Red Light Cameras – More Infringement on Liberty?
Jan 18th, 2011 | By Sarah | Category: Big Brother, Politics | Print This Article
You may know neighbors, friends and coworkers who have no problem with red light cameras. “They prevent accidents,” these people will say, or “They enforce safe driving.” Once settled on that viewpoint, they go about their lives with no thought to the cameras pointed at their car as they drive through intersections– unless they get flashed of course. Even then, people with this attitude will likely complain and swear at the red light cameras, and then they’ll pay the ticket or ignore it and go back to their lives. What these people need to do is start taking things a step further. We need to ask ourselves what red light cameras are really in place for, and whether or not their placement infringes on our God-given liberty and natural human rights.
Local governments will spout out feel-good quotes about how red light cameras prevent accidents and make people drive safely. Red light cameras may reduce the number of people who run a red light at a particular intersection and the likelihood of a t-bone accident. However, what the government doesn’t tell you is that red light cameras increase the likelihood of a rear end accident as people slam on their breaks at a yellow light to avoid getting a ticket. While some rear end accidents can be minor fender benders, it can obviously get much worse with bodily injury, a car being totaled, or even the car being pushed out into the intersection and into the path of greater destruction. Plus, anyone who has been driving at night and has been close to one of those cameras when it flashes – through no fault of yours in some cases – that light can be extremely bright and disorienting. Depending on the driver, this seemingly harmless component of red light cameras can prove dangerous.
Now let’s think about the government’s statement that red light cameras force people to drive more safely. Perhaps this is so, but at what price? Do you want cameras monitoring you as you go through main intersections in your town? What if you let your friend borrow your car, and your friend ends up running a red light? There is no due process with red light cameras. One of our main civil liberties is shelved because all you receive is a ticket in the mail that you are expected to pay, whether you were the one actually driving the car or not. You may be able to take steps to reverse the charge (assuming your city allows such an option), but you have to go through a lot of government red tape to do it!
And after all, what are these red light cameras really put up at intersections to do? Prevent accidents? Perhaps. Enforce safe driving? It is possible. Fund the local government and use up taxpayer money at the expense of liberty? Yes, that is much more likely. To increase the prevalence of the Nanny State while spouting that it’s for the citizens’ own good? Yes, indeed! Plus, by using ticket revenue to fund the local government, you get the added bonus that this increase in revenue does nothing to prevent too much government spending. If all they have to do is tax the citizens to get more money, they have no incentive to curb spending and actually work within a budget like most working class Americans have to do on a daily basis, which means even more money can be taken out of your paycheck and bank account than there already is.
So how can you prevent the loss of God-given liberty and the sort of greed scripture warns about? Be proactive and be prepared. If there are already red light cameras set up in your town, find alternative routes that don’t put you within their gaze. If your city is planning to put up red light cameras, get out there on the front lines, go to city council meetings and voice your concerns. Even if all the city council members see is dollar signs, at least you have made a stand and did what you could to protect liberty, privacy and what is right in a worsening, apathetic world.
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I live in Virginia Beach and we have those cameras in about 10 intersections. I drive around a lot due to my job, and I have noticed at many intersections now people are being more careful not to run the red lights. Used to be, there would be at least 3 or 4 people run every red light because we have a delay system where all the lights are red for a few seconds, and it was quite safe to run the red light for at least 4 seconds after it turned red. I don’t see that much anymore. People are stopping for the red lights. Sure, some stop for yellow lights. Over all though, I think people are being more careful at intersections.
I agree that people are more careful because of thier wallet. However, the nanny state is growing and I wonder how many of us have heard of dhs (department of homeland security) fusion centers? These would make some feel good, for me they are a little creepy. Quite frankly, I enjoy my liberty and have no need of a government nanny looking over my shoulder. To me the loss of liberty is not worth a false sense of safety.
Its more than just red light cameras. Look at most intersection, those traffic monitors capture more than the flow of traffic.
These cameras do not allow you to face your accuser in court if you decide to contest the ticket. That is unconstitutional. If you challenge the ticket, demand to face your accuser, the red light camera, and see what happens.
So after receiving a ticket in the mail for what I believe was a questionable infraction, I did some research and found out something more interesting. In our city we have red light cameras and separate speed detection cameras at different locations with the hash marks on the ground. I found out that every camera that is at an intersection that we all thought were just red light cameras are also speed detection cameras. Talk about entrapment, the red light camera encourages you to speed up so you don’t get caught at a yellow light and then the speed detection is where they actually get you. Hmmmmm!
We all used to laugh when it was said that Big Brother is watching you, like Owell’s TV. A “free people?” Propaganda pure and simple. The megaBankers’ are starting the squeeze to the One World currency.
I was trying to get a tractor trailer rig with doubles from a dead stop through an intersection before I saw the flash go off in broad daylight; did not get a ticket tho. I do not agree with big brother using cameras to write tickets, but know that they can be useful in case of an accident. Years ago a lady ran a light and spun my 4×4 around, she then proceeded to sideswipe five expensive cars and then rear ended a poor black woman in an old station wagon. She then proceeded to tell the officer that I ran the red light. He laughed and told her that he was waiting at the intersection and saw the whole thing.
They have them @ all on ramps/off ramps, that i’v seen around here (Charleston, WV). They are NOT “stop light cameras” (they don’t say they are, around here). i’ve actually run red lights 3-4 times to see what would happen… no ticket. Which tells me they just like watching/ tracking us. The time is coming for us to take Our government back from these jokers ! (they won’t stop untill we make them)
The city of springfield mo had to remove all of the red light cameras they had . after a rretired state cop took them to court saying they didnt prove he was driving at the time they got his liscense number . running one.
Red light cameras produce revenue, for the cities that install them, pure and simple.
The problem is that they follow federal rules for the ( yellow) light duration sequence
according to MPH on approach. yet, what they do, is remove, the reaction time.
The reaction time, is the 3/4 second used by the driver, to determine to proceed, or stop, on approach..
This predictive technology, embedded in the road sensors, allows the system to profit.
Some courts make so much money off of these systems, ( 8 million+ per year) that they set aside an entire day, in one room to process these with an “expert representative” for the camera, with compressed video.
This “expert” is not the accuser, but the courts profit too . . . .so, the scam continues.
The duration of a yellow, is supposed to be 1 second, for every ten miles per hour, plus
3/4 second of reaction time. By removing the reaction time, the camera knows who will fail,
with or without exigent circumstance.
If you get one of these, hire a ticket attorney.
$ 200 for the attorney, is less than the $360 for the ticket, and the ding to the insurance + points.