OPINION:
That didn’t take long. Virginia localities haven’t even had speed cameras in place for a full year, and they’re already desperate for more of your cash.
Newly elected Delegate Mike Jones, Richmond Democrat, offered legislation Wednesday to ensure that no corner of the Old Dominion is exempt from electronic nannying.
Current law allows the laying of photo traps only in freeway work zones or school crossing zones. The latest proposal strips away all restrictions, allowing robotic highwaymen to prowl “in any location deemed necessary by the locality.”
On the bright side, if Mr. Jones succeeds, we can dispense with the charade that this measure was ever meant to “save the children.”
The restrictions in school and work zones were always for show, a temporary measure to allow the billion-dollar photo ticketing industry to get its foot in the door.
Verra Mobility, the largest photo enforcement contractor, has handed more than $106,000 to the campaigns of cooperative delegates and state senators. Others have been groomed by the company’s hired lobbyists.
Weak-minded lawmakers not tempted by envelopes of cash nonetheless support any measure offered with maudlin arguments like “if it saves one child or highway worker, it’s worth it.”
Never mind that the biggest threat to school-aged children isn’t thrill-seeking motorists zooming past elementary schools in their hot rods. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “From 2012 to 2021 almost half (49%) of the school-age pedestrians killed in crashes were struck by school buses.”
Work zone fatality statistics similarly misrepresent the greatest source of danger. More than half the worker fatalities in work zones nationwide were caused by other workers, not passing drivers. The Commerce Department’s Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries recorded 57 highway work zone fatalities in 2018 (the most recent year with complete data), but at least 30 of those deadly injuries were inflicted by machinery, dump trucks or other vehicles backing up in the work zone itself.
Bolstering safety protocols for highway workers and improving standards for school bus drivers would do a lot of good, but true progress doesn’t come cheap. By contrast, photo enforcement makes money while projecting the appearance of safety. The Virginia General Assembly, like Maryland and the District before it, selected the most profitable option.
According to the latest federal government data, Virginia’s traffic fatality rate was 1.1 deaths for every 100 million miles traveled last year, which is down slightly from the previous year and is comfortably below the national average. There has never been a crisis justifying camera installation in the first place.
The only statistic that grabs the attention of local and state politicians is net revenue, and early results have them clamoring for more. Suffolk’s speed cameras, for instance, have reportedly raked in $5.3 million since September. On top of this, the Biden administration opened the floodgate of federal funding for photo ticketing programs in 2021. Since there’s no need to subsidize operations that private contractors offer on a no-cost basis, federal grants are little more than thinly disguised bailout payments for failing cities.
As the General Assembly begins its new session, it should reject the proposal offered by Mr. Jones and terminate the automated cash grab.
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