Posted 6/12/2007 05:24:00 PM by Douglas

I'm not going to make the obligatory "big brother" comment on this one. This one goes way beyond any trite clichés. [Thanks, long-time reader!] Red light cameras were only the beginning.

Despite the near-unanimous opposition in the state legislature to the use of speed cameras, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is moving forward on a proposal to deploy photo radar on state highways using federal gas tax funds. Legislation awaiting Governor Rick Perry's signature prohibited only municipalities -- like Marble Falls and Rhome -- from installing automated speeding ticket systems. It was silent on the possibility of a state-run system.

TxDOT began searching in April for a vendor that, using federal funds, would allow the agency "to assess and evaluate all elements of an automated speed notification system." Once selected, the vendor would operate an average time speed camera test for at least six months on Interstate 10 near El Paso and State Highway 6 near College Station.

Time-distance ticketing systems use multiple cameras spaced far apart on a freeway. Each car is photographed once as it enters the first section of road. Miles later a second photograph is taken that allows the vehicle's average speed to be calculated from the time it took to travel between the two locations. In use in Britain under the trade name SPECS, these cameras are commonly referred to as "yellow vultures" and are among the most lucrative in the country.

Still, this may be a long way off, but who knows. If England's money-making example of the surveillance camera is the model we're using to justify cameras out in the middle of no where Texas, then we're all in trouble.

But like anything, there will be ways to defeat it. How long after the cameras are installed will there be a Quick-Stop set up? I mean, what better opportunity to stop and get a cup of coffee and some jerky?