Automated enforcement wins a convert

The Virginia Department of Transportation has closed rest areas as part of budget cuts. (Steve Helber/associated Press)

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By Robert Thomson

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

Okay, I've finally given up and chosen to embrace Big Brother. Why? Simply because the wild, wild west has taken over most people's driving habits in the District and the suburbs. Speed cameras [Dr. Gridlock, Oct. 18] work for the 100 meters before and after the cameras, but red-light running is epidemic and clearly more of a safety issue than speeding 42 mph in a (laughably slow) 30 mph zone.

And while we're at it, put a few cameras around just plain stop signs and traffic lights. Rolling stops or outright non-stop at right-on-red seems to be the standard driving behavior.

John Binford

Silver Spring

DG: I've heard no local proposals to install cameras at stop signs, though I could warm up to that idea. Enforcement cameras are capable of shooting video as well as still images.

Red lights and stop signs are commonly treated as traffic advisories across the Washington region. It's my habit to pause by intersections, whether downtown or in residential neighborhoods, and watch how drivers, bikers and pedestrians conduct themselves. Representatives of all three types of travelers have criticized each other in this column, but in my observation, no category distinguishes itself as law-abiding.

Bus luggage

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