I first came across traffic cameras when they were all the rage in Britain in the late 1990′s, early 2000′s. By then, they had become objects of vandalism. People would literally blow holes in them with shotguns, set them on fire, tape them up with duct tape – they were, and remain, despised.
When Cleveland started using them, I knew it would only be a matter of time before the push back began. Traffic cameras have become a campaign issue in the county council races, with Republican Matt Brakey finding quite possibly the only issue on which I will agree with a Republican. The New York Times has noticed.
The issue has bubbled up in places like Cleveland, where Matt Brakey, a 29-year-old businessman seeking a spot on the Cuyahoga County Council, has proclaimed his opposition to traffic cameras on his campaign Web site and at events like one he recently held at a busy intersection where he unfurled a banner announcing his stance.
“There were lots of honks,” said Mr. Brakey, a Republican and first-time candidate for office. “This issue really taps into the general dissatisfaction with government.”
Here’s what it “taps into” for me, and has done since I saw my first traffic camera in the UK over 10 years ago – in the United States, traffic cameras are unconstitutional. Why? Because you cannot cross examine the “witness” to your crime, the camera. Your guilt or innocence comes down to whether or not the government can certify that the traffic camera is accurately calibrated. The camera cannot prove or testify that you were the driver, therefore the person breaking the law. It can only certify that it is accurate, and that certification comes from the prosecution, which itself is biased.
Therefore, a traffic camera violates due process of law as guaranteed by the penumbras and emanations from the 4th, 5th, and 14th amendments of the US Constitution. As candidate for county council, I oppose the use of traffic cameras, and as a member of county council for District 7, which includes the vast majority of traffic cameras in Cuyahoga County, I will work to see that traffic cameras are removed from my district.
And if Matt Brakey wins his race, and we sit together in county council, I will happily co-sponsor bi-partisan county legislation to ban the use of traffic cameras in Cuyahoga County permanently.
Tags: matt brakey, traffic cameras
[...] On traffic cameras. [...]
Tim,
Maybe we can agree on a few more issues:
Can we agree that the county’s drug laws are disproportionately targeting poor minority communities and our justice system needs to be wholly reformed? Can we agree that much of what passes as government “economic development” is just an enrichment of special interests — a wealth transfer from poor to rich. Can we agree that the existing political establishment within both parties will do nothing to benefit the people of Cuyahoga County, and that we need candidates that will stand up to the party machines and special interests?
I am a big proponent of civil liberties and suspect there is much overlap to be had. Let’s not get stuck in this D/R paradigm.
I look forward to working to ban red light cameras with you.
Matt
Traffic cams also affect economic development. I was in Cleveland once (to visit you) and got a traffic cam ticket on the way back. Sunday morning as I remember. Nary a car in sight. I haven’t been back as much as I might have been since because it truly pissed me off. True story.
[...] « I agree with Republican Matt Brakey on traffic cameras [...]
I agree that traffic cams should go, but I’d also like to propose that clevelanders be forced to take intensive remedial driver training. The first order of business would be to show them where the accelerator is located.
I would also note that most of the revenue from these tickets go to an out-of-state private corporation.