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The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz., Mark Scarp Column: No, Freeway Speeding is Not Rated As Sport

Posted on: Thursday, 12 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By Mark Scarp, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

Jan. 11--Our Legislature, known for ignoring for years issues people want fast action on, also can be expected to jump like jackrabbits on things most of us ordinarily could take or leave.

Take photo enforcement, about to begin on Loop 101 through Scottsdale. Some people don't like it and the topic is great for foaming about over a beer. But over the years enough evidence has been gathered that it slows down drivers and lessens the rate of injury crashes. Most of us like that even more than we like to speed.

This didn't stop legislators from proposing at least five bills this session that hack away at it, however. "I fought to rein in speed cameras!" sounds good to many drivers who vote.

We know what motivates the politicians. But what exactly it is about these devices that turns some drivers into suds is mystifying. For decades, cameras have whirred and clicked over our heads in banks and stores. We've survived rather well being photographed while endorsing checks and buying toilet paper. So what is it about our being photographed while speeding?

Sport.

We don't see ourselves as lawbreakers when we enter banks and stores. But too many of us don't see speeding as illegal the same way as, say, shoplifting. To some of us, so long as it isn't too fast, speeding is like sport: How good can I get at stepping out of bounds without the referee blowing a whistle on me?

If you happen upon Scottsdale auto-racing sensation Danica Patrick, she surely would be able to help you differentiate between what she does behind the wheel (engage in a sport) and what you do (commute and haul around your stuff).

Yet absent such expert education, far too many of us will keep thinking of freeway driving as sport -- and that we should have a chance to win at it.

With speed cameras, though, there's not even an umpire -- a police officer -- to argue with.

Silently, the cameras flash the unspoken words, "Tell it to the judge." There's no playing the odds. A hundred cars go by this thing doing at least 11 mph over the limit, 100 cars get snapped and cited.

Flash. Click. Doh!

Strangely, lawmakers acting so concerned about whether Scottsdale makes money from photo enforcement never care about whether cities make any money from other traffic fines. Just the ones from cameras.

Because if cameras are not sporting for us drivers, our elected officials are going to make sure those cities trying to make freeways safer feel our pain.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

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Source: The Tribune

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