Nine Speed Cameras Issue $85 million in fines in just 1year

[RobBrady]

Nine speed and red light cameras in Washington DC divvied out a huge $84.9 million in fines last year.

Drivers were issued individual fines of between $50 to $100. It was noted that drivers only face a fine, but no points were added to their licenses.

Opinion in the US, as you might expect, is divided about the use of speed cameras - whether the argument is about their effectiveness in saving lives or whether they are merely a revenue earning tool for the authorities. Twelve US states have actually banned them.

It's felt that camera revenue will eventually decrease as more and more drivers get caught and consequently adjust their behaviour.

Commenting on some drivers attitudes, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, told The Washington Post "Maybe once the public feels they will get a ticket if they speed, we will see a change. Drivers may slow down to save a buck but not slow down to potentially save a life."

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Robert Brady

[bmuskett]

Numbers look odd in that article.

The headline says 9 cameras took $84.9 million in fines, but the top camera took $8.1 million. 9 x 8 = 72 so that looked wrong straight away. Then the article says the next took $4.6 million so the top 2 took $12.7 million leaving the other 7 $72.2 million between them - an average of over $10 million each.

Then 205 drivers a day for a year is 74825, divided into $8.1 million gives $108.25 each, not $50 to $100.

And it also says that the most profitable camera cost $8 million to install. Really?

[bmuskett]

I've clicked through to the original articles on the Washington Post site. Bad interpretation by the Daily Mail I would say. What a surprise.

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