- November 6, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Dear Editor:
No more red light cameras. It’s obvious since every time I drive on Palm Coast Parkway I see cars going through red lights. They don’t even slow down since they are normally speeding, some of them going 50 and 60 mph on the I-95 overpass.
Two people have already been killed by a red-light runner this year, and hopefully our new sheriff will put more deputies on traffic control before it happens again.
Bill Simpson
Palm Coast
Dear Editor:
As of April 6, the last one of the automated bandits, better known as red light cameras, have been turned off in Palm Coast. So ends a sordid era in the short life of our city wherein politicians tried another attempt at “How can we fool them today?” a scheme in which the people get stuck and the government grows richer and/or more powerful. But it was for our own good, understand.
But something happened. The good people of Palm Coast did not buy into this “economic disaster” (per Councilman Steve Nobile) and raised enough fuss so that the subject got too hot for the City Council, and they finally gave in, but not before millions of dollars left the city.
But the people should beware. Just like the fleeting success that residents had when they voted down the new City Hall, too often politicians will try new ways of getting into our pockets via other avenues. The saying that “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance” comes to mind.
But with a new mayor and a new class of City Council members, I think, for the time being that we do have our elected local representatives actually looking out for us.
One thing in the Palm Coast Observer article that did trouble me was the endorsement of red light cameras by Palm Coast Fire Chief Mike Beadle. His statement could have come directly from one of the camera vendors.
It is a big lie that red light cameras change behavior, because behavior is not the problem. Most red light violations at major crashes occur when the violation is greater than four seconds. Most camera violations that result in fines happen at less than two seconds, often less than one second. Behavior has nothing to do with it. In study after study done by entities with no ties to the industry, accidents increase at camera intersections making them more dangerous.
Now that we have passed this milestone, I look forward to the city finally doing something to take our area from the worse in traffic management to the best.
Mike McGuire
Palm Coast
