greed cameras

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    Speed cameras banned by U.S. state 'uncomfortable' with the 'intrusive government cash cows'

    By Daniel Bates
    Last updated at 1:20 AM on 17th July 2010


    The first American state to deploy speed cameras has banned them after a campaign of opposition from motorists.

    Arizona today became the first to pull the plug amid concerns the cameras intruded on privacy and were mainly designed to raise money.

    In echoes of the row in Britain, motorists had waged a sustained campaign against their use by martyring themselves in court and vandalising cameras.

    In addition, less than a third of the 1.2million tickets issued were paid, and Arizona collected 45million in fines, far below the projected 80million annual revenue.

    Motorists refused to pay the 120 fines to test whether or not they would actually be jailed, causing legal clerks to be overwhelmed by the paperwork.

    It was unclear if the cameras had even led to a sustained reduction in accidents - the Arizona Department of Public Safety had reported a 19 per cent drop in fatal collisions in the first nine months the cameras were in use, but after that no data was released.

    They were axed by Republican Governor Jan Brewer who had made no secret of her dislike for them.

    'She opposed this program because it was designed primarily as a state revenue-generation tool,' her spokesman, Paul Senseman, said.

    'She also is uncomfortable with the intrusive nature of the system.

    'Other critics were more vocal and said that the use of cameras amounted to the 'government spying on its citizens.'

    A spokeswoman for Redflex, which ran the 76 fixed point and mobile cameras, said there would be an increase in road deaths after they had been withdrawn.


    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1295333/Speed-cameras-banned-U-S-state-uncomfortable-intrusive-government-cash-cows.html#ixzz0uWstjZOh







 
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