Posted 9/06/2006 05:52:00 PM by Douglas

Remember, all you fucking idiots, it's not about money, it's about safety.

Houston's new red-light camera system could bring in far more revenue than the city projects.

Police estimate about a quarter of violators who are issued tickets will pay the $75 civil fine. But in several other cities that use the same camera system, fine collection is as high as 90 percent.

While the city's revenue estimate for the program once it's in full swing is about $6.7 million a year, a collection rate of 90 percent would bring in more than triple that amount — about $24 million.

Catch that? How many lives is this going to save? How many accidents is this going to prevent? Hmm, a statistic that's greedily absent from this story. Why is that? Mayor White, how 'bout some pandering?

Mayor Bill White and Police Chief Harold Hurtt have touted the system as a way to make streets safer by reducing the number of crashes at intersections as drivers change their behavior in response to the cameras.

Here we go. Safer, fewer crashes, blah blah blah $24 Million dollars of pure profit for the city. That's a hard sell, even for a lying politician. Now for the part that really pisses me off:

The system is designed to pay for itself; the city has agreed to pay the contractor about $2.5 million annually.

I think the Hurtt Prize should be extended to include Mayor White.

Labels: red light cameras