It is not a secret that governments use their law enforcement agencies to produce revenue. The use of red light cameras and the new practice of tacking civil penalties onto traffic tickets are designed to do one thing and one thing only and that is generate revenue for the local government (or for the state). Of course, politicians and law enforcement officers will never admit to this and will stick to the party line that it is about public safety. However, when jurisdictions take down or move red light cameras they cite decreased revenue as the reason. I have never heard them say “we made it so damned safe here that we do not need it any more.” People who believe that it is about public safety also believe that police officers do not have quotas. Regardless of what anyone tells you, they do.
I am not a fan of speed traps because they cause people to do stupid things and when one considers that the very cops giving out the tickets will exceed the speed limit when they leave, the idea of public safety becomes more blurred. Recently, a Maryland police officer (from one of the counties) was killed when he stepped out in traffic to stop a speeder and was struck. Was the revenue required bu his quota worth his life?
The use of automated devices is increasingly infringing upon our rights. While Democrats and the Communist ACLU worry about wire tapping terrorists local jurisdictions are happy to send a ticket in the mail for some infraction thus denying the defendant the right to face his accuser. The courts have upheld these devices though because it is all about the money.
The newest item to harass people is the stop sign camera and the first ones are set to be deployed in California (where else). These devices will monitor cars at stop signs and determine if the car was stopped for a sufficient amount of time before moving on. The cameras are designed to keep people from treating stop signs as yield signs. Who is to say how long is sufficient and how will people refute a camera, which is a still picture? California already has enough traffic problems without adding to them. I suggest each person who comes to a stop sign come to a complete stop and count to 10 before proceeding. This should gum up traffic pretty good and keep cameras from snapping $100 pictures.
I know it is just a matter of time before these stop sign cameras come to my state of Maryland. The Democrats in this state have screwed the budget up so badly that they are looking for any way possible to increase revenue. They are already discussing charging money for the number of points assessed for a traffic offense (in other words, speeding ticket $250 and 3 point on license. Tack on civil fine of $500-$1000 per point). These schemes are designed to do nothing more than increase revenue. When a politician says it is about safety, it is about money because they do not care about your safety, just safely keeping their jobs.
Americans need to start fighting back against intrusive government. A good start is for Californians to have prolonged stops at stop signs in order to mess up traffic and in order to keep cameras from fining them. Besides, maybe some of the stop signs will get changed to yield signs in the process.
Perhaps instead of making laws or using cameras the government can make speed limits more practical and use their power to crack down on aggressive and dangerous drivers and leave the rest of us alone.
Anything for money is what government is about. I imagine they will soon tax air and have monitors in our houses and work places so they can tell how much we are using.
Source:
theNewspaper.com
Unrelated trackbacks to Outside the Beltway ♦ Perri Nelson’s Website ♦ Blog @ MoreWhat.com ♦ 123beta ♦ Right Truth ♦ Adam’s Blog ♦ On the Horizon ♦ Stuck On Stupid ♦ Webloggin ♦ Leaning Straight Up ♦ Cao’s Blog ♦ The Amboy Times ♦ The Bullwinkle Blog ♦ , third world county ♦ Faultline USA ♦ Woman Honor Thyself ♦ The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns ♦ stikNstein… has no mercy ♦ The World According to Carl ♦ Pirate’s Cove ♦ Blue Star Chronicles ♦ The Pink Flamingo ♦ Dumb Ox Daily News ♦ Right Voices and Church and State
Thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.