Traffic Camera Lights Should Be Installed Essay Example for Free

Traffic Camera Lights Should Be Installed Essay Red light running is a common problem in roads and intersections. According to the focus report from Texas House Representatives, injuries and fatalities from red light crashes had increased annually from 10,000 in the year 1975 to 24,000 in the year 2001 (Focus Report, p 1). In California, from the report of the National Advisory Board, there is an approximately 200,000 crashes where 150,000 are from injuries and more than 1,100 fatalities in the year 2001. (National Campaign to Stop Red Light, p. 1). In the years 1992 to 2000, the number of road accidents that had caused death at signalized intersections had increased by 19% nationwide where the red light running being the frequent cause. Half of the deaths were innocent pedestrians and occupants in vehicles that had been hit by these red light runners (National Campaign to Stop Red Light, p. 1).. Financially, California Highway Patrol estimates that the red light running fatality had caused $2,600,000 and other accidents costs between $2,000 and $183,000 (National Campaign to Stop Red Light, p. 1). In Texas, accidents are   estimated to be cost at between $1.4 Billion. Medical, Insurance and other related expenses falls at about $3 billion annually. Federal Highway Administration from the US Department of Transportation, red light runnin more than 100,000 crashes and approximately 1,000 deaths annually (Federal Highway Administration, page 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to address the problem of red light running, authorities had decided to use cameras. Traffic light cameras had been used in the United States in the 90’s. John Quain states that New York had been one of the first areas that had installed camera devices to catch law-breaking individuals (nytimes.com, 2008). Red light Cameras main goal is to make people obey traffic rules and minimize if not eliminate red light runner violators.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are three types of cameras that had been used by the police. These are the film camera, digital camera and video camera (National Campaign to Stop Red Light, p 13). The film camera has a limited amount of images to capture but has the highest image resolution among the other two types. The digital camera captures the picture and directs it to the computer. There is no need to get or retrieved the image from the site because the captured images go straight to the database of the operator. Lastly, video cameras are used to detect the speed and capture the images to detect the violators. The cameras have different features to sense the position of the car. This includes the video motion sensors, laser tracking and the sensors embedded in the road. When the car passes the stop line and the light has turned red, the camera captures a series of pictures of the infraction. This includes the license plate of the violator. From these pictures, the owner of the vehicle is issued a ticket. The ticket and the photographic evidence from the camera is then given to the owner via mail (nytimes.com, 2008). In addition to the mail, according to Seattle Post Intelligence, the owner is tasked to pay the fine in 18 days, if the owner was not the one driving he or she must ask for a hearing or an affidavit. If the driver had signed the affidavit the ticket is nulled. The tickets issued to the owner do not appear in the driving records (seattlepi.com, 2008).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many benefits in installing the traffic light cameras. First benefit is to the police force. In the article from the National Campaign to Stop Red light runners, it had been stressed that the police force monitors the roads and intersections in order to ensure that there are no violators. If a particular scenario happens, the police is sometimes forced to chase the violator for the traffic ticket. This particular procedure does not only waste the time of the police but it also wastes gasoline. There have also been procedures that had assigned a particular group to monitor the roads. These situations waste time and effort of not only a single policeman but a group of policemen. Since the cameras had been installed, the police had more time to worry about other things aside from monitoring the traffic (National Campaign to Stop Red Light, p 11). In the year 1998, the International Association of Chiefs of Police had supported the red light cameras. The resolution had indicated that red light cameras are there â€Å"for more effective and efficient traffic law, in conjunction with normal enforcement efforts.† (National Campaign to Stop Red Light, p 11).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Second benefit is that the red light cameras had been able to reduce the red light violations by 40% at intersections with cameras and a 50% reduction at intersections without cameras (thenewspaper.com, 2008). The reduction of violations only shows that there the goals of the red light cameras had been met. Third benefit is the financial aspect from the type of crash accidents that had happened. According to the Federal Highway Administration in America, there is an approximate aggregate economic benefit of $39,000 per site per year. The $39,000 benefit came from the minimized right angle crashes and the increase in rear accident crashes. Even though there was an increase in the rear end crashes the economic computation of the crashes had resulted to a positive benefit for society. Another angle of economic benefit is that the camera systems pay for itself because of the red light running fines that has been generated. (Federation Highway Administration, page 84).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another benefit that the red light camera brings is that it had become a deterrent to bring behaviour change to motorists. (National Campaign to Stop Red Light, p 8). The behaviour change does not only include obeying traffic rules, it also includes respect for fellow drivers which had resulted to avoiding crashes, injuries and loss of life. Recent studies show that there have been   25 to 30 percent reduction in intersection injury crashes (National Campaign to Stop Red Light, p 8). In Seattle, the frequency of light running dropped. Studies revealed that there has been a reduction of at least 50 percent. The study shows that the cameras had reduced the frequency of car collisions. Seattle had made a one-year pilot period and the city had issued that there have been 16,539 citations. These citations had resulted to $1.1 million in penalties. More than 70% of the ticketed violators had paid for their fines (seattlepi.com, 2008). In London, red light and speed cameras had shown a reduction of 54% in red light violations. The 11,000 violations that had ben recorded in the last 6 months of the year 2000 had been decreased to 5,000 in the first six months of the year 2001. (Red Light Press Clippings, Page 1). The red light camera had been installed in different areas in the United States and it has also contributed a lot in the reduction of accidents and injuries in the road. Oxnard California had shown that there have been a reduction of injury crashes at intersections with traffic signals by 29 percent since 1997. This does not only include the intersections with camera. Fairfax, Virginia had experience a decline of 44% after a year of camera enforcement. Washington D.C. had shown a reduction of fatalities from16 percent to 2 percent in the first two years of installation. Charlotte, North Carolina had experienced 70 percent in the first year of camera enforcement. New York City, Maryland, and California also had shown a reduction of violations ever since the cameras had been installed. There are many issues that surround the installation of red light cameras. There have been studies that show that the installation of the cameras had resulted to an increase in the rear-end crashes of cars. The issue had been the timing of the yellow light and the fear of the people about the ticketing from the traffic enforcement offices. Another issue is that the enforcers may have adjusted the cameras so that there would be more people who would incur traffic violations to increase the fine collection. Some of the people view the installation of these cameras as an additional tax collection that the government is collecting from the people. The â€Å"Big Brother† issue had also been discussed, several people question their right to privacy. It had been noted that the use of the red light cameras violates the privacy of the people. (US House of Representatives, 2001) There may have been issues that are against the red light cameras however, the proponent of this paper believes that it is better to install traffic cameras in all the intersections. It is more important to be able to care for the safety of the people rather than think about the privacy and costs. Life costs more than anything else and it is the duty of the police to take care of the citizens of the country. People feel safer because they know that it is safe in the streets. Knowing that there are safeguards such as traffic camera lights in the roads helps people think that they are secure. The reduction of the violations of red light running had shown very promising results. It is not only easier for the police force to know the violators but it had also brought about the increase of security in the roads. Since people would not be able to escape their violations, the people are then disciplined and as a such this brings behavioural change from the drivers. Works Cited    Robinson, B.A. , â€Å"Same Sex Marriages (SSM), Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships†. Religous Tolerance, 30, Texas House of the Representatives. â€Å"Red-Light Cameras in Texas: A Status Reportâ€Å"   Focus Report. May 2001. House Research Organization. 10 February 2008. http://www.hro.house.state.tx.us/focus/redlight79-15.pdf Quain, J. â€Å"Lights, Camera, Traffic Ticket† Technology. 6 January 2008. New York Times. 10 February 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/automobiles/06LIGHT.html?ex=1357275600en=fedd158c6b011f9bei=5088partner=rssnytemc=rss Federal Highway Administration. â€Å"Safety Evaluation of Red-Light Cameras†. U.S. Department of Transportation. April 2005. Research and Development Technology Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. 10 February 2008. http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/pubs/05048/05048.pdf National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running. â€Å"Stop on Red = Safe on Green†. 2002. National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running 10 February 2008. http://www.stopredlightrunning.com/pdfs/StopOnRedSafeOnGreen.pdf Galloway, Angela. â€Å"More red light cameras comingâ€Å" 2 January 2008. Seattle Post Intelligencer. 10 February 2008. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/345753_redlight03.html BJS. â€Å"Red light cameras can reduce crash-related injuries† 20 April 2005. Science Blog. 10 Februar 2008. http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/node/7612/print Mobilizing the Region. â€Å"Facing Albany Roadblock, NYC must Fake Traffic Safety Program†. 24 November 2001. Tri-State Transportation Campaign. 10 February 2008.   http://www.tstc.org/bulletin/ City of Saskatoon. â€Å"Drive safe. Drive smart. Stop at red lights!â€Å" 2007. City of Saskatoon. 10 Februry 2008. http://saskatoon.ca/org/municipal_engineering/red_light_cameras/index.asp U.S. House of Representatives. â€Å"Red Light Camera Scam†. The Red Light Running Crisis May 2001. TheNewspaper.com 10 February 2007 http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/reports/rlcreport6.asp

Choices and Responsibility in Londons To Build a Fire and Cranes The

Choices and Responsibility in London's To Build a Fire and Crane's The Open Boat Naturalism portrays humans' control over their actions and fate as limited and determined by the natural world, including their very humanity. The freedom described by Jean-Paul Sartre results in all individuals having the ability to make present choices independently. Despite the fatalism illustrated in naturalism, the characters in London's 'To Build a Fire' and Crane's 'The Open Boat' are ultimately responsible for their choices and consequences of their choices. In 'To Build a Fire,' the man's antagonist is nature: London displays the man's journey as restricted by external forces. First, the temperature of the tundra is seventy-five-below zero (978), which naturally exposes the man?s ?frailty as a creature of temperature? (977). Obviously the man is subject to the forces of winter, and can not change his homeostasis as a warm-blooded animal. Similarly, London employs the ?traps? (979) of snow-covered pools of water to show that while humans may presume we are invincible, nature will stealthily remind us of our vulnerability (through invisible germs, for example). Just as the man does not see the ?trap? (981) that soaks his legs, he fails to notice the dog?s apprehension regarding their journey (981). Here London shows man's self-proclaimed superiority is falsely assumed, as he lacks the ?instinct? (978) that the dog possess; later, the man can not kill the dog (985), which signifies the dog is not subordinate regarding survival. After the m an steps in the water, London notes, ?He was angry, and cursed his luck aloud? (981). By attributing his misfortune to ?luck,? the man relieves himself of responsibility, recognizing himself as a victi... ...ependent of anything, including fellow humans, that would influence his decision regarding survival. Sartre would explain that this man dies stuck in a mode of pre-reflective consciousness because of his solitude: the man can not see his mortality until he imagines himself looking at his frozen body with his children (987). A similar irony is seen when Crane's men curse the vision of those attending the fictitious life-saving station; saying, ?They must have seen us by now,? (909) the men do not see that they alone are responsible for their survival. Works Cited Crane, Stephen. "The Open Boat." The Harper American Literature. Ed. Donald McQuade et al. 2nd ed. 2 Vols. New York: Longman, 1993. London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 7th edition. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York, NY: Longman, 1999.

Policy of Containment Essay

Americans believe that if Franklin D. Roosevelt would have lived longer, that he would have been able to stem the tide of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. His successor lacked greatly the Talent of FDR. The new president, who was more comfortable with machine politicians than with polished New Dealers, liked to talk tough and act defiantly. Truman complained that the U.S. Negotiations had been a â€Å"one way street† just ten days after he took office. He then vowed to not â€Å"baby† the Soviet no longer. A crisis in the Mediterranean prompted President Truman to show his colors. On February 21, 1947, amid a civil war in Greece, Great Britain informed the U.S. State Department that it could no longer afford to prop up the anti-Communist government there and announced it’s intention to withdraw all aid. Truman concluded, Greece, Turkey, and perhaps the entire oil-rich Middle East would fall under Soviet control, without U.S. Intervention. On March 12, 1947, the President made his argument before Congress in bold terms: â€Å"At the present moment in world history, nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life†¦ One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished be free institutions†¦and freedom from political oppression. The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed on the majority†¦ And the suppression of personal freedoms.† Never mentioning the Soviet Union by name, he appealed for all-out resistance to a â€Å"certain ideology† wherever it appeared in the world. The preservation of peace and the freedom of all Americans depended, the president insisted, on containing communism. Congress approved a $400 million appropriation in aid for Greece and Turkey, which helped the monarchy and right-wing military crush the rebel movement. Truman’s victory buoyed his popularity for the upcoming 1948 election. It also helped to generate popular support for a campaign against communism, both at home and abroad. The significance of what became known as the Truman Doctrine far outlasted  the events in the Mediterranean: the United States had declared it’s right to intervene to save other nations from communism. As early as February 1946, foreign-policy adviser George F. Kennan had sent an 8,000-word â€Å"long telegram† to the State Department insisting that Soviet fanaticism made cooperation impossible. The USSR intended to extend it’s realm not by military means alone, he explained, but by â€Å"subversion† within â€Å"free† nations. The Truman Doctrine described the differences between the United States and the Soviet Union as absolute and irreconcilable, as an ideological breach that resonated far beyond foreign policy. It was now the responsibility of the United States, Truman insisted to safeguard the â€Å"Free World† by diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military means. He had, in sum, fused anti communism and internationalism into an aggressive foreign policy. The Truman Doctrine complemented the European Recovery Program, commonly known as the Marshall Plan. On June 5, 1947 the plan was introduced in a commencement speech at Harvard University by secretary of state and former army chief of staff George C. Marshall. The plan sought to reduce â€Å"hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos† and to restore â€Å"the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole.† Although Marshall added that â€Å"our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine,† the plan that bore his name additionally aimed to turn back both socialist and Communist electoral bids for power in northern and western Europe while promoting democracy through an economic renewal. The most successful postwar U.S. Diplomatic venture, the Marshall Plan supplemented the Bretton Woods agreements by further improving the climate for a viable capitalist economy, in western Europe and in effect bringing recipients of aid into a bilateral agreement with the United States. Western Europe nations, seventeen in all, ratified the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which reduced commercial barriers among member nations and opened all to U.S. Trade and investment. The plan was costly to Americans, in it’s initial year taking 12 percent of the federal budget, but effective. Industrial production in the European nations covered by the plan rose by  200 percent between 1947 and 1952. Although deflationary programs cut wages and increased unemployment, profits soared and the standard of living improved. Supplemented by a multimedia propaganda campaign, the Marshall Plan introduced many Europeans to American consumer goods and lifestyles. The Marshall Plan drove a deeper wedge between the United States and the Soviet Union. Stalin was invited to participate but he denounced the plan for what it was, an American scheme to rebuild Germany and to incorporate it into and anti-Soviet bloc that encompassed all western Europe. The president readily acknowledged that the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine were â€Å"two halves of the same walnut.† The policy of containment depended on the ability of the United States to back up it’s commitments through military means, and Truman invested his faith in the U.S. Monopoly of atomic weapons. The U.S began to build atomic stockpiles and to conduct tests on the Bikini Islands in the Pacific. By 1950, as a scientific adviser observed, the U.S. â€Å"Has a stockpile capable of somewhat more than reproducing World War II in a single day.† The U.S. Military analysts estimated it would take the Soviet Union three to ten years to produce an atomic bomb. In August 1949, the Soviet Union proved them wrong by testing it’s own atomic bomb. â€Å"There is only one thing worse than one nation having the atomic bomb,† Noble prize-winning scientist Harold C. Urey said, â€Å"that’s two nation’s having it.† The United States and Soviet Union were now firmly locked into the Cold War. The nuclear arms race imperiled their futures, diverted their economies, and fostered fears of impending doom. Prospects for global peace had dissipated, and despite the Allied victory in World War II, the world had again divided into hostile camps.

Television Violence Is Not the Problem Essay - 880 Words

Television Violence Is Not the Problem Weve all heard the numbers on the amount of television that children watch and the amount of violence that theyre exposed to. In fact, sources that blame TV for childrens conduct quote this kind of data profusely. American children and adolescents spend 22-28 hours per week viewing television more than any other activity except sleeping (_Effects of Television_). These kinds of facts are strewn about with the hopes of convincing the public that television is to blame for childrens misbehaviors. Sources like these have one thing in common: They believe that if television disappeared, so would many of kids aggressive behaviors. Though arguing whether or not television is indeed an†¦show more content†¦Blame is shifted away from the parents of offenders and is put on television. This scapegoating can create television ratings, editing and censoring but will not reduce the negative behaviors of children. If a child acts on what they see from television, it is because they were not reared with the same values as a child who does not act on what they saw on television. For example, there is not much difference in the news about Kurt Cobain. If two children see it but only one shotguns themselves, there is a difference in the values that were taught. Television portrays violence all the time but so do a number of other things. Books, for example, have more radical information and ideas than television could ever depict. The tales in books are far more juicier and interesting than could ever be portrayed by _The X-Files_ or _The Simpsons_. But we do not see the influences of books being executed in life, only those of TV. Copycat crimes have been related to TV and movies, not books. This is for the simple reason that TV is easier to access and is easier to pay attention to. This only proves that television is blamed because it happens to be the medium that is most easily accessible; it is a victim of circumstance. Distinguishing the various programs available for viewing proves that TV is a scapegoat. There are lots of violent and shocking programs and there are ones that have littleShow MoreRelated Violence On Television Essay1023 Words   |  5 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The issue of television violence and its influence on children’s behavior troubles me. Television violence seems to be becoming abundant and violence seems to be increasing. This may be a dangerous form of entertainment, especially when young children become involved. The majority of television programs viewed by children contain large amounts of violence and inappropriate material. Children’s vulnerability poses as the main problem due to desensitization. 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