Will Michigan’s Big Sister Be Watching YOU?

By: Steve Huston

Several years ago, I was driving down to Alabama for a conference. As I took a toll road in one of our neighboring states, I was surprised that there were no longer any toll booths. Instead, I was informed that they (“Big Brother”) would take a picture of my car and mail me what was due them. I was already on the toll road, so I had no choice but to continue. However, I chose to take the back roads on my way home to avoid those “spying eyes.” Eventually, an envelope arrived at my house with a picture of my car and of my license plate.

This road trip down memory lane is simply meant to introduce the reader to the “spying eyes” that will soon dominate road construction zones, if the Michigan House allows it. Within the flock of Michigan’s Lame Duck legislation that’s headed to the Michigan House is HB 4132, which will impose new automated traffic ticketing “robo-cops.” Some who are reading this may be saying, “Good, it’s about time those speeders get what’s coming to them!” That was my first thought, but then I stopped to do some deeper thinking.

While defenders of HB 4132 herald its “altruistic motives,” we must ask ourselves a few questions: What will happen to those cameras once construction is done? If the cameras remain, for what other purposes will these “spying eyes” be used as they daily watch drivers? What other data will they eventually collect and who is to say that other technology won’t be implemented while Michigan’s citizens remain woefully unaware? Would we be surprised to find that facial recognition or some other technology has been installed and implemented? Who is to say that these “spying eyes” won’t be used for much more intrusive or nefarious purposes now or later?

One of the bill’s supporters, Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth), said this of HB 4132, “This is about safety, this is about saving people’s lives.” Safety and saving people’s lives was how the American public was sold on the PATRIOT ACT. We sold our liberty for a bit of safety and now this PATRIOT ACT has been used against America’s own citizens, mostly against conservatives and Christians. Things sound good in the heat of the moment, when fear has its grip on people, but, as time progresses, progressives will take advantage of what was put in place for “safety and security” and use it to advance their own agendas.

If these camera bills pass the Michigan House, “drivers [that] are flagged going 10 mph or more over the speed limit, they will first get a warning. If they are caught speeding in a work zone again, a ticket would then be mailed to the vehicle owner’s residence.” (FOX2 Detroit)

The Michigan Senate passed these bills after a construction worker was hit and killed on I-75 in Detroit. I grieve with that family and am saddened by his death. Yet, putting our liberty at risk and welcoming “spying eyes” which are similar to the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) actions, will not bring him back, but it will put other Americans at different kinds of risk.

They’ll tell you that a similar law was passed in Maryland, reducing speeding by 80% and that fatalities due to accidents in these work zones were down by 50%. Should all who drive on Michigan’s roads pay the price for those who are speeding and/or are looking at their phones? Just because 17 other states have already legislated automatic speed enforcement zones doesn’t mean that Michigan should. HB 4132 is a strike against personal privacy and it poses a potential threat to our liberties. We must urge our representatives to vote against this Lame Duck bill.

This package of legislation is going to the Michigan House for final approval before it heads to Big Sister, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk; I can only imagine how much she must be looking forward to signing this into law. I urge you to contact your representatives asking them to vote no on HB 4132, thereby taking away another opportunity to place Michigan under her thumb.

You can learn how to contact your legislators at mi.gov using the ‘Find your Representative’ links.

If you’d like to read HB 4132 as passed by the Michigan Senate click here.

 

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