Arguments Against Red Light Cameras

As with any issue, there are people on both sides of the debate.  Here are some of the arguments against red light cameras -- and why those arguments are wrong.

The red-light cameras appear to have saved lives in the city, where a total of 17 people were killed in red-light-running accidents in 1997 and 1998, compared with five in 2000 and 2001.

--The Washington Post, May 5, 2002

But before I begin, I thought I would share this email that was sent to me by somebody who visited this website, and who had these thoughts about a red light camera at Connecticut and Ordway:

I was 9 months pregnant in early September, crossing at the south light toward the east side of the intersection. I had made it past the stopped traffic heading south and was literally just about to step in front of the first lane of traffic heading north when a large truck whizzed past me (running the light of course). I swear it was a matter of a split second before my then unborn child and I would have been road kill. It was such a close call I couldn't stop shaking. And, a couple of steps behind me was a woman wheeling a stroller with a small baby. We both couldn't believe it. 

It's a definite hazard and hopefully someone will pay attention and put a camera there.

Red light cameras are an invasion of privacy.

Red light cameras only take pictures of a car's license plate.  And they only take pictures of cars running red lights:  Cars that don't run the red light don't get their pictures taken.  There is no "expectation of privacy" if you break the law.  When you drive a car you have to abide by certain rules.  For instance, if you're stopped by a police officer for speeding, he can examine your driver's license, take a good look at you, and run your license and car registration through a database. 

Red light cameras unfairly penalize a car's owner if somebody else is driving that car and runs a red light.

Red light camera tickets are like parking tickets:  There are no points assigned against the driver.  It's just a fine.  If a friend borrows your car and your friend gets a parking ticket, you, the car's owner, are responsible for paying that ticket.  You can settle up with your friend later if you want.

Red light cameras are part of this "big brother" syndrome, where we are monitored all the time.

Remember:  Red light cameras only take pictures of cars that are running red lights.  Red light cameras do not photograph every car going through an intersection. Cameras that monitor people's movements and that are on all the time are a something completely different.  People have called red light cameras the "tip of the privacy iceberg" and warn that red light cameras are a danger to society's right to privacy.  But red light cameras are less invasive than having a police officer write you a ticket.

Let's take the case of somebody who's having an extra-marital affair, and who runs a red light, while on her way back from a motel.  In situation #1, she's caught by a police officer, who sees the adulterous couple in the car.  In situation #2, a red light camera photographs the car's license plate.  Which situation involves more of an "invasion of privacy?"  The answer is #1, where a live person sees the couple together and can testify to that in the future divorce proceeding. 

Keep in mind that red light cameras, unlike cameras in shopping malls, airports, government buildings, parking garages, office building elevators, and cameras used to monitor traffic flow and report on traffic jams, are only "on" when somebody runs the red.

Red light cameras are robotic and if they make a mistake, you're sunk.

In any human endeavor there are mistakes.  But red light cameras make far fewer "mistakes" than police officers who are watching an intersection for red light runners.  (In fact, red light cameras don't make mistakes in judgment -- when they shoot a car going through the red, that's what's happened.)  Red light camera tickets are reviewed by a human being before they are mailed, too.  Red light cameras don't discriminate in the ways that humans can.  If you think that you've gotten a red light camera ticket in error, you can argue in court against that ticket.  And keep in mind, that red light camera tickets are just fines.

Red light cameras assign a role that the police should be performing to a machine.

Saying that red light cameras shouldn't be used because they're a "technology," is to consign the police to using antiquated equipment to enforce the law.  It's like saying the police shouldn't be able to use DNA evidence, but should have to rely on fingerprints, because fingerprints are the way bad guys have been caught for over a hundred years.

It's far better to have the police working in places where a live officer is needed, than standing on the corner writing tickets.  

Red light cameras are just for making money.  They're unfair taxes on drivers.

That's a tired, weak argument, which can be used against just about anything.  The truth of the matter is that fines do make money for towns and cities.  They always have and they always will.  It would be a different matter if tickets that resulted from red light cameras were more expensive that tickets that came from police officers nabbing red light runners, but the two are the same. 

Here's the more important truth:  800 people die each year because of drivers running red lights.  Some $7 billion in damages, lost wages and insurance costs result from red light runners.  Red light runners cause over 260,000 crashes a year. 

At intersections where there are red light cameras, red light running is reduced from 60 to 90 percent.  

Red light cameras are not the most effective way to get people to stop on the red.  Studies have shown that increasing the length of the yellow is better at getting people to stop at lights.. 

This is simply wrong.  Here's how you can prove that wrong yourself.  Find an intersection that's popular among red light runners.  Watch cars running the red light and you'll see car after car running the red light long after the yellow has passed.  Common sense says that these drivers aren't going to stop on a longer yellow, either. 

Who runs red lights?  The same drivers who drive 45 miles per hour in a school zone; the same drivers who pass on the right; the same drivers who pay more attention to their cellular telephone than to where the lane markers are; the same drivers who lean on the horn whenever they think somebody is driving too slowly; the same drivers who turn right on red when there's a sign that says "No Right on Red."  These are drivers who think their convenience is more important than everyone else's safety.

These are people who are deterred only by the certainty of being caught.

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Parting shot.
What an actual red light camera photo looks like:

Photo taken in Mesa, Arizona