LIKELY IN AUGUST the speed camera on hwy 70, WILL COME TO A VOTE, I WILL BE KNOCKING ON
DOORS TO GET YOUR VOTE...PLEASE IF I MISS YOU...CALL...I WILL LEAVE A CARD.
IT'S YOUR VOTE, YES OR NO
KMOV.com
Posted on July 14, 2011 at 5:37 PM
Updated today at 5:54 PM
(KMOV) -- A St. Ann alderwoman is fighting a new speeding camera that would be placed along Interstate 70.
Alderwoman Sherry Hoffman says the plan in embarrassing to St. Ann.
“We have officers in cars. They should be able to take care of what is needed,” Hoffman said.
Police Chief Robert Schroeder says despite issuing over 9,000 speeding tickets since stepping up enforcement
last year motorists are still speeding and crashing.
Schroeder says the camera would be mobile and used part time.
The plan still needs to be approved by the Board of Aldermen and MoDOT.
Also i would like to know your response to the following items:
1. carport for backlot of city hall to protect police cars from hail damage
2. fence surrounding police lot.
3. restoring or rebuilding police evidence garage behind city hall - roof in need of repairs
4. restore/upgrade/build new-community center-ada/roof/door issues possiblility of placing in tiemeyer
park if had to go new(this would allow the kids in the day camp program in the summer, some time in the a/c and protection
from those summer storms)
5. dog park- fencing may be donated from old st ann park tennis court.
In regards to the article in the post dispatch on may 26th regarding speed camera's on the interstate. i
do not support this idea, however i am taking a survey of ward 2, to determine how they would like me to vote...please voice
your opinion, i will vote what you the people ask me to vote. please email, call, text your voice....
in order to preserve the right's of the residents to speak freely. no names or addresses will
be recorded, just street name. my idea behind this is that if everything were put to a vote at the poll's - majority rules
& votes are anonymous. please feel free to speak up.
302.341. 1.
If a Missouri resident charged with a moving traffic violation of this state or any county or municipality of this state fails
to dispose of the charges of which [he]the resident is accused through authorized prepayment of fine and court costs and fails to
appear on the return date or at any subsequent date to which the case has been continued, or without good cause fails to pay
any fine or court costs assessed against [him]the resident for any such violation within the period of time specified or in such
installments as approved by the court or as otherwise provided by law, any court having jurisdiction over the charges shall
within ten days of the failure to comply inform the defendant by ordinary mail at the last address shown on the court records
that the court will order the director of revenue to suspend the defendant's driving privileges if the charges are not disposed
of and fully paid within thirty days from the date of mailing. Thereafter, if the defendant fails to timely act to dispose
of the charges and fully pay any applicable fines and court costs, the court shall notify the director of revenue of such
failure and of the pending charges against the defendant. Upon receipt of this notification, the director shall suspend the
license of the driver, effective immediately, and provide notice of the suspension to the driver at the last address for the
driver shown on the records of the department of revenue. Such suspension shall remain in effect until the court with the
subject pending charge requests setting aside the noncompliance suspension pending final disposition, or satisfactory evidence
of disposition of pending charges and payment of fine and court costs, if applicable, is furnished to the director by the
individual. Upon proof of disposition of charges and payment of fine and court costs, if applicable, and payment of the reinstatement
fee as set forth in section 302.304, the director shall return the license and remove the suspension from the individual's
driving record. The filing of financial responsibility with the bureau of safety responsibility, department of revenue, shall
not be required as a condition of reinstatement of a driver's license suspended solely under the provisions of this section.
2. If any city, town or village receives more than [forty-five]thirty-five percent of its [total] annual general operating
revenue from fines and court costs for traffic violations occurring on state highways,
all revenues from such violations in excess of [forty-five]thirty-five percent of the [total] annual general operating revenue of the city, town
or village shall be sent to the director of the department of revenue and shall be distributed annually to the schools of
the county in the same manner that proceeds of all penalties, forfeitures and fines collected for any breach of the penal
laws of the state are distributed. For the purpose of this section the words "state highways" shall mean any state or federal
highway, including any such highway continuing through the boundaries of a city, town or village with a designated street
name other than the state highway number. The director of the department of revenue shall
set forth by rule a procedure whereby excess revenues as set forth above shall be sent to the department of revenue. If any
city, town, or village disputes a determination that it has received excess revenues required to be sent to the department
of revenue, such city, town, or village may submit to an annual audit by the state auditor under the authority of article
IV, section 13 of the Missouri Constitution. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo,
that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject
to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo,
are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly under chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the
effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority
and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2009, shall be invalid and void.
TRAFFIC FINE REVENUES (Section 302.341)
Currently, if a city, town, or village receives more than 45% of
its total annual revenue from fines for traffic violations, all
revenue from these violations in excess of 45% must be sent to
the Department of Revenue. The bill reduces the amount to 35% of
the annual general operating revenue but includes court costs for
traffic violations in the amount. The Director of the Department
of Revenue is required to establish a procedure for the excess
revenue to be sent to the department. If a city, town, or
village disputes the determination that it has received excess
revenue, it may submit to an annual audit by the State Auditor.
MOTOR VEHICLE VIOLATION PENALTIES (Sections 301.131, 301.150,
301.310, 301.420, 301.440, 301.716, 307.010, 307.015, 307.090,
307.120, 307.125, 307.155, 307.172, 307.173, 307.195, 307.198,
307.365, 307.375, 307.390, 307.400, 488.006, and 556.021)
ST. ANN (AP) — Police Detective Ray Albers dons a uniform and punches in for an overtime detail. He’ll be driving
one of six chase cars as part of the city’s stepped up speeding enforcement on Interstate 70.
“The surprise is the amount of speeders that are out here,” Albers says while awaiting word from spotters in
the nearby Drury Inns office building. “We continually get speeders. They see us out here at least three times a week.
I wrote the same guy twice.”
St. Ann and seven of its north St. Louis County neighbors have created a seven-mile gantlet for speeders along a stretch
of I-70 that extends roughly from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to the St. Louis city limit. They set and enforce
their own fines — and the tickets many of them issue are much heftier than those written by the Missouri Highway Patrol.
Since they began the special detail in mid-July, St. Ann police officers figure they have written about 6,000 tickets.
Motorists stopped for speeding on I-70 are subject to fines that usually start at $200 for topping the speed limit by 11 mph
and can soar to $300.
St. Ann’s speeding fines and tactics — which involve officers using a tripod-mounted LIDAR (Light Detection
and Ranging) to identify speeding cars from a distance — have many motorists fuming about the crackdown as a sort of
assembly-line speed trap.
“Outrageous,” motorist Randy Wilkerson of O’Fallon said while waiting outside St. Ann City Hall for traffic
court this month. “I’ve never had a $250 ticket.”
Wilkerson was stopped for driving 73 mph on eastbound I-70 on a low-traffic Saturday morning in November. By the time he
reached the three-quarter mile stretch inside St. Ann city boundaries, he saw several police cruisers waiting.
Wilkerson was written up for exceeding the speed limit by 18 mph. But he showed up last week with proof that the Missouri
Department of Transportation had increased the speed limit to 60 mph before he was ticketed, meaning he had exceeded the limit
by 13 mph. Under St. Ann’s traffic fine schedule, it meant the difference of $50.
Wilkerson said he was able to get the fine knocked down to $150 that night, but it is ‘still higher than anywhere
else.”
The eight cities initially dubbed the seven-mile stretch of I-70 an “accident reduction corridor.” Last month,
MoDOT formally labeled it a Travel Safe Zone, mandating double fines. St. Ann, it turns out, had already been collecting fines
that were roughly double those assessed for tickets written by the Highway Patrol. In all, four cities between Lambert and
the St. Louis city limit write the more expensive tickets.
St. Ann set its higher fines by ordinance last year, according to Police Chief Bob Schrader. Pine Lawn, Normandy and Cool
Valley impose the higher fines, too.
Woodson Terrace, Northwoods and Berkeley did not increase their fees before the Travel Safe Zone, officials said. Right
now, they are in various stages of reviewing the higher fines.
Schrader has publicly stated that St. Ann doubled fines on this stretch of I-70. More precisely, according to department
fine schedules, the municipality instituted a whole range of higher fines in the corridor — fines much higher than its
officers issue for violations on its town streets — and a typical St. Ann fine roughly doubles what the Highway Patrol
issues on the same stretch of highway.
For example, St. Ann charges a speeder $200 for traveling 11 to 15 mph over the speed limit, while the state officers charge
$108. The municipality also charges substantially higher fines than the state for higher speeds.
Cities can set and enforce their own speeding fines — even if it is on a highway, according to a spokesman for Missouri
Attorney General Chris Koster. But Missouri’s little-used speed trap law caps the percentage of a city’s budget
that can be generated by traffic fines from a state or federal highway at 35 percent.
The number of accidents have dropped during the past six months, Schrader said. Between Jan. 1, 2010, and July 19 —
the day the accident reduction corridor was launched — there were 42 accidents on I-70 in St. Ann. Since July 19, there
have been 10 accidents.
The Missouri Department of Transportation said it found that the seven miles of I-70 had an above-average rate of accidents.
As a result, it is one of five Travel Safe Zones that have been established across the state. Signs warn motorists that fines
are doubled.
Schrader takes issue with the characterization of his operation as a speed trap, which he said often involves abrupt changes
in the speed limit. By contrast, the I-70 speed limit gradually changes from 70 mph west of Wentzville to 55 mph near Interstate
170.
“To be a speed trap, you’ve got to be hiding and keeping it secret,” he said.
“We want everyone to know that we’re here so they slow down.”
More motorists have been getting into fender-benders but the number of fatalities and serious injuries has fallen significantly
since red-light cameras were installed at 88 intersections on Missouri highways, state transportation officials said Wednesday.
Declaring the experiment a success, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission unanimously approved a policy that
outlines how cities and counties can apply to get the cameras installed on local highways. The cameras are generally used
to catch drivers running red lights or speeding near schools, construction zones and other dangerous stretches of roadway.
The Department of Transportation had suspended the installation of cameras this fall on state highways pending a review
of their effectiveness. The review found that traffic accidents rose 14 percent at intersections with red-light cameras, primarily
because of more rear-end collisions as drivers braked for the stop lights, officials said Wednesday.
But right-angle accidents — where the front of one vehicle hits the side of another vehicle — involving death
or serious injury declined 45 percent at those intersections, and severe crashes of all types fell 12 percent.
“This is the bottom line — they work. Red-light cameras work,” said Don Hillis, the department’s
highway system management director.
The results prompted the commission, which oversees the Transportation Department, to formally adopt its first policy governing
the cameras. The policy requires both a traffic violation and engineering study of intersections before cameras can be placed
at a location. It also dictates that tickets stemming from the cameras be issued by police officers and that signs be posted
to warn motorists that the cameras are in use.
The policy, which applies to all state-maintained highways, essentially affirms a police tactic used in about 30 Missouri
communities.
Hazelwood Police Chief Carl Wolf said the cameras curb bad driving. Since his St. Louis suburb installed traffic cameras
five years ago, the number of red-light violations has fallen 58 percent, he said.
“They’ve adjusted their behavior on what they do at red lights, and that’s the whole purpose of the cameras,”
said Wolf, co-chairman of Missouri Families for Safer Roads, which supports traffic enforcement cameras.
But not all communities have found the cameras worthwhile.
Last week, the City Council in the eastern Missouri town of Washington voted to discontinue its camera contract with American
Traffic Solutions when it expires in March. Although injury accidents were down, Police Chief Kenneth Hahn told council members
he didn’t believe the cameras had much impact on the overall safety of the two intersections where they are used.
Some legislators have tried unsuccessfully to prohibit or limit the use of cameras to enforce traffic laws. They contend
that the cameras infringe on individual rights, though courts generally have upheld the constitutionality of the cameras.
Last April, Missouri senators voted 23-8 to add a provision banning red-light enforcement cameras to a bill dealing with
transportation issues. But the provision failed to win final legislative approval.
Transportation commissioner Stephen Miller, of Kansas City, acknowledged that traffic cameras can be controversial and
asked agency staff to provide updates on how the state policy gets implemented.
“We want to make certain that we are hitting this mark just right — balancing the safety for our citizens against
individual freedoms and fairness as well,” he said Wednesday.
The policy limits the use of cameras for enforcing speed limits to school zones, highway work
zones or “travel safe zones,” which have above-average crash problems. The state so far has approved four safe
travel zones: on Interstate 70 in St. Louis County, U.S. 50 in Jackson County, U.S. 67 in Butler County and Missouri Highway
34 in Bollinger County.
The state policy will require all cities or counties using traffic cameras to file reports each year by Jan. 31, detailing
the number of traffic accidents and citations issued for violations.
Cities push for speed cameras on I-70 in north St. Louis County
d-artagnan said on: May 27, 2011, 9:24 am "I was coming through Arizona a few years ago and they
had these things along the highway about every three miles, and I'm not kidding. What was really galling was they had them
mixed in with speed reduction zones for construction, which was also going on about every ten miles, with speed limits varying
from 45 to 75. THAT'S the future. Just wait. They get these things in and they will be messing with the speed limit signs
all over the area, just to tag inattentive motorists." . Likely the original intent of the "variable speed limit" signs
installed at great expense on I-270. Notice how quickly those became useless after it became clear speeding tickets issued
against limit speeds lower than 60 mph could not be successfully prosecuted.
If I get a ticket, for safety reasone I'll send them a picture of the money- don't want anyone to get
a papercut as they're counting all those checks. Just thinking about safety of the money counters!
Look this is just going to get worse, Government spying on us at all levels...Look if they can
have private citizens spying on you in Soulard with cameras all over (yes private citizens disguised as a citizens watch)
they can have Government spying on you....I think we should all line up and carry cameras all around and take pictures of
those thaking pictures (Illegally) of us!!!!
So if they are there for revenue and you don't want to contribute, just don't speed. Is it really that
hard? "The camera wasn't working right," is the adult version of "the dog ate the homework." It's an excuse. There may be
glitches that need to be worked out, but the concept should stay. I will take my chances with this "wrong" as opposed
to the deadly wrong of outrageous speeders. They are invariably cocky hot shots who think they can handle it. They are always
the ones to kill someone else, then say "I din't mean it," which means nothing to a dead person and the family.
thewizard: "In St. Louis County there are 91 of these sh_thole municipalities." Tell it like it is,
man. I have a friend who commented that almost everything inside the 270 beltway is ghetto. This is just another example of
the corrupt political system happy to sap the life blood out of the area until it is Detroit DEAD; then they will leave also.
10% of the city and county population has SPLIT in the last ten years, and the corruption continues unabated.
This has NOTHING to do with SAFETY! Even the "Travel Safe Zone" crash numbers in St Ann are flawed
numbers - because they used the amount of crashes from when there were 4 lanes on 70 during the I-64 project. There WERE more
crashes then because the far left lane (now the middle shoulder) was off camber on the curve entering St Ann city limits.
There were many crashes there every time it rained due to the lane leaning toward the median wall. Now that it is back to
normal - there are almost NO crashes there - but the crooked police chief and government of St Ann have used those "abnormal"
numbers to double the fines, and now possibly to put in speed ticket cameras for nothing but more revenue for their failing
city! If the accident numbers were used from nothing but the 3 lane normal highway - it wouldn't qualify as a "Travel Safe
Zone". St Ann and all other municipalities that run speed traps on an INTERSTATE should be audited and investigated. This
$ grab should NOT be happening!
I like the idea of sending the funds to charity. I see significantly disabled poor people every day
who could use the money for more healthful food, chronic illness medicine, and shelter. Medication alone can cost 200$+ a
month. To make it safe, buy products directly and distribute the food, new clothing, and medication. No middle man who can
skim off the top. The funds could also go toward relief efforts in Joplin. Well, that's the ideal world. Instead I see
a very poor city nearby building a multi-million dollar city hall. This is where the future ticket money will go - to nothing
but waste. If a small municipality cannot get by without multiple fines from speeders, then maybe it should lose its municipality
status.
I'm getting a huge laugh out of the many posts that state they are going to boycott NoCo shopping over
this! Gee, does that mean NorthWest plaza is going to be even more bankrupt?! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Plaza
I just want to say thank you to the St. Ann and Edmundson police departments for making an already
dangerous section of 70 LESS SAFE. Thank you for having NINE police cars in less than a mile, causing drivers to swerve and
slow down suddenly. Your toll road is a great success.
I was coming through Arizona a few years ago and they had these things along the highway about every
three miles, and I'm not kidding. What was really galling was they had them mixed in with speed reduction zones for construction,
which was also going on about every ten miles, with speed limits varying from 45 to 75. THAT'S the future. Just wait. They
get these things in and they will be messing with the speed limit signs all over the area, just to tag inattentive motorists.
If you do not want to be photographed stay out of or away from convenience stores, airports, post offices,
any government office, interstate highways in large cities, Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart parking lots, most other large retail stores,
shopping centers, pharmacy counters, stadiums and arenas, public ground transportation stations, taxi cabs, hospitals, Ladue,
contracted auto-licensing agencies, banks and ATM's, toll roads, Cracker Barrel, casinos, and, by all means do NOT visit London……Videos
from all these places are easily subpoenaed and are often broadcast on TV….. Oh I almost forgot – Do not speed
or run traffic signals!
IT'S FOR THE SAFETY OF THE CHILDREN! (The usual government cliche.) "Personally, I would rather have
no speed limit, but that would be dangerous." There are areas in western states where there are no speed limits. Of course
there are significant differences between the roads and people driving them. NOT having a speed limit doesn't make things
safe... any more than having a speed limit makes anything safer.
"Red light" cameras, "speeding cameras"; "for our safety" is the buzz phrase to justify use. My questions...where
does this end, and, the answer? Never! Slowly, but certainly surely, the money hounds will find added reasons for more cameras
in places never before considered justifying them as a safety measure - for our safety, all the way to their bank! I'll bet
if statical data is studied form the FMCSA among others, speeding is just one of many of the (and not)leading cause of vehcile
crashes but, speeding is an easy way to harvest cash. We are sitting back and taking added intrusion from government. I'll
not see it in my lifetime, but there will be a genral uprising the likes of whcih this cournty has never known and its genesis
speed too much greedy government.
As far as I know the State Patrol and most police officers are not paid on commission and are completely
capable of controlling speed and enforcing traffic laws. The cameras are purely a revenue grab. If that is the largest source
of revenue for a city they simply don't need to exist. As the other poster said they will continue to reduce the speed limit
and introduce more "safety zones" until they get the revenue they "need" to pay their salaries and ATS. There are many proven
examples of cities making yellow lights shorter and shorter until they get the "yield" they need to pay off ATS. There are
many traffic rules that don't get enforced at all any more even though they create dangerous situations and I'm guessing it
is because they don't produce enough revenue- small towns take the easy money via red light and speed cameras- so it's really
not about safety. The Post was happy to take lots of ad money from the "Natl. Coalition for Safer Roads" aka ATC so they are
hardly objective.
ATS has just been outed as behind many of the pro-camera comments posted online. The expose caused
the suspension of an ATS VP, who was posing as a resident of the towns where he posted his comments. Source: Everett (WA)
Herald (heraldnet dot com), put Kroske in search box. VP Kroske was just one of ATS' spokesmen. Another is Mark Rosenker,
former chair of the NTSB, now advisor to the Natl. Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR), which is supported by ATS. Based on his
service with the NTSB, Rosenker was granted guest columns in papers nationwide, in which he mentioned his connection with
NCSR but not its support by ATS. [Early in his career he did electronic monitoring for the Campaign to Re-Elect Pres. Nixon.
CRP (or CReeP), did the Watergate break-in, after which many of the conspirators went to prison, and Nixon resigned.] ATS
is behind many of the "citizen supported" sites in towns where the company is entrenched. Source: bancams dot com, put "stupid"
in the search box.
Pegpaw-say you never speed, but you get a ticket in the mail. Who you going to argue it with? Maybe
the camera picked up on the car next to you and just snapped your plate. Maybe it's not set correctly and misidentified your
speed. Or maybe it's just set to make money irregardless of your speed. I can't believe you're ok with meekly paying it, because
it would be an injustice, right? But again, who you gonna argue it with-they've got your picture....guilty no matter what.
Every time this discussion comes up, the following post applies -- it's so simple and obvious. If you
don't speed or don't try and "beat the light", this is a non-event to you. Go about your day, nothing has changed. All others
who bristle at the thought of red-light cameras or claim their "rights" are being violated, how about the "rights" the rest
of us have to travel on safer roads, without you driving like maniacs? Too often driving is treated as a "right", when it
should be treated as a "privilege" and not taken for granted. Too many drivers are puffed-up in their own overimportance when
they get behind the wheel, and forget this fact: we are all a COMMUNITY of drivers who need to jointly adopt common sense
to coexist safely. And if there's revenue for this effort, I'm fine with that. Few things that are of value are free. If this
topic peeves you, take a moment, glance down and clock your OWN speedometer.
So Goldman Sachs--the biggest and greediest bunch of thieves that you would ever hate to run across--owns
a big chunk of American Traffic Solutions. No surprise there. Check out all the other extortion rackets these crooks have
had their hands in: Al Gore's "carbon credit" scam; the housing crisis; the ramp-up in the price of oil; the dot-com crash;
etc. ad nauseum. www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405
I am not for eliminating the small burgs. Just the small burgs police dept. Most r un professional
and ... well just bad. the only police force that should be in effect is st.louis county and city.Take creve coure and ollivette.
they could save a ton by just having the county do there work.I thought that at one time a police officer had to witness a
traffic violation personally. wonder if thats still the case. Yes I skated on on because someone told an officer they saw
me do somthing . My dads lawyer asked him if he witnessed it and he hesetated and said no . The judge dismissed the charges
there. That was around 1971 or 72.
Yep, I agree we shouldn't have so many small burgs dotting breaking up the county. I think the
larger cities should conquer the smaller cities, by establishing a volunteer militia of citizens. The militias, composed of
angry citizen-drivers, could take over city halls and capture mayors and city councils, demanding surrender. It would likely
be bloodless because the little towns would know that they are powerless against the larger forces of indignant people. Florissant
could conquer Ferguson, Berkeley, and Jennings. Bridgeton can conquer St Ann, and Hazelwood can conquer Charlack, or something
like that. (I'm not too familiar with where all those wee towns are). Eventually, there will be one North County Empire.
The maximum speed limits in the United States [Texas& Utah} on state and inter-state highways is
80 miles an hour. If "safety"is the reason for the " speed Cameras", then the authorities and insurance companies should push
for cars that can only go 80 miles an hour..OR Satellite-Enforced Speed Limits: A Glimpse Of Our Future? I know, the don't
speed people will be first in line to want one...
St. Ann needs these cameras because NW Plaza is dead. A great new source of revenue! Not surprised
other neighboring municipalities are wanting to join the gravy train. Coming next: Variable speed zones...get used to a
60, go around a curve to a 45, and "gotcha" a camera is positioned right there to catch you "speeding." Coming not long
after: Our bought off legislators will be passing a law to put a sensor/chip in your car that will issue a ticket whenever
you speed.
@JJEugronus - I hope you really don't do this - or at least drive on the shoulder when you do. Else
you'll be dead before you get to Pocahontas. Oh and JJ - don't mistake that middle finger you keep seeing as cars wizz by
you for half the peace sign.
'Police chiefs in the "Travel Safe Zone" have insisted that their primary objective is safety and cracking
down on dangerous driving.' Good - than everybody gets two free warning tickets while they are learning to drive safer, right?
Ah, probably not. Let me know when that becomes policy instead of the money grab this policy really is. If I understand, you
drive, a camera takes a picture of your license and sends you a ticket and you mail them $100. No police officer, judge or
even court clerk is involved. It's an ugly teller machine and they've got your card. They don't care if your safe or a dangerous
driver - as long as you mail in your $100.
Great, Hopefully The U.S. Supreme Court can tell the revenue collecting folks in the dying city of
St. Louis to get that crap off the INTERSTATE HWY. NOW. The Do-Gooders Hypocrisy has no limit, Speed limit 60 cameras set
at 71 ??? Just keep making up the dead city rules as you go... 3 Cheers for the Police Chief and Two Mayors, for doing
the right thing. At least three cities in the I-70 zone won't participate. Berkeley Police Chief Frank McCall said his
city doesn't have "immediate plans" to roll out speed cameras along its stretch of the highway. Woodson Terrace Mayor
Lawrence "Butch" Besmer and Northwoods Mayor Everett Thomas said their cities also were not interested. And please while
your not paying attention to your bad driving capabilities,eating, talking on your phone, make up etc.. get out of my way,
GET IN THE SLOW LANE, or just stay home.
@Spanishlake, here is the Press Release on the Goldman Sachs/ATS purchase if you are interested: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20080925005840/en/Goldman-Sachs-Invests-American-Traffic-Solutions
to all you nascar wanna bes get off my rear end you need to be there in a hurry leave earlier you big
sissy boys 11 mph over and your wining girly boys your car aint fast and where would you be without power steering tuff guy
Wow. That's an interesting bit of information about Goldman Sachs owning a big part of American Traffic
Solutions. From ripping off vendors at Yankee Stadium to getting bail-outs from the American taxpayer, is there any little
piece of American scams that GS doesn't have a hand in? And gthey are the most powerful force in the USA. Again I say, if
you can't beat 'em, join 'em. How do I get a percentage of this racket?
Yes it is as simple as "don't speed". My friends and I are driving to the Indy 500 Saturday afternoon
with seat buckles buckled and cruise control set to the speed limit. 4.5 hours it usually takes. We will get all the SPEED
WE NEED when we get there!!! 200MPH plus! The 100th Indy 500 too! The "Greatest spectacle in racing"!! :-)
Worst thing in the world. We have them in Melbourne and traffic moves at a crawl, even in the "fast"
lane. Wanna see road rage? Watch someone doing the speed limit in the fast lane, and everyone else doing the exact same thing
so no one can pass, and changing lanes means you SLOW DOWN instead of speed up, causing traffic chaos. People spend longer
times on the road = more fatigue = more crashes. Speed cameras are only ok if the threshold is 10mph above posted. Anything
less is a joke - and if you're doing more than 10mph above posted you're an idiot and going to get yourself or someone else
killed.
"if you don't want a speeding ticket, then don't speed" Its not that simple. The argument is not the
infraction itself. I have no problem paying for a speeding ticket when issued by an officer (which has been many years since
I have gotten any ticket). What most people are opposed to is how that infraction is handled when the accusation becomes completely
electronically monitored by big brother with an automated ticket that stands as a lesser offense than speeding itself and
issued outside of our protected due process. The fact is, these jurisdictions cannot effectively monitor their 1/4 mile of
the highway due to cuts in police forces and they hate the fact that the highway patrol and St. Louis county take what they
see as their money for patrolling these corridors. Its their way of getting a cut and calling it in the name of 'safety.'
Speeding is wrong. This is wrong too. Silentstream- I kinda like your point.
Hey Johnboy-the company that calibrates the cameras is also the company that makes all the money from
them. Do you really think they are set up to be fair and accurate when there is literally NO WAY for the average person to
verify their accuracy??
@someoneelse-email the St Ann officials, the State officials for that area (Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal,
Representative Eileen McGeoghegan, Congressman William 'Lacy' Clay), and the Missouri Department of Transportation and let
them know that you are not happy with the tiny fiefdoms putting their ATM bank speed cameras on our STATE highways. And then
have everyone you know do the same. An outcry is the only way to stop this short of lawsuits, which most of us don't have
the funds for.
@someoneelse Join up with like minded folks at http://www.WrongOnRed.com or WrongOnRed on Facebook,
and join us in increasing the general awareness about these illegal schemes among the general public as well as our elected
officials. The problem is, many have been silent for too long while assuming local elections did not matter, as these municipalities
have colluded with private corporations to defraud the public, and literally rip away our rights. From Red Light Cameras,
to Eminent Domain, to Smoking Bans, to Trans Fat Bans, to pseudoephedrine bans etc. these ridiculous over reaching policies
are only going to end when we do something about it. Red Light Cameras and speed cameras are where I drew my line in the sand.
It is amazing how these city police chiefs keep claiming they only want these for the public safety.
If that is really the case then they should make all of the fines a flat $10 with no court costs added on. The cities are
not getting the taxes they are used to so they are getting greedy and looking to rape the drivers passing through the area.
Nice investigating, KML. Okay, so we all see this for what it is. But what do we do about it? Do we
petition the legislature? Do we file a class action suit against the cities? I'm really quite clueless as to the public's
options here, but maybe others have some solutions.
The Pope and I will be walking the "Speed Safety Zone" Passing out $10, $20 and $50 dollar bills when
the new cameras go in. If ANYONE believes this is for Safety and not money they should fall for that LIE also. I haven't
shopped or driven through St.Thief or what was St.Ann after they started this and a place I did business with called and asked
why and he was disappointed when I told him it was his location. I'd drive to St,Charles first and he can elect the same fools
again....
Check out the "2011 Combined Funds Budget", page 6 on the St Ann Official website. In 2010, they earned
1,200,000 from fines. In 2011 they project earnings of 2,250,000 from fines, DOUBLE the previous year. This report was approved
in December of 2010, giving the lie to the Chief who says they weren't going to put in cameras on the highway. NO WAY do they
have the manpower to DOUBLE their fines by OVER A MILLION DOLLARS in one year WITHOUT cameras, even in their idiotic "Travel
Safe" double fine zones. Plus there's a nice little blurb earlier saying how they should set some money from cameras aside
for "future capital expenses"....Still think it's all about stopping the speeders??? Then I have a bridge I'd like to sell
you...
@Spanishlake, they are a privately held firm, but actually you should own a piece because Goldman Sachs
holds over 33% of American Traffic Solutions and has 2 seats on their board, and your tax dollars bailed Goldman out, so it
is kind of like owning them. Too bad all you get as a return on investment is your right to due process stripped from you
by public/private government collusion that be a Federal crime if the Mafia did the same thing.
Well, as far as you guys who say "don't speed and you don't need to worry", that's just not true. These
corrupt municipalities will just keep lowering the speed limit until they get their tickets. The speed limit on I-70 used
to be 70 miles-per-hour....now it's 60. As for the rest of it goes, we've had thousands of comments on this PD web site against
these camera tickets and the problem has only gotten worse. So I figure, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I'm looking to invest
in American Traffic Solutions in Scottsdale, Arizona.
these tiny munies should not be allowd to farm the federal interstates. i would like to see the feds
pull missouri's highway funding as a result of this cash grab. remember, the tickets do nothing to stop the speeder and hazardous
situation, they just arrive after the fact (or after the accident caused by the unabated speeder) in the mail.
Speed cameras on I-70? Not yet, but..... by Laurie
Waters
KMOV.com
Posted on June 17, 2010 at 4:49 PM
Updated Thursday, Jun 17 at 7:26 PM
by Laurie Waters
KMOV.com
Posted on June 17, 2010 at 4:49 PM
Updated Thursday, Jun 17 at 7:26 PM
(KMOV)-- Eight municipalities from the city limits to St. Ann are coordinating their efforts to crack down on speeding.
They are not including speed cameras in the plan, just radar and laser guns.
However, one of the partners, St. Ann, has expressed interest in the past in a camera along I-70 just west of the airport,
on a curve which has more than its share of accidents caused by speeding.
The Police Chief in St. Louis County has been vocal about the cameras, calling them a money grab. St. Ann is bristling
at that.
What do you think? Would the cameras really save lives or is it just a chance for municipalities to increase revenue?
contact048672500 said on June 20, 2010 at 10:46 AM
If it was about safety, they'd perform a full engineering analysis of each location. Who says that enforcement
is the answer? Until you fully evaluate the area with a QUALIFIED professional TE, not a politician or policeman, will we
know what the options are and whcih is the best solution. Instead, they KNOW they can make money by installing a camera, so
that's what they want to do. Who cares if it's the right solution or not, or if it will be effective. Just get theat money
machine out there and get it working.
astamand75781257 said on June 18, 2010 at 10:44 AM
Wow, this is just a short ripoff of the front-page article in the Post-Dispatch. Why not link to it
at least?
nramember said on June 18, 2010 at 2:15 AM
This is why I have plate covers that cameras can't read. A cop behind me can see my plate, but the cameras
can't. You can easy make your own with an inexpensive fresnel lens superglue onto the inside of your plate cover with superglue.
Total cost $7. Knowing you'll NEVER get a red light ticket or speeding ticket? Priceless. I've intentionally run red light
when no traffic was around and have never received a ticket.
mariemilloy86779 said on June 17, 2010 at 7:29 PM
The Cardinals are out of town next week ,live on the levee doesn`t start till july,the fair st louis
not till july 3rd;only the eagles and the dixie chicks fans are the sacrifial lambs to the law enforcement who will be out
there .Other than you know who????
bravhart96 said on June 17, 2010 at 7:19 PM
There have been so many fatal accidents on that stretch of highway 70 and though it seems like a scam
I know that this will save many lives. I have witnessed way too many fatalities that could have and should have been avoided
if they were going under 70 miles an hour. Saint Ann Police are probally the only department I know that actually does their
job. I feel safer in Saint Ann knowing they are there.I have lived here for 17 years and know that they are not money mongers.
If you dont want a speeding ticket dont speed!!!! You may just save your life or someone elses! And yes, we need a better
budget but we cant blame the police department, come on! Dont want to pay, dont speed! On any roads or highyways.
doghorns20849075 said on June 17, 2010 at 6:38 PM
It is all about the money, much like the red light cameras.
ariccsr733169625 said on June 17, 2010 at 5:46 PM
Just a money grab. St. Ann is looking for ways to increase their revenue seeing that WalMart is trying
to leave and Northwest plaza basically doesn't exist.
pickandchoose said on June 17, 2010 at 5:29 PM
If cameras are put to use on instate or state roads all Fines And fees goes to the school systems .
No city are village should get any money from these cameras. Its not about safety only make money to support police in towns
cities villages that can not afford a police department on there on tax base, these places that can not afford them turn the
police work over to the county period.
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"I was coming through Arizona a few years ago and they had these things along the highway about every three miles, and I'm not kidding. What was really galling was they had them mixed in with speed reduction zones for construction, which was also going on about every ten miles, with speed limits varying from 45 to 75. THAT'S the future. Just wait. They get these things in and they will be messing with the speed limit signs all over the area, just to tag inattentive motorists."
.
Likely the original intent of the "variable speed limit" signs installed at great expense on I-270. Notice how quickly those became useless after it became clear speeding tickets issued against limit speeds lower than 60 mph could not be successfully prosecuted.
at all levels...Look if they can have private citizens spying on you in Soulard with cameras all over (yes private citizens disguised as a citizens watch) they can have Government spying on you....I think we should all line up and carry cameras all around and take pictures of those thaking pictures (Illegally) of us!!!!
I will take my chances with this "wrong" as opposed to the deadly wrong of outrageous speeders. They are invariably cocky hot shots who think they can handle it. They are always the ones to kill someone else, then say "I din't mean it," which means nothing to a dead person and the family.
Well, that's the ideal world. Instead I see a very poor city nearby building a multi-million dollar city hall. This is where the future ticket money will go - to nothing but waste.
If a small municipality cannot get by without multiple fines from speeders, then maybe it should lose its municipality status.
VP Kroske was just one of ATS' spokesmen. Another is Mark Rosenker, former chair of the NTSB, now advisor to the Natl. Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR), which is supported by ATS. Based on his service with the NTSB, Rosenker was granted guest columns in papers nationwide, in which he mentioned his connection with NCSR but not its support by ATS. [Early in his career he did electronic monitoring for the Campaign to Re-Elect Pres. Nixon. CRP (or CReeP), did the Watergate break-in, after which many of the conspirators went to prison, and Nixon resigned.]
ATS is behind many of the "citizen supported" sites in towns where the company is entrenched. Source: bancams dot com, put "stupid" in the search box.
I think the larger cities should conquer the smaller cities, by establishing a volunteer militia of citizens. The militias, composed of angry citizen-drivers, could take over city halls and capture mayors and city councils, demanding surrender. It would likely be bloodless because the little towns would know that they are powerless against the larger forces of indignant people. Florissant could conquer Ferguson, Berkeley, and Jennings. Bridgeton can conquer St Ann, and Hazelwood can conquer Charlack, or something like that. (I'm not too familiar with where all those wee towns are). Eventually, there will be one North County Empire.
I know, the don't speed people will be first in line to want one...
Coming next: Variable speed zones...get used to a 60, go around a curve to a 45, and "gotcha" a camera is positioned right there to catch you "speeding."
Coming not long after: Our bought off legislators will be passing a law to put a sensor/chip in your car that will issue a ticket whenever you speed.
The Do-Gooders Hypocrisy has no limit, Speed limit 60 cameras set at 71 ??? Just keep making up the dead city rules as you go...
3 Cheers for the Police Chief and Two Mayors, for doing the right thing.
At least three cities in the I-70 zone won't participate. Berkeley Police Chief Frank McCall said his city doesn't have "immediate plans" to roll out speed cameras along its stretch
of the highway. Woodson Terrace Mayor Lawrence "Butch" Besmer and Northwoods Mayor Everett Thomas said their cities also were not interested.
And please while your not paying attention to your bad driving capabilities,eating, talking on your phone, make up etc.. get out of my way, GET IN THE SLOW LANE, or just stay home.
If ANYONE believes this is for Safety and not money they
should fall for that LIE also. I haven't shopped or driven through St.Thief or what was St.Ann after they started this and a place I did business with called and asked why and he was disappointed when I told him it was his location. I'd drive to St,Charles first and he can elect the same fools again....