Stop-sign cameras and road safety
Stop sign cameras, like those in the village of Saddle Rock that issue $60 tickets, have gained support from other Nassau leaders. Credit: James Carbone
Stop-sign cameras amount to no good
Your editorial “Cameras good for a full stop” [Opinion, May 16] flies in the face of “lived experience” on Long Island and represents a potential new move down our continuing slide into becoming a surveillance state.
Based on my 45 years of driving here, I’d estimate some 98% of drivers encountering a stop sign slow their vehicles to almost a full stop, look and proceed.
Attempting to force those drivers into making a full one-second stop and fining their failure to do so is impractical. Moreover, do Long Islanders really want the potential intrusion on individual privacy that cameras mounted on tens of thousands of stop signs could foster?
The sentiment “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” applies here.
— Eric Jurist, Wantagh
Stop-sign violators are the loudest protesters [“More villages want cameras,” News, May 15]. Safety is the primary goal of this program.
— Manuel A. Veloso Jr., Lido Beach
Drivers must look out for pedestrians
The editorial “Make LI roads safer for all” [Opinion, May 3] talks about making roads safer with traffic-slowing measures — speed bumps, roundabouts, etc. — but drivers should be more receptive to pedestrians.
I live in Brookhaven Town, and every day I walk four to eight miles on our roads. I always walk on sidewalks when possible, but not all streets and roads have sidewalks. I am careful, walking on shoulders and facing traffic. I am taken aback by the number of drivers who ignore me.
Most but not all never yield to me and drive as if I’m not there. When I’m in a crosswalk with a green light, they will still try to cut me off. It seems that I am an inconvenience to them. We keep reading how pedestrians are killed by drivers. If drivers moved more safely around pedestrians, our roads would be much safer.
— John Whimple, Miller Place
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