Found: One Troll

I worked a router cut-over last night, so I had to drive down to the office at 10PM. As I was headed down the I-17, well below the camera’s speed threshold, some fool in lane 1 tripped a camera as I was at the closest point to the flash. The damn thing literally blinded me for a split second. The State of Arizona has installed tons of these infernal speed cameras along the freeways. I rarely speed fast enough to trip the cameras but I still hate the damn things because, as many people do not know, they record video 24/7, whether you are speeding or not.

Even if they were not recording video, any such system could easily be used to surreptitiously spy on citizens. While they are not currently used for such, the company which provides and maintains the cameras (Redflex) claims that they could be used to scan licence plates and thus to track the movements of any cars which pass the cameras. In Arizona! We’re supposed to be a free(er) state! There are a few bills in the state legislature this season which limit or outright remove the cameras from state highways. I got the following list from the Arizona Citizens Defense League website. If you live or drive in Arizona, it’s a good idea to write your state representatives about these. It is not a complete list of speed camera-related bills (which can be found at AzCDL).

House Bills:

• HB 2106 kills the camera program altogether
• HB 2124 restricts the use of the photo radar system to enforcing only a few specific sections of ARS.
• HB 2168 mandates a study to determine the necessity of photo radar cameras before AZ DPS and DOT can enter into or renew a contract for speed cameras.
• HB 2494 creates a statutory limit for photo radar violations of 11 miles above the speed limit. The threshold for triggering speed cameras is currently decided by the police jurisdiction which controls the cameras.

Senate Bills:

• SB 1291 allows the courts to share photo enforcement violation records with ADOT.
• SB 1355 removes the cameras from state highways.

If you are attending the 2A Blog Bash and driving, be aware of these damn things and drive the speed limit.