Why we can’t fall for arguments against speed cameras – Virginia Mercury

Decades-long experience with speed cameras shows they can reduce deaths and serious injuries by 20-25% and more. Arguments lodged against speed cameras are easily refuted or at least insubstantial when weighed against their life-saving benefits. 

People are dying on our highways in dramatically increasing numbers. Speeding is one of the most significant causes of these deaths. Across the U.S., pedestrian deaths are up 77% over the last decade. Urban areas are hit the hardest: Although they contain just 15% of the nation’s roads, they account for 67% of pedestrian deaths. According to local records, Hampton Roads pedestrian deaths are up 38% over the last decade. In 2022, pedestrian deaths were up 50% over 2021 in Northern Virginia. They increased nearly 77% in Richmond, 2010 to 2021.

Speed kills. The likelihood of death grows rapidly with vehicle speed. A vehicle going 42 mph has a nearly fivefold higher probability of killing a pedestrian it hits than if it were going 25 mph. It’s quite common for vehicles to be traveling 42 mph in 25 mph urban/residential areas. I have captured and documented this in the past, having tracked and documented over four million vehicle traversals on residential streets in Charlottesville with an open source validated speed tracking system I developed. I have presented my findings in testimony to Virginia’s legislature three different times.

I have analyzed how traffic calming approaches – narrow lanes, bump outs, chicanes and all the rest,with the possible exception of speed bumps – don’t work. Comprehensive enforcement by police officers could work but is unrealistic. Virginia localities face persistent staffing shortages on police forces, and tight budgets. Police traffic stops have declined considerably across the U.S. and become more dangerous, putting both officers and drivers at risk.

Speed cameras can address these issues, and more. They allow police forces to spend more time on other issues and they reduce risk associated with traffic stops for all. They are race/gender/wealth agnostic. They are much less costly than the traffic calming efforts which don’t work anyway. They can make pedestrians and bicyclists feel much safer. Parents might actually let their kids walk to school again.

A handful of arguments come out whenever speed cameras are proposed. Let’s explore these.

“Speed cameras aren’t reliable.” Yes, they are, exceedingly so. The Washington Post has reported that speed camera tickets are the most reliable kind issued in D.C. Over 98% of speed camera tickets hold up in court. Of the small percentage of people who challenge their speed camera tickets, more than 80% lose their appeal, according to the Post. Speed cameras are routinely tested and calibrated to ensure accuracy.

“Speed cameras violate privacy.” Actually, they violate privacy less than an officer on a motorcycle with a radar gun who ultimately stops you if you’re speeding. If you are not speeding as you drive by a speed camera, no data about you is collected. If you are speeding, only your speed, license plate number and an image of your vehicle are collected. Enabling legislation can mandate a short retention period of that data. By contrast, think about driving by all those Ring doorbell cameras in your neighborhood, or about all the data manufacturers are collecting every time you drive a new car. (One car company makes you grant permission for them to collect and use for marketing purposes information including your religious affiliation, sex and gender.) And, there is no law that says anyone has a reasonable expectation of privacy related to the operation of their vehicle on public roads.

“Communities deploy speed cameras to make money.” Perhaps some do, but most are just trying to keep speeders from killing their citizens. And the legislature can place strings on how the money is spent if they so choose. Finally, if you’re not speeding, you’re not contributing to the community’s coffers, so just what is the complaint really?

“Due process suffers.” No, it doesn’t. Virginia’s current speed camera laws for work and school zones require that a human review every camera-based speeding violation for accuracy before a ticket is issued. And recipients of a ticket can appeal. Contrast this with the innocent owner burden in Virginia’s asset forfeiture laws!

“Speed cameras are unfair to the poor.” All fines weigh more heavily on the poor. Whether the fine is for a ticket issued by a speed camera or by an officer is immaterial. If the concern is that fines are regressive, allowances can be built into the fining structure. If the argument is that the poor will get more tickets per capita, that seems like an offensive assumption.

“I got a ticket and wasn’t driving.” Current Virginia speed camera law allows you to file an affidavit saying who was.

Speed cameras only cost you if you speed, rich or poor. In the balance, decades of experience across the globe shows the technology has a profound beneficial effect on vehicle-related deaths and serious injuries. These benefits far outweigh any of the arguments lodged against them, and justify support for proposed legislation – like House Bill 20 – that would expand speed camera usage in Virginia.