With his effort to get speed cameras installed in New York City stymied by the state legislature, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city should use public shaming to keep speeders from breaking the law.
On his radio show Friday, Bloomberg suggested posting the names and pictures of speeders in a public place to discourage them from doing it again.
Bloomberg's administration, backed by traffic safety advocates, is trying to get speed cameras installed in the city's most dangerous intersections. The cameras — in use in London and other cities — snap pictures of cars when they drive by too fast. The device's proponents say the cameras can get the city up to $100 for repeat offenders, saving lives in the process.
But since Albany appears to be dragging its heals, Bloomberg wants to get medieval on speeders. Maybe he can have a set of stocks erected near Wall Street (not the kind of stocks you sell for profit, but the sort that would keep traffic law breakers hanging around, thinking about their misery and their crimes against humanity). Then again, a few strokes with the cat o' nine tails might get people to drive slower, too.
Would a big old list actually discourage people from speeding, though? Or would it encourage hoons to try and get their photo up on the wall as if it were a wall of fame instead of shame?
Photo credit: Dave Pape/Wikimedia Commons