Archive for the 'punishment' Category
Monday, September 10th, 2007
The state government has placed vans with cameras on the potentially speed-friendly roads in my area. The idea is that with this system, the government can save on the cost of paying a policeman to set up a speed trap, and can also catch more speeders. The more tickets (punishments) a speeder gets, the less likely he is to repeat the action (speeding).
There are some interesting components to the system, though. The first is that there are designated areas for the speed traps to be set up. If you see a van in a certain location on your road, chances are that’s where it will be the next time. The locations and times that the cameras will be operational are posted on the county’s website every day, so if a speeder wanted to be meticulous, they could quickly consult the website on their way out in the morning. A speeder could be cautious when he/she passes an area where they’ve seen a camera-van before, and probably will begin to pick up their speed once they pass the van.
The second component is based on a rumor, but I wouldn’t disregard it: your picture is only taken if you’re going 10 miles above the speed limit. So a speeder isn’t punished if they’re breaking the law, but they are punished if they’re really breaking the law.
My guess is that the government’s goal in implementing this system is to prevent people from speeding in the suburbs. All this system does is encourage speeders to try and beat the system by memorizing the locations of the cameras and simply slowing down at those specific points if they notice a van. The speeders are actually being conditioned to stop speeding for just a brief second to avoid a ticket. Might as well install a stop sign.
I’m not going to pretend that I have a creative and workable solution for this problem, but it seems like threatening speeders with a punishment isn’t working here, simply because the punishment is so easily avoided. What if it worked the other way around? What if the non-speeders were rewarded for their (consistent) good driving habits? What if the non-speeders were awarded with HOV lane privileges for a one-man car during rush hour?
The system would have to be able to differentiate between the law-abiders and the fakers (and I have no idea how it would do that). And sure, a reward shouldn’t be necessary for simply following the law, but the drivers in my neighborhood aren’t driving any slower.
