Increased technology is replacing the need for having people do certain jobs in the community.
One of those jobs in the community being replaced by computerized technology is police officers. Locally, police enforcement are being replaced by cameras that can record what happens at busy intersections. These cameras record automobiles that run red lights, and some of these cameras can even record the speed that the car is driving to determine whether or not the automobiles are speeding through intersections.Private companies are responsible for reviewing the tapes and issuing tickets to those citizens in violation of traffic laws.
I am opposed to the use of red light cameras because it causes issues with confidentiality, it causes increased accidents at the intersections where these cameras are located, and it is used just to make money for the city. Even if a person is cautious with their personal information, however when this information is released to private companies, it cannot be regulated. Private companies own the cameras and it is unknown what they do with driver information.In order for the private companies to determine who the vehicle committing the traffic violations belong to, they must have access to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records. These records are accessed by private companies through a comprehensive computer system.
This system sends confidential information over the internet, where it can be intercepted by anyone, at anytime. Another issue with this process is that the ticket for the moving violation is issued to the owner of the vehicle, not the driver committing the violation (Seville and Rappleye).More accidents are caused because of people slamming on their brakes when approaching the intersection. Jon Offredo, a reporter for The Times of Trenton newspaper says that citizens may speed through intersections which do not have these cameras, only to slam on their breaks when approaching intersections that have the cameras.
This is because drivers are trying to avoid the violation tickets associated with the moving violations. One problem that this may cause is increased rear-end collisions when the speeding driver slams on their breaks.Even if accidents do not happen at these intersections, these actions cause increased traffic (Quain). At night, when these cameras attempt to take a picture, the flash goes off. This flash seen in the rear-view mirror could also cause collisions, if not one car accidents.
Red-light cameras do not punish people, they are just used to collect money for the city. When a driver receives a violation for either running a red light, or for speeding at these intersections, he gets a civil violation. Civil violations are used to collect money, in the way of fines, to pay directly to the city.The ticket arrives by postal mail, and the driver must log-in to the internet to pay the fine. If the driver chooses to contest the video evidence, he must take off of work, losing money, and hope to fight the video evidence in court. This could cause more fees in the long run for the driver.
If the driver does not check his mail often and misses the deadline, he will also be assed a late fee. One other problem with this is that if the driver is unaware that he is committing the violation because there are not immediate consequences, he may end up with several violations in the mail before he makes changes to his driving.
