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Friday, November 20, 2009
Australian Audit Report: Safety Not Sole Concern in Speed Camera Deployment

A report by the Auditor General of Tasmania, Australia released yesterday called into question whether speed cameras were being deployed based on revenue concerns. A team of investigators interviewed police officials, examined documents and other records in order to analyze the state's photo ticketing program over the course of eight months. The final audit questioned why safety concerns did not appear to guide camera placement.
   "We tested to see whether deployment of [photo radar] resources to the various speed zones was a reasonable reflection of the proportion of accidents occurring within them," the report explained. "Figure 8 appears to show a low correlation between the level of enforcement and serious and fatal crashes on a speed zone basis. Department of Police and Emergency Management has directed a disproportionate percentage of its speed camera enforcement resources towards the 40 to 60 km/h zones, despite a higher percentage of serious and fatal road crashes occurring in the 100 and 110 km/h zones."
   The report also found that most crashes happen in the afternoon, but the speed cameras tended to be deployed in the morning. The auditor found the disparity between the times when accidents happen most and when the cameras were deployed to have been "excessive." The report found that speed cameras were idle an average of 22 percent of the time because of "operator leave, faulty equipment, or equipment transport delays." When photographs taken did not result in citations, the cause 9 percent of the time was "operator error" and "equipment failure" 29 percent of the time.
   The average driver in Tasmania passed by a speed camera at least twice a month, placing Tasmania second only to Victoria in issuing the most citations per capita. Despite the heavy ticketing, the report found no credible evidence of a reduction in speeding as a result of the cameras. To the contrary, since 2003, the number of speeding tickets issued per thousand vehicles monitored has increased, not decreased.
   Opposition Police Spokesman Rene Hidding called the report evidence of "dollar driven government" in a statement.
   "The Tasmanian driving public have been telling us for years that they feel speed cameras are revenue raisers because of their locations," Hidding said. "The auditor-general appears to agree with these concerns."
   To further increase the number of citations, the audit report recommended deploying more fixed speed cameras because they "represent good value for money in locations with high-volume traffic." It recommended that traffic police issue fewer warnings to drivers in 2009. The auditor also recommended realigning camera deployments with safety concerns.
   A copy of the report is available in a 1.1mb PDF file at the source link below.
Source:

AUDITOR-GENERAL SPECIAL REPORT No. 85 (Auditor General of Tasmania, Australia, 11/20/2009)

Thursday, November 19, 2009
Shareholder Revolt Takes Out Three Traffic Camera Company Leaders

Angry shareholders yesterday ousted the chairman of the board of a major traffic camera company and two of his closest allies. Redflex Chairman Chris Cooper and Directors Peter Lewinsky and Roger Sawley resigned to avoid an embarrassing vote after learning that a majority of shareholder proxies expressed no confidence in their continued leadership. The internal revolt followed closely upon the revolt of Ohio voters in the cities of Chillicothe and Heath.
   Cooper and his wife will retain influence on Redflex as major shareholders in the company, a point the former chairman made while delivering a farewell address to meeting attendees.
   "Without doubt, Redflex's primary basis is as a business entity," Cooper said. "Its activities are focused on generating a profitable bottom line for the company's owners -- its shareholders.... I intend personally to maintain a significant financial investment in the company and maintain my support for the company."
   Despite the ongoing recession, Redflex boasted of a 48 percent increase in revenue for the Australian company. As 87 percent of the company's revenue stream derives from motorists in the United States, trouble with American ticketing programs can put the future of Redflex growth on the line. The company explained that the US public is increasingly not paying citations issued by the private Australian company.
   "Collection rates in the US business remain an issue and this is a particular focus for the company," CEO Graham Davie said."[There has been] a reduction in collection rates in a number of jurisdictions, and particularly in the state of Arizona."
   Management of the Arizona program, which Davie said caused a loss of cash due to "allocation of poor quality deployments for the mobile speed vans" served as a catalyst for the shareholder action.
   "Hunter Hall has concluded that, so far, the 'Arizona statewide' program has been an expensive failure," revolt leader Jack Lowenstein wrote on behalf of his firm.
   Later today, the top Redflex lobbyist, Jay Heiler, will defend the Arizona photo radar program in a debate with the grassroots group CameraFraud.com at a meeting of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Federal Court Bans South Carolina Christian License Plate

A US District Court judge ruled last week that the state of South Carolina violated the federal Constitution when it allowed drivers to choose a Christian-themed license plate last year. Judge Cameron McGowan Currie issued a scathing decision prohibiting the state from going forward with the plate's production.
   "This case presents a textbook example of the need for and continued vitality of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment," Currie wrote. "The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly warned that government may not promote or affiliate itself with any religious doctrine or organization. This limitation on government action is based on the clear understanding of our founders that a union of government and religion tends to destroy government and to degrade religion."
   Currie pointed out that the state's department of motor vehicles created the plate in response to the 2008 law, not because members of the public demanded it. A special interest group known as Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit claiming the state should not have singled out Christianity over other religions by featuring a cross and a stained glass window on the plate.
   "Government must never be allowed to express favored treatment for one faith over others," Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said in a statement. "That's unconstitutional and un-American."
   South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer was the driving force behind the legislation that created the plate. He noted that even atheists can select a "Secular Humanists of the Low Country" plate which replaces the phrase "In God We Trust" with "In Reason We Trust" (view plate).
   "Over a hundred different license plates in South Carolina allow freedom of expression from a multitude of different activities -- to clubs to groups to colleges," Bauer testified. "And I thought that if everyone else is allowed that opportunity, why shouldn't believers in the Christian faith be able to express themselves -- as so many other people have been able to."
   Currie fired back in her ruling with a broadside attack on Bauer.
   "The 'I Believe' Act had its genesis in Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer's desire to do here what had been unsuccessful in the state of Florida -- to gain legislative approval of a specialty plate promoting the majority religion: Christianity," Currie wrote. "Whether motivated by sincerely held Christian beliefs or an effort to purchase political capital with religious coin, the result is the same. The statute is clearly unconstitutional and defense of its implementation has embroiled the state in unnecessary (and expensive) litigation."
   Currie struck down the law authorizing the plate and ordered that taxpayers pay the lawyer's fees for Americans United. A copy of the ruling is available in a 150k PDF file at the source link below.
Source:

Summers v. Adams (US District Court, District of South Carolina, 11/10/2009)

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Illinois Lawmakers Push Red Light Camera Restrictions

A handful of Illinois state lawmakers are fighting to rein in and possibly eliminate the use of red light cameras when the legislature returns to session in January. The most ambitious proposal comes from state Senator Dan Duffy (R-Barrington) who last month introduced Senate Bill 2466 to wipe any authorization of automated ticketing machines from the statute books. Duffy complained on his website earlier this month about the corrupting influence that a UK-Israeli operator of traffic cameras has had on the statehouse.
   "This company not only provides the red light cameras for much of the Chicagoland area it also lobbies for legislation to increase their business," Duffy wrote. "Redspeed uses email updates targeting specific legislators who are not voting in favor of Redspeed."
   State Representative Angelo Saviano (R-Elmwood Park) has a more limited objective in mind. Last month he introduced legislation that would not ban cameras entirely, but instead would ban the most lucrative form of ticketing.
   "A county or municipality, including a home rule county or municipality, may not use an automated traffic law enforcement system to provide recorded images of a motor vehicle for the purpose of issuing violations to persons driving a motor vehicle who enter an intersection to turn right, or to turn left from a one-way street into a one-way street," House Bill 4631 states.
   Several Chicago suburbs have earned millions in revenue almost entirely from issuing right turn on red tickets with cameras. Very few accidents are ever caused by drivers making right hand turns on red after slowing, according to US Department of Transportation data (view report).
   State Senator Rickey R. Hendon (D-Chicago) offered the least ambitious of the red light camera measures. His bill would prevent localities from issuing a ticket for a certain type of technical infraction.
   "A county or municipality, including a home rule county or municipality, may not use an automated traffic law enforcement system to provide recorded images of a motor vehicle for the purpose of issuing violations to persons driving a motor vehicle who come to a stop one foot or less past the point where a driver is required to stop," Senate Bill 2477 states.
   All three bills face an uphill battle in a legislature that has consistently expanded the use of automated ticketing over the past few years. Copies of each proposal can be found in a 200k PDF file at the source link below.
Source:

Red Light Camera Legislation (Illinois General Assembly, 11/17/2009)

Monday, November 16, 2009
Michigan Lawmakers Consider Repeal of Driver Responsibility Tax

The Judiciary Committee of the Michigan House of Representatives is expected this week to consider repealing the state's Driver Responsibility Act (DRA). Since 2004, Michigan has used this law to impose a tax of $300 to $2000 on certain driving offenses, plus an annual tax of $100 to $500 a year for anyone with more than seven points on his license. State Representative Bettie Cook Scott (D-Detroit) introduced a bill that would repeal the this law by the end of the year.
   "The DRA is not a law to promote justice and safety on the roads," Scott testified in an earlier hearing on her bill. "It's a law that generates money... If the industrial and manufacturing revenues to the state have dropped, the state should not shift the loss of revenue on to its lowest wage earners. It must focus on attracting and creating new business that can create revenue."
   Last year, the tax generated $114.2 million in revenue for the state. Since 2004, drivers have been billed a total of $800 million, but only $400 million has actually been collected as thousands have been unable to make the steep payments required.
   "If you were forced to choose between keeping your lights on or paying for DRA fees, which one would you choose?" Scott asked. "So what happens? The state charges them extra money by charging two years of DRA fees. Because they do not have extra money and have not paid fees they have their driver's license suspended or allow their auto insurance to lapse."
   According to state data, the number of license suspensions and unlicensed drivers has skyrocketed since the law took effect. There were 39,465 assessments for driving on a suspended license in 2004, a figure which jumped 42 percent to 56,183 in 2008. The number of those caught driving without insurance jumped from 2063 to 89,202 in the same period.
   Under House Bill 4098, drivers with payments due before the end of the year would have their tax cut in half. The state of Virginia last year eliminated its short-lived "abuser fee" program in response to vocal public opposition.
   A copy of the bill is available in a 35k PDF file at the source link below.
Source:

House Bill 4098 (Michigan State Legislature, 11/16/2009)

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