and is shagging the judge.

If you go out to protest your govt's latest heinous crime the cops come with their full body armor, shields, tanks, water cannons, microwave weapons, tear gas, rubber bullets, nightsticks, horses, cars, and SWAT snipers on the roofs. Protect and serve? $hit... I was at the WTO protest in Seattle, don't tell me about freedom of speech and liberty and justice for all. Corpmerica, Land of the Sleaze, Home of the Slaves..... Go arrest Mass Murdering War Criminals/Profiteers like Cheney & Bush you cowardly knuckle dragging bullies!

[k1m0d0]

This is plainly a lament about lost revenue. Traffic cameras and parking tickets are a tax levied on people who live in the Washington, metro area. Note that the city council members are exempt from parking fines. I would not be surprised to find out that they get a pass on the traffic cameras too (in the spirit of fairness it should be noted that they would get called to task for murder). This is all about screwer and screwee

[samaycsa]

LOL! iPhone apps are getting ever so crazy day by day. The other day I wrote an article about an iPhone App that tells you exactly when to go Pee during a movie you are watching in a theater so you don't miss anything, it also tells you the time window you have!! If you are interested, you can have a look at: http://indiawebsearch.com/content/when-to-go-pee-during-a-movie