
Red light camera firm paid for Chicago official’s car, condo - suprgeek
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/08/feds-red-light-camera-firm-paid-for-chicago-officials-car-condo-and-more/
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pmorici
Traffic ticket cameras in general whether they be read light or speed cameras
are a complete racket. In many if not most jurisdictions the government
doesn't actually own the traffic cameras they just license the privilege of
deploying them to a private company who gives the government a cut.

The problem is that they just mail out as many tickets as possible without
regard for whether or not they are even correct and hope people don't dispute
them. It also makes for great incentives for corruption as this story
illustrates.

Here are just a few examples from Maryland I'm familiar with...

[http://www.wtop.com/41/2802160/Md-court-of-appeals-to-
hear-s...](http://www.wtop.com/41/2802160/Md-court-of-appeals-to-hear-speed-
camera-lawsuit)

[http://www.mddriversalliance.org/2009/03/maryland-red-
light-...](http://www.mddriversalliance.org/2009/03/maryland-red-light-
cameras-caught.html)

[http://www.byrdandbyrd.com/speedcamera.php](http://www.byrdandbyrd.com/speedcamera.php)

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tmuir
The part that really irks me is the optimization for revenue that seems to
occur with red light camera intersections. They are hoping that you will run
the light.

For instance, a north-south road has the red. The intersecting east-west road
has a left turn arrow. The north-south's right turn lanes should be able to
turn, and before the cameras were installed, they simply had yield signs. But
now that there's money to be made, there is no turn on red.

Another variation on the same idea: The north-south road's light is turning
red. The east-west road will get a left turn arrow, and the north-south road
will get a right turn arrow. Before the cameras were installed, the right turn
arrows started at the same time as the yellow in the same direction, so right
turners didn't have to stop. Now that there's $100 per violation to be made,
there is a 3 second delay between red light and right turn arrow.

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ams6110
Chicago. Enough said.

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lotsofmangos
I don't know Chicago that well. Flew through it once. Would - _" America.
Enough said."_ \- be a reasonable way to look at this for those of us standing
further away, or does it not work quite like that? Please advise.

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sk5t
Chicago has a storied history and marked reputation among American cities for
its political corruption.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_history_of_Chicago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_history_of_Chicago)

~~~
lotsofmangos
The USA also has a storied history and marked reputation among nations for its
political corruption.

Admittedly this is coming from a Brit, but you lot have sort of taken the
baton and run with it since the war.

Anyway, the point I was making, rather clumsily, is that putting the reason
down to the place and leaving it at that is lazy and a bit snobbish. And it
doesn't matter if the place is USA or Chicago, or some particular suburb in
Chicago. Some people were corrupt and those people should pay, but making it
geographical just invites prejudice.

~~~
snogglethorpe
> _The USA also has a storied history and marked reputation among nations for
> its political corruption_

Not so far as I can see. Political corruption is the _norm_ in most of the
world; the U.S. is perhaps not the best, but it's far, _far_ , from the worse,
even amongst roughly equivalent first-world nations. Historically I'd say the
U.S. even seems to be rather well-thought of.

You could certainly trot out a list of countries many people around the world
would probably consider "better" than the U.S. in terms of political
corruption, but the U.S. is nowhere near the bottom of the heap.

Many people _dislike_ the U.S., consider them a bully, etc, especially since
Iraq, but "dislike" is very distinct from "consider corrupt."

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lotsofmangos
It depends on how you measure.

Per capita and income adjusted there are far more corrupt countries.

But in terms of sheer amount of money spent on distorting politics at home,
combined with countries invaded or otherwise screwed around with for economic
reasons abroad, the USA is definitely hands down number one since the second
world war.

This is not because the US is particularly nasty, it just has more resources
to throw at this kind of stuff since becoming the dominant superpower. Though
you do not become the dominant superpower by being all that nice either.

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dabit3
Business as usual.

