It has been a contentious point at City Council in Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Journal has editorialized in favor of the cameras, but I tend to think — like Councilors Lewis and Cook — that red light cameras are more about revenue than they are about safety. Read their article here.
Regardless of their effectiveness or lack thereof, I’d like to at least have a public vote on them. Data from the Virginia study on the increase of accidents at camera-enforced intersections can be found here.
Money? The cameras have been losing money. Violators are not paying up. The Albuquerque Journal ran a story on this not long ago.
Given the program is losing money and is grossly unfair, it needs to go away.
How is it any more unfair then being pulled over by the police for speeding? Also fines are not really supposed to be a source of revenue for government. As for the cameras losing money, police forces don’t exist on a profit or loss basis.
It’s unfair in that the City government and their police are pulling the handle on a slot machine every time we approach a red light. A percentage payoff is guaranteed, safety be damned.
If the APD is as bloated and ineffective administratively, as their recent lethal problems suggest, a greater impact on safety could be gained by getting most of those SGTs and LTs back on the streets watching high-accident-rate intersections and the streets involved.
The Cameras need to stay. New Mexico drivers are amongst the worse I’ve seen. My second day in town I was T boned by a young man on Martin Luther. Rolled my car completely over and back onto its wheels. The red lights no longer control traffic, they just establish faught. Since then my wife and I are astonished as to how many people we have seen running redlights when they had plenty of time to stop. Those jerks just don’t want to be inconvienced and wait their turn. I’m for anything to get New Mexicans to stop running red lights. Camera tickets should go on the driving record and running 5 lights in six months should get one’s license suspended.
By the way, what is it that New Mexicans don’t understand about “slower traffic keep right”?
If the city councilors think too much money is being made by the “Red Light Company” why don’t they just negotiate for a decent contract. I want the cameras. I see so many red light runners it’s scary. If I had my druthers, I’d rather be hit from behind than to be T=Boned.