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Miles_vel_Day t1_jea41iu wrote

Reply to comment by optifreebraun in Connecticut to Test Speed Enforcement Cameras in Work Zones Beginning in April by NewsHugh

You know, people used to say this exact same kind of thing about seatbelts.

You might have to accept that what you want to be true, and what somebody is willing to tell you is true, is not necessarily what is true.

The CDC:

>Automated speed camera enforcement is effective in reducing speed and speed-related crashes. In a Cochrane review of studies through 2010 evaluating speed cameras, all studies measuring speed or speeding saw reductions when the cameras were present.6 All studies in the Cochrane review measuring crashes also showed reductions when the cameras were present. More recent research has also found reductions in speeding or injury crashes when cameras were present.

Link, with citations

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optifreebraun t1_jeaeqj9 wrote

False equivalency - a seatbelt citation does not directly result in revenue for a private company making seatbelts with massive lobbying ability.

There are better solutions than cameras, yet the insistence of certain Redditors that cameras are the best solution makes it pretty clear we have some PR shills for these camera companies.

Because come on - when in real life have you ever seen anyone actually defend these cameras so vigorously?

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Miles_vel_Day t1_jeag3bz wrote

That's a nice pile of rhetoric but I've cited actual studies. What do you have?

First off, goalposts: your claim wasn't that the problem with speed cameras in work zones is that a private company receives a portion of the revenue - I agree that that's a problem. It's an unnecessary perverse incentive and yet another avenue for rent-seeking in an economy that's drowning in it.

Your claim, though, was that they did not have a safety benefit. Empirical observation, gathered through carefully designed studies, suggests that they do. Do you have statistics that contradict the CDC's findings, or that contradict similar studies that I could pull up from FHWA or NHI?

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optifreebraun t1_jeag9yk wrote

I don’t have citations readily available because I’m not in speed camera PR industry. But I’ll get you a pile of opposing studies after work.

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Miles_vel_Day t1_jeagguc wrote

lol, okay. That answer strikes me as humorously evasive but I'm sure you'll be able to find something, and I genuinely look forward to it. Thanks for the discussion.

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optifreebraun t1_jeags92 wrote

What’s your motivation for wanting speed cameras so badly?

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Miles_vel_Day t1_jeahel5 wrote

I don't "want them so badly." I would be fine with this policy not going into effect. I just think that if we're going to discuss the policy, we should discuss it using the actual facts.

Four people were killed in work zones last year. It would be nice if that number was zero. If cameras could help with that, then I'm open to it.

What is your motivation for defending your right to drive 15+ mph over the speed limit in work zones?

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