While it’s common in Australia, American motorists are up in arms about a “nightmare” plan to roll out more of this road safety tool.
American motorists are up in arms about a “nightmare” plan to introduce more speed cameras across the country.
Federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the plan as part of a new national strategy last week aimed at reducing road fatalities, saying the Biden administration’s goal was “zero deaths” from traffic.
“The decision to commit to that goal in a serious way at a national level changes the way cities and towns design roads, changes the way companies build cars, changes the way people drive,” Mr Buttigieg said.
The Associated Press reported the strategy, which is backed by $US14 billion ($A20 billion) in funding from the Biden administration’s $US1.2 trillion ($A1.7 trillion) infrastructure bill, “recommends pilot programs to study and promote greater use of speed cameras, which the department says could provide more equitable enforcement than police traffic stops”.
While ubiquitous across Australia, speed cameras remain highly controversial in the US, where they are banned by law in eight states. Only 18 states plus the District of Columbia currently use speed cameras.
According to the Worldwide Speed Camera Database, there are some 6762 speed cameras in America, which has a population of 329.5 million, versus 1392 for Australia’s population of 25.7 million – meaning Australia has nearly three times the number of speed cameras per capita.
The news has been met with outrage from national motorist groups, as well as critics from the left and right who oppose the speed cameras either as a revenue-raising tool for police, or an invasion of privacy.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked the announcement on his Friday show.
“When the country applauded $US1.2 trillion going to fixing the roads, bridges and buildings, a lot of us were dumb enough to think that’s what might actually happen … so what is the $US1.2 trillion plan going to do for our crumbling infrastructure?” he said.
“Well Pete Buttigieg has a plan. Here it is – more speed cameras. According to the Associated Press, Buttigieg would like to ‘promote greater use of speed cameras, which the department says could provide more equitable enforcement than police traffic stops’.
“Got that? So because of ‘equity’, you’re about to get a lot more speeding tickets from robots. See how that works? ‘Shut up, racist, pay the fine.’”
The National Motorists Association lists 10 reasons on its website why it objects to speed cameras, stating that they “actually make our roads less safe”.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, which blasted the “speed camera nightmare that’s coming to America”, NMA president Gary Biller said the push to “restrict driving speeds” came despite historical data showing the country’s roads were “as safe as they have ever been”.
“In the brave, new world being staked out by the National Roadway Safety Strategy, you may pay a literal price for letting a family member or friend borrow a car registered to you,” Mr Biller told the publication.
“The true solution to roadway safety is continued improvements in street design, vehicle technology, and road user – drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians – education, not flawed, command-and-control enforcement.”
Declan O’Scanlon, a Republican state senator in New Jersey where speed cameras are illegal, told the Daily Mail automated speed enforcement had not been proven to make anyone safer, and only served to enrich the companies operating the systems.
“Thank God New Jersey had the good sense to ban the use of automated enforcement early on … and then win a David vs Goliath battle to terminate our failed red light camera experiment,” he said.
“These systems’ negative impact falls particularly hard on the poor. The fines are a regressive tax. Any elected official that supports these systems is supporting screwing every one of (his or her) constituents that drives a car.”
Last year, the Iowa branch of the left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union came out against speed cameras, citing “dubious safety data”, due process issues and surveillance concerns.
“In some places, for example, traffic cameras have led to an increase in rear-end accidents as drivers rush to slam on the brakes to avoid an automatically generated ticket,” the ACLU wrote.
“Just as a matter of common sense, traffic cameras are unlikely to protect against many of the most dangerous drivers. A traffic camera is far less likely to stop a drunk driver than flesh-and-blood police.”
The group added, “Perhaps more than anything, we oppose the ‘Big Brother’ approach to governing that traffic cameras embody.
“Traffic cameras allow for government monitoring of our driving behaviours at a scale that exceeds what is possible when using traditional traffic enforcement methods.
“Some key legislators have described them as a step toward a ’surveillance camera culture’ that should give us all pause.”
Originally published as ‘Speed camera nightmare’: Americans slam White House plan to bring in more traffic cameras
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