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Doug Ford is an idiot. But Ontarians seem to love him.
this post was submitted on 28 May 2026
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Ontario
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the median voter in his base is likely around the age of 60, so it's not merely that they are idiots now, but have likely been that way for a long time.
no fucking coincidence there...
I would have to see crash and accident data concurrent with the change before I say anything.
This. Higher speeds in isolation mean nothing if the design of the streets keep drivers equally safe at those higher speeds.
I mean, it’s usually Germany and other neighbours in Europe that put such forethought intentionally into the designs of roads (look up the YouTube channel Not Just Bikes for more info), but we occasionally have strange confluences over here, too
One thing Germany has is a lot more variety in speed limits.
Within a minute you can go from 100 to 150 to no speed limit to 50. But good luck convincing people to put a 50 zone on the 401.
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Speed cameras are practically a requirement in Korea. People here would be blasting through school zones at 100kph otherwise. No joke. As it is, you can see rich fucks in their fancy cars ignoring them since the only punishment is a fine that they wouldn't even notice.
Bali Bali culture indeed.
Speed cameras definitely work, they're getting better at catching folks as the technology matures.
Of course, they're also a form of state surveillance, generally deployed as a money printer, and generally distract drivers (you see those lines on the road, your vision tunnels, you check speed, and you lose peripheral for about 1--2 seconds).
I mean, I think pneumatic road tubes are far more effective for capturing cleaner data on vehicle speeds over time, since they are less visible and likely unnoticed by many drivers. They aren't there to fine drivers, but I'm sure with a small hidden camera, they could work in the same way. Not sure why speed cameras are so visible, since people almost always in my experience, will speed back up after leaving the area of the speed camera, negating the benefits swiftly.
By that logic, posted speed limits are a hazard to pedestrians because they distract drivers who then check their goddamn speed. I mean you must be joking.
Apples to oranges - a speed camera necessitates and immediate check and possible adjustment; a speed limit is a delayable check where safety can be evaluated first.
You are stretching so fucking hard to split that hair. Yes, I can see that they are slightly different. They are apples to oranges, but you would like to pretend its apples to riding lawnmowers. It's ridiculous, you can see that, right? And it's just a distraction from reality and evidence.
The OP chart is one item from a huge consistent body of evidence that shows that drivers are perfectly capable of adapting to the presence of speed cameras. Speed cameras are not a hazard to pedestrian safety and if that isn't a bad faith argument, buddy, you're actually literally deluding yourself. In fact they are a huge benefit to pedestrian safety. That is why this legislation is not likely to stand.
I think this is the difference - you're assuming a distracted driver is only a danger to pedestrians. Big mistake.
The op's chart shows a difference in speeds, not a difference in incident rates; you've inferred higher and/or more serious incident rates from a speed chart. If I wanted to outright attack the argument my line would be "was there any measure of speed before and after in areas outside the camera's capture zone"; since most drivers appear to just slow down for the camera and re-accelerare after. One could argue the chart shows no change in driver behaviour, merely driver performance in an enforcement area. You're conflating the metric (speeds measured before and after in the same spot) with what it should measure (driver compliance to the law when using the road).
The seatbelt and phone cameras here in Australia are rather interesting to view the captures from. Working for a government body people would come in to our self service area and want to view the photos (which can be done at home, on your phone or pc); they'd get in a bit of a huff and puff once they saw the images.
The angles these cameras are placed get most angles drivers try to hide their phone usage, and the resolution is decent considering the cameras distance away.
Cameras catching distracted drivers are a great win in my eyes, no one should be fumbling their phone while trying to drive.
Looks like intended use - great idea!
Folks should know phones are banned in cars for a good reason.
If you get distracted from a speed camera you should not be allowed to drive. You are the problem.
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You’re not gonna get me to agree on this one. I have gotten two speeding tickets for going 2km over. Thats nothing but another way to fleece and steal from the working class. We all know where the speeders and racers hang out and the cops don’t do shit
I think motorists are given way too much freedom in car-dominated cities across the globe, but at the same time, yeah, any sane person should agree that such a small deviation from the posted speed limits don't deserve to be punished the same as a 10km/h to 20km/h higher deviation; it's just not logical.
I'll admit, I've sped so much in my past, doing 160km/h on highways with posted limits of 80km/h, and there would still be people riding my bumper on occasion at such speeds. They should have punished people like me, who liked fucking around and never found out because punishments for speeding are very unequal across the board.
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That high of a percentage of drivers exceeding the limit doesn’t demonstrate the need for speed cameras, but rather a gross failure of road design and traffic engineering.
Enforcement should come after traffic calming and pedestrianization efforts have failed. North American cities are notoriously bad at that.
All I see is a study that shows places where the posted limit should be increased. If there are concerns about pedestrians then safer crossings, pedestrian education, or road redesigns should be the focus.
I don't understand the constant push toward reducing the speed of road traffic and I say this as somebody who has been a pedestrian and a driver for several decades.
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Speed cameras ARE traffic engineering, and here is the evidence that they work. They are not the only tool available, but to act like they weren't doing anything about traffic engineering is a bizarre take.
Um, but even with that, the stark difference in the data also shows that the cameras were an effective means of traffic calming.
Ford forced municipalities onto speed cameras in place of the road design changes that they were doing.
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For anyone looking for more details on this, I highly recommend this video from Oh the Urbanity
It discusses this exact phenomenon in the data: speeding before and after the banning of automated enforcement cameras. It also argues effectively that the policy is inconsistent with Doug Ford’s platform of being “tough on crime”
It also argues effectively that the policy is inconsistent with Doug Ford’s platform of being “touch on crime”
When have actual implemented conservative policies ever been consistent with conservative "tough on crime" platforms?
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