Here come more CCA comments attacking red light cameras

One of them is ready to go to war (literally) to stop them

By Will Collette

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance and their followers who send them comments about town issues are at it again. Here's a second batch. Click here for the first batch.

Last June, CCA’s followers poured so much venom against the very idea of providing decent toilet facilities at our two town beaches, we fully expected voters to reject the June ballot question. But when reason prevailed, voters go the go ahead for new beach facilities by an 11-point margin.

This time, CCA and its chorus are targeting the initiative to get red light cameras for our Route One traffic lights, not only at no cost, but with the probability of some new revenue. Chief Shippee stressed that the initiative was less about making money for the town and more about changing driving habits, to perhaps prevent another tragedy like last year’s killing of Colin Foote who was run down by a red-light runner at West Beach and Route One.

I reproduced e-mailed anonymous comments the CCA had put out in their e-bleats. Then I added my own commentary on the merits of those remarks (the CCA thinks all opinions are equal and valid, even when they are false, stupid or just plain crazy).

Now, it seems the CCA has shifted from putting those comments out in its e-mails to posting them on their website. And (will wonders never cease?) SOME commenters put their names on their writing AND the CCA runs the comment with their name. One of those was anonymous when it went out in the CCA e-bleat but was signed by town Planning Commissar (and CCA web mistress) Ruth Platner on the website. Color me stunned. 

Here are some more CCA comments on red-light cameras followed by my snarky remarks.

I guessed the small bump over a traffic light was a camera, set to go off when a vehicle entered the intersection on a red light. The driver would receive a photo and a summons. It seemed a good preventive measure. As for “Big Brother” anxiety–it could also be interpreted as appropriate parental vigilance [sic]. We DO need looking-after, because of careless/reckless drivers assuming lax enforcement of safety regulations. Could the proposed cameras track progress of a vehicle being pursued by police–separate from the red-light function?

Red light camera

Progressive Charlestown comment: Well, no, that “small bump” isn’t a camera since they haven’t been installed yet – and are usually mounted to the side. But this person seems to get the idea that we need to stop reckless red-light runners. And in some jurisdictions, the cameras allow police to catch people who commit other crimes. Depends on how the cameras are programmed.

I’m curious. Why so quick to make another rule? [red lights} [sic]Agree with longer yellow lights. Note that it is difficult to anticipate lights around corners. [ex. Ross Road coming from the south] Background check first, please. Verbal and visual instruction in Driver Education? Amount of time, visual and auditory links for students. Precipitation of errors which occur at lights? Speed [why post 50 mph when 60 mph is allowed when police are present?] Types of errors made at lights. percentage, perhaps. Education should be the first recourse. It comes in the form of Driver Education, the examples set by adults driving with children in the car and remedial action assigned by the courts.

PC Comment: This one is tough to parse. First, is this person thinking that is currently LEGAL to run red light? If so, OMG! And the thing about not being able to anticipate a light – hmmm, well, the light turning yellow is one clue. “Background check, first, please.” On whom? I would definitely vote for a background check on this commenter. And so on – this comment is so incoherent, I can’t find the energy to continue snarking on it.

Re: English Police State, keep an open mind. Nothing sickens me more than idiots advocating we take the same road to Hell as other countries. Because some country has good food does not mean they aren’t a hell hole. Most countries we think of as having great cuisines, eat garbage at home because their creative chefs have all come here to be FREE! By the way, the English have terrible food along with their failed socialist police state. If the “open minded” one loves his socialist police state so much, let him move to the one with the best food and stay there. May slave labor make him free. I’ll keep my freedom ad [sic] my country, even if I have to die for it.

Ready to die for his Constitutional
right to run red lights

PC Comment: This one REALLY needs to take his/her meds. Where to begin? First, Great Britain is a very nice country, a staunch friend and ally of the United States, NOT socialist (Margaret Thatcher took care of that) and as far away from being a Hell hole than Charlestown. And what does the food have to do with red light cameras, socialism, etc.? 

I commend the open dialogue on the issue of red light cameras. I like the idea, but instead of having them at red lights, why not install them at stop signs and randomly along route 1 and route 1A. Install signs that say you will be ticketed if you do not obey the speed and traffic signs. There will always be someone who runs a red light, whether on purpose or by accident. I don’t believe these cameras will prevent that. But if we placed them strategically around town, I think they could help more overall without the danger of people trying to stop or beat the light. And it would create revenue quite regularly, a nice bonus to the town. I don’t have a speeding problem so this issue doesn’t bother me. These cameras are however a great resource should an accident occur at the site of it’s [sic] installation. Big brother watching over us is a ridiculous argument. If you’re not doing anything wrong, these cameras shouldn’t bother you. They are in parking lots, stores, malls, banks, some schools, etc. I live in town near the Nordic Lodge and they have over the past year installed another stop sign near our home. Almost daily, I get someone who has run the stop sign, at full speed, purposefully/lazily, and almost hits us. It is a 3 way stop and only one of those directions usually stop. Our intersection alone would probably cover one town salary!!

PC Comment: Some countries and some US jurisdictions use speed cameras with decent effect. For Charlestown, here are some reasons why widespread use of enforcement cameras is probably impractical. First, it looks like the CCA wants to kill this idea. Since the CCA exercises de facto control of both the Town Council and Planning Commission, their faceless commenters will probably inhibit Council President Gentz and certainly Councilor Slattery from embracing the idea. Ruth Platner’s Planning Commission is also heavily swayed by the anonymous comments – hell, I believe they WRITE most of them.

Then there’s cost. The red light camera companies know they can make a profit by giving the cameras away as well as a share of the fines. Unless they have a financial model to predict whether rural stop sign cameras will make money, don't expect them to give them away for free. I'm sure they would SELL them to the town,  but if you’ve read the CCA anonymous comments, many of them raise the cost issue even though we can get the red light cameras for free – imagine how nuts they’ll go at the idea of actually paying for the cameras.

Finally, of all the traffic infractions we commonly see on the road, red-light running is among the most deadly. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an estimated 165,000 motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians are injured annually by red-light runners.

Tim says: I am against red light cameras. Firstly the Charlestown police already have a NeoNazi reputation for their aggressive traffic stops. It’s another way for the police department to build animosity toward them. Secondly I would like to say that during the past hurricane power outage I was often driving on the section of Rt 1, where for several days lights did not work. From what I observed people were careful and respectful of one another. Lastly there are places, like the curve on West Beach Road near Old West Beach Road where speeding and reckless driving are a daily occurrence. People on their way to the breachway in the mornings fly down the road and around the corners. At the end of the day when they return they drive even faster—and some of them have been consuming alcohol. Contractors who flow in and out of Central Beach all day long almost always speed—some of them are driving heavy equipment. I have seen this on a daily basis for years. The speed limit is 25mph there. I have never seen a police car set a radar trap in that area—they do have a trap further toward Rt 1 once in a while in the summer. This is a matter of public safety—it’s real right now. I would expect there are numerous other places in Charlestown where the police could enforce speed limits and stop sign locations right now, without cameras. Cameras are intrusive. Would the police allow us to mount cameras on their cars and in their station? Could we then post the video to YouTube or this web site.? I think not. Local government already tinkers with our lives enough as it is. Our taxes are already insanely high and we get little for them. Cameras are just another form of taxation and control of our lives. When will this crap stop?

PC Comment: Tim or whoever you are – “NeoNazi reputation” with WHOM exactly? Anybody besides you? And how do speeding contractor trucks or drunk driving translate into animosity toward red light cameras? And how are the cameras intrusive – are you asserting some right to privacy when you drive on a public highway? If so, what is your basis for that assertion? This isn't about the "Tank," is it?

Dave Provancha { Where do people get the idea that the yellow lights will be shorthened, sounds like a bunch of who shot John. The red light cameras are a great idea. If you don't run the lights you don't have to worry that your picture was taken. }

PC Comment: Maybe it’s just me, but I firmly believe that when a person attached his or her name to their words, they tend to be more responsible and thoughtful. I sign what I write. Congrats to Dave for bucking the prevailing opinion on the CCA website and talking sense.

CCA e-mailer { Regarding the comment that impaired drivers won't see signs warning of red light cameras: You are probably correct, but if they get enough tickets because of the cameras, maybe that could get their license taken away before they kill someone. }

PC Comment: the only fault I find with this comment is that it’s anonymous.

CCA e-mailer People have implied Charlestown residents don’t care about traffic fatalities. Last time I checked, drunk, drugged up, or sleep deprived people don’t stop at red lights because of cameras, they are too drunk to notice. People are right to be concerned about too short yellows, or getting ticketed for a right on red turn. If you do this you want to make sure to get a vendor that is sensitive to that. The vendor makes money and may not want to make it too easy to make the yellow. It’s fully reasonable that people are not perfectly informed about an issue. It’s okay to discuss things—that is why I like what CCA does as a community service—keep it up.

PC Comment: like the earlier writer, above said in response to this comment, the drunk, drugged up or sleep deprived menaces on the highway need to be ticketed early and often until they either stop being menaces or lose their licenses. And how is CCA doing a public service when they simply post whatever stupid ass crap people submit?

CCA e-mailer { http://autos.yahoo.com/news/traffic-light-camera-scam-steals-your-identity.html }

PC Comment: And Obama was born in Kenya, aliens exist, I saw Bigfoot, etc. Hey, you can find just about anything on the internet. Even Progressive Charlestown.

CCA e-mailer says: I myself would like to see police patrols north of post road on the side streets. the speed is mostly 25mph and the average speed is 40mph. The police are welcome to park in my yard.

PC Comment: Everybody in town would like to have more police protection. Everybody seems to come before the Town Council at some point to ask for a patrol car to be assigned to their neighborhood. I love to know how much it would cost to expand the police force to accomodate.

CCA e-mailer { Dirty air is bad for people, wildlife and the climate. Your city can play a key role in ensuring that we use the best tool we have for curbing pollution and limiting global warming: the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act saves lives and money, but it only works... }

Jan Almeda { good information, carry on the great work }

PC Comment: I am shocked, shocked to observe that the two comments above were posted and then disappeared. Shocked I am that Ruth Platner would take comments down. Did I already say I was shocked?