Let’s talk about red light cameras. Do they prevent accidents? Do they cause accidents? Are they there for your protection? Or are they just another tax?
Red light cameras are placed at intersections to take timed pictures of your license plate. When a vehicle runs a red light, these cameras snap a picture. It’s later analyzed, and the Murfreesboro Police Department decides if you deserve a ticket. If so, a ticket, along with a picture of your offense, is mailed to you. Taken like that, you might be compelled to think that this is a good idea. After all, these cameras are for your protection, and you ran a red light. You deserve a ticket, don’t ya? Just because you were not caught by the police and no one was in any way affected does not mean that you should get away with it, does it?
The city council voted to bring these cameras to Murfreesboro in 2008 and they have been a source of controversy ever since. American Traffic Solutions maintains and monitors the cameras for the city and their services come with a healthy price tag. ATS gets 100 percent of the first 1,200 tickets collected each month and after that the city gets half. You, of course, the good citizens of Murfreesboro, get the bill for all of this. Even if you never run a red light in your life, even if you don’t drive, hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars go to fund this project. The Murfreesboro Police may have to use fewer officers to monitor these intersections, but they now have to use extra manpower to sort out all the pictures of traffic violators. The numbers provided by the city indicate that the cameras took in roughly $833,000 last year, and they paid out $671,000 to ATS to monitor and maintain these cameras. So, what that really means is, the city hands out more than $833,000 in fines to make approximately $162,000 profit. Not only do the taxpayers get to foot the bill for this endeavor, but guess who gets the tickets? That’s right, the same people who paid for the system in the first place: Mr. & Ms. Taxpayer.
Numbers released by the MPD show that the number of accidents at these intersections has gone down, and the decrease is attributed to these cameras. In the first two years of camera use, the number of accidents went up, mostly as rear-end collisions affecting motorists trying to stop before they have to smile for the camera. With this statistic of reduced accidents, the MPD is requesting that more of these cameras be placed at eight more intersections. It would seem that the thinking here is keeping you safer through more taxation.
You might think from what you have just read that I am against these cameras, and you would be correct. I think it is a bad idea to ever give any form of government an easy way to tax the people. If you are a student of history, you will agree that revolutions are started over unfair taxations. I’m not saying and certainly not advocating that there will be armed insurrection over these red light cameras, but there is opposition to this practice, and it’s growing. There are organized groups that want to put an end to this practice, not just in Murfreesboro but almost everywhere these cameras exist. It has been reported that many who get these tickets are refusing to pay them. I don’t advocate this, but it does show that there are many who don’t feel this type of traffic enforcement is in their best interest.
Those who support the use of these cameras have repeatedly said that they are here for our protection. I say: How? No camera has ever prevented an accident from happening; all it can do is record it happening. It can help in the prosecution of those involved (again, more money for the system), but it cannot protect you. MPD stats show that after initially causing more accidents, the number of accidents have gone down because of these cameras. So, I guess by this reasoning the safety of the good taxpayers of Murfreesboro was sacrificed for the first two years while everyone got to know where these stealth cameras were. So if the city places these cameras at eight more intersections, they will actually be making the streets more dangerous, at least for the next two years. The most telling factor in the use of these cameras is how the city makes the public aware of them. Most people are not aware they exist until they get a ticket. I can’t say what the guidelines are for certain (or even if there are any), but it is my guess that the bare minimum has been met on marking the intersections where cameras are present. The one at the intersection of S.E. Broad and Church Street is marked only by a small sign that is lost in a sea of other road signs. If this is truly about safety instead of taxation, all intersections with cameras should be very visibly marked. I’m thinking a 50-foot-tall blinking neon sign with an air horn alerting you to the presence of red light cameras. Also, it would nice to have a few of the officers that these cameras reportedly free up from traffic enforcement standing at these intersections with billboards politely asking you to drive more safely. Doing more to alert a motorist to this camera enforcement should do far more to reduce the number of accidents than sending them a fine and a picture of their bumper. But, my taxpaying friends, it wouldn’t do much for the profit margins.
I am a casual observer of city politics and I don’t recall these intersection accidents being much of an issue until these red light cameras came along and made taxing motorists easier. Despite all the claims, these cameras do not prevent accidents. The only hope of using these cameras to prevent accidents is by better informing the motorist of the presence of these cameras. But this could drastically cut the number of people trying to squeeze through a yellow light and make the intersections safer. But this would also seriously decrease the potential revenue brought in by these cameras. Every time I drive through one of these intersections I feel the sticky, money-hungry fingers of Big Brother reaching out to wrap his icy grip around my wallet.
But no matter how big Big Brother is, he has a bigger brother, the American voter. If you gain nothing else from what you read here, remember this: Elected officials are not your rulers, they are your servants. If you have issue with them or the way things are run, they are at your beck and call. If they are not, then they are wrong and not deserving of the office the hold. If you agree with their actions or disagree, make your opinions known. Call them, write to them and, most importantly, vote. You elect these people to decide how to spend your money, so, tell ’em how you want it done.
And don’t run red lights.
Be alert! Big Brother is watching you at the intersections of:
S. Church & S.E. Broad
Northfield & Memorial
S. Church & Middle Tennessee
N.W. Broad & Northfield
Rutherford & Mercury
Old Fort & Thompson
And to keep up with Murfreesboro Citizens Against Photo Enforcement, a group dedicated to eliminating the cameras, like Murfreesboro CAPE on Facebook.
