In his presentation last week to the Great Neck Chamber of Commerce, Nassau County Traffic Safety Board Director Chris Minstron made a convincing case for the county’s use of red-light cameras.
Insisting that the “goal” of the cameras is “traffic safety,” he addressed what has been one of our prime concerns about any traffic camera system. The temptation, we fear, is to turn the cameras into a cash cow.
The county currently has 76 cameras that in the four years that the program has existed have taken more than 1.3 million photos of drivers failing to stop at red lights. From those, only 470,000 tickets have been issued.
Drawing a contrast to the approach taken by “our neighbors in New York City,” Minstron said, “We look at how we cannot give the violation.” In some cases, he said, the pictures of violations are used for driver education.
Residents of New York City have often complained that yellow lights have been shortened at intersections equipped with the cameras in an effort to trap drivers.
The consequences of the red-light cameras go beyond the fines. Since the car owner and not the driver is identified there are no points but the company that insures the car is notified and the owner’s premiums may increase.
Most important, Minstron, said accidents have been reduced by 60 percent in the intersections equipped with a red light camera.
We can’t verify that but, if it’s true, it’s an impressive statistic.
To make certain that public safety remains the primary objective, projections of revenue from the red-light tickets should not be used to balance the county budget.
As long as the “goal” remains public safety and the focus is catching careless drivers who knowingly blow through red lights, we see no reason not to support the continued use of the red-light cameras.
