The SafeLight program with red light cameras began in 2006 in Dallas, Texas. Red light cameras look at high-risk intersections with a history of traffic accidents and photograph cars running red lights. Owners are traced through license plate numbers and fined by mail.
During the first thirty days, the City of Dallas issued warning citations to red-light runners caught on camera. The cameras will monitor up to sixty intersections in Dallas.
How the SafeLight program works
System works this way:
- Radar detection equipment monitors traffic. When the signal turns red, the camera system is activated by any vehicle that illegally flashes a red light.
- Two photos are taken by the cameras. The first image shows that the front of the vehicle is not yet in the intersection while the light has already turned red. The second image shows the vehicle continuing through the intersection and includes the license plate.
- The camera records the date, time of day, and elapsed time since the start of the red signal.
- Those who enter the intersection before the light turns red, but who, for whatever reason, get caught in the intersection when the light changes, do not activate the camera and will not receive an appointment.
Background
Several cities in Texas have already established red light camera systems. Denton claims a decrease in traffic accidents at those red lights with cameras installed.
Pros
The SafeLight program aims to prevent accidents, injuries and deaths. In the United States, 218,000 traffic collisions occur due to people running red lights. Almost 900 people are killed annually.
Red light cameras are automated, so they will reduce the manpower used to write traffic citations.
The income that these cameras will bring is significant. The only people who will be charged are those who break the law, so that’s fair. This money can be used for other public safety companies, such as hiring more police officers. Dallas is number one in the nation for crime.
Cons
For many people, this seems like a money-making adventure. Dallas expects the city to make $ 12 million from the cameras this year.
The penalties differ from the camera and the police. If a police officer stops a red-light runner and writes a ticket, the fine is criminal and is listed on the offender’s insurance record. If the chamber issues the subpoena, the penalty is civil and an insurance penalty does not apply.
Invasion of privacy (“Big Brother”) is a problem. Many critics cite the ‘slippery slope’ argument: if a city has the right to look at us and photograph us as we drive through red lights, then why not cameras everywhere, staring at us in our everyday lives, citing us for whatever? is or could it ever be a violation?
Where is it located
- Senate Bill 125, introduced on November 29, 2006 by Senator John Carona (Republican of Dallas), removes a city’s financial incentive to operate cameras by sending money made by the system to the state to be used in an emergency and trauma fund, minus the expenses associated with operating the red light camera system, which include costs for hardware, software, paperwork, human labor, and review of cases in dispute by the police and the courts.
- House Bill 55, introduced on November 13, 2006 by Rep. Carl Isett (R-Lubbock), prohibits a city from installing red light cameras on highways that fall under the jurisdiction of a city. Since roads are typically the busiest, they show the most potential as money makers under the red light camera system. Again, this removes much of the financial incentive for a city to install red light cameras.
The City of Dallas intends to combat attempts by legislators to send SafeLight Program money to the State of Texas.
