A perverse dynamic has been installed on our streets: more hidden speed cameras than awareness campaigns. The goal seems to be collecting fines, not preventing accidents. Drivers are punished for a common oversight while poorly designed intersections or a lack of ongoing road safety education are ignored. It's more profitable to issue a photo ticket than to fix a dangerous junction.
Punitive technology vs. systemic prevention 🚦
Technology is used to monitor, not to educate. A fixed speed camera can reduce speed at a specific point, but it doesn't teach how to navigate a complex roundabout. True progress would be to allocate part of the revenue to redesigning conflict-prone intersections with smart traffic lights or reflective speed bumps, and to mandatory courses for repeat offenders. Investment in educational infrastructure would prevent more accidents than a speed camera hidden behind a sign.
The radar that fines you and doesn't invite you for coffee ☕
It's curious that the DGT has a budget for state-of-the-art radars that can even detect a phone in your pocket, but not for installing a bus shelter to prevent the sun from blinding you at a traffic light. It seems the solution is to punish the one who gets distracted, not the one who designed the blind curve. I wish they would put the same effort into educating as they do into hiding the camera behind a hedge.