Around the web: A roundup featuring comments from tampabay.com. The comments included here are occasionally edited for length but otherwise appear as they did on the article or column online.
On a column about deploying cameras to catch speeders in school zones.
Thank you for this excellent piece. Speed cameras work, and compared to the police personnel resources it would take to perform the same enforcement, the automated version is a bargain. Our roads are designed for high speeds, and it’s normal human neurology to slip into a state inattention, as described in Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Nobel prize winner economist and psychologist Daniel Kahneman. That is why techniques and road design features that force attention are necessary to save lives and keep us all safe. — C. Acosta
Would local governments still be interested in these systems if all of the millions collected were dedicated to fund health insurance coverage for children ages 4 to 18? — J. Phillips
People need to get over the Big Brother syndrome. Cameras are everywhere. They have helped to apprehend felons and exonerate the innocent. We live in a time where we think we can break the law or commit a crime and get away with it. Times have changed, and we need to accept it. Modify your behavior and you don’t have anything to worry about. — L. Myrie
If speed cameras are there to protect school children the majority of fines collected should go to the local school district. — F. Moore
That’s a non sequitur. The money collected isn’t the point, the point is collecting money to change the behavior. — P. Prose
I absolutely agree with speed cameras, with the addition of prominent signs warning of the cameras and fine amount. I’ve seen them in use in areas of Chicago, with warning signs, and amazingly NOBODY is exceeding the speed limit. —L. V.
Signs are ok but can be obscured by numerous things on any given day. Flashing lights over the roadway are the best system as they are easily seen by every driver. If you want to be fair make sure everyone sees the warning. Don’t say too expensive, not if you are collecting $100 per infraction. — R. Gilley
Having lived in Europe where speed cameras are at every corner, this would be a hard no for me. The issue is that it starts for select areas and in the end you have one every few miles. Especially, in areas where there are a lot of speed changes or people don’t watch out. It ends up being a local revenue source that tends to get abused. — G. P.
The article stated that cameras caught more than 100,000 people blowing through school zones in Hillsborough just this school year. Obey the law, keep kids safe, and the cameras will never bother you. But what I see is 100,000 people who feel “entitled” to the point of not even caring about children which is sad. — D. Herzog
It is however incumbent to teach kids that vehicles are dangerous. Look both ways. Don’t assume you can be seen.
There are school zones that remind motorists how fast they are driving and if it’s flashing it’s a warning to slow down. That can eliminate both an injury and a “gotcha.” — M. Draught