I know you’ve seen these
inconspicuous little buggers on top of stoplights, on street corners, and in
your nightmares. They record your
movements through traffic with the flicker of a flash, causing paranoia that could
lead to a citation in the mail, with a photo of you disregarding the law. A smile planted on your face as you cruise
through a stoplight is all the evidence they need.
Red light cameras are made to
deter running red lights. According to
the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in 2007, almost 900 were
killed and nearly 153,000 were injured in crashes that involved red light
running. About half of the deaths are pedestrians and occupants in other
vehicles who are hit by the red light runners. The IIHS has reported huge decreases
in red light running in several cities in which the cameras were used. Since they’re working, the cameras have been
installed in more major intersections.
Some drivers ask if this is
an invasion of privacy. Nope. Driving is a regulated activity on public
roads. When you receive a license, you
must obey the laws of the road, which contains nothing to prevent local
governments from documenting violators.
According to an article appearing in the Atlanta Journal Constitution,
the city of Lilburn, GA issued about 1,500 citations in January 2008. The
citations dropped by 80 percent to around 300 in January 2009, after a new
Georgia law mandated a longer yellow light duration. The extra second on the
yellow light may have reduced the problem of red light running for the driver,
but it almost worked too well for the city. Red light cameras were no longer
issuing enough citations to keep them "profitable" and as a result,
Lilburn and four other cities in the same county suspended their red light
programs.
The red light camera system
looks like it’s here to stay, for mow. For
more info on how they work, visit: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatory-devices/red-light-camera1.htm
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