In many cities across the United States, one particular item that is very much the topic of discussion these days, is the use of traffic cameras at red lights to identify and fine those individuals that travel through an intersection after the light has turned red. The debate continues to revolve around this subject with questions about constitutional rights, burden of proof and safety. The debates of constitutional rights arise from the motivation that constitutional rights are being invalidated. Driving is not a constitutional right; driving is a privilege. Individuals that break traffic laws have violated their privilege to drive. The verbiage of the laws will differ from state to state and even from city to city, but most have written these laws in such a way that this type of citation is very similar to that of a parking ticket. Here is the process of the ticket for traffic camera violations: there is a court date posted on the citation and the owner and or operator has the choice to either argue the citation in court or pay a fine either in person or by mail, thus ensuring those citizens have been given the opportunity to exercise their right to due process. The burden of proof for these citations is satisfied via the pictures from the camera. In most instances, these red light cameras also provide a very short, ten to 15 second video clip, of the intersection during the same time the still photographs are capturing those vehicles that are in violation of proceeding through a red light. Just like the parking tickets, it is the owner and not the operator of the vehicle that is initially held responsible for the violation. When these citations are received in the mail, there is an affidavit attached that the owner of the vehicle can sign indicating who was operating the vehicle at the time of the incident and then the owner will no longer be held responsible for this violation. Safety should always be a concern for government, at any level. Government has an obligation and an over-riding interest to write into law those regulations that will keep their citizens alive and, at the same time provide for the safest environment possible. Research has concluded a decrease in accidents at the intersections where the uses of red light cameras are being used. Since safety should be the most important issue and with the conclusions research has provided on the use of red light cameras, the use of these traffic cameras can provide a positive impact on cities and citizens throughout the United States.
http://www.edmunds.com/driving-tips/caught-big-brother-may-be-watching-you-with-traffic-cameras.html
http://www.edmunds.com/driving-tips/caught-big-brother-may-be-watching-you-with-traffic-cameras.html
Safety can never be taken too seriously! I believe in the traffic light cameras and videos it not only protects the people who are driving but can also prove who is lying in an accident. I do agree that driving is a privilege because look at when you get older it’s one of the things that gets taken away from you. While driving your responsible for your actions and also watching out for everyone else. These traffic lights will help the bigger cities in trying to stop drivers from running red lights. Traffic light cameras installed at every major intersections in towns/cities helps people realize the consequences when they get that fine in the paper and makes them think twice about doing it again.
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