by TChris

Connecticut's Public Safety Commissioner wants to install cameras on I-95 to photograph the license plates of speeders, who would then be mailed tickets. But will that make the interstate a safer place to drive? The British experience has produced ambiguous results. In some locations near speed cameras, accident rates seem to have increased as drivers catching sight of a camera slam on their brakes.

The real motivation for the speed cameras may be to increase revenue from traffic tickets without hiring more police to catch speeders. That explains the concurrent proposal to have specialized traffic courts that won't give tickets the low priority that the Public Safety Commissioner thinks they now receive. But more courts cost more money, and you can be sure that more tickets will be contested if no witness can confirm who was driving the speeding car.