Tempe lets photo enforcement contract expire in payment dispute

5 comments:

• Juggernaut6000 posted at 4:28 pm on Tue, Jul 12, 2011.

  Posts: 41

  These cameras have been an embaressment to this state and most are glad to see them go. It was all about money and the cities are slowly pulling these psuedo ATM's and should be ashamed of themselves.

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• RationalHuman posted at 4:58 pm on Tue, Jul 12, 2011.

  Posts: 514

  "Tempe says it lost about $15,000 last year on photo enforcement after paying Redflex’s fees and covering staff costs. If Tempe paid the disputed $1.3 million, the city would likely have lost more than $400,000 per year in each of the last three years of its contract."

  Gosh that sure is strange, because in another article just published today, city officials " claim that the speed photo enforcement programs it implements on city streets are “revenue-neutral".

  So which IS it, Tempe?

  We already know that RedFlex is a corrupt, FOR profit company that is suing several cities for not tampering with their yellow lights to produce more tickets.

  The real question is, why are they still in business in Arizona?

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• jcwconsult posted at 5:58 pm on Tue, Jul 12, 2011.

  Posts: 1

  I sent the following email to Tempe officials:

  hugh_hallman@tempe.gov joel_navarro@tempe.gov robin_arredondo-savage@tempe.gov shana_ellis@tempe.gov mark_mitchell@tempe.gov onnie_shekerjian@tempe.gov corey_woods@tempe.gov info@tempechamber.org contact@tempetourism.com Stephanie@tempetourism.com erin_fillmore@tempe.gov shelley_hearn@tempe.gov monica_lamparter@tempe.gov tempe_police@tempe.gov don_bessler@tempe.gov sue_taaffe@tempe.gov shelly_seyler@tempe.gov

  Dear Tempe Officials:

  Below is a post I just left on the FOX10 blog

  It is a good move for Tempe to drop the contract with Redflex, a company that will happily sue one of their business-partner cities. It is unnecessary to EVER do business with such a company.

  Now, IF safety is the real goal for Tempe's traffic management policies, the city can take these steps to maximize safety. 1.) Set all main road, arterial, and collector-street posted speed limits to the 85th percentile speed of free flowing traffic under good conditions. This is the posted limit that tends to produce the smoothest traffic flow and the fewest accidents. 2.) Set the yellow and all-red light intervals on all traffic lights with the ITE formulas for the ACTUAL 85th percentile approach speeds under good conditions. The posted speed limit is NOT relevant to setting traffic light intervals for safety. 3.) If red light cameras are ever used in the future, change the city code to issue camera tickets for slow rolling right on red turns ONLY IF the camera video reveals an actual safety issue. If the way was clear and the driver made a slow rolling right on red without interfering with another user, no ticket is to be issued (Florida RLC law).

  Note that the above changes will make it impossible for speed or red light cameras to record enough violations to even pay their basic costs, let alone make any profits. Correct engineering produces the greatest safety and eliminates the need for predatory ticket cameras. The science is on our website.

  James C. Walker
  National Motorists Association
  www.motorists.org
  2050 Camelot Road
  Ann Arbor, MI 48104
  734-668-7842

  Your citizens and visitors would benefit greatly if all your posted speed limits and traffic light engineering parameters were set to maximize safety. And, the results will almost certainly be so good that you will never again consider using one of the predatory ticket camera companies as a business partner. Ticket cameras ONLY produce enough revenue to interest these predatory companies when the engineering parameters are set improperly, whether those actions were deliberate or accidental. Safety-optimized speed limits and traffic light timing simply will not allow the cameras to issue enough violations to justify their installation.

  www.thenewspaper.com has lists of the states that either ban or restrict ticket cameras so much they are not used, and the list of cities where voters voted them out. Once citizens see the predatory nature of ticket cameras, they vote them out 100% of the time when given that opportunity. I am lucky, I live in one of the states where ticket cameras are illegal. This should be the case in all 50 states and the District of Colombia which is one of the most flagrant violators in using predatory cameras for revenue, not safety. The business plans for ticket cameras require bad engineering to prosper, and it is simply not proper for cities to become their business partners with bad engineering.

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• Rich posted at 5:58 pm on Tue, Jul 12, 2011.

  Posts: 1864

  Why do you let a third party, with photos an eight year old can alter in photoshop as proof, issue tickets from the government and collect money for that? The public isn't that gullible, why is their government?

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• Slabside posted at 2:31 pm on Wed, Jul 13, 2011.

  Posts: 1681

  Good question Rich.

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