Saw this on Drudge. More lunacy from Gov. Blagojevich.
To make good on his offer to help Chicago combat violence, Gov. Blagojevich envisions putting speed cameras on interstates across Illinois -- and using the revenue to form an "elite tactical team" that would operate in Chicago and other cities.
The idea is in its infancy, with no budget and no timetable.
Sigh.
Sieg Heil Hitler
The smart drivers are slowing down anyway, to save on gas. Speeding is letting your lizard brain control the accelerator. The rising price of gas will do more to slow down speeders and reduce traffic than any camera will.
On my recent driving to and from Chicago and Indianapolis on separate trips separated by 10-14 days and driving at 55 mph, I have not observed any decrease in speed by either drivers of cars or trucks. And since I am moving at 55, it is very easy to measure this differential, especially with truck. It is even more apparent in Indiana because the highway speed is 70 mph. I grant this is a midwest example. Maybe Glock 21 observed different behaviors on that long trip.
Pattsi Petrie
If the cameras were used to ticket drivers unclear on the concepts of lane discipline, turn signals, and safe following distance, I'd be all for it. But I assume they will be used to generate revenue from drivers operating safely at 75 MPH in cars and on highways designed for such speeds. Progress marches on.
I thought it was odd that the price of the speeding fine of over 10 went up to 165 dollars. Right now the cut off is 21 mph and faster. Plus right now, the State Police dont get revenue from tickets...other than 5.00 to buy them new cars with this I guess they will be.
"Maybe Glock 21 observed different behaviors on that long trip."
According to the Texas Rangers who pulled me over I average about 3 miles an hour over the speed limit when I drive on the highway. And after 5,400 miles I rarely passed anything but semi-trucks and a handful of senior citizens. It didn't matter if the speed limit was 65, 70, or 75... nor did it matter if the signs said "safety corridor: fines doubled" or if it was a construction zone with 45 or 55 mph limits... people slowed down if they saw a cop or got stuck behind slower traffic, and little else.
The average speeding increased in and around cities just like it does around Chicago and Indy here (at least when it wasn't horribly backed up). The average speeding decreased with the higher speed limits, though almost everyone was still speeding somewhat.
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Glock21 Op/Ed
The only camera that I'm interested in seeing is the one recording "The Boy Governor" being led into the Federal Court House in Chicago after the indictments for corruption are unsealed!! The sooner the better!!
There's a funny post over at The Daily WTF? about a guy who received an automatic ticket for speeding in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. (link pops)
As the speed-camera image on the ticket posted there will show, yes, his license plate was indeed going down the road pretty fast, but.. WTF?
"Speeding is letting your lizard brain control the accelerator."
I AM THE LIZARD KING! AND I CAN DO ANYTHING!
:-)
This is the reason, I do not display a front license plate. It keeps the parisites at bay.
Hi IP--
Is there a particular reason comments were deleted from this blog entry?
"Is there a particular reason comments were deleted from this blog entry?"
There weren't, at least not to my knowledge. What makes you think that there were?
I posted a comment on Friday and it's no longer in the string.
OK. That would be disconcerting. Let me look at the logs and see if I can notice anything. Any details you can remember about the deleted comment would be helpful - approximate time you posted it, the first few words, etc.
I can't find anything in the logs, but there are some updates I need to do to the blog software that I've been putting off, and I'm going to do them shortly just to be safe.
Sorry that your comment was lost. I'm still not sure how that is possible, but hopefully an update will prevent it from happening again.
OK - it's not just you. One of my comments from the Olympics thread is missing, too, and I can't find any reason why in the system logs.
If anyone notices any comments missing, please try to note what you posted, where and when and I'll see if I can track down why. This is potentially a huge problem if systemic.
IP--
I think I posted it around 4:45pm--5:00pm (approx. that time). Another thing, which I thought was very wierd, was that I got a message on your page to the effect of "your comment has been queued for review". Sorry I forgot to note that earlier.
OK. Thanks - "queued for approval" usually means the anti-spam software is picking up a false positive, and I just need to clear the comment from the moderation queue, but I don't see anything there, and I haven't gotten that message on any of my own comments which are now strangely missing.
I'll keep watching, and I've tweaked some settings, hoping that it doesn't happen any more. If it does, please let me know.
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