Road design, safety and Vision Zero

[dtkvictim]

I wonder if the cameras would have seen less push back if they hadn't been introduced alongside reduced speed limits (often along arterial roads). I think it's easy for people to get the impression they are cash grabs when they ask 1) why were the speed limits not lower here before the cameras, and 2) why are the cameras only used on segments of road surrounded by higher speed limits?

While I don't think it's the case in WR yet, from what I understand some other cities have speed cameras on stretches of road with an "arbitrary" drop in speed limit and no school zone

I also wish we could move away from framing this as a "think of the children" problem. That argument is almost always paired with poor intentions, and surely casts some doubt on the program. Yes, children are stupid (relatively speaking, at least) and should have the freedom to play, grow, and learn without being injured. But I don't see why all citizens shouldn't deserve that same freedom. Maybe this is just the most effective political approach for convincing mindsets I don't understand.

Lastly, the questions I posed at the start got me thinking: Wouldn't automated speed enforcement be far more effective at saving lives if we used them in places with higher (design) speed limits, rather than lower, given the non-linear relationship between velocity and kinetic energy?