Speed cameras are a law enforcement technology that almost nobody likes. In fact, some upright citizens have gone as far getting laws passed that prevent speed cameras from being used as a law enforcement technology, such as in the state of South Dakota. Other states, such as Arizona, are having a hay day with their use of traffic cameras and are now raking in over $175,000,000 per year from their use. AAA is now actually warning drivers
One should be skeptical when a state or local official makes a statement that they want to ‘help protect’ their citizens by using cameras on the streets to monitor your speed while driving. There’s little evidence that speed cameras help reduce the amount of speeding and accidents on the road, and more often than not, the motives for placing speed cameras are purely financial. One Arizona county actually decided to ditch the speed cameras because they felt the cameras made the roads less safe.
The state of Arizona is probably the worst offender of the bunch. AAA is actually warning drivers about Arizona’s speed cameras. They’ve hired an Australian contractor that installs speed cameras, mails out the tickets, and provides the collection services. The contractor they’ve hired gets $30 from every ticket given, with the rest of the money given to the state of Arizona as revenue.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Arizona decided last summer that they weren’t making enough revenue from speed cameras, so they decided to lower the speed limit in the state in hopes of generating additional revenue. Fortunately, the tickets that are given out won’t place any points on your license and are strictly against the vehicle, and it’s essentially just a “speeding tax.”
Why aren’t Arizonians in outrage about these outrageous tactics used by their state government? It turns out that the state is only placing them on roads frequented by out-of-state travelers (mostly tourists). This way, the residents of the state will benefit from the revenue from the speed cameras without having to face a brunt of the costs from speeding past one of the cameras.
There’s probably not much any of us can do about these speeding cameras, other than choosing to vacation somewhere other than the state of Arizona. If you’re driving through the state of Arizona, be on the look out!
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