Survey – Americans support red light cameras

The long arm of the law these days is often in the form of a robotic camera that captures motorists who run red lights. But the cameras are not always popular. New Jersey is scheduled to discontinue use of red light cameras on 16 December, and several other cities and states are considering similar moves. Despite the controversy, a majority of Americans back the use of red light cameras, according to a new survey from FindLaw.com, the most popular legal information website. The FindLaw.com survey foun
December 16, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The long arm of the law these days is often in the form of a robotic camera that captures motorists who run red lights. But the cameras are not always popular. New Jersey is scheduled to discontinue use of red light cameras on 16 December, and several other cities and states are considering similar moves.

Despite the controversy, a majority of Americans back the use of red light cameras, according to a new survey from FindLaw.com, the most popular legal information website.

The FindLaw.com survey found that 56 percent of Americans support the use of red light cameras, while 44 per cent oppose them.

Law enforcement and safety advocates say the devices are effective at catching violating motorists and enhance public safety at dangerous intersections. Opponents say the cameras are merely a means of enhancing a city's revenues from citations, and may actually decrease safety by scaring drivers into making sudden stops, causing rear-end collisions.

Last month, voters in Cleveland approved a measure banning red light cameras in the city. Several states and municipalities have adopted or are considering similar measures.

"Traffic laws vary considerably by state and municipality, and that includes the consequences of receiving a traffic citation," said Stephanie Rahlfs, attorney-editor at FindLaw.com. "Every state has a different 'points' system that assigns different values to various traffic law violations. In addition, receiving a citation can often impact your auto insurance rates and renewals. It's prudent to always be aware of the traffic laws in the particular city and state where you are driving."
Enforcement

Related Content

  • No evidence California cellphone ban decreased accidents, says researcher
    July 18, 2014
    In a recent study, a researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder found no evidence that a California ban on using hand-held cellphones while driving decreased the number of traffic accidents in the state in the first six months following the ban. The findings, published in the journal Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, are surprising given prior research that suggests driving while using a cellphone is risky; past laboratory studies have shown that people who talk on a cellphone wh
    Read More
  • Seattle Public Schools launches school bus safety initiative
    September 20, 2017
    Seattle Public Schools in the US has launched the Student Safety Stop Arm Camera Program initiative, in partnership with King County and American Traffic Solutions to deter drivers from illegally passing school buses that are loading and unloading students.
    Read More
  • Growth of ANPR applications for enforcement, tolling and more
    February 1, 2012
    Automatic number plate recognition continues to find new applications beyond the traditional. In coming years, we can expect the application set to grow significantly Moore's Law has seen to it that computer processing power has improved out of all comparison in the 30-plus years since the first working Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system was created by the UK's Police Scientific Development Branch. The attendant increases in systems' capabilities have resulted in ANPR being deployed globally
    Read More
  • Changing driving conditions need ongoing driver training
    January 23, 2012
    Trevor Ellis, chairman of the ITS UK Enforcement Interest Group, considers the role of ongoing driver training in increasing compliance. It is over 30 years since I passed my driving test. The world was quite a different place then, in that there were only half the vehicles there are now on the UK's roads, mobile phones did not really exist and (in the UK at least) the vast majority of us drove cars which by today's standards exhibited dreadful dynamic stability and were woefully underpowered.
    Read More

Highlighted Content