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EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM: The TerryReport
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News, commentary, opinion on politics, government, books, social trends, American life, travel, cycling, books, other stuff
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from the Wall Street Journal
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The Chicago Tribune, which did yeoman's work exposing the bribery scandal, also found a pattern of implausible ticket spikes at dozens of intersections, apparently caused by the operator temporarily changing parameters for things like a rolling right on red to boost revenues.
The new company brought in to run the cameras further found that many yellow lights were set below the city and federal minimum of three seconds. Now a judge says hundreds of citizens may be due refunds. By the way, a longer yellow is the recommended solution for accident-prone intersections. A shorter yellow rings up more tickets.
Chicago is the country's premier operator of red-light cameras, generating $500 million in the past decade. Mayor Rahm Emanuel's former congressional campaign manager was even hired by Redflex to create a nonprofit to propagandize around the country for more such cameras.
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Another quote from this opinionated article:
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Well after the Chicago program became controversial, polls in Chicago continued to find what they've found elsewhere: a complicity of attitudes between certain voter groups and revenue-hungry jurisdictions. Senior citizens are especially supportive of cameras, even when understanding that local officials are motivated by money rather than safety. "Anything to make people slow down" is a quote repeatedly seen in local news reporting.
An aging society constantly taught by government and media to be fearful and dependent is one likely source of political license for more such aggressions against personal autonomy, but not the only source.
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The TerryReport will continue to follow this issue in the coming days...well, forever, as long as speed cameras line the roadways.
Note: The quote in the above article about “anything” to slow people down reminds one of the quotes always found in regard to new security measures at airports. A television reporter interviews a frightened, once a year traveler, almost always a woman and usually an older woman who says, “If it helps with our security, I’m all for it”. That sound bite, presented thousands of times during the run-up to intense, multi-billion dollar security measures, is supposed to be, you know, the last word. No debate?
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to go to recent posts, nearly 300 pages of news and comments filed during the first nine months of 2013 and during the critical election year of 2012.
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to go back to prior years (500+ pages) of The TerryReport
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