OPINION:
As the newly sworn-in secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, will have his hands full cleaning up the mess left behind by his predecessor. Car-hating activists have directed the nation’s transportation policy for the past four years, with the feds bribing cities and states into expanding speed camera use.
While it’s pushed under the fig leaf of traffic safety, cameras create hazards. Washingtonians who know where the robotic cameras are located will slam on the brakes just before passing them. Tourists following them may be startled by the sudden move, setting up a potential collision. The District’s accident rate has soared as its cameras multiply.
Never underestimate the power of Uncle Sam’s grant money to attract rent-seekers. Just last week, legislation stripping Arizona motorists of any remaining due process rights was introduced in the state Legislature, ensuring photo radar companies would collect more loot.
The pending proposal allows private vendors to boost the fine beyond $350 by tacking on extra fees to be paid by the registered owner of any car that happens to be photographed. The scheme eliminates all the common defenses, including the ticket being lost in the mail, by replacing the presumption of innocence with “trust us.”
Profligate local towns are ecstatic because this dream bill has a chance of passing. Sponsored by Republican state Sens. Frank Carroll and Kevin Payne, it could clear the narrowly divided chamber if the Democrats vote in lockstep to put the measure on the desk of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Lawmakers in the Grand Canyon State have a peculiar interest in encouraging automated enforcement. A program known as Clean Elections applies a 10% tax on all speeding tickets. The millions it raises go straight into the campaign war chests of politicians who opt to run for office on the public’s dime.
This is why some legislators push policies that enhance traffic ticket revenue, even though their constituents hate it. Mr. Payne represents Peoria, which is one of the three Arizona cities that have held a local referendum on the subject. Seventy percent of Peoria’s voters chose to ban cameras, and the result was equally lopsided in Sierra Vista and Tucson.
Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, a Republican, is on the public’s side. She just reintroduced legislation to prohibit the outsourcing of traffic enforcement to machines and return traffic enforcement duties to actual cops.
“Our rights are not negotiable,” Ms. Rogers told The Washington Times. “The Biden administration funded the destruction of liberty by subsidizing speed cameras to the cost of $15 billion. I’m optimistic the Trump administration will put a swift halt to that program. This money grab must end.”
At the federal level, Rep. Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Republican, wrote in these pages in July about his proposal that would have blocked the transportation secretary from implementing “any rule, regulation, or guidance that promotes the use of traffic photo enforcement.”
One can only hope that Mr. Duffy won’t need much prodding from Capitol Hill to chart a more sensible course. As a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin, a state that wisely outlawed speed cameras, Mr. Duffy ought to be receptive to suggestions from Ms. Rogers and Mr. Perry.
America’s 235 million drivers have endured high gas prices and regulatory mandates for too long. The Trump administration can provide immediate relief by pulling the plug on the speed camera swindle.
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