Speed Camera Report: Drivers Slowed Down

* The speed cameras were especially effective in reducing crashes that resulted in injuries and fatalities - cutting them from 206 to 126 for a reduction of 39 percent. That's 80 people spared death or injury in one county in one year under highly restricted rules. The report's authors suggested that the reason serious crashes declined at a greater rate than property-damage crashes is that reduced speeds were limiting the severity of collisions.

Meanwhile, the study undercut one of the most common objections to cameras - that they would increase the number of rear-end collisions because drivers would suddenly mash on their brakes as they came into speed camera range. In fact, the report found an 18 percent decline in rear-end crashes within a half-mile of camera sites.

One of the most common complaints about speed cameras is that drivers who receive tickets can't "confront their accuser." In fact, the report shows that few take advantage of their option to contest photo-generated tickets. Less then one-half of 1 percent of the 740,000 citations issued over a two-year period were contested. The conviction rate in District Court: 99.7 percent.

My favorite factoids from the report come in a table showing the numbers of vehicles that racked up multiple offenses over two years in 2007-2009.

It turns out that 1,667 vehicles were caught by the cameras 10 or more times over that period. Seven frequent-fliers ended up in more than 30 pretty pictures.

You have to wonder what the story is here. Is it that for some folks, $40 is a trifle? Are there drivers out there who are so deeply committed to a perceived right to speed that nothing will slow them down?

If that's the case, perhaps government should grab every bit of their money it can. Let's say lawmakers double the fine for each offense after the first $40 within a two-year period. By the time a scofflaw got to the 10th offense, the fine would be $20,480. By the 16th violation, the penalty would be $1.3 million. Collect that amount from the 163 vehicle owners who reached that milestone and the county would rake in more than $210 million.

I'm smelling property tax cuts here.