Dear Editor:
It seems the new speed cameras in selected areas of our community have caught the attention of many people. Rather than trying to determine the real reasons for implementing them, I would suggest that the cameras are effective.
I drive past a set of these electronic policemen if you will, every day to and from work. In the first weeks after the cameras were put in place, my son, who rides with me to work, needed to remind me a number of times about the speed I was driving. It has taken some time to change my habit, but mostly I remember to drive slower.
Sometimes I forget and find myself speeding again and other times I don’t remember, but then discover that I am actually driving at the reduced speed. We are creatures of habit, you know. Imagine my surprise last week when I came through another hamlet and subconsciously found myself slowing down right to the posted speed limit. Is this change of habit not evidence that speed cameras are effective?
It seems that it is human nature to want to drive at a speed just slightly lower than the edge of getting ticketed. The speed camera debate brings this into perspective, since the Wellington County officials have been asked numerous times about the time and speed thresholds of the cameras. They have wisely declined sharing that information, since it would certainly impact the effectiveness of the cameras.
I suspect that in the early days of speed limits and enforcement, there was only a small gap between the posted and the ticketed speed, but it certainly has widened. With this ever-widening gap every driver is forced to interpret what the intended speed is in relation to the posted speed limit.
The use of speed cameras in targeted areas could well be a method to change the common perception of the posted speed limits. Let’s suppose if this program was implemented on all roads, or further yet, if our speeds were monitored utilizing GPS and vehicle technology, then traffic speeds could be maintained to consistent and safer speeds. Then the posted speed limit would become the actual maximum speed limit. I think the use of the new speed cameras is a way to accomplish that in the targeted areas.
If the advent of speed cameras is to confirm that the posted speed limit is truly the speed limit, then I welcome them and rather than finding them restrictive, I consider speed cameras liberating.
Darrell Frey,
Palmerston