Since October of 2010, 37 red light cameras have been installed in the City of Yonkers at 16 intersections. These cameras are also known as “Intersection Safety Cameras.” The question I am addressing in this article is, do red light cameras actually improve safety by deterring red light violations, or is the true motivation behind these cameras to obtain revenue for the municipality?
As background, New York City has utilized red light cameras since 1993, (garnering close to 100 million dollars in revenue for the City in that 18 year period), and they are now installed throughout New York’s five boroughs, Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and Rochester. Across the United States, big cities including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington D.C, are now deploying these cameras.
Red light cameras automatically photograph vehicles as they pass through red lights. The camera is connected to the traffic signal and follows the vehicle before, during, and as it passes through the red light, purportedly getting a clear photo of the rear license plate when the transgression is complete. The photographs are reviewed by police officers to confirm that the infraction was committed. If so, the owner of the vehicle (which of course may not be the motorist who actually committed the violation) is sent a notice demanding payment of $50.00 by a certain date, with an additional $25.00 penalty for late response.
Only emergency vehicles including police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances are exempted from red light violations.
Back in May of 2009, the New York Times published an article entitled “Revenue Low, Yonkers Dreams Of Green From Red Light Cameras”, which made the motivation behind the cameras fairly apparent. In the article, a Yonkers City spokesman noted that Yonkers expected to have a budget shortfall of 100 million dollars in 2010, and was hoping to reap millions of dollars in revenue from the fines generated by the cameras. The revenue was to be split with a company called “American Traffic Solutions” (ATS), which was allegedly selected after a competitive bidding process to furnish, install, operate and maintain the cameras. In two recent articles by Phil Reisman of the Journal News, the first of which is entitled “Money Is The Motive For City’s Red-Light Cameras” on January 5, 2012, Mr. Reisman explores the relationship between Yonkers officials such as Mike Spano and Mayor Phil Amicone, and ATS. He points out that Spano was part of a lobbying firm, Patricia Lynch Associates, that was paid a whopping $400,000 to push the red light camera plan, and that ATS also made campaign contributions to both Spano and Amicone.
So the question remains, do the cameras increase safety or is this simply all about the money?
