"Alexander Rogge" <a_rogge@yahoo . com > wrote in message
news:67nvs9F2pcqkjU1@mid.individual . net ...
> > Senate Bill 1325 is coming to a vote before a State Senate
> > committee. That's Tuesday April 29, at 1:30 p.m., in Sacramento. If it
> > passes, it will allow SPEED camera tickets - also known as photo radar
> > tickets - to be issued automatically and mailed to you.
>
> Isn't it easier to simply increase taxes on driving? Almost nobody can
> exceed the posted speed limit, when it is set appropriately. But when
> almost everybody is "speeding" because the posted limit is
> inappropriate, the speeding-camera purchases will increase expenses,
> decrease safety and increase traffic congestion because of drivers who
> are going below the normal speed of traffic, and try to collect money
> only from drivers who are "caught" by the cameras. How about removing
> the underposted speed limit signs and increasing taxes on drivers instead?
>
I'm going to disregard the underposted speed limit argument here because a
competent driver can control their vehicle at all speeds, whether at 25mph
or 70mph (or the kilometer per hour equivalent speed). For those who have
cruise control on their cars, this should be simple enough-- the posted
speed limit on the road that is enforced determines the cruise control
setting to maintain that speed as a maximum. For those that don't have
cruise control it is still a trivial enough exercise to learn what throttle
position keeps a constant speed.
Plus, with rising gas prices, drivers should be setting a goal to drive as
slowly as possible, but also within reason (i.e., 25mph or an interstate
highway would be considered ridiculously slow). To that extent, I have found
by trial and error (i.e., driving various 4 cylinder cars) that driving
below 3250 rpm in the topmost gear of a 4 cylinder vehicle establishes
maximum fuel economy. Note that 3250 rpm in the topmost gear of a 4 speed
automatic overdrive transmission tends to be around 80mph--already above the
posted speed limit on many highways posted at 60/65/70mph. As such, the 65
to 70mph speed limit does actually put the speed limit at a reasonably good
speed for fuel economy as well, and tends to put the engine rpms close to
around 2750 rpm once the torque converter is locked up.
So as long as the cameras have a factor built in for speedometer errors
(e.g., something like +/- 5 mph speedometer error factor), photo ticketing
is the way to go to keep highways from becoming high speed racetracks. Yes,
it means people will have to leave that much earlier to get to work, or
wherever they are going. No, it isn't always necessary to pass everyone else
driving on the highways (except of course, the 20mph under the speed limit
big rig trucks that seem to overturn or jackknife with an ever increasing
frequency daily and often don't keep to the first two right lanes on any
stretch of highway that has five lanes on one side).
In contrast, increasing taxes on driving punishes all, even those who don't
exceed the posted speed limit on a frequent basis. But, photo
ticketing punishes the individual driver, per speeding offense... and that
is the preferred speed enforcement method (IMHO) when there aren't enough
traffic officers to do the enforcement.