Given how things are routinely done in this city, where facts and common sense rarely-if-ever intersect, I feel pretty confident that they will NOT be the two geographic locations in HB where the city specifically placed their two red-light cameras, with the second scheduled to begin operation on Tuesday on west-bound Hallandale Beach Blvd. & N.E. 10th Terrace, near the IHOP on the NE corner of the intersection.
Yes, right near the last traffic signal before I-95.
Those facts I glean from the city, which will likely be grudgingly given, I'm sure, will likely leave us all pondering why those two locations were chosen if they are NOT the sites of the highest traffic incident rate?
Seriously, when you cut yourself or get a scrape by accident, do you not put a Band-aid on the exact location of the cut/scrape?
You certainly don't put it on the back of your elbow if that's not where the problem is.
No, as we've all suspected from the get-go, in this particular city, those red-light cameras are where they are because in this city -as opposed to the rationale of other cities that may actually let self-evident facts guide their decisions- it's about generating revenue, NOT safety-prevention.
Later tonight or tomorrow, if I can, I will try to post photos -and maybe even some video- to my blog and YouTube Channel of my most recent visit to the red-light cameras last week.
And if you're of a mind to, in anticipation of next week's vote at the broward County Commission, let your two County Commissioners know what you think about this issue, too, one way or the other:
"Comm. Suzanne Gunzburger" <sgunzburger@broward.org>,
"Comm. Barbara Sharief" <BSharief@broward.org>,
Also, be sure to see Michael Mayo blog post of Tuesday and the Sun-Sentinel's editorial.: Red light cameras a bust for greedy South Florida cities
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.
Red light and turnpike cameras not quite clicking
THE ISSUE: Red light, turnpike cameras not quite clicking
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ne
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/brow
Broward doesn't want red light camera laws repealed
County vote a clue, one week before this issue comes to a head here
By Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel
7:18 PM EST, February 22, 2011
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County commissioners Tuesday said they don't like a state bill that would yank the wheels off the red light camera enforcement program.
They voted against supporting a bill that would do just that, a week before this issue comes to a showdown in county hall.
Viewed as a litmus test for the county's support of red light camera enforcement, Tuesday's vote bodes well for cities seeking permission to tie into county traffic lights. The devices have turned into a legal nightmare for cities that have them, but Broward cities are still clamoring for cameras. Some who have them want more. The program in many cities has been on hold, bottlenecked at the county.
That tie-up could be dissolved as soon as next week. Broward County owns the traffic signals across the county, and county permission is needed for cities who want to tie into the light system for enforcement. Commissioners are scheduled to vote on that on March 1.
This week's vote was pushed by one commissioner, Barbara Sharief, of Miramar, who strongly opposed the use of the cameras. She hoped her colleagues would join her in supporting a state bill that would repeal the law underlying the enforcement in cities and counties across Florida. Only John Rodstrom and Kristin Jacobs agreed to vote on her side.
Sharief said it's clear that intent of the enforcement isn't safety but rather "another tact our state and cities are using to balance their books.''
In Broward, the experience for cities has been rocky, and cities are complaining they're not bringing in the ticket revenues they expected, or are even losing money.
The Broward League of Cities supports the use of the cameras, though, and cities like Pembroke Pines are eager to put up more of them. They argue that the cameras aren't in place to make money but rather to make Broward's drivers safer.
Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo, a camera supporter, horrified county commissioners with details of a traffic accident he was in last week. The chain of events started with one auto running a red light, he said. It hit a car, which hit Castillo's car. He wasn't hurt, but he said in an e-mail that had someone been on foot or on a bike crossing the intersection, the impact would have killed the person instantly.
The women in the car that was struck were bloody and screaming for help, he said in an e-mail he sent to public officials throughout the county.
"The driver's leg was mangled in an indescribable way as she crawled out of her vehicle. I saw a clump of the daughter's hair sticking out of one of the cracks her head made in the passenger windshield upon crashing into it,'' he wrote.
One company, American Traffic Solutions Inc., or ATS, dominates the market on red light cameras in Broward, and wants to wrap its wiring around Broward's, public works director Tom Hutka said. The vote next week would allow ATS, or any red light camera company, to do that.
ATS has cameras operating already in Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Hallandale Beach. It has cameras coming soon in Sunrise, Plantation, Margate and Davie. And it's in talks with Tamarac, according to Charles Territo, vice president of communications for ATS.
http://discussions.sun-sentine
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