Bad Safety

Something weird is going on but we’re not sure exactly what. Why are HB residents subjected to so much crap? Is it not enough that residents still have to deal with Deutsch and his shenanigans?  A recent article reporting on the continued opposition to the Ben Gamla Charter School quotes Peter Deutsch as saying that “at community meetings more speakers spoke in support of the school than against it.”  Of course, those were all the parents that got double fudge brownie points for attending and supporting his cause.

The article goes on to say “in recent months, expansion of private and charter schools has riled some neighborhoods. In Miami-Dade County, Coral Gables residents objected to the expansion of Somerset Academy charter school from 110 students to 735 students in space leased at University Baptist Church. Palmetto Bay residents objected to plans by the Palmer Trinity private school to expand from 600 students to 900-1,400 students.”

Deutsch has an agenda – that’s no secret – what’s left to see is city commission’s agenda; including but not limited to:

• Keeping the Ben Gammies out of the neighborhood
• The red light cameras
• The two-way streets at NE 8^th & 10^th Aves

 In an article dated April 4^th, Mayor Cooper sings the praises of red light cameras:

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in the United States, 200,000 people are injured and 900 people are killed each year in motor vehicle collisions resulting from a motor vehicle driver violating a red-light traffic signal.

The first of the many interesting things about this article is that the original report states:  “ …a total of 815 deaths would have been prevented.”

And that, friends and neighbors, is just the beginning of the flawed math trying to make the case for red light cameras. 

We believe that the very minimum residents should receive from their elected officials is the ability to do some math and research and draw objective and logical conclusions.  Not everyone has to be a rocket scientist (like us) but at the very least, spend time gathering facts and figures before making sweeping pronouncements.

With very little research (we found it in less than 20 minutes), Mayor Cooper could have located the following problematic issues with the report she used to make her case: 

• The IIHS report did not actually consider a single red light camera accident
• The report itself only looked at accident numbers in fourteen out of the 500 jurisdictions that have active photo ticketing programs. Industry researchers did not even know how many red light cameras were in use in the locations studied.  (“Attempts were made to obtain historical information on the number of red light cameras in the study cities, but information on the scope of red light programs could not be obtained for many of the cities,” the IIHS study explains (page 9))
• The results reflect citywide accident numbers, not figures at photo-enforced locations.
• This overly simplistic method credits red light cameras with accident reductions that take place at intersections without any cameras.
• A more complete analysis of fatal accidents performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded that “large fatality declines tended to coincide with areas that had higher increases in rates of unemployment” (view report). This is the case because unemployment takes drivers off the road in peak travel times reducing the chances of an accident. Many of the hardest hit areas economically have turned to automated enforcement to increase revenue. Moreover, studies conducted by independent researchers examining actual accident reports have found that accidents and injuries tend to increase where cameras are used (view reports).
• The Insurance Institute represents the interests of all the major automobile insurance firms from AAA and Geico to State Farm and Allstate.   http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/33/3392.asp

The information is out there, you just have to dig for it and luckily not too far.  A recent Palm Beach Post headline read “Rear-end collisions jump at red-light camera intersections in West Palm Beach” and an excerpt of the article states “After scores of complaints, West Palm Beach has since offered refunds for two-thirds of its March fines. The city decided April 5 to stop enforcing slow-rolling right turns on red….When we saw the number of right-on-red citations that were being issued and the amount of money that was associated with these citations, we decided to stop issuing the right-on-red citations altogether and refund the money of those who had been cited,” city spokesman Robbins said.” 

Whoa! A city unwilling to separate residents from every dollar they have? Sadly, our Mayor is not immune to trying to separate residents from their hard earned dollars;  her article states “In today’s economy, many people are struggling to get by. A $158 ticket could make or break some families. Drivers are taking notice and obeying the law.” The bottom line being that the Mayor is willing to break a family for $158 despite not having solid proof that red light cameras contribute to public safety but because it fills the city coffers.

In fact, AAA South last year urged Governor Crist veto the red light bill because they realized it was all about money. “The fact that only 10 percent of the fine revenue is to be used for public safety and health purposes clearly shows that this legislation was more about raising money than improving traffic safety.”

Coming back to the math portion of our show, it’s our opinion that if the Mayor wants to convince us it’s about public safety, she merely has to give us proof that (all) the money generated from red light cameras in Hallandale has gone to public safety programs.  Connect the dots for us but do it better than Mark Antonio did in his “budget” meeting that didn’t contain a dollar amount for anything.  The dot connection won’t make red light cameras any more acceptable but it will show a commitment to public safety and fiscal management.

(A side note on fiscal management: it seems the Mayor has spent $1000 to get her hands on Keith London’s personal and work emails. Is her inability to get along with London affecting her judgment?)

By the way, make note that Hallandale Beach contracts with American Traffic Solutions and Goldman Sachs owns part of ATS.  You still think this is about safety? 

Speaking of public safety, WTF is going on with the Mayor, her family and police? We have never received as many forwards or head’s up about anything as we did for that. It hardly seems worth providing the links since it seems everyone already knows about this tragedy but public information and all that:

The soft price of corruption

Spit on Your Kids

Also on the subject of public safety but some other time, we’ll discuss the Mayor’s idea to narrow NE 8^th & 10^th Aves to a single lane for our safety.  We’re hoping that soon there will be evidence, facts and figures to support an idea that is (in our opinion and soon backed by research of our own) colossally ridiculous.

Finally, we do want to give her some props for being very vocal about making sure residents don’t serve jail time for over watering their lawns. Seriously.

We saw an email the other day that said a mayoral recall campaign would probably take us right up to the election – the better move would probably be to vote for the other guy/gal. In March, Former Mayor Alvarez was removed by an overwhelming 88% of voters. The election here is not too far away; we encourage anyone and everyone to run for mayor…and dump the other two commissioners while you’re at it.