Camera fines may top $160M

[Raymond D. Mereniuk]

On 26 Jul 2001, at 14:42, Jim Choate wrote:

> http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20010726-98590728.htm

> The District expects to collect more than $160 million in traffic
> fines by 2004 from automated law-enforcement cameras designed to nab
> red-light runners and speeders, according to contracts obtained by The
> Washington Times. 

This appears to be an overly optimistic estimate of revenue 
whether it is 3 or 4 years.  They tried photo radar in Ontario and 
they had very high estimates of revenue which were never 
achieved.  People slowed down for the photo radar locations as 
they were typically easy to spot.  The Ontario program was 
cancelled within a short period of time after a change in provincial 
(state) government.

The photo radar program in British Columbia was very recently 
cancelled as it was not considered a success.  It failed to meet its 
revenue forecasts and the managers of the program demanded a 
major increase in the number of vans (photo radar units) to enable 
the program to be a success.  The government of the time 
cancelled the expansion plans.

The program had many problems other than enforcing arbitrary 
speed limits imposed for political reasons.  The government which 
initiated the program promised not to run speed traps, ie - place 
the units at the bottom of hills or within 200 meters of a speed zone 
change other than school and playground zones.  The biggest issue 
working against the program was most drivers learned to recognize 
the vans and were alert to their presence.

Another issue was legally serving a ticket on the owner of the 
offending vehicle.  If you are stopped by a police office and issued 
a ticket you are legally served with the appropriate documentation 
in the eyes of the law.  The BC photo radar program mailed tickets 
to the offenders.  This is not considered being legally served so 
many people threw the tickets out.  Initially a local police office 
would then serve the ticket to your door but this didn't last long as 
the volume grew.

Process servers were then used which worked in small towns and 
rural areas as everyone knew each other.  In the big cities a 
process server had very little luck as people learned all they to do 
was tell the process server the intended recipient was not home.  
Even if the process server catches you getting into the same 
vehicle as pictured by the photo radar you state you are not the 
recipient as you are just using the vehicle.

Next the government tried denying driver's license renewal or 
license tags or insurance if you had outstanding fines.  That didn't 
work either as they can't penalize you for something you are not 
aware of in a legal sense.  The front counter folks would hard line 
you on this one but all you had to do was ask for a supervisor.

> The citations will cost speeders from $30 to $200, with $29 of each
> paid ticket going to Lockheed. For red-light violations, Lockheed
> receives $32 for each $75 ticket that is paid, with the red-light
> camera contract assuming a 75 percent payment rate.

What is interesting in this article is the the assumed 75% payment 
rate.  If you break the law and you are fined you would expect an 
almost 100% payment rate, its a Law & Order issue.  If the 
motivation is revenue generation it would appear a lower payment 
rate may be acceptable.

A personal statement - While photo radar is just an easy way for 
law enforcement to go throw the motions red-light cameras may be 
a necessary evil.  Within this urban area people running red-lights 
has gotten totally out of hand.  I see people running lights 5 or more 
seconds after my light turns green, even passing cars stopped in 
nearby lanes.  If you are first in line at a light you must look both 
ways before proceeding on a green.  If red-light cameras are done 
right and can accurately pin-point the offending vehicle, done with a 
another photo one second or so after the first, they may what is 
required to get people to play by the necessary rules.

I did read a previous article where it was mentioned the existing 
cameras, and associated system,  were not setup properly and 
wrongly sent tickets to folks who were not guilty of any traffic 
violations.  Like I mentioned above, it must be done right where 
there is no doubt on who is guilty and who is not.

> D.C. police officials said the units are being rotated at about half
> that many sites, but police spokesman Kevin P. Morison said the
> 80,000-citations-per-month figure cited in the contract is an accurate
> estimate.
> 
> The District issued a total of about 10,000 speeding tickets last
> year, according to police traffic coordinator Lt. Patrick Burke.

I doubt very much Washington will go from issuing 10,000 traffic 
citations to 80,000 citations per month.  Drivers will get a ticket or 
two and change their ways, or learn where the photo units are 
located.  If the process rules are as loose as they are in BC people 
would have no reason to pay other than to eliminate some hassle.



Virtually


Raymond D. Mereniuk
Raymond at fbntech.com
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