Giant signs warn motorists about secret photo radar cash grab
The Quebec government’s pilot project of automated driving enforcement – photo radar and red light cameras – officially begins Wednesday, as the first tickets get issued to drivers (well, actually, the registered owners of vehicles).
The locations of these devices has been all over the media, there’s a Google map of locations in Montreal, and drivers have had months to get used to giant signs like the one above warning them that they’ll be ticketed if they speed or run red lights.
All of which proves this is a secret government cash grab meant to trick drivers into handing over their hard-earned money because a system which must have been broken because I wasn’t speeding it was the car in front of me issued a ticket to my house but it must have gotten my license plate number wrong because I wasn’t driving there that day and I was close to the speed limit and the margin of error on these things is so huge I was clearly just under the limit and it says I was over except the guy next to me was going faster and he wasn’t ticketed I think and this whole system violates the constitution and why don’t they setup photo radars to catch real criminals instead of targetting us hard-working folk and have you noticed the placement of these things discriminates against people who live in certain areas and there’s no evidence that this actually makes our roads safer because this is a total scam.
This sign says take pictures while speeding on the street at left.
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In fact, I wasn’t driving my car that day. My 7-years old boy was.
I finally saw the one on Notre-Dame. I thought it was supposed to actually be a moving car witha a radar, not a parked car (with a red and white checker stripe) with the camera a few meters away…
And if the governement really wants to make money, it would move the St-Catherine E. corner Iberville camera to Iberville corner St-Cath. In the morning, the drivers in a hurry to get to Notre-Dame routinely block the corner trying to make the red light in spite of the traffic being backed up, same in the afternoon…
Gatsos are a very poor enforcement method.
I have no idea if it’s true or not, but I overhead about someone taking a project-management class in Ottawa whose teacher was a moonlighting RCMP project manager.
The class assignment’s was to have teams prepare the project management of an Information Technology project. But since he was a RCMPer, it had to be of use for law-enforcement.
One team proposed black boxes on cars to automatically ticket bad drivers.
Apparently, when presented with that, the usually exuberant teacher’s face suddenly went blank, and after about 5 seconds of blank stare, he mumbled “that’s not okay, and it’s coming anyways”, then he looked like he should not have said that.
So it seems that police forces are looking into putting black boxes to monitor drivers at all times. Now, this would be a perfect way to get the roads rid of the lunatic maniacs who drive there.
How many times do you see people running red light every day? I see at least two myself. 30 years ago, you would only see that once or twice a year. People have far less respect for traffic laws than they had.
I don’t know why Fagstein seems to be so pro-photo-radar. I mean okay, sure, it’s fair to get a ticket if you’re speeding, but photo radar is a flawed technology. There have been plenty of cases in the news where vehicles were mistakenly identified as speeding by photo radar. Plus, these cameras need regular adjustment, maintenance, and testing in order to maintain their minimum margin of error rating. Somehow I have trouble believing that the city is on top of maintenance, and I doubt very much that the city will care whether the speed you’re clocked at is within the radar’s error margin. It’s a case of “put ’em up and wait for the cash to come rolling in”. It’s definitely a cash grab. C’mon Fagstein, you read the news, you know what cops are like in this city, they don’t give a damn about driving safely (that’s obvious just from watching them drive!), it’s all about making money and exercising their power.
Yeah, why would the city maintain what is obviously a cash grab? What kind of motivation would they have for keeping something that’s rolling in the money in proper shape?
It’s so obviously a cash grab. That’s why they warn drivers about it, with giant arrows saying RED LIGHT CAMERA HERE! It’s so sneaky…
It’s too soon to say, but I’m sure that people from places with beaucoup Gatsos will be rolling in laughter when they see the warning signs…
Now, the question is, will people tolerate gatsos or will they torch them???
(Funny though that the name associated with speed cameras in the UK also was a sportscars manufacturer… — WARNING, really strange-looking cars there, maybe to the point of being NSFW).
There is not only radar. Radar is used to ascertain the speed of the car, yes, but that’s before it passes in front of the camera. The actual determination is done by the camera which takes TWO pictures at a precise time interval. The distance the car travelled between the two shots is then used to precisely measure the speed.
Well, if you don’t want to be ticketed, drive correctly.
It’s nice to see that some folks are looking for any excuse to justify their unwillingness to change their poor driving behaviour.
After all, speeding and running red lights are victimless crimes. No one could possibly get hurt.
It’s funny how the “cash grab” argument always comes up, but I don’t buy it. The solution is simple: don’t speed. If you were wrongfully issued a ticket, take it to court. I don’t feel like drivers in Quebec are responsible or mature enough to be criticizing the city for cash grabs over speeding.
Reminds me of something that happened out in the St-Lazare/Hudson area a while back. Parents from a public school were complaining of cars always rolling through a nearby stop sign, where children were waiting for the bus and crossing the street to get to school. So eventually the police said “okay, we’ll start setting up traps to catch the people blowing through the stop.” Lo and behold, a couple weeks later the same parents at the school started complaining about being harassed by police officers at the stop sign while they were driving their kids to school, how this police presence is excessive and they weren’t really running the stop sign, they were “pretty much stopped”, and just want to go about their own business without someone breathing down their neck every time they didn’t perfectly stop at a stop sign.
Get the point?
I think the fact that this “cash-grab” argument surfaces so quickly is indicative of how (those) people generally view speeding. When given a ticket for speeding, they see more the money being taken out of their wallet than the fact that it’s penalty for something they did “wrong”. I figure many don’t see anything “wrong” in speeding, and thus, those photo-radars are only disguised taxing of their guilty speedy pleasures. They feel that speeding is a right. And those who want to stripe them of that right are fun-killing thieving fascists.
I personally don’t care for the signs. I’d rather have people slow down because they see the signs than be angered at being caught by the camera. The goal being to reduce the speed at which cars travel, and not to trick them fast drivers into a ticket. Yup, the goal is NOT to make money, though money collected that way can (and should) be used for the greater good — it’s not a tax. I figure, if we can convince people to slow down voluntarily, rather than coerce them into doing it, everyone (in general) will feel better about it.
People should slow down, well, simply because it is irresponsibel to speed.
This shows how much motorists are responsible… :\
One of the most frustrating things a northern city councilor had to face was with a daycare center right accross the terminus of a single bus line that ran every 20 minutes or so. Well, the parents wanted the terminus moved elsewhere because they did not want their offspring to be squished by the buses* . Never mind that them driving there to drop the brats put them in a far bigger danger of being hit by a car…
* I would be tempted to say that such douchy parents only deserve to have their brats squished by buses, just to insure that their douchyness doesn’t get propagated, but since I’m such a nice guy, I won’t…
The lesson here is speed where you can speed.
Great idea! It’s about time! Why have the signs that warn drivers? Bad or dangerous drivers deserve tickets because they cost our healthcare system and our taxpayers more than safe drivers do because they cause more accidents.
I think that the signs should be removed. This will increase the number of drivers who get caught ($$$) and will also encourage drivers to slow down everywhere, because they don’t know where the next camera could be lurking.
Like if the likelyhood of a cop hiding anywhere deters people from speeding…
Now my question is…if the photos show people useing hand-held cellphones, will they be ticketed for that also????? :o)
If the photos catch the driver useing a hand-held cell or texting will they be ticketed for that also???? :o)
I don’t think so, the pictures take the back of the car so to see the license plate…
Take the bus & the métro, no tickets! (except when you ride the escalators)