"Arizona has turned off every speed camera on its highways after complaints that they violated privacy and were designed to generate revenue rather than promote road safety. "
A camera free road leading to Monument Valley in Arizona
Photo: REX FEATURES
A spokesman for Jan Brewer, the state's Republican governor, said she "was
uncomfortable with the intrusive nature of the system", which was
inherited from her Democratic predecessor.
Opening in October 2008, the scheme was first in the United
States to use speed cameras across a whole state. Amid objections of Big
Brother-ism, numerous cameras were vandalised, while the operator of a van
carrying a mobile camera was shot dead in a lay-by in April 2009.
The 76 cameras took 2.7 million photographs, but only 16 per cent of drivers
who received a speeding ticket paid up.
The scheme generated $76 million (£50 million) for a state which has struggled
to balance its budget, while the Department of Public safety reported a 19
per cent drop in fatal collisions on highways. But campaigners argued that
safety could be improved by more police patrols.
Read more at www.telegraph.co.uk
Speed cameras introduced by the authorities in several Arizonan cities are
unaffected by the decision.
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