Skip to main content

Survey finds speed, red light cameras divide Americans

A new survey from free legal information website FindLaw.com found that 52 per cent of Americans support the use of radar speed cameras, while 48 per cent oppose them. Advocates say the cameras increase safety, but opponents contend they are often little more than revenue grabs by communities seeking to fill their local coffers. Interestingly, there is a split between men and women on the issue – a majority of women support the use of speed cameras while a majority of men oppose it. Ohio recently adopted a
March 12, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A new survey from free legal information %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal website Visit Findlaw website false http://www.findlaw.com/ false false%> found that 52 per cent of Americans support the use of radar speed cameras, while 48 per cent oppose them.
 
Advocates say the cameras increase safety, but opponents contend they are often little more than revenue grabs by communities seeking to fill their local coffers.  Interestingly, there is a split between men and women on the issue – a majority of women support the use of speed cameras while a majority of men oppose it.
 
Ohio recently adopted a law requiring the presence of a law enforcement officer when a speeding ticket is issued, effectively banning automated speed cameras. Nationwide, however, the 7120 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says the number of communities using radar speed cameras increased from 115 in 2011 to 137 in 2014.
 
This is in contrast to the use of cameras that enforce red light violations at intersections. The use of such cameras is decreasing, and FindLaw found that Americans oppose the use of red light cameras by 56 to 44 per cent.
 
"The landscape of jurisdictions using automated cameras for traffic citations is changing constantly, due to decisions by courts, voters, legislators and city halls," said Stephanie Rahlfs, attorney-editor at %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal FindLaw.com Visit Findlaw website false http://www.findlaw.com/ false false%>. "If you drive across the country, you might encounter a red light camera in one city, a speed camera in another city, and neither in other cities. It's always advisable for motorists to be aware of the applicable traffic laws wherever they travel."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • European Transport Conference 2014
    July 8, 2014
    The European Transport Conference 2014, taking place in Frankfurt, Germany, on 29 September to 1 October, has extended the transport modelling element of the conference to two modelling streams: one for demand modellers and one for assignment modellers. These include sessions on: activity and tour based modelling; multi mode modelling; rail and air; highway and public transport assignment; dynamic traffic assignment modelling for real time control of traffic signals; and traffic micro-simulation Session
  • Transmax develops EVP safety system
    March 25, 2014
    A sophisticated system giving emergency vehicles priority at signalised junctions has been developed by specialist Australian ITS provider Transmax. The firm’s innovative Emergency Vehicle Priority (EVP) package switches traffic signals to green ahead of an emergency response vehicle, improving safety.
  • 2013 Polis Conference – call for speakers
    May 3, 2013
    The call for speakers for the 2013 Polis Conference, to be held in Brussels on 4 and 5 December, covers a wide range of topics open under the core Polis themes of environment and health, traffic efficiency and mobility, road safety and the social and economic challenges. All abstracts should highlight the innovative dimension as well as the results achieved and lessons learned. Abstracts should be submitted online at www.polisnetwork.eu/2013conference by 7 June 2013. Authors will be notified in June of the
  • CARD4B shows WildCard Ticketing kernel software at CARTES 2013
    November 19, 2013
    SESAMES Award finalist CARD4B is showcasing its TickeGO-compliant WildCard Ticketing Kernel software at CARTES 2013. The middleware embraces multiple customer-media technologies (such as Calypso, Mifare, NFC, 2D bar code), multiple terminals and operating-systems and provides business rules to support multi card-schema, embedded into any terminal or online behind a web service for web or mobile apps, and covers all ATFC functions. It is complemented by a XML-based card data model Editor visual tool t