Red light cameras work. At busy intersections where they have
been installed in California and 13 other states, accidents decline
and lives are saved. Still, they
’ve had a bumpy start. According to a state audit, only 23
percent of red-light runners caught on camera end up paying
fines.
Red light cameras work. At busy intersections where they have been installed in California and 13 other states, accidents decline and lives are saved. Still, they’ve had a bumpy start. According to a state audit, only 23 percent of red-light runners caught on camera end up paying fines.
Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, has introduced a bill that would help ensure that more violators will be fined. Under his bill, a jurisdiction would need to obtain only a photo of a readable license plate of the offending car to issue a ticket, not a recognizable photo of the driver too. Both are required under current California law, but capturing a recognizable image of someone blowing through a red light is difficult.
To deal with that problem, Torlakson would treat a red-light ticket like a parking ticket, shifting liability from the driver to the vehicle. That system is in place in most states now. Of the 13 states that authorize red-light cameras, only four, California included, require a photo of the driver as well as the license plate.
Doing away with driver pictures would reduce the cost of enforcement and the number of court challenges blurry pictures inevitably generate.
