Arizona Highway Cameras

[Tiggerlives]

OK, so I knew about the traffic cameras prior to a recent trip to Arizona. Apparently, they were prominent in Mesa (where I was staying on business). If anyone hasn't been there...basically they have 'speed trap' cameras set up in random places on the highway, ready to snap a picture of any speeder that passes by.

What I didn't know is how amazing the traffic is in Mesa! Man, I know some people will claim 24-7 surveillance is Draconian...but the highways were moving along pretty smoothly at 65-70, and in one week there I saw no accidents on the side of the road. None.

Does anyone living in Arizona have information in regards to the effectiveness of the traffic cameras on the highways?

Being there only a week is a pretty small sample size, but...I really felt a lot safer than on the highways in Cali where I'm constantly being passed at 75-80 miles and there seems to be an accident every 10 miles.

[Bob38dizfan]

There are speed cameras and mobile vans all over the state - several hundred! There are conflicting opinions on their effectiveness, the problem is, they can't determine for certain if the cameras or the downturn in the economy have had the most impact on traffic flow. There are still tons of accidents that occur especially during 'rush hours', when traffic is moving at significantly less than the speed limit anyway. They also do nothing for 'distractedness' from cellphones, etc.

[Lacrosse Boy]

That's because they ARE draconian, freedom-inhibiting, completely against the spirit our nation was founded upon. They were ruled as unconstitutional in the state of Minnesota, and the courts forced the city of Minneapolis to refund everyone who had been ticketed. And if you find you felt safer on the roads there than in Cali, well, I feel safer pretty much anywhere on the roads than I do in California.

Have you read up on the scameras in Arizona? There is a large movement to remove them. No one seems to want them, not even the sheriffs in their jurisdictions.

A few good blogs about the scameras there:
http://eyeonalbuquerque.blogspot.com...nd-profit.html
http://arizonaatheist.blogspot.com/2...amera-con.html

When I was in Switzerland, everyone seemed to know where the cameras on the freeways were, and would massively slow down so they didn't get ticketed, and then go back to speeding. So, the effectiveness of the cameras was nill.

I'd be curious to hearing club's thoughts on this, since he's from AZ, and most likely has to deal with them on a regular basis.

[Sir_Cliff]

That's because they ARE draconian, freedom-inhibiting, completely against the spirit our nation was founded upon.

Are they just speeding cameras that are used to fine people if they go over the speed limit? If so, how is that any more draconian than having police officers pulling people over for going over the speed limit? If not, what exactly are they for?

[Lacrosse Boy]

Are they just speeding cameras that are used to fine people if they go over the speed limit? If so, how is that any more draconian than having police officers pulling people over for going over the speed limit? If not, what exactly are they for?

The issue is that I am unable to confront them. They could be completely inaccurate, and there's no way to dispute them.

If I'm speeding, I would expect to be pulled over in the traditional manner, and be proven to have been speeding without a doubt. I want to live in a society of human interaction. I don't want to live in a society that sits and tracks our movements.

Here's a better question: Why do we need to put ATM (automated ticket machines) on the road everywhere? Do you want to live in 1984?

Another good blog to read up to get more information from those of us who feel the cameras are draconian: camerafraud.com

[Sir_Cliff]

The issue is that I am unable to confront them. They could be completely inaccurate, and there's no way to dispute them.

These cameras are everywhere in the state I live in back in Australia and this has actually become quite an issue. Some people have taken them to court and managed to prove the fine was inaccurate, but for most people it´s your word against the camera and generally the judgement will err on the side of the camera. Another point is they have become such a huge revenue earner for the state government that there is really no desire to seriously examine such flaws and hell would freeze over before they´d ever get rid of them. On the other hand, if a police officer tells you that you were going at a certain speed do you have a much greater chance of contesting the fine or license suspension?

In principal I must admit that I don´t have anything against them... as long as they work. The issue of cameras in public places generally is not one that I´ve ever got too wound up about as, for example, here in Mexico crime has gone down in areas where they´ve installed cameras and they have worked in catching criminals who´ve been caught dumping bodies and other delightful things. I completely understand why people do object and the potential abuses that could arise, but I have to admit that when I´m in a public place or driving I am not so adverse to being caught on security or speeding cameras as overall I think the benefits outweight the negatives. Again, though, I completely understand why people feel differently and perhaps I shouldn´t so freely give away my right to privacy!

[WrongWay]

The first speed cameras put onto freeways here went on the 101 in Socttsdale. It started as a pilot program, and they promised us we'd get very detailed results on how many accidents were prevented and how many lives were saved.

The cameras went up about every 4 miles or so. People quickly learned where they were, and would speed along at 85-90, then slow down for a few hundred feet before the cameras.

The test ended, and we waited, and waited, and waited....

Eventually, they came out with some total bs stats about how people went slower after they started issuing tickets than during the test period. Based on national statistics of speeding and accidents, we probably had x fewer accidents and y fewer deaths. HEY!!! That isn't what we were promised. We were promised exact stats from OUR STATE, ON THAT ROAD of accident and death rates pre-cameras and post.

The info was never provided, so I doubt it said what they wanted it to say.


Then, within the last year, cameras start popping up ALL OVER.

Okay, that isn't really true. They are packed in where traffic usually slows down prior to intersections. You can FLY up the 17 from the 10 to Thunderbird, but those last 3 miles before the 17 crosses the 101, there are 3 cameras. Take the 101 west then south from there, and you can go 10 miles without a camera, then there are like 5 in 5 miles.

I do not notice people flying along at 20 mph over the speed limit, then slamming on the brakes a few hundred feet before the cameras.


I dislike the idea of the cameras. I think we should enforce the victim crimes, and for the most part, speeding seems to be a largely victimless crime if the road is fairly empty. That said, I DO like that they've packed the cameras into areas where we really need people to be slowing down because there may be backed up traffic due to junctions.

And you get 11 MPH over the limit before you get the ticket for the cameras on the freeways. So, even if the camera is calibrated off by 10-15%, you were still speeding.


My wife got caught by one on a surface street in Tempe. 48 in a 35. $178.

[Disney Vault]

I hate them. I live in AZ too and know where all the cameras are around me so I know where to slow down.

[club33az]

Well, pretty much all of my arguments against them have been stated by my other Arizona bretheren.
BUT.......I have always wondered, since a big concern is people driving under distracted conditions, what can be more distracting than a huge flah bulb going off at night and you and 5 other cars around you are going 60-65 mph? And that's not just for the speeder. Everyone around him for a good couple of hundred feet (going both ways) see it (say on the 51, the southbound camera between Thomas and McDowell). I mean, at night, it's this HUGE flash and believe me, alot of people slam on their brakes even though they aren't even going the same direction as the "speeder." Even though there aren't any cameras in the direction you're going. How is that safe? How is that not distracting?

They are cash machines for the state. It's as simple as that.

And there's no way in the world that WW's wife should have been charged $178 since if she was just going 2 MPH slower, there wouldn't be any charge at all. That's about as black and white as it gets.

And as someone mentioned before, these speed cameras (the ones on the freeway, anyway) are all permanently bolted down. Everyone knows where they are and when to slow down. It's a joke.

[Bob38dizfan]

as a side note, I was rear ended and totaled less than 50 feet from a speed camera - It certainly did nothing for me