A SPECIES TOO STUPID TO LAST :

Disaster: 3,400 dead, many more injured! (New Statesman, 24th June 2002)

[I]n 1998, Labour decided to set up extra speed surveillance cameras in eight areas. The results were significant, sometimes spectacular: in Northamptonshire, for example, the numbers killed or seriously injured fell by 30 per cent. Moreover, surveys showed majority public support for the cameras. Yet, after a shameful press campaign, egged on by the Tories, ministers agreed that, when the scheme went national, its effectiveness should be reduced.

It's hard to imagine a more specious argument than the current one that passive traffic cameras represent a freedom-threatening invasion of privacy. As the events of 9-11 amply demonstrated, we don't have enough resources to sift through evidence pertaining to guys who are trying to blow up buildings, but people seem to seriously believe that there'll be legions of government agents studying the billions of photos these cameras would take. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 24, 2002 10:25 PM