Dear Editor:
Dictionary.com defines tax as a sum of money demanded by a government for its support of specific facilities or services. Merriam-Webster defines tax as “to assess or determine judicially the amount of costs in a court action.”
The installation of red light cameras in Jersey City is a tax; hidden, sneaky or otherwise it’s a tax imposed on licensed drivers. This is why it’s so important to vote, so that brutal decisions aren’t made like this that are for sure taxing on hard working men, women and students. The Healy Administration can say that it’s for safety reasons, but licensed drivers know otherwise.
The Healy Administration calls the intersections city wide the most dangerous but I wonder what “statistic” tells us that? Most busy? Yes. This increases the chances of drivers accelerating at a yellow light like we’ve been doing all our lives. It’s how so many of us learned how to drive and after years of doing so, it’s kind of programmed into us. Some people have been driving for 50 plus years. What are they supposed to do, just begin stopping at a yellow light? It’s a reason why I sent a message to Assemblyman Reuben Ramos to look into whether or not it can be categorized as entrapment. The Webster defines entrapment: the action of luring an individual into committing a crime in order to prosecute the person for it.
For here on in, driving in Jersey City will be like walking on egg shells, often having that feeling of pins and needles going through the nerves every time we do what we do at a yellow light. Oh, and don’t forget to come to a “Complete Stop” at the right light where these cameras have been installed. For safety purposes of course…not.
The Healy Administration plans and expects $7 million dollars annually once all the cameras are intact. So I still want to know how it’s not a tax. If this is not a $7 million dollar yearly tax on licensed drivers, then my high school and college education has been one big waste of money.
James Francis Waddleton