A vote for traffic enforcement cameras
Posted by DickH on 13 Nov 2009 at 07:08 am | Tagged as: Lowell-2009
The Globe reports today that there’s a move afoot to amend state law to allow the assessment of traffic fines on car owners based on pictures taken by automated cameras at certain intersections. Record me as a vote in favor of this. I was first introduced to this technology in 1980 in Germany. While visiting a friend’s apartment which was located alongside a busy interesection, the room was constantly illuminated by the strobe light at the interesection that fired for the camera every time a car sped through after the light had changed. My second experience came about ten years ago while driving a rental car in Washington, DC. About a week after returning from that trip, I received a citation in the mail from the DC Division of Traffic Enforcement. The citation had a photo of the rear of the rental car plus a close-up of the license plate. I was going 40 mph in a 30 mph zone. It felt a little Big Brother-ish, but I paid the fine and didn’t worry about it.
These days, I see the need for such cameras every time I drive to work. My trip from the Highlands to the Gorham Street courthouse takes me along YMCA Drive (aka Hale Street) to its intersection with Thorndike, right alongside the on ramp to the Lowell Connector. Cars coming on Thorndike Street from the direction of downtown just do not stop when their light turns red. Even after the light facing YMCA Drive turns green, you can be assured of at least three more vehicles on Thorndike Street racing through the intersection to get on the Connector. I give the Lowell Police credit, because there’s frequently a cruiser there, but the officer no sooner gets the car parked on the small side street across the way than he has to flip on the blue lights and race out after the unlucky one of many who blow through that red light. An automated camera would be more effective because its coverage would be constant, and it would free the officer for other duties. If the city makes some money from the fines, that’s great. But I’m more interested in saving some poor driver from getting T-boned at this very dangerous intersection.
Agreed on the public safety benefits. I think Big Brother arguments make sense if people are engaging in some kind of private activity or at least activity where there’s a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Driving on a public road is neither, and I have a hard time finding sympathy for people running red lights.
My running/walking route to the Y takes me across Thorndike St. and I notice red-light runners at the other sets of lights, too. I know people get frustrated because the lights are so out of sync, but still, there’s a safety issue that far outweighs that..
I wish we could place them at some stop signs in the area.
My question about these cameras. Would the the cities and towns have to place signs at the intersections giving warning ?
Agree with the Thorndike street/YMCA Drive intersection. I have also observed violations at the Parker Street/Stevens Street intersection, especially those inbound on Stevens, but also the outbound on Parker. It’s not a case of entering the intersection with a red light, but even after the 3-second delay has expired and the cross-street light is green, and sometimes more than one car passes through, usually at a high speed.
A few cameras placed in strategic locations would probably avoid the need for populating them throughout the city, or with some dummy cameras to create some uncertainty.
I’d like to see traffic enforcement cameras limited to running red lights rather than handing out speeding tickets. While the risk of an accident is always possible, the larger impact is that by running a red light and delaying the start of opposing traffic, people are obstructing the flow of traffic which will result in a vicious cycle of backup.
I would love to see cameras at Wood and Middlesex and Wood and Princeton to catch the people that not only blow throught the lights but also those that should know they are not going to make it through and still pull up & block the intersection so that traffic going in or out bound ( espciially on Princeton) cannot proceed. This has happened to us every day this week in the morning and I have been told the afternoon is worse.