driving

Photo: takomabibelot

From the Washington Post, a good article (actually talks about both sides of the argument, skeptically) about red-light and speeding enforcement cameras. I’m quite interested in this topic. You may have noticed that I’m not a big fan of official camera surveillance in general, but have generally been in favor of automated traffic enforcement cameras. Is there a big difference? Am I being inconsistent just because I’m a public transit person?

I’m starting to rethink my support of the traffic cams, mainly because if it’s driver behavior modification that we’re interested in, there are better ways – less punitive ways – to accomplish it. The big answer is the complete streets design/movement/philosophy. If streets are designed so that speeding is physically – and mentally – difficult, then people won’t speed. Highways can be designed like highways, but anything local should be designed for all modes – walking, biking – on the same level as autos. If a driver has to be more aware of their surroundings, if they don’t feel as comfortable stepping on the gas, they will actually slow down and pay more attention.

One statistic which doesn’t solicit much handwringing by anyone except transportation people: there were 37,000+ people killed in the US in 2008 in traffic-related crashes. That’s way past epidemic level for anything, and if it were a disease, we’d be scared witless. But since it’s the normal state of affairs, we ignore it (because we have to get around) until someone we know gets seriously hurt or killed. Travel, a necessity for pretty much everyone, shouldn’t be so dangerous.