The highways of Arizona are a raceway. Visiting motorists from California complain that 11 mph over the posted speed limit got them four photo-radar tickets during one weekend in Arizona. A move is afoot, promoted by the governor, to remove the two-year-old photo-radar cameras.

Yet a recent editorial in the Arizona Republic on photo-enforcement cameras almost says it all: They work. But from my perspective we have one group of opponents --”starve the beast,” anti-government ideologues-- posing as “no new taxers.”

Their disdain for traffic laws breeds disregard --or worse, contempt-- for the law.

We need to enforce the speed limits here in Arizona. Now!

If not, go to a simple “safe & prudent” standard.

Why? It’s a matter of "pay me now or pay me later."

Lax law-enforcement is costing us each hard dollars in terms of high insurance premiums, road repair, hospital care and vehicle maintenance. It costs us in higher death and injury rates, with a host of other social and economic costs.

I suggest that to flush out these people who disguise themselves as being against photo-enforcement cameras we eliminate completely the fine that they seem to object to so ardently.

Instead, add points on the drivers license and rock-solid insurance company notification for all speeding offenses one mile over the posted limit.

And when the economy improves, we can start putting more cops on the streets and highways of the state.

These steps should reduce future insurance premiums, which are among the highest in the nation.

OR..., here's another idea: Statistics show that they work. There were 13 fewer fatalities statewide in 2009 than in 2008, despite comparable miles driven. Speed cameras are, as the Republic editorialized, "a wise use of finite resources."

So select 13 people at random statewide (nearly one from each county) to stand as proxies for the lives that were saved because of these speed cameras, as estimated by the Highway Patrol. Then ask their relatives and their friends to offer these 13 as human sacrifices should photo-radar cameras be removed from our highways, causing accident rates to return to previous levels.