Traffic and Accidents

Dear Traffickers:

Ed Cowan, below, writes in support of speed cameras, saying that it seems from anecdotal evidence and his personal experience that they make drivers drive more slowly, as well as raise revenue from traffic fines. But it seems to me that the goal should not be to make drivers drive more slowly, but to make driving safer and to reduce accidents. That isn’t necessarily the same thing.

If it were obvious that speed cameras were effective at making drivers drive more carefully, then why do they not have any effect on the accident rates reported in the Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report, which I wrote about in the last issue of themail? Why does DC continue to have the highest incidence of traffic accidents in the nation? If the strategy of increasing the number of speed cameras and red light cameras is effective, why doesn’t it reduce accidents? And, when a social strategy has been proven to be ineffective, why is the government’s response to double its commitment to it, rather than to try something different?

There are some other strategies to reduce accidents that could possibly be more effective, even if they wouldn’t make a profit for the government. Let me start out by suggesting a couple. High schools could revive the practice of offering driver education classes, so that new drivers would have some formal training when they are young. Drivers who cause accidents, or who are arrested for serious traffic infractions, could be sentenced to mandatory driving retraining. If the goal were to improve safety, it would make more sense to improve the driving skills of young, inexperienced, and bad drivers rather than simply to hike fines and fees for traffic violations. What other strategies can you suggest?

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Crime Rates
Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com

This is a follow-up to my posting the other night on how drug dealers have turned to beating people up so they can sell their cell phones and other valuable items. I urge people to read the following article to learn why the criminals get away with these assaults, http://tinyurl.com/9qo4g46. It’s from 2008, and Washingtonian may be frivolous, but it nails the problem. Lanier and others constantly blame our crimes on the easy availability of guns in Virginia.

BS. If that were true, why does VA, with open carry, have a violence rate less than half of DC’s? They put people in jail. Oh, boohoo, how awful. But it works and it stops crime.

Unfortunately, Mendelson, Wells, and the rest of the city council are not willing to look at the facts. This will only get better when we drop the “catch and release” policies and let criminals know we mean business. I am not hopeful. Lack of will.

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Speed Cameras
Ed Cowan, edcowan 1114@yahoo.com

Are speed cameras intended to make DC motorists drive more carefully — the safety motive — or are they meant to raise revenue? This is a false choice. Both purposes are served by speed cameras. Why would anyone not see that?

More elusive is the question of what the speeding fines should be. There is no platonic answer, but it is clear to me that they should not be trivial, lest they fail to make speeders drive more slowly. And they do have that effect — on me, and to judge from a lot of anecdotal evidence, on others. All to the good.

As for Councilmember Mary Cheh’s concern about “speed traps,” can she or anyone define one? If only our traffic-calming wizards could devise a way to identify and penalize motorists who “block the box,” who enter an intersection they cannot exit and find themselves hung up when the light changes and they are obstructing cars coming from a right angle.