The first time it hit me, I was on my way to a movie with my wife and daughter. It was early evening, and the road was deserted except for the car that had just passed me in the opposite lane. I wasn’t in a hurry and had complete control of my vehicle.
Then, without warning, the flash lit up the night sky. Instinctively, I swerved into the other lane and covered my face, temporarily blinded. When I was able to re-focus, I thanked God there were no vehicles in the lane I had swerved into and that no one was injured.
Then, when I realized what had just happened, the anger kicked in – an intense anger I have only experienced a few times in my life. I had just had my first run-in with former Governor Janet Napolitano’s only lasting legacy for this state – the good-for-nothing speed cameras. Damn them, and damn anyone who supports them!
By now you’ve probably heard of the 40,000-plus tickets handed out during the first two months since the cameras started going up last September. The Legislature adopted the former governor’s plan in late June, and cameras should completely be up statewide by February 1. As of December, the Department of Public Safety announced that fees from the photo radar tickets have resulted in $7.3 million. What you should know is that there were more than 160,000 tickets issued during that same period that were tossed due to insufficient evidence – but more on that in a minute.
Several hundred major U.S. cities utilize these contraptions and look to them as major revenue streams. But when the good governor signed the first deal of its kind in America – allowing cameras across an entire state – the onslaught began.
And she did it with an Australian company, Redflex Traffic Systems, which won Arizona’s $20 million contract to enforce traffic laws in our state. Reflex has seen its share of embarrassing controversies. A mayor in one Missouri town, for instance, pleaded guilty in 2006 to soliciting a bribe from a Redflex sales representative.   More than one driver of Redflex vans, including one in Scottsdale, has been arrested on DUI charges – while driving to set up the van, mind you. And the company allegedly knew that its machinery was not FCC-certified, but in order to win the lucrative statewide contract, it claimed it was 100 percent compliant. This is now the subject of a lawsuit filed in August by the Valley law firm Pak and Moring, which is seeking class-action status. (As much as I hate lawsuits, I am hoping this one prevails.)
Please don’t get me wrong; I have no desire to demonize this Aussie company alone – it has several competitors. My issue is with our politicians, leaders and law-enforcement personnel who are pooling their resources for one single cause: to bring in more revenue in a lazy way. By the way, Redflex posted a 44 percent increase in after-tax revenues in 2007. In today’s tough economic times, no companies are seeing that kind of meteoric income.