Saturday, July 17, 2010

Arizona Turns Off Speed Cameras

THE TELEGRAPH: 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.

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A camera free road leading to Monument Valley in Arizona. Photo: The Telegraph

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. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Saturday, July 17, 2010