Dr
Bob the Health Builder
Weekly
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Life a Little Better and More Prosperous
Special Report
This has nothing to do with
health or eating, unless you think that accidents at red light might be hazardous
to your good health. I copied this word for word because Dr Douglas makes an
excellent point. Please read and then look for my comments at the end.
Red-light
cameras do more harm than good
Dear Friend,
I'm sure you've seen them by now - those intrusive red light cameras that glare
down at you with their ever-watchful eye at intersections across the nation. Of
course, as with every government intrusion, these cameras are being used in the
interest of public safety.
Well, how's this for public safety...
Researchers in Florida have found that those Orwellian red-light cameras have
significantly increased traffic accidents at the intersections where they've
been placed.
Thanks for nothing, Big Brother.
Researchers from the University of South Florida College of Public Health
concluded that "rigorous studies clearly show red-light cameras don't
work." And yet these lights are showing up at more and more intersections
nationwide.
According to USF professor Barbara Langland-Orban, one of the lead authors of
the study, the cameras actually "increase crashes and injuries as drivers
attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections." Langland-Orban says the
problem is compounded in Florida by the fact that "the state's high
percent of elderly are more likely to be injured or killed when a crash
occurs."
And in compiling their research, USF found that Florida isn't the only place
where these traffic-light cameras are a safety issue. Studies from North
Carolina, Virginia, and even Ontario, Canada, also reported that the
traffic-light cameras have played a significant role in the increase of
intersection crashes in those cities, including a rise in crashes that involve
injury and excessive damage.
If the "safety record" of these cameras is suspect, the cameras
should be removed immediately, right? Well, good luck with that. There are
folks out there with a vested interest in keeping these cameras not only up and
running - but spreading. And I don't just mean the local townships that stand
to have their coffers filled with additional traffic ticket money at the end of
each m Believe it or not, there's actually a lobbying group out there to
support traffic-light cameras. It's called the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety (IIHS). Of course, the IIHS actually cares little for highway safety, or
else it would be concerned about the findings of the USF study.
No, the IIHS is the ally of the traffic-light camera because it is a shill for
the insurance industry. And the insurance industry LOVES traffic-light cameras,
because its revenues skyrocket every time some poor schmuck runs a light and
gets another moving violation tacked on to his license. The more points on your
license, the higher the premiums you have to pay. Follow the money!
Apparently, the findings that were unearthed by the USF study have been
unearthed before. Langland-Orban said that a paper published in 2001 by the
Office of the Majority Leader of Congress called traffic-light cameras "a
hidden tax levied on motorists," and even determined that the cameras are
associated with increased incidents of traffic accidents. The report also
alleged that the lights are often tampered with, shortening the time the lights
stay yellow in order to snag more drivers and increase fine revenues. And who
wouldn't be shocked by that little tidbit?
It would be a lot more difficult to argue against the existence of
traffic-light cameras if they actually did what they were ostensibly created to
do: make traffic intersections safer. But the fact that multiple studies have
shown that they're actually MORE dangerous makes it even more infuriating that
local government and insurance companies are still willing to support them
purely on the basis of profit. As usual, whenever money gets into the mix,
high-minded ideals are the first thing out the window.
But beyond that, there's the bigger issue of personal freedom to consider. The
idea of red-light cameras sounds great at first, but it's one of those slippery
slope issues. If cameras are OK at traffic lights, then why not everywhere?
What if, in a couple of years, technology allows those cameras to tell whether
or not you're wearing your seat belt? Or if you were going through that light
faster than the speed limit allows? Then what? Fines will be levied. Perhaps
criminals will be taken off the streets. But at what cost? In a free society,
when is enough enough?
Red-faced over red-light cameras,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
I have contended for years that red
light cameras were there to make money not prevent people from running through
lights.
Our government tries to make us
believe that we are the best country in the world and the rest of these poor
third world countries are a bunch of poor, uneducated people that aren't smart
enough to pour water out of a shoe. Generalities are always terrible and red
light cameras are just a tip of the iceberg.
Five or six years ago I had the
opportunity to visit a small border city in northern Mexico- Reynosa. The image
of a poor border town and a third world country went out the window as we drove
to a church on the southern outskirts of Reynosa. There Block Buster, HEB
grocery stores, and many other stores that we have here in the US.
What really struck me was that each
red light was unique compared to here in the US. As we drove down the streets
the green light blinked once just before the light changed to yellow and the
yellow light was on longer than most cities here in the USA. The drivers were
not flying through the red lights as they had plenty of time to slow down and
stop in an orderly fashion unlike here with short yellow lights.
The point as always is that we do live
in a great country and we have the greatest people in the world but some people
want to control every aspect of our lives and make money at our expense.
I suggest that we the people need to
get involved politically, even if it is dog catcher, or our governments and
corporations will take more rights away and take more of our money at the same
time, while giving us poor food, water, air and everything else.
To Your Good Health
Dr Bob the Health Builder
To ask questions please call 214 615 6505 ext
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