Photo-enforcement a good idea -- for others

I am not a freeway person.

And that’s especially true of the urban freeways down in the Valley. I have driven freeways in Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Albuquerque, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and the most inept and reckless drivers of all are the ones who drive the urban freeways of the Valley of the Sun.

Valley drivers drive too fast and they drive too close and they bob and weave like Muhammad Ali (in his prime).

Not all of them of course. Not even a majority. But enough to make it hazardous for those of us who do not drive like the devil himself is on our butt.

Maybe it’s because freeways came late to the Valley and therefore experience driving on them is still being acquired. That would be the kindest, gentlest way to put it. Since, as my favorite guru Buzz Walker said when he promised to never take water from Star Valley, we sometimes end up recreating with our Valley neighbors, we don’t want to insult them.

Anyway, of all the scary Valley freeways, there is none scarier than the 101. Or at least there was none scarier than the 101 BPE (before photo-enforcement).

Drivers were downright idiotic on the 101 before big brother started watching. When he did, it was magical. Overnight, the 101 became drivable – even for me.

Instead of going 85, 95 or 105, drivers slowed to the 70s. You would think peace and joy had descended on the Valley.

You would be wrong. Because for some reason I cannot fathom, people have taken up arms against photo-enforcement – sometimes literally.

All of this would be a mere footnote in our lives, except that the fair Town of Star Valley utilizes photo enforcement to control the speed through town and, coincidentally, to keep the town’s coffers healthy (to the tune of $75-100 thousand a month).

Star Valley Mayor Bill Rappaport, who takes credit for bringing photo enforcement to town, says it has paid for paving almost all the town’s streets and roads. But, he insists, it’s not about the money.

“The reason (we did it was) that we were averaging about three fatalities through that corridor every year – and these weren’t people hitting elk,” Rappaport said.

“We did a study at that time and the average speed limit was 72 mph in a 45 mph zone. The average speed right now is 43 mph. We have not had one fatality since we put it in (along) that strip between the two cameras.”

So what’s to dislike about photo enforcement? Those who oppose it in Star Valley say it gives their fair town a bad reputation as a speed trap.

Those who oppose it statewide call it a “cash grab.” So far, photo enforcement has generated almost $40 million for the state on an average of 1,400 citations per day.

Ninety of those citations, incidentally, belong to Dave Vontesmar, a Valley resident who, according to DPS officials, wears a monkey mask so he can’t be identified in the photographs. An apt metaphor, in my opinion.

It also seems to be a big brother issue for some, as in, “How dare you use electronic equipment to spy on me.” There have even been organized protests by an organization called Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar (ACAPR).

While Rappaport likes photo enforcement, his opponent in the Star Valley mayoral race, Randy White, is running against it. And Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has said she might pull the plug on it when the contract expires later this year and then allow residents to vote on it.

That’s ACAPR’s goal as well. The group is gathering signatures in hopes of forcing a ballot initiative.

What will happen if it comes to a vote? In a phone survey conducted last year over half the respondents said they are in favor of keeping the cameras in place.

Nobody believes in individual rights more than me, but I will vote in favor of photo enforcement. It seems to me that allowing people to drive 55 through downtown Star Valley (45 + 10 over) is more than generous.

And while there is no question that photo enforcement is a cash cow, DPS officials say it is doing exactly what it is supposed to do – make people drive more responsibly. Anyone who drives the Valley’s urban freeways would surely agree.

Part of the problem may be that drivers are allowed 10 miles over the speed limit. If we had a speed limit that was truly the limit, then people wouldn’t have the mindset that they should be allowed to get away with breaking it.

If that means adding 10 miles per hour to every speed limit and then strictly enforcing the number on the sign, so be it. No exceptions.

Except maybe you and me because we have places to go and things to do and we’re running a little late.

Wonder where you buy those monkey masks?