Hey! I wasn't driving!

So you ask yourself "Who is the dumbass moron who thought up the traffic signal cameras?" Not any one person, I'm sure. I think it was a collective effort by states whose greed far outweigh their sincerity. It is typical of governments everywhere. Somebody got a pat on the back, a hearty handshake, or maybe even a bonus for coming up with a plan to screw YOU. That is your reward for paying their wages and supporting their pensions. Do I sound like a radical yet? Well, maybe, but I'm pretty much a law-abiding citizen though.

The way the traffic signal camera is supposed to work is that it takes a photo of your car and license plate after the light turns red and you have gone through the intersection. This is a spin-off idea from the tollroad system to catch people at the unattended toll booths that blow through without paying. However, some people claim that the camera is snapping them when the light is still yellow. And they get away with this by wearing a ball cap and looking down as they go through the light. This prevents positive identification of the driver. Cases are being tossed by lenient judges, and the towns and cities that spent all the money on these systems are crying in their beer. Some are admitting that it was a mistake altogether and dismantling their cameras.

But don't get your hopes up. That is less than one half of one percent of all the cameras out there, and they just keep putting up more of them. Economically it costs far less to send you a ticket in the mail than it does for a police officer to stand out there and write you one. And you don't get the opportunity to argue with him on the street, not that it would do you any good anyway. But the foopah is being remedied by changing the camera angle so that the traffic signal, clearly showing red, is also in the picture. Profile cameras may also be installed that take your picture from the side. So go ahead and go to court. You are gonna lose....guaranteed!

I agree with those who say they aren't necessary. I mean let's face it, has it really been a problem that made the nightly news? Nope, just a revenue generator like towns that require vehicle tax stickers, dog and cat licenses, permits for garage sales, and charge fees for tree cutting or putting up an awning or a shed. And then there are fines for silly assed things like letting your grass grow too long, shoveling snow into the street, putting your garbage can out too early, and a multitude of other stupid crap. They are just revenue kickers to keep the coffers filled.

How about a REAL traffic problem like tailgaters. I was recently in Ohio, probably the tailgater capital of the U.S. I always obey the speed limit in Ohio after one time I was stopped by a state trooper for going 3 MPH over the limit on U.S. 30. This trooper went down into the median grass and tore ruts in it just to catch me doing 3 miles an hour more than I should have. I was able to convince "her" that I had my cruise control on and was unaware that I was speeding. The odd thing was that she looked at my wife and said "Is that true, ma'am?" That kinda pissed me off. Anyhow, I don't speed in Ohio.

But getting back to tailgaters. Now, I can understand how people can get in a hurry, with their own agendas, and when they see a plate from a different state they figure you don't know where you are or what you are doing. (What they don't know is that I'm originally from Ohio, and I know exactly where I am and what I'm doing.) These idiots crawl right up your ass, so close you can't see their front license plate in your mirror. In a lot of states that is a traffic ticket. I was in Ohio for 4 days, and in those 4 days I was tailgated 22 times. I counted them. Out of those 22 tailgaters, 16 of them were talking on their GD cell phones, 18 of 22 were women. Holy crap! Twelve of these women had children in the car, and 9 of them were in car seats.

There seems to be a fading line in the education processes in this country, especially when it comes to driving skills. I actually knew and had it out with a driver education instructor who was teaching his students to drive with their left foot on the brake pedal. For those of you who are oblivious, driving with your left foot on the brake not only wears your brakes out quicker, but your brake lites are always on. The guy behind you has no idea when you are stopping. If you drive this way, you are an idot! I asked him how in the hell he ever got that job. Turns out he was a gym teacher who couldn't find a gym teaching job. Schools apparently don't care who they get for a driving instructor as long as they are brave enough to weather the psycholgy that goes with it.

So, anyways, traffic laws are born both out of necessity and convenience. A lot of them are unnecessary, but very convenient as a far as revenue collection goes. I do believe that habitual traffic law breakers should have their licenses taken away because they have already proven their inability to comply with corrective measures. However, I don't believe in traffic cameras because they invade your privacy. Inside the closed doors of your vehicle, it's a private world. Well, for the most part anyway. Happy motoring!

Later