Traffic light cameras are like having a law enforcement officer at every intersection, 24 hours a day, recording every movement of every vehicle. It is a huge step toward the automatic technology surveillance and control of every individual in our society by government authority in any public situation. It should not be allowed.
Use of the traffic light cameras is a source of a huge amount of free money to government authorities, and make traffic light camera companies/suppliers wealthy off the traveling public. I think this is the primary reason for their use.
They should be ruled as too intrusive on the free movement of the traveling public. It is too much to expect every individual driver, when approaching every traffic light, to have perfect eye contact, brain and muscle control to comply with the watchful eye of a traffic light camera. DAVID L. EARLS, BEAVERCREEK
‘This is Big Brother watching you’
The issue of banning traffic cameras needs to be discussed within the context of a larger debate. Many police departments have reduced patrols due to economic cutbacks over the past few years, and one could argue that traffic cameras help cover hazardous roadways and intersections, freeing up police to deal with more important crimes.
If we succumb to the notion that driving on public roads is a privilege, not a right, and therefore we are subject to any method of enforcement the city leaders deem appropriate, what else might they have in store for the driving public, as technology allows greater ease — at increasingly cheaper costs and with greater profits — to spy on its citizens? All in the name of looking out for the safety of the community. Drones are already becoming a major issue in the debate over our right to privacy. …
There’s something inherently wrong about getting a traffic ticket in the mail stating a camera that you had no idea existed says you broke the law. This is Big Brother watching you in the worst way.
The real issue to me is simply one of generating revenue and an easy means to fill the city coffers at a time when budgets are getting squeezed and taxpayers are voting down levies for yet more taxes. …JOHN MILLER, BEAVERCREEK
Speak Up
I have almost been hit twice by vehicles running red lights. Both times, my 2-year-old son was in the car with me. Both times, I had the green light for at least five seconds. These incidents were at two different intersections without the cameras. At least with a fine in the mail, people will either pay more attention while driving or stop running them on purpose. The police cannot be at every traffic light 24 hours a day. If you don't like the cameras, don't run red lights.
A solution to traffic camera intrusion would be to accidentally get a little mud on your license plate before you travel through known areas with cameras. It works great.
The people of the United States elected a president who seems to have no fiscal restraint. He and Vice President Joe Biden continue to spend lavishly while trying the "Chicken Little" approach to the sequester. In fact, the sky was not falling.
There are quite a few holes in the argument for denying the permit for the Keystone Pipeline. Canada is still going to take the oil from tar sands, no matter what we do, and they will sell it to China. Isn't more dangerous to send the oil across the ocean than in a pipeline over land where an accident can be more quickly contained?
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