Speed cameras and freedom
by Steve McEachern
Speed cameras free up police officers to focus on actual policing — the serious crimes that affect public safety — rather than spending their time on routine traffic enforcement. It makes far more sense for cameras to handle speed enforcement than to have trained officers sidelined by such menial duties.
No one is being forced to exceed the speed limit. Everyone has the freedom to avoid exceeding the speed limit. Cameras don’t “trap” anyone; they simply record driving behaviour. The “cash grab” argument collapses under its own illogic — everyone has the freedom to avoid paying fines, merely by obeying traffic laws. That’s not oppression; that’s accountability. Likewise, everyone has the freedom to avoid robbing a bank or freedom to restrain themselves from raping the elderly, etc.
The claim that cameras unfairly enforce the law with “less tolerance” is absurd. By that logic, we might as well excuse attempted murder because it’s “not quite murder,”or dismiss partial sexual assault because a rape victim wasn’t given “the full eight inches.” Law doesn’t bend to comfort those mildly breaking it. Likewise, how daft is the argument that it is OK to rob a bank of $1000 provided that it was not a robbery exceeding $2000?
Speed cameras work. I received a ticket for doing 103 km/h in an 80 km/h zone — about a $200 fine. I paid it. I slowed down. I became more attentive. End of story. No babies cried. No political extremists got herpes. The world continued to spin. The hysteria that typically floods Facebook every time personal responsibility intersects with technology simply didn’t happen.
And let’s be honest — a camera in a public space is 99.999999% more likely to record exculpatory evidence than incriminating conduct. Most people spend 99.999999% of their lives not trafficking virgins, not importing plutonium, not dealing cocaine, and not mugging strangers. The camera doesn’t threaten the innocent; it documents reality.
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Steve McEachern is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder at Success.Legal Corporation.
