Letter to the Editor: If the city wants to make money off irresponsible drivers, more power to them

If the city council was looking for a way to get more citizens engaged in local government, they couldn’t have chosen a better way to do that than to agree to install speed cameras along I-80 near Newton. What a great topic of discussion!

I personally couldn’t care less about speed cameras. I know all the arguments against them but the bottom line is these cameras only inconvenience those who break the law. Privacy concerns, to me, are a bit silly. The argument that these cameras are just a money-grab also doesn’t matter to me. So what if they are a “money-grab?” If the city wants to make money off selfish, stupid, and irresponsible drivers, I say more power to them. And the fact that Prairie City collected more in fines than it did in property taxes in 2022 just shows that there is no shortage of these types of drivers. May as well make money off them. And while there has been no mention made of this as of yet, it’s my understanding that speed cameras in other areas won’t even activate unless a driver is going at least 11 miles over the posted limit. Call me picky, but I’d love to see some consequences for those rude drivers who are doing 81 mph or faster and blowing past everyone else on the road. The driver who slips up or is passing another vehicle and edges towards 75 or even 80 once in a while won’t be affected.

So take away the privacy argument and the “money-grab” argument and what’s left? Defending those who think nothing of putting others at risk on our highways doesn’t seem very “nice” or responsible to me.

Maybe if folks drove like they were always being watched, our roads would be safer.

John Moore

Newton