Freund, Peter and George Martin. The Ecology of the Automobile. Montreal, Quebec: Black Rose Books, 1993. p 82
The car has provided a new means for geographic mobility. The authors claim this to be the prevailing ideology behind democracy and freedom: freedom to escape, select routes, select destinations, and create opportunities. Nonetheless, the "freedom" of driving mandates a high degree of social control. Lane lines, traffic lights, speed limits, parking restrictions, etc. Despite the increasing volume of controls, the automobile remains a symbol of freedom in the eyes of the motorist. As technology for enforcing regulations becomes more complex, the freedom of the motorist declines further. One example of this is the introduction of automated cameras at intersections to catch people running red lights. Its bad enough that 70% of state and local law enforcement activities are focused on monitoring traffic violations, but now a real person doesn't even have to be present for one to caught in the act. This is not to say that people should have a right to run signals, but it happens sometimes. No more looking around and counting your blessings that no police officer witnessed the event, only a series of flashes that let the perpetrator know they are caught. We have now lost the freedom to make a mistake without being penalized for it. Regardless of whether or not the intention was to run the red light, prepare for a fine. It seems kind of dehumanizing. Imagine if they started setting up sensors and cameras on the freeway that took a picture and ticketed drivers for exceeding the speed limit. Terrifying.
Nobody will EVER abuse this technology.
1500 plates per minute! What happened to calling it in?
Genius.
well, the state is running out of money. They don't really care if you are bleaching the law, they just want your money. Many of my friends were recently ticketed unreasonably (myself too). How is 80mph/hr on 110S overspeed?
ReplyDeletejust my two cents