More and more cities across the U.S. are installing red light cameras at intersections and there are more and more reports of abuse. In Houston, TX the red light cameras are frequently justified by pointing out the large number of tickets that are issued at the intersections where they are installed. I’ve been thinking about this and actually I very seldom ever see a driver run a red light. So, I decided to do my own investigation.

I’ve decided there are a couple of reasons that explain the high number of citations. First, the darn things don’t use good judgement or any judgement. I saw the camera flash several times when drivers were only several feet into the intersection. If a patrol unit was at the red light they would not have issued a ticket. Also, I noticed at one of the intersections the camera flashed on rolling right turns. Same situation, I don’t think a patrol unit would have even issued a ticket.

I concluded that the red light cameras are not protecting us from wild and reckless drivers that are speeding through red lights. No indeed! My observation is that the cameras are merely abusing law abiding citizens that are driving safely.

The even larger issue is the over use of technology. Our Congress and Senate must enact legislation to protect citizens from abuse. This is a big problem. We are quickly moving to a time when every mile of every road will be under video surveillance. Every intersection will have a red light camera and photo radar units will be installed to control speed. This is true! Photo radar is already installed in some cities.

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