
Dear Washington Supporter,
Your life, liberty and future happiness should not be taken from you without due process of law. Right?
Not anymore. Now you’re facing trial by electronic device.
Local governments have been using electronic devices to turn driving, a daily activity for many, into a revenue-generating scheme through the use of Automated Ticketing Machines.
Unlike police officers who can see the circumstances of alleged traffic violations, and exercise some judgment based on their observations, cameras and other electronic monitoring only can do what they are programmed to do.
Sometimes programmers don’t get it right. In Maryland, a speed camera was actually giving tickets to motorists who were following the law. How? The camera was programmed to a 25 mile per hour speed limit, when the posted limit was 35. In California, greedy governments shortened the length of yellow lights to nab more “violators” with Automated Ticketing Machines.
What has been the result? Studies show more accidents, more killed, and more injured because of paranoia spawned from all this monitoring. Some drivers get so hyper-responsive, trying to avoid a ticket, that they actually become a hazard to others.
Think about what happens to you when a police officer is traveling on the freeway. Drivers get bunched up, they spend too much time looking at their speedometer instead of paying attention to the road. The officer’s presence can actually create a hazard. A pack of hyper-responsive drivers is dangerous.
Picture what your drive will be like in the morning with a bunch of hyper-responsive drivers scared to go around the bus, waiting for the flashing lights to go on. Is this really supposed to make the kids safer?
Now there are some big corporations who are capitalizing on local government financial shortfalls by coming up with more ways to ticket citizens with unmanned devices.
Their latest weapon to grab cash? School Buses... and they have the audacity to use your children as bait!
Traffic camera dealers are now pushing an unmanned device that snaps a photo and sends a ticket to the registered owner of any vehicle that drives by when the “stop” arm on a school bus is extended.
Any unsafe driving behavior around school buses is unacceptable. But in other states that have put cameras on school buses, parents found out the hard way that when you incentivize a government agency to work with a private company to generate money for a school district, your child’s safety becomes a secondary concern.
In order to make money from these Automated Ticketing Machines, both the private company and the school district need “law breakers” running past stopped school buses.
That means instead of the Legislature incentivizing safe bus stops for school-aged children, school districts now have the incentive to create stops where they can generate the most amount of money.
As a ghastly consequence, in those states where unmanned devices were added to school buses, there have been accusations of routes being changed in order to maximize profits from the cameras!
Here is the reality: the National Highway Transportation Safety Association tells us that 17 school aged pedestrians are killed each year. 14 are killed by buses or other school vehicles. 3 are killed per year by other motorists. Of course, even one child killed by a motorist is too many, but this is a nationwide statistic. Three people out of over 60 million.
Think about this: every year 24 million students travel over 4 billion miles and yet the death rate is less than .02%. Cars are eight times more dangerous!
What's more, there's absolutely no evidence that any sort of unmanned traffic camera device would have saved even one of those three lives.
So let’s get this straight. Bus transportation and safety is not a widespread problem and unmanned traffic camera ticketing devices aren't even a solution. So why would the Washington State Legislature be voting on Monday to put traffic cameras on buses to ticket passing motorists?
It’s all about the money!
It’s "free" money. All the revenue-zombies have to do is allow these companies to put their devices on the bus and soon the money comes rolling in.
But what happens when motorists get more focused thinking “is the little sign going to pop out?" instead of keeping their attention on spotting children running for the bus? The answer is tragic.
That’s why you need to contact your State Representatives (click here for contact info) and tell them to vote no on SB 5540 when it comes before the House.
This Monday, April 4th, the Washington House of Representatives is going to VOTE on SB 5540 to put Automated Ticketing Machines on school buses. Please call them right now.
What is the legislature thinking? The answer is; they’re not!
When motives get clouded with easy money, even school districts can succumb to the temptation instead of keeping our children’s safety their first order of business.
That’s right, some other states are facing allegations that they now have bus stops in areas more dangerous than before. After all, somebody’s gotta pay for the equipment, right?
Why is this so important? Unbelievably, this bill has already passed unanimously in the Washington State Senate.
Apparently, the do-gooders in the Senate didn’t even think twice about the consequences of this bill. They should have talked to concerned citizens of other states where this type of device is already authorized. The legislature has bought into the propaganda that the profiteering camera lobby has sold them.
I know you won’t fall for the line “...it’s for the children!” Don’t let your legislator fall for it either.
Contact your representative (click here for contact info) and let them know, in no uncertain terms, that you don’t support Automated Ticketing Machines on buses and if they really care about the safety of our children they will vote NO on SB 5540.
And if they do not get the message, please contact Governor Chris Gregoire (click here to do so) and ask her to veto SB 5540.
Keep up the fight!
Alex Rion
Executive Director
Washington State Campaign for Liberty
425-298-5080
P.S. Remember SB 5540 and Automated Ticketing Machines are not about your child’s safety; they are about private companies lining their pockets by putting your children at risk - all to make a buck!
Don’t let the Legislature give school districts a financial incentive to put bus stops in places where there is a higher likelihood that drivers will trigger the red light cameras. Contact your Representative today!
Source: National Highway Transportation Safety Administration Study


