Follow the RADAR Money

Dear Drivers:

Follow the money. Government entities everywhere are strapped for cash. They see getting RADAR as better than hitting the lottery: RADAR for municipal police is literally a license to print money because there is no “cap” on the number of tickets to be written.

Senator Vogel says municipalities will get $12 per ticket, as if that is some protection that RADAR guns won’t be used to raise revenue. The “cap” of 20% of a municipality’s revenue is a “magic bullet” to convince taxpayers that RADAR won’t be used to raise money. Without a “cap” on the number of tickets allowed, that argument is baseless. RADAR guns WILL be used to raise revenue.

Tickets cost north of $170. The money that doesn’t go to the municipalities will go to the Commonwealth, so the Legislature has an enormous financial stake in voting in favor of RADAR for municipal police.

If aggressive RADAR enforcement of too-low speed limits is for safety, then why not end the fines and impose points-only tickets? How about a law to set speed limits at the safest speeds instead of too-low limits that enable ticketing of drivers who are doing no harm to anyone?

The RADAR lobby persists in their “speed kills” myth because that’s the only way they make a profit.

The RADAR lobby seems intent on turning the police into armed tax collectors. Tell your Pennsylvania Representative: Do not give RADAR guns to municipal police.

Tom McCarey Member, National Motorists Association