Angry Motorists Torch Speed Cameras in England

If you click that link, you'll see a picture and story about a burned out red light camera, an automated camera that takes pictures of speeding drivers and sends the pictures and tickets to them in the mail.

If you click the photo in the story, you'll go to the website of a group that resists these cameras by destroying them. I confess, I think it's funny, even though there is a cost to the public treasury.

I think that this kind of enforcement is fundamentally unfair and inappropriate. There are several reasons.

I.  A camera is not the same as an accuser.

Our adversarial court system is set up so that people accused of a crime can confront their accusers in court. A ticket based on a photo leaves the accused person with no one to confront. There is no way to confirm that the camera and other measuring devices were working properly at the time the picture was taken, even if the camera can be said to have been working properly when it was set up. Since accused people cannot confront their accusers, this method of enforcement does not conform to constitutional requirements.''

II.  A camera captures information unrelated to public safety purposes.

When a camera takes a picture and creates a permanent record of that moment, that action is like a search and seizure in my opinion. The picture can answer questions like, which car, did what, when and where. The picture can also show cargo and number of passengers, which goes beyond the scope of the intention of the camera. When the camera captures and divulges information that would ordinarily be covered by Fourth Amendment protections, it is infringing on citizens' constitutional rights.

III.  Cameras don't prevent accidents.

The cameras do not appear to be making any difference in preventing injuries or collisions.

"Thedata are very clear," said Dick Raub, a traffic consultant and a formersenior researcher at Northwestern University's Center for PublicSafety. "They are not performing any better than intersections withoutcameras."

Thus, citizens put up with an infringement on their constitutional rights that doesn't appear to serve a public safety purpose.

IV.  The cameras may create unsafe conditions.

The flash on the speed and red light cameras is between 300 and 400 watts. This wattage is commonly described as not blinding to motorists. However, depending on road conditions and an individual driver's eye strength, the flash may be blinding for up to twenty seconds. Senior drivers may be flash blind for a longer period because their eye lenses are more brittle due to aging.

What to do...

Vote no on red light and speeder cameras.
Contest red light tickets as appropriate.
Don't speed or run red lights.