Dear Editor:
This letter is in support of the letter last week from Larry Grovum (‘Predatory speed trap,’ March 27).
I was sitting beside a camping stove yesterday, the only warmth in my house as the hydro was out, when I opened a letter from the County of Wellington.
It was a penalty for exceeding the 40km/h limit on Belsyde Avenue in Fergus. It showed a photograph of my car in one of two empty lanes – no other cars, no pedestrians.
I had no idea there were speed traps in Fergus and I was not driving excessively fast, but at a speed perfectly safe for the conditions.
The real shock was the amount of the fine: $200. For context, my old age security benefit per month is $380. This is a sneaky money grab imposed by a mindless, brainless machine which has no common sense or conscience.
Our society must strongly oppose these cameras before the administration becomes addicted to the easy income they provide. No more should be installed and the existing ones taken down. They could possibly be sold to somewhere like North Korea.
In Ontario fining someone $200 for a slight traffic misdemeanor is surely unconscionable.
Eric Bzikot,
Conn