No right to privacy when in public
By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | ∞
Becky Ann Abbate was 29 when she drove through Carlsbad last Saturday afternoon. She will not be getting any older.
Abbate reportedly ran a red light at El Camino Real and Carlsbad Village Drive, hitting an SUV before her own car flipped. She was declared dead at the scene.
I bring this up in response to Sept. 29's editorial, "Cities should stop red-light surveillance," in which this newspaper argued that public safety is not reason enough for the supposed invasion of privacy red-light cameras represent.
So let's make this personal. Let's make it about Ms. Abbate and all the others who have died in our community after they or others ran a red light.
According to an article we ran in November, Encinitas had more than 200 accidents over the past four years caused by running a red light. Multiply that by all the cities in North County and Southwest Riverside County, then figure a good chunk of them were fatal.
When this newspaper grudgingly admits that red-light cameras may "make intersections a hair safer," the rest of us have a right to ask how many saved lives define "a hair"? How many lives would have to be saved to constitute two hairs? Three? And how many hairs do we need before this paper is willing to admit that saved lives are perhaps more important than some right to public privacy that is nowhere recognized in American law?
Every court in this nation holds that driving is a privilege. At the same time, the right to life is enshrined in our founding documents. And your right to privacy ends when you walk out your front door. Ask all the Hollywood celebrities who have to brave a phalanx of paparazzi's cameras every time they go to the grocery store.
Yet the North County Times argues in this same editorial that "folks have a reasonable expectation of privacy as they go about their business in public."
Really? So we don't take people's photographs for this newspaper when they're out in public? No photos of defendants in court (at least some of whom will be found innocent)? No photos of, well, accident scenes after someone runs a red light?
How on earth can it be wrong to take a picture when someone runs a red light as part of a law enforcement effort designed to save lives but OK to run a picture of the resulting accident in the newspaper? Or, more invasive yet, a grieving family at an accident scene? Where on earth is the respect for public privacy in that?
Look, I'm not some goody-two-shoes on this. I was busted by a red-light camera in August -- sailed into a right turn off Valley Parkway onto Escondido Boulevard on my way to the post office.
And you know what? I was wrong. I endangered others' lives through my selfish driving. I'm going to have to pay a fine of $351 plus $25 or so for traffic school so my auto insurance doesn't double.
But if it causes me to slow down, to pay more attention, to not kill anyone, then any phantasmagorical loss of privacy is an unnoticeably small price I'm very happy to pay.
Contact staff writer Jim Trageser at (760) 740-5424 or jtrageser@nctimes.com.
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Martha wrote on Oct 12, 2005 4:06 PM:Jim needs to shave
Oprah wrote on Oct 12, 2005 4:07 PM:Plus, he really needs to stop running red lights
Litl Bits wrote on Oct 16, 2005 9:58 AM:I don't get it! If you are driving on a public street/road, you are NOT in your "private space". Your vehicle is in a public space, "owned" by all of us - and you are subject to certain conditions for using that street/road. The cameras are taking pictures of your vehicle and/or license plate - not of you! If you don't like the idea of cameras in public places, stay out of public places - simple! Those cameras, when used properly, contribute to the safety of all of those who use the roads. They are NOT your private roads. Your vehicle is in the place that belongs to ALL of us - get used to it!
Katie wrote on Nov 8, 2005 5:30 PM:I am the sister of Becky Abbate, the woman who is mentioned in this article. Let me first start by saying that I am all for red-light cameras. I agree with all the arguments that the author, Jim Trageser, states. But I am very much hurt by the way my sister is misrepresented in this article. I am very angry about the fact that the author insinuates that my sister endangered the lives around her by driving selfishly, as Trageser admits to have done himself in the past. I find it honorable that Trageser admits to his past driving mistakes. But it is wrong to assume that because he knowingly ran a red light thus endangering those around him, that my sister did as well. Making such comparisons before getting the whole story is unacceptable in a tragedy like this. The truth is that my sister simply made a mistake, like we all sometimes do when we are driving. After speaking with the woman who was driving behind my sister, I learned that my sister was stopped at the light for some length of time. Becky then proceeded to go through the red light most likely because she was distracted, not because she was driving selfishly. My sister was an incredibly smart woman, who I am sure new the risks of driving through a red light on such a busy intersection. She would never purposely take the risk of ending someone else's life or her own. I would like to personally address the writer of this article, Jim Trageser. Before you proceed to to "Make this personal", as you stated in the article, perhaps you should contact the family of the woman you are referring to prior to printing the article. Using our personal tragedy as an example, without even getting the facts right, is downright insensitive and hurtful to the loved ones that Becky has left behind. Just something for you think about.
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