New Fixed Photo Radar Camera in Prescott Valley (dangerous, education)

[Low Roller]

Originally Posted by BriansPerspective

Supposedly if they cannot identify you, they cannot ticket you. That's just heresay though.

That's what I've read and long heard. They have to have a pic showing it's you driving the vehicle.

That's why even if I'm not speeding, I always stretch up (top of my head touching the roof) when passing a camera so that my face cannot be seen by the camera.

It's all tore up. 15 mph limit in a lot of it.

I haven't been on it in weeks, so the construction is news to me. But it's a big, major road; and once it's repaired it should be at least 35, not 25.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by wretched wrench

What other city and county fees are for behavior changes? Most are for revenue, pure and simple. I believe PV has the biggest building permit and related fees around here. Is there some particular behavior pattern unique to PV that they have to modify?

Or is it revenue?

Take a gander at the following AZ Repulic article: Traffic cameras not profitable for cities across Arizona

[wretched wrench]

the article is interesting, and fits in well with other articles I have seen from other states. A careful reading tells us that some cities do indeed make money.

Also, it is very hard to glean the truth from a politician where money is involved, so many of the questions are not directly answered. As in, "Tucson officials had a difficult time providing basic revenue information for their program". A former city councilman once told me, "As long as the police dept keeps bringing in revenue, we give them anything they want." The police requests for new expensive toys were always in closed sessions so the numbers would not be on public record. In years since, I ran that by the few other councilmen I knew, from nearby towns, and they would look around, then nod their heads in agreement. None of these were PV, BTW.

It is interesting to note that a spokesman for one of the camera companies said, "The price of a ticket is not what changes behavior". This leaves little justification for the high dollar fines in some cities, other than revenue.

The National Motorists' Association site does a pretty good job of investigative reporting on this stuff.

[Esenjay]

I've driven through PV a few times over the past couple weeks and I have to say, the cameras have sufficient postings to alert drivers to the change of speed and upcoming camera enforcement. You pretty much have to be daydreaming not to notice the signs and adjust your speed appropriately.

Maybe it's inconvenient to people who need to speed to get where they're going; overall I don't see it as a big deal. Slow down a little and you won't get a ticket. Don't run the red light and you won't get a ticket. Pay attention while you're driving and maybe you won't cause a serious accident. So many bad drivers on the roads these days I'd probably be more in favor of traffic control than taking away the monitoring.

And before you claim the cameras are causing rear-end accidents--no, they're not. It's the inattention of drivers that causes that. Rear-end accidents wouldn't occur if people maintained safe driving distances to the vehicle ahead of them and paid attention to changing traffic conditions. Accountability comes down to the driver.

[Kimballette]

Feel free to continue discussing the morality/wisdom/profit angle of speed cameras throught the U.S. in another forum. This thread is regarding the photo radar camera in Prescott Valley. Thanks.

[Low Roller]

Originally Posted by Esenjay

I've driven through PV a few times over the past couple weeks and I have to say, the cameras have sufficient postings to alert drivers to the change of speed and upcoming camera enforcement. You pretty much have to be daydreaming not to notice the signs and adjust your speed appropriately.

As was pointed out either in this thread or another on the same subject, in PV, the mobile camera SUVs do not have any warnings - only the static, traffic light-mounted cameras do so.

I've personally taken notice of this back when I was under threat of getting a ticket. The mobile cameras have no warning signs - at least in PV.

[Esenjay]

Are the mobile cameras set up exactly where speed limits changed, or in the middle of a zone where the speed limit has been clearly posted, such as the ones we sometimes see on the 89 going from Prescott to Chino Valley?

If it's a clear trap then you have ground to stand on, but generally speaking if you're paying attention to your speed and the posted limits, the cameras are nothing to fear, mobile or otherwise.

[Low Roller]

Originally Posted by Esenjay

Are the mobile cameras set up exactly where speed limits changed, or in the middle of a zone where the speed limit has been clearly posted, such as the ones we sometimes see on the 89 going from Prescott to Chino Valley? .

I've seen them both ways. But I've definitely seen them where the speed limit changes, and the mobile units are hidden as best as possible with no warning - so they are deliberate traps.

If it's a clear trap then you have ground to stand on

No, I respectfully don't think so. If the city can get away with the traps (which they are doing,) I think no one has ground to stand on. If you get flashed, you're probably screwed. That's what people are so angry about with the cameras.

[Esenjay]

Wear your gorilla mask, you'll be safe as you speed through PV.

[Low Roller]

Originally Posted by Esenjay

Wear your gorilla mask, you'll be safe as you speed through PV.

Maybe you're talking from personal use experience, but I don't have one.

I stretch to the roof so that my face is blocked. Other friends just put their sun visors down.

What we're most angry about is sneaking ways of the city to hide the things.