Listening to Shredd & Ragan yesterday, city councilman Mickey Kearns indicated that the proposal to approve the installation of red light cameras in Buffalo (or, more specifically, to ask the state’s permission to move forward with red light cameras) was tabled. This afternoon, it was revealed that the measure was put to a vote and passed 5 – 3.
Red light cameras are not safety devices. They are revenue-generators. Any safety improvement that might be seen would be insignificant, and they take away police discretion.
Furthermore, given that we’re talking about the City of Buffalo, located in the State of New York, it’s more likely than not that the contract to install these things will go to the best-connected, the contract to operate these things will go to a friend of a brother of a sister-in-law’s. It’s more likely than not that the thing will not operate as advertised out of the box, and costly repairs will be needed before they’re operational. Then they’ll start pegging people’s license plates but not get their faces, which means if you lend your car to your friend and he runs a light, you’ll get the ticket and points.
If running red lights is such a big problem, stick some cops at key intersections to do a ticketing blitz. It’s a whole lot cheaper, quicker, and easier than new equipment and a whole new law to get around the fact that a cop is supposed to witness the violation he’s ticketing. If running red lights is such a safety hazard, start timing lights so that people are less likely to knowingly or inadvertently run them.
This is a money grab with an only tangential relationship to issues of safety. And ultimately, because it’ll be a private company running the system, they’re the ones who’ll be making out best.
