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1788 messages, Last post on Nov 14, 2009 at 3:43 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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If you don't like photo radar, your shocks will love these. Mayor hits the gas on speed bumps in D.C. (WTOP) "Based on the number of speed bumps and the total miles of local roads, the District averages about one speed hump for every 1.5 miles. In Montgomery County, drivers encounter a speed bump about once every 2.2 miles. In Fairfax County, it's virtually bump-free with an average of one bump in every 14.5 miles."
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Replying to: steve_ (Jun 19, 2009 8:38 am) No Bumps "Sleeping policemen" are not a legitimate traffic calming device. Unfortunately, traffic calming requires a bit of planning, something most city counsels lack, so it requires a bit of a tear up to implement. I am currently searching for the page that had all the lawsuits from those that experienced personal injury or property damage as a result of the "speed hump," a case that is usually relatively easy to win given that "speed humps" aren't approved for roads.
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Replying to: lilengineerboy (Jun 19, 2009 12:22 pm) Gizmodo |
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More data on the "money grab hiding as safety" aspect of scameras, only this time with some unintended consequences. It's all about the money.  from: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090629/0206575395.shtml Schaumburg Dumps Redlight Cameras After They Show No Safety Benefit from the good-for-them dept We've seen it in a few other places, but reader Don Gatza let's us know that Schaumburg, Illinois is the latest city to dump its redlight cameras. The city found that, despite promises to the contrary, the redlight cameras did not decrease accidents (not even the "t-bone" accidents that proponents of such cameras insist they help combat). The city claims that even though a single intersection generated 10,000 tickets and over a million in revenue in just a few months, it's going to drop the cameras, because "It was not our intent to use them as a revenue generator." If only other communities were so enlightened. Of course, there was a second potential factor in the decision as well. Apparently pissed off ticket recipients had been complaining and promising to stop shopping at Schaumberg businesses -- leading local businesses to fear a loss in customers and revenue. Of course, this is the same thing that towns with notorious speed traps have found: people avoid going there, harming local businesses. Hopefully more local businesses start recognizing that giving out automated tickets that do nothing to improve safety also tend to harm local businesses as well. In the meantime, if officials want to improve safety in Schaumburg intersections, studies have shown that the best way to do so is rather simple: increase the timing of yellow lights, and then add a longer pause between one direction turning red, and the perpendicular traffic's lights turning green.
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Replying to: vcheng (Jul 01, 2009 8:10 am) |
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Yet more data on the "money grab hiding as safety" aspect of scameras. Funny how all the expereinces point to fact that it's all about the money. from: http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/28/2830.asp Maywood, California Dumps Red Light Cameras City council in Maywood, California decides to stop using Redflex to run a red light camera program. The Maywood, California City Council on Wednesday dumped the Australian company in charge of the city's red light camera program. Since 2004, Redflex Traffic Systems has had the right to issue tickets at the intersection of Slauson and Alamo. The council voted 3-2 not to renew the five-year agreement, against the wishes of city staff who proposed new "cost neutral" contract terms. "(The) city shall be obligated to pay the cumulative balance invoiced by Redflex, in accordance with terms set forth above, to the extent of gross cash received by the city from automated red light violations," the proposed new contract language stated. Tying the vendor's compensation to the amount of cash received violates a state law mandating flat-rate contracts for photo enforcement systems. A week before the council's vote, the editor of the Highwayrobbery.net website warned council members that an appellate ruling had already found similar contract language between the city of Fullerton and Nestor Traffic Systems (NTS) was illegal (view opinion). Accepting the new deal with Redflex could put the city at legal risk. In May, the city of Turlock also dumped red light cameras over fears regarding the cost neutrality. According to the proposed contract language, cost neutrality would not apply "if the signal amber timings at the photo enforced intersections are not set to the minimum requirements of CalTrans in California." In the past, photo ticketing companies prohibited the increasing of yellow warning times to ensure maximum revenue. If strictly interpreted, this provision would have the same effect by imposing a financial penalty if the city chose to extend the duration of yellow times. A 2004 Texas Transportation Institute study proved that going one-second beyond such bare minimum signal timings yielded a 53 percent reduction in tickets, but more importantly it reduced accidents by 40 percent (view report). |
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Replying to: vcheng (Jun 18, 2009 3:36 am) So, what's wrong with the violators contributing to the municipalities? Observational cameras photograph you coming and going, driving and walking, and any technology that helps law enforcement is highly recommended by law abiding voters. |
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Here is a nice story from the Chicago Tribune, following the money in quite interesting and revelaing ways: Part 1: from: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-red-light-cameras-part-two-jul13,0,- - 6603390.story On Thanksgiving eve in 2005, a Metra express train plowed into five cars at the busy Grand Avenue crossing in west suburban Elmwood Park, leaving behind piles of twisted metal, 16 injured people and a golden, moneymaking opportunity for the politically connected. State lawmakers were quick to propose a crackdown on drivers who swerve around lowered crossing gates. But as so often happens in Springfield, one of the bills aimed at preventing a repeat of the near-tragedy experienced a metamorphosis during the legislative process. Thus emerged the 2006 law that brought red-light cameras to the suburbs. Advocates said it was all in the interest of safety. But in the fun-house mirror that is Illinois politics, explanations of how and why things get done are rarely so simple. Moving with a lightning speed befitting its name, a then-2-year-old British traffic camera-maker called RedSpeed latched onto savvy Illinois political insiders and came to dominate Chicago's lucrative suburban market even though it had never before operated in the U.S. So aggressive was the push that one suburban police chief recommended that his town hire RedSpeed a week before it was even incorporated in Illinois. Just as happened when Chicago debuted red-light cameras in 2003, the devices in the suburbs have infuriated drivers surprised by $100 tickets in the mail, fattened municipal treasuries and intensified a roaring debate about whether their purpose was to reduce crashes or extract cash from motorists. The spawning of RedSpeed may represent a textbook example of how to cash in on this state's clubby intersection of public policy and clout. But it's an Illinois story with an unusual foreign accent. The ownership of RedSpeed is obscured in public records, but the firm is part of a closely held Israeli-owned conglomerate that does most of its business in Kazakhstan, the former Soviet Republic that Americans perhaps know best -- maybe unfairly -- from the mockumentary "Borat." There are other curiosities. RedSpeed's sole U.S. operation is in west suburban Lombard, and it markets itself as the only Illinois-based firm in the highly technical red-light camera business. Yet the corporate structure is topped by a holding company whose CEO lives in Staten Island, N.Y., and works in the office of a Manhattan ophthalmologist. RedSpeed is not the only traffic camera company to benefit from the 2006 law, but it is by far the most successful. Company officials boast that they have lined up contracts with more than 50 Illinois municipalities -- more than all competitors combined. RedSpeed got a jump-start by quickly signing up a core group of suburbs -- among them Bellwood, Berwyn, Bolingbrook, Elmwood Park, Melrose Park and Rosemont -- with ties to a close network of clout-heavy lobbyists and former public officials. The company's sales director is Greg Zito, a former state senator from Melrose Park who also is a longtime Illinois lobbyist for British banking and credit card giant HSBC and the local loan giant it bought, Household International. Those two firms have long been a major source of campaign cash for the red-light legislation's chief sponsor, state Rep. Angelo "Skip" Saviano (R-Elmwood Park). RedSpeed also has become something of a gathering spot for associates of Zito and his longtime friend Al Ronan, another former Illinois lawmaker and a lobbyist for RedSpeed since 2007. Ronan -- who lobbied for the red-light camera legislation on behalf of Melrose Park -- was a name partner in a lobbying firm that pleaded guilty to federal bid-rigging charges in 2004, though Ronan personally was not charged. He also was a major fundraiser for both former Govs. George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich. According to minutes of meetings in several municipalities, the sales force pitching RedSpeed in Illinois has included Scott Okun, who once ran the Illinois Toll Highway Authority's I-Pass program but quit after being suspended in 2006 amid questions about a printing contract. Ronan's name appeared as political sponsor for Okun on a 2003 list of state job-seekers kept by Blagojevich's office. Another past Ronan political operative from Berwyn also has served as a RedSpeed salesman, according to village board minutes and interviews. Robert Liberman, managing director of RedSpeed-Illinois, said in an e-mail exchange that his firm's success here was a testament to "careful planning and well-managed strategies." That, Liberman added, has "allowed the growth, whilst rapid, to be managed so that the company is fiercely proud of its reputation and its ability to deliver on promises." The city of Chicago's red-light cameras come from a different vendor, Australian-owned Redflex, the largest company in the field with operations in several states. Ronan contended that the city and Redflex were the main forces behind the suburban camera push, not RedSpeed, which formally entered the Illinois market only after the legislation passed. Chicago officials, he argued, feared a legal challenge to the city's then-3-year-old program and were looking for legislative cover. "The suburbs got involved because the city wanted to be protected," said Ronan. "Suburban towns saw the city program as a success." Zito said his first involvement concerning RedSpeed came at the end of June 2006, a month after the red-light camera bill was signed into law. He said then- Naperville-based Current Technologies, a company whose owners became involved in RedSpeed-Illinois, asked him to help analyze the new legislation. Daniel Zaydman, the head of RedSpeed's British parent, declined to be interviewed for this article. Saviano did not respond to interview requests. Just how fast did RedSpeed move in Illinois? Less than two months after the red-light legislation was signed into law, Berwyn Police Chief William Kushner urged his city's mayor and council to hire the company, according to a memo dated July 11, 2006. RedSpeed incorporated in Illinois a week later -- on July 18, state records show. Kushner told the Tribune that he looked at other vendors but preferred RedSpeed because of its British track record and because its system could be used for railroad crossings as well as red-light intersections. (contd.)
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Replying to: vcheng (Jul 13, 2009 6:51 am) Part 2: from: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-red-light-cameras-part-two-jul13,0,- - 6603390.story?page=2&track=rss Liberman said RedSpeed's British parent was first approached about coming to Illinois in March 2006 by Current Technologies, which had wired up Bellwood with police surveillance cameras. The legislation was still pending at the time. Current's owners are partners in the Illinois venture, Liberman said. The other half of the partnership involves a labyrinth of firms owned by Zaydman and relatives, all of whom are Israeli citizens. Aside from RedSpeed, most of the companies are based in Kazakhstan and involve a grab bag of specialties from traffic management to outdoor advertising to real estate, consulting, a medical clinic and a beauty salon. RedSpeed was launched in 2004 when the Zaydmans bought assets of a bankrupt British traffic equipment company. RedSpeed began with just five employees, according to a 2006 company news release. It since has become the exclusive supplier of digital traffic-enforcement cameras to London, a major component of its sales pitch to Illinois municipalities. But there is a crucial difference between the Illinois and British operations. In London, RedSpeed only installs and maintains equipment, but police operate it, according to transportation officials in the British capital. The company goes well beyond that here, selling itself as a turnkey operation that provides cameras, runs them, flags violators and collects fines. It is a quasi-police function, but local authorities get the final say on who is ticketed. As first introduced, Saviano's legislation addressed the kind of dangerous situation that may have contributed to the Elmwood Park Metra collision. It would have allowed the use of enforcement cameras to catch drivers who swerved around lowered railroad crossing gates. On the House floor, Saviano had the bill rewritten to authorize red-light cameras. Another version of the bill was pushed on a parallel track by now-Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago), though it was the Saviano measure that became law. Considerable lobbying heat lined up behind the concept in addition to Ronan. Redflex lobbyists pushed for suburban cameras. Bellwood dispatched at least five emissaries, legislative records show, including two who have had a long history of doing lobbying work with Ronan. Bellwood's efforts paid off handsomely: The suburb netted more than $1.1 million in red-light camera revenue last year. The minutes of suburbs' meetings where Zito has appeared for RedSpeed on several occasions have identified him as an owner or founder of the company. Responding to questions from the Tribune, Zito said he is neither and described himself as an "independent, part-time consultant, offering assistance in the area of sales and marketing." Zito quit the Illinois Senate in 1991 to become an in-house lobbyist for Prospect Heights-based Household, later bought by HSBC. Since 1994, those financial firms have steered $53,000 in campaign cash to Saviano, more than to any other current member of the legislature, state records show. It's hardly unusual for financial firms in Illinois to help bankroll campaigns, and records show that Zito's HSBC has given away nearly $1.3 million in political donations over the last 15 years. But one of the smallest gifts stands out. On April 3, 2006, HSBC gave $500 to the political organization of Frank Pasquale, the mayor of Bellwood, which was soon to become RedSpeed's first customer. The banking giant had never before written Pasquale's campaign a check and has never done so since, state records show. April 3 was the day the General Assembly gave final approval for Saviano's red-light camera bill, a development that opened the suburban market to camera vendors like RedSpeed. Zito said the timing of the gift was "purely coincidental" and "occurred well before RedSpeed-Illinois' existence, either conceptually or officially." Tribune reporters Monique Garcia in Springfield and Laurie Goering in London contributed to this report. |
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