Say Cheese!

Before you go through that intersection, you may want to smile for the camera. A few weeks ago I myself got my picture taken on the corner of murrieta hotsprings and whitewood rd. in murrieta for turning right on a red light. With the light turning red practically as I began my turn I was faced with trying to slam on my breaks or follow through with my turn, my instinct of trying to prevent a potential rear end crash told me to follow through with my turn. However, this lead to my citation being sent in the mail for $440 dollars without correction as it currently stands!

This incident inspired me to further study this controversial issue further by reading Christopher Solomon's discussion of the topic in his article "Are red-light cameras fair to drivers?". Although Solomon mentions that red-light running accounts for about 22% of accidents in the U.S.A, he also mentions that t-bone crashes have been reduced by 25%, rear end crashes have increased by 15%. Although this seems to be a fair trade by 10%, these cameras should prevent accidents and not increase others.

Perhaps a more important issue with these cameras is the need to change these cameras from simply taking a snapshot to filming the incident. Although the video footage cannot always be perfect, critics agree that a video clip is a much fairer representation. Solomon quotes Arthur Tait, an attorney who specializes in red-light tickets who said, "Overall video is a hundred times better".

This is a subject surrounded by much controversy to as; whether or not contractors should determine where cameras are placed, if contractors are making too much money off of these tickets, and just how reliable are these cameras?

So the question I ask you is, are these cameras going too far? Is this an infringement upon our civil rights to privacy?

So just remember, smile for the camera