11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good info, but it's now 5+ years old and a lot has changed..., January 17, 2009
This review is from: Smile for the Speed Camera: Photo Radar Exposed! (Paperback)
I live in Arizona, the author's home state, and got "flashed" by a Department of Public Safety photo radar van on I-10 going from Tucson to Phoenix. It really ticked me off, because I was on cruise control going 55 in a construction zone and some idiot hauling a trailer was going maybe 30, so to avoid being rear-ended, I stepped on the gas and whipped around the truck and trailer. As luck would have it, just as I passed him and pulled back into the right "slow" lane, I got "flashed."
Yes, I WAS speeding, doing probably 65 in a 55, but for a reason. If a cop had been sitting there, he might have pulled me over and given me a warning, but I doubt it. He'd have seen I was merely passing a very slow vehicle and wouldn't have done anything. Not so with good ol' "Robo Radar" -- which has no judgment, common sense, or intelligence - just an automatic FLASH! and to hell with any mitigating or extenuating circumstances.
The incident really got me mad. I felt violated by technology, even though, yes, I was "speeding" for 4-5 seconds. Talk about wrong place, wrong time! Anyway, I began to research photo radar, especially since the Arizona Department of Public Safety plans to roll out dozens and dozens of these on interstates and rural highways. (And I-10 through Phoenix is a driver's nightmare with cameras everywhere!) I live in Tucson and the technology is just barely catching on here...
I got this book after checking out the author's web site. To be honest, I didn't learn much more than I did by reading her web site, other articles about photo radar online (especially in Phoenix newspapers), and the DPS web site. (Her book predates the Arizona Legislature's authorization giving DPS the power to roll out the photo radar vans, and some of the information is dated. The book came out in 2004, so it was probably written in 2003, which means it is well over 5 years old by now.)
Surprisingly, the DPS web site turned out to be the best source of information. I learned, for instance, that DPS (but not the cities) will not issue a ticket if the vehicle is owned by a governmental agency or a corporation. (I was driving a company-registered vehicle and it's been over a month, so I think I got very, very lucky!) In addition, because so many scofflaws do what this author advises (throw the ticket away and wait to be "served" in person), the state now has set the ticket at $165 with NO points on the license and no report to DMV, so anyone who is flashed and just pays up isn't facing any license problems or insurance increase. Unfortunately, the cities aren't so generous and they are reporting all information to the Motor Vehicle Division, so I'd follow her advice, toss the ticket, wait to be "served" (at an additional fee, of course) and then decide to pay up or fight the ticket.
Overall, the book was useful, but this short tome (134 pages, including appendices)with LARGE TYPE barely qualifies as a book, and the price being asked is easily more than twice what I think it is worth! (A lot of extra padding, such as samples of tickets, photos, etc., have been used to make this seem more like a, well, book...) Before buying this, I'd recommend Googling photo radar, especially for your state (many, many references in here are for Arizona, or Alaska, a surprising pioneer in the use of photo radar), and doing some research. If you can't find out what you need online, then maybe you might want to fork over the money for this book -- and don't forget, you have to pay shipping, too.
I give this book a weak thumb's up. It's well-written but really brief, and by having scoured the internet first, I haven't come across a single thing in the book that I haven't seen (for free) elsewhere.
If you're very, very lazy and don't want to do online research, and don't mind that a book is (in my opinion) over-priced and half a decade behind the times, then order away!
P.S. Since writing this about 10 months ago, photo radar continues to expand in Arizona. I had a minor fender-bender that was my fault and I had to go to "good driver school" so the ticket would be dismissed and it wouldn't be reported to MVD, which means no insurance rate hike. It was worth the $218. Anyway, the instructor asked how many people out of about 80 in the class had gotten tickets in the mail from photo radar. I was shocked when about 60 of the 80 people in class held up their photo-illustrated tickets. Almost everyone said they didn't realize they'd been ticketed. So, read up, prepare, and slow down and STOP! for those red lights -- if you've got photo radar in your area. If not, consider yourself blessed. This really is BIG BROTHER in action and, despite claims that it's for "safety," (I'd say 50 people in traffic school, times $218, comes to over $10,000) this is seen by most Arizona residents as a way to generate revenue during the Great Recession.
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