Regional motorists not happy with testing of speed cameras

QShame on you for not providing background information on this scam to test speeding cameras.

This is not new, and as cities get addicted to the revenue, they end up abusing the power. For example, you can expect the cameras to be operative even when students aren’t in school or the signs defining a senior zone or a recreational center to be confusing. —BobMiller,

Los Gatos

A

Others don’t like the idea of testing cameras in San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Q

What a horrible idea!

Cities will want these robo-cops everywhere in order to generate revenue. Do we really want a surveillance state? You need to identify the driver, not just the vehicle. So you need a photo of the face, and then the state needs to match the photo with the actual driver or force the car’s owner to identify the driver. Get ready for these speed cameras to be destroyed wherever they pop up. A I doubt that will happen. Q Oh, my God. Traffic cameras to give tickets. Big Brother is alive and well and all the lambs are drinking the KoolAid.

— Raymond Banks,

San Jose

A But…

Q It’s nice that politicians are finally trying to do something about high speeds, deaths and the fear of walking and biking on our streets. Speed cameras make a huge difference. Unfortunately, the current bill will effectively raise the speed limit by not issuing tickets unless people are driving 11 miles over the current limit. What a reckless and backward thing to do. A pedestrian hit by a driver going 35 is at least three times more likely to die than by a driver going 25.

Q

I’m OK with speed cameras on city streets as proposed. But leaving out highways, where I witness the most dangerous, crazed driving, is egregious.

— David Cohen, San Jose A Some states and many European countries use speed cameras on highways. There is no push to do that in California. Q I was in France, cruising down the Autoroute, when I noticed a billboard that listed some numbers and the words “too fast.” As I translated the French, it occurred to me that the numbers seemed similar to the license plate of my rental car.

To be safe, I slowed. When I checked, yep, my plate. No ticket, but the French gave me a warning.

We need something like that on our interstates.

—BobPierce

A And the warning worked.

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