Technology Allowing Drivers to Beat the System

And some cops are not happy about it:

Area drivers looking to outwit police speed traps and traffic cameras are using an iPhone application and other global positioning system devices that pinpoint the location of the cameras.

That has irked D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier, who promised her officers would pick up their game to counteract the devices, which can also help drivers dodge sobriety checkpoints.

"I think that's the whole point of this program," she told The Examiner. "It's designed to circumvent law enforcement -- law enforcement that is designed specifically to save lives."

The new technology streams to iPhones and global positioning system devices, sounding off an alarm as drivers approach speed or red-light cameras.

Lanier said the technology is a "cowardly tactic" and "people who overly rely on those and break the law anyway are going to get caught" in one way or another.

The greater D.C. area has 290 red-light and speed cameras -- comprising nearly 10 percent of all traffic cameras in the U.S., according to estimates by a camera-tracking database called the POI Factory.

Lanier said the cameras have decreased traffic deaths. Red-light and speed cameras have been a hot topic in Montgomery County since Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a bill in May allowing local governments to place speed cameras in school and highway construction zones.

If a driver knows about the location of a speed trap, he's either going to avoid the area or slow down, both of which will serve the chief's stated goal of "saving lives". However, speed and red-light cameras are not there to save lives, they're there to increase revenue by issuing tickets.

I've never been in favor of such systems, even if they do reduce accidents. People accused of wrongdoing are supposed to have the right to confront their accusers, but you can't confront or cross-examine a camera.

And in many areas they've documented that yellow light times have been adjusted to ensure more violations. San Diego ended up dumping all of their red-light cameras after it was discovered that the company that ran the program had adjusted lights to generate more commissions for them. Such manipulation increases the risk of an accident as people either speed up to get through the light, or stop suddenly to avoid a ticket.

These systems are more about revenue than safety, and it wouldn't bother me a bit if they were eliminated altogether.