Not this Safe Speed of course...
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/10796248/detail.html
Charlotte Canceling Contract For Camera Programs
POSTED: 5:33 pm EST January 19, 2007
UPDATED: 6:38 pm EST January 19, 2007
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For nearly a decade cameras across Charlotte captured pictures of speeders and red light runners, and the threat of a ticket because of those pictures reduced speeding and crashes on some of the city's most dangerous streets.
Now those suspended programs, the SafeSpeed and SafeLight programs, will be going away forever. Officials say it's an issue of who benefits from fines those tickets dole out, and if there's enough of a safety benefit for residents for the city to fight for the programs.
The city is terminating its contract with the company that runs the programs. They were put on hold in June 2006 after the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled they were unconstitutional. Judges said not enough revenue was going to local schools.
That decision is being appealed, but Councilman James Mitchell says there’s no telling how long that will take.
“It was costing the city and taxpayers $8,000 a day to keep a suspended program in operation,” he said.
So the city is paying $500,000 to get out of the contract.
Capt. Dave Haggist of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says it’s disappointing.
“There’s thousands of cars violating our speed regulations; there’s only so many police officers,” he said.
And some drivers are worried too.
“I think it’s a bad idea,” one motorist said. “People will start running red lights again.”
Statistics show those programs were working. After the first SafeLight cameras went up in 1998, crashes were reduced at some of Charlotte’s most dangerous intersections. SafeSpeed started in 2003 with three vans watching out for speeding drivers. The city says aggressive driving dropped in the targeted areas by 55 percent.
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