City of Des Moines Money Grab-Starting Tomorrow

[weisr2002]

Traffic Cameras, for "safety" of course. City of Des Moines wants more of your money since they can't properly manage the money we already give them.

Des Moines traffic cameras to go live Friday

[pyrocyz]

People complaining about getting in trouble when they break the law will commence immediately

[IcSyU]

He notes a poll conducted in Cedar Rapids, one year after the cameras were installed, found 64% of citizens felt the cameras improved public safety while 28% felt they were only put in place to generate revenue.

Was the poll conducted asking
a) improve safety
b) money grab
c) other

If a and b aren't allowed to be selected at the same time, that's an extremely faulty survey.

Other cities have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from the cameras, but Des Moines Police Sergeant Chris Scott insists the primary goal is improving safety. “The police department’s stance on this is you simply shouldn’t be speeding or running red lights,” Scott said.

Gatso will collect $27 from each paid red light citation and $25 for each speeding violation.

In that case, fine, then each speeding ticket should be $25 and each red light citation should be $27.

Although I will say I'd MUCH rather be nailed speeding by one of these than an officer. Doesn't go to insurance and you don't have to pay a ridiculous court cost that costs more than the fine itself.

2005 ticket (7 over):
$30 court costs
$40 fine
$12.80 surcharge
$82.80 ticket

2011 ticket (5 over):
$60 court costs
$40 fine
$14 surcharge
$114 ticket

$65 sounds dandy compared to $114.

[ianoconnor]

Ball breaker.

[alarson]

Id be fine with red light cameras if it was just flagrant violations of red lights, blowing straight through them.

I have a problem with them when they primarily tag people who were just a little late (lengthening the yellow would cut a lot of these) and getting those who didnt come to a complete stop on a right turn. Neither would typically be ticketed by an actual officer, so the camera shouldnt either.

IIRC one of clive's most lucrative cameras is the one coming off the interstate, racking up tickets on those turning right on red without completely stopping. Technically not legal, but depending on the intersection you often dont need to come to a complete stop to assess the safety of an intersection as you come up to it, and 99% of cops arent going to pull you over for it.

As for speed cameras, lets get a reasonable speed limit on 235 before we put up a camera there. 235 should be 65 minimum through all of des moines, and it should stay 70 for most of it.

[BigBake]

There would be no push to install these cameras if they didn't generate revenue or at least pay for themselves.

Do a survey and find out how many politicians or voters would support these in the interest of public safety and that it would cost taxpayers more for them.

That answer right there proves they are a money grab number 1 and have an added benefit of public safety.

[Al_4_State]

Agree with alarson that the biggest problem are the grey areas. What about people waiting to turn left that can't complete the turn until it's yellow? They have to choose between risking it or hanging out in the lane and causing an accident. It creates a Catch-22. Generally, in these cases, a human officer would excuse it, as they should.

IMO, this kind of stuff is better left to human officers who will generally take these grey areas into account.

With speeding, its less of a problem, because there isn't any "grey area". I agree that the limit on 235 needs to go up. Should be 65 all the way through.

[CyorDie]

I read somewhere that going just 1 mph over the speed limit will still cost you $65. That blows my mind. Doesn't a cop typically allow a driver a few mph over the limit?

[heyguy85]

Don't break the law and it's not a money grab. If I push it through a yellow/red light I know I'm risking a ticket. Slow down and drive safe sounds like a simple solution.

[pyrocyz]

I read somewhere that going just 1 mph over the speed limit will still cost you $65. That blows my mind. Doesn't a cop typically allow a driver a few mph over the limit?

Last time I looked at a speed limit sign it didn't say "65 +/- 5 if you feel like it"


People are acting like this is the first time that they have ever been asked to obey the actual rules of the road.

[djcubby]

There is a reason that you have to wait a couple of seconds before you take off on green in Des Moines. I've driven in Minneapolis, KC, Chicago, Indy, and numerous other large metropolitan areas, but I have not ever seen as many people blow through lights that just turn red as I do in Des Moines.

It could be worse, it's $100 fine in Clive, the new lights in Des Moines are only $65.

[djcubby]

I have a problem with them when they primarily tag people who were just a little late (lengthening the yellow would cut a lot of these) and getting those who didnt come to a complete stop on a right turn. Neither would typically be ticketed by an actual officer, so the camera shouldnt either.

No it wouldn't. People are going to try and sneak through regardless of the length of the yellow. I travel on Hickman everyday from Urbandale to Waukee and I don't even risk it anymore because I know I have to go by at least 3 cameras. If it's yellow and there is no guarantee I can make it, I stop.

[BigBake]

The +\- thing is in place because motorist are given a margin of error that their cars speedometer is off.

Only police vehicles have their speedometers calibrated.

[longtimeclone]

I would be fine if all proceeds for these cameras would fund the cameras themselves and then go to finding a way to make the area around 73rd and 8th exit a four lane. I think that is such a bottleneck in the whole commute to/from downtown.

[pyrocyz]

The +\- thing is in place because motorist are given a margin of error that their cars speedometer is off.

Only police vehicles have their speedometers calibrated.

So wouldn't it be advantageous for you to determine if your speedometer is off, that way you know if you are speeding?

There is no plus or minus when it comes to drunk driving even though peoples internal "Drunkness meter" might be different than the cops breathalizer...

Same with weight scales. Truckdrivers don't have scales built into their trucks so before they hit the road they get their weight checked so that they don't get in trouble.

Just trying to look at it from not a money grad point of view.