Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) is expected to sign into law recently passed legislation authorizing a massive expansion in the use of speed cameras throughout the state. The measure is the culmination of a coordinated effort by photo enforcement companies, their lobbying firms and the insurance industry to sway the opinions of key legislators. TheNewspaper reviewed state records over the past ten years and found that parties with a direct financial interest in automated ticketing showered members of the Maryland General Assembly and the governor with $707,725 in gifts and campaign cash.
The official legislative analysis for Senate Bill 277 predicted $65,335,400 in new photo ticket revenue at the state level by 2014. The private contractor selected to run the program will pocket $9,783,700. Because a number of localities implementing their own programs expect equally generous levels of revenue, four traffic camera specialists had an incentive to make a long-term strategic investment in Maryland’s legislative process. American Traffic Solutions (ATS) of Arizona, Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) of Texas, Sigma Space/Optotraffic of Maryland and Traffipax of Germany together wrote checks to lawmakers worth $183,780 between 1999 and 2009.
To ensure the best reception for their proposals, these firms also retained heavy-hitting lobby shops with their own history of providing $213,055 in financial support to the campaigns of influential state lawmakers. ATS hired Capitol Strategies for $41,000; Sigma hired Rifkin Livingston Levitan LLC for $68,873; Traffipax hired Gildea Schmidt LLC for $50,000; and ACS hired Alexander Cleaver PA for $211,453. Some local governments even got into the act and spent taxpayer money on speed camera lobbying efforts, like Prince George’s County which hired Darryl Kelley LLC for $47,500.
The extra money spent by ACS made an impression on lawmakers serving on four state legislative committees. The ACS lobby shop, Alexander and Cleaver, feted these members with $6286 in food and wine from Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Annapolis. Similarly, the American Automobile Association (AAA) threw a $10,933 party at its headquarters for General Assembly members.
Insurance companies like AAA, Geico, Nationwide and State Farm have an intense interest in the promotion of photo radar and red light cameras. These companies collect millions in extra premium revenue in states like Arizona, California, Colorado and Illinois where certain categories of photo tickets carry license points. As a result, these companies lobbied heavily in favor of Maryland’s photo ticketing plan.
“AAA Mid-Atlantic supported the statewide bill to ensure continuity throughout the state in terms of practice and enforcement,” AAA said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Geico, Nationwide and State Farm together kicked in $293,671 in campaign donations to ensure lawmakers paid attention to their favorite issues, including speed cameras.
For the photo ticketing firms, it makes sense to invest $555,106 in direct lobbying and campaign expenses when the possible payoff is at least $9.8 million. A growing number of ordinary Maryland residents, however, want to keep that victory short-lived. Last week, Maryland for Responsible Enforcementbegan the process of circulating a petition that would give voters a chance in November to repeal the statewide photo radar legislation. In just a few days, 662 members signed up on the new group’s Facebook page.
The group CameraFraud.com has already collected thousands of signatures for a similar effort to ban photo enforcement in Arizona, and the group’snational capital branch supports the Maryland referendum. Once on the ballot, no photo enforcement program has ever survived a public vote. Earlier this month, for example, 86 percent of voters in Sulphur, Louisiana voted to reject speed cameras.
Maryland Campaign Donations
Company
Donation Amount
ACS
$155,500
Sigma
$16,630
ATS
$6,500
Traffipax
$5,150
Traffic Camera Subtotal $183,780
Alexander & Cleaver
$79,285
Capitol Strategies
$39,875
Rifkin Livingston & Levitan
$36,835
Darryl Kelley LLC
$31,145
Gildea & Schmitt
$25,915
Lobbyist Subtotal $213,055
Nationwide
$185,987
Geico
$58,396
State Farm
$49,288
Insurance Subtotal $293,671
GRAND TOTAL
$690,506
Legalized robbery at al levels..
I’m sure that Geico and State Farm will be lowering premiums for Maryland drivers due to the massive reduction in speeding and the completely accident free roads that cameras create.
If you are a customer of these companies cancel your policy now. You are supporting idiocy.
There needs to be some serious action taken to change the way politicians do business. They don’t work for the people that elect them, they work for the largest pile of cash. We seriously need to run the whole lot of them out. The sad thing, however, is most Americans don’t vote for the common man, they vote for this type of scum.
I love that the old ways are still current in today’s government. A lack of change I can believe in! Buying the vote is as old as democracy people. Not a knock against democracy, as least here you know the vote was purchased and by who. So now what do you do? Call, email, pester your congressman. Little known fact, if you speak up they will listen to you. When no one says anything to them, the dollars will sway them what ever direction is needed to get the cash.
The more you know!
The traffic cameras are creepy but what I find most offensive and dangerous is the shortened yellow lights. It seems over the past year, intersections with and without cameras have really short yellows.
I am not a red light runner, a T bone intersection at high speed is actually a fear of mine, but I have noticed that lights that have been turning yellow when it is too short to stop are turning red while I am in the middle of the intersection. Really scary
I sure hope they are implementing a delayed green on the other side.
What a great way to lay in the infrastructure for a system akin to Britain’s cctv system under the guise of ‘safety’ and ‘revenue’.
This (unfortunately) truthfully seems to sum it all up.
http://www.russiatoday.ru/Top_News/2009-04-19/_America_lives_in_a_fascist_state____Gerald_Celente.html
Hmmm… so let me make sure I have this right… Redflex and others run the studies that show the towns that they need these cameras (vs just extending the yellow) and then hire the lobbyists to convince the lawmakers to make them into law… and then split the ticket revenue. Sounds great for everyone but the drivers. Nice. Love it.
I’m glad that I have this (http://www.gpsangel.com). I don’t run red lights, but my wife got hit with a ticket on a right on red. Where I live in CA there’s a ton of these cameras that have sprung up.
Mandating (in your State Constitution, if necessary) that you’re given a ticket IN PERSON by an officer of the law, or it is totally illegal, and this crap won’t happen.
It’s about the ONLY thing that Michigan has got going for it about now…. sadly. Yes, the actual Michigan Constitution states just that. Hence, no speed cameras, no red light cameras.
It’s be interesting to study Michigan cities against other cities in other states to see accident rates both before and after these cameras being put into cities in other states. That way, variances over years could be considered.
I’d be willing to bet that accident rates would CLIMB in red-light camera areas due to the shortened yellow light, and I do believe that this has been proved time and time again.
Time to recall virtually all of the politicians yet?
Trouble is, when all you can do is vote “Repugnican” or “Demoncrat” (or, should I say, that is all the average sheeple THINK they can vote) then you keep getting the same kinds of scum of the earth voted in to lordoverus.
A village between my home and work was up in arms and recalled all the local politicians over an unpopular water system which was rammed down the township’s throat (in order to get a box-store to build). All of the politicians were recalled (fired).
In the special election (which cost taxpayers yet more money, of course) 80% of the same scumbags were re-elected by the same populous!
Einstein said “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, is a definition of insanity.”
Now they are really getting close to where I live. I used to wonder what it was like to live in the UK, I’m about to find out soon enough.
TheNewspaper reviewed state records over the past ten years and found that parties with a direct financial interest in automated ticketing showered members of the Maryland General Assembly and the governor with $707,725 in gifts and campaign cash.
That’s nothing. That’ll barely buy a governor here in California. Our union donated $450,000 towards the election of Cruz Bustamante (D) when he ran against Arnold Schwarzenegger. That didn’t work out so well.
superbadd75 :
There needs to be some serious action taken to change the way politicians do business.
There is a way! It’s called “Term Limits.” Or alternatively, “vote them out.”
So why did the Mass voters elect this bunch? Either they like their politicians, or they are too weak of constitution (..or Constitution) to throw them out.
Well, ZoomZoom, “vote them out” takes on no meaning at all when you essentially have a two headed monster and simply elect one of the heads!
C’mon, be realistic. Look at the 2008 Prez ‘election’. Realistically, in the end, we had two clones with 99% the same ‘stands on issues’ from the two parties (heads of the same monster). Wow. Some choice.
Effectively, no more choice than the Soviet ‘voter’ had. But the communist party could always say that they had 99% support of the people; they voted them in!!!
In reality there are two forms of government.
Got 10 minutes? Look for yourselves.
http://patriotroom.com/article/terrific-video–are-we-sliding-from-a-republic-into-despotism-
Term Limits, Menno.
If each politician knew he/she had to leave office after a term or three, then the lobbyists would have ZERO power. Additionally, politicians might be less likely to create and pass damaging legislation if they knew that one day, they must go back into life as a private citizen, beholden to the laws that they made when they were in office.
Two parties or twenty, this would still work.
Expect this to get much worse in the near future. State and local governments are facing declining revenues due to crashing home values and other current economic factors.
Term limits would work to some extent. Except that, what’s to keep someone from being a state senator (x number of years), then state congressman (x number of years), then federal congressman (x number of years), then federal senator (x number of years), then vice president (8 years) then president (8 years)?
The invisible hand of money would still have a hey-day with the guy and his backers being enriched at OUR expense, even with term limits, zoomzoom.
What’s it cost to get into office nowadays again?
We may as well have the Chicago mob running our country. Oh, wait…
Wow, ACS has been buying business for a long time. These guys were a partner of my former employer, and if your company spends much money with them, you really need to get a private investigator on your decision makers to find out what goodies they are getting.
They had a guy in one of my accounts that was supposedly becoming a professional golfer on all the equipment, trips, and green fees he was getting. Rumor was, he spent more time on the links than he did in the office. Other employees estimated his take at nearly 5k a MONTH. A merger caused me to give up the account, so I don’t know if he kept his cushy asst. VP job with two bosses or not.
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/photo_radar_van_driver_shot_041909
Things just got taken to the next level.
This is going to have serious repercussions. There have been a lot of victories in the courts against speed cameras and red light traps, this will hurt.
For a minute I thought the guy on the left was raising his middle finger at some taxpayers.
Look at the 2008 Prez ‘election’. Realistically, in the end, we had two clones with 99% the same ’stands on issues’ from the two parties (heads of the same monster). Wow. Some choice.
Gee menno, libertarian maybe? I’m so glad I don’t live in your version of hell where regardless of what those in power, who we vote for, do for us, the voting public, we continually look for ways in which they disappoint us. Unfortunately politicians are just people who unfortunately are prone to bribes. Our last illustrious administration made a lot of money off military contracting through Kelloggs Brown and Root, but no one said a thing. Funny how KBR always got the trillion dollar contract. You want to change government in this country so much, lobby against the lobbyists. From Exxon/Mobil to the Prescription Drug lords, they effectively rule the congress.
Back to subject, speed cameras have slowly been making their way into our society. The reasons are painfully obvious, it makes a lot of money with little work invested. The usual arguement by the lobbyists for the Big Brother technique of law enforcement is to constantly watch us all the time and we’ll be good boys and girls. The American Constitution does make a guarantee against this sort of thing; i.e., the Searches and Seizure clause. The authorities have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you, not your twin brother, is driving the car and that means they actually have to pull you over.
We have the best government money can buy.
On another note, in Arizona today, a driver of a Redflex van taking photo radar pictures was SHOT AND KILLED.
speedlaw:
On another note, in Arizona today, a driver of a Redflex van taking photo radar pictures was SHOT AND KILLED.
Here’s a link to the story:
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE53J3VC20090420
I think many of these judges sanctifying such behavior are part of the problem. They’ve allowed themselves to become tools in this extra tax game. I wonder if money has made it to them as well?
Did you know you are not allowed a trial by jury in most states for a traffic violation?
http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58147
‘In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.’
It should be unconstitutional but there you have it! The supreme court itself has repeatedly ruled against what the constitution clearly states.
http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/deliverdocument.asp?citeid=429814
There it is in black, white, and trampled.