Red Light Camera News City should say no to red-light cameras
City should say no to red-light cameras
By MIKE MCGUIRE, GUEST OPINION
October 1, 2010 12:05 AM
Mike McGuire is a state activist for the National Motorists' Association. See motorists.org for more details.
On Wednesday, the Daytona Beach City Commission will hold a second hearing on a proposal to bring red-light cameras to the city. I believe this idea should alarm every citizen.
The gut reaction of most people to red light cameras ranges from that "we need to punish these scofflaws for endangering us" or "we don't need any more of big brother spying on us." In fact, there is much more to it.
Many decades ago, traffic engineers set standards for signalized intersections, which allowed enough amber light time for traffic to pass through and thus avoid intersection conflicts with crossing vehicles. There was no big red light violation problem. In the 1980s, some in the engineering community recommended that some of the amber light time be sacrificed to get more green and reduce traffic congestion.
Those communities that adopted the shorter yellow-light standard noted that there were now many more red-light violations and possible intersection conflicts. To deal with the safety issue of shorter yellows, many places implemented a period of "all red" -- a few seconds when lights in all directions were red. That allowed an increase in overall green time, while lessening possible traffic conflict at intersections. Of course, the red-light violations were still much higher than under the old standard.
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