We all know them, we’ve all seen them and unfortunately, alot of us have been nailed by them. They are big brother’s latest gift to the Baton Rouge area, red light cameras. Baton Rouge adopted the red light camera system to try and curb red light runners due to the safety issue at hand. I say (along with most of the city) that its 99% about revenue and 1% about safety. American Traffic Solutions, Inc, the city’s partner in the red light camera program, which gets a large percentage of the money off each ticket, told Ingolf Partenheimer, who is EBR’s traffic engineer, that they will consider moving the cameras around to different intersections to generate more revenue. Yeah that definitely sounds like its an issue of safety here, folks.

There are currently 20 or so red light cameras in use, but the city has a contract for 50 cameras so we’re almost halfway there. I assume that the more used to the locations we get, the less tickets will be mailed out, meaning less revenue for ATS and EBR Parish. Of course this probably means they’ll just move the cameras to other intersections and try to use the element of surprise to their advantage.

When I approach an intersection which contains a red light camera, I don’t treat it any different than I do any other intersection that doesn’t contain cameras. The traffic light and intersection are enough to keep me alert. I don’t want to get hit (and be at fault!) anymore than the next guy does. Being the previous victim of someone’s careless driving practices, I slow down and proceed with caution even if the light is green, but not everyone is so careful. We assume that since we have a green light, we have a clear intersection. No chance anyone is turning right on red up ahead or an emergency vehicle is coming through, besides, we’re trying to find a good radio station or get our point across on the cell phone so there’s no time to pay attention at this intersection!

Some studies have revealed that rear end collisions have actually increased at intersections that contain red light cameras. If this is true, its safe to say that red light cameras increase more than just revenue for the municipality in which they reside. They also increase accidents, injuries and property claims for insurance companies which result in even higher (if that’s possible) insurance premiums for your fellow drivers and yourself.  I read that the city was conducting a study earlier this year to see if rear end collisions (or any collisions for that matter) have decreased at intersections using the red light cameras. They stated that if they found that collisions did NOT decrease or if they increased, the cameras would be gone. Of course I have heard nothing else about that since that article was published.

Personally, I like the idea of cameras at intersections. They should record in a loop for 24 hours and have total visibility at all corners of intersections. This way there’s video proof of who was actually at fault should an accident occur. That way, if someone does run a red light which results in property damage and/or personal injury, the evidence would be clear and that person cited for the violation. I’m sure most drivers in East Baton Rouge would also agree with me on this.

If East Baton Rouge does continue to use the “Red Light Enforcement Program”, I’d like to see their website post continual updates with all the pertinent information regarding the revenue. Information such as number of tickets issued every month, amount of revenue collected this month and to date, a detailed list of where every dollar is going, has gone and will go. If enough people keep running the lights and paying the fines there shouldn’t be a single reason in the world why we have tax increases in this parish much less a shortage of finances.

Baton Rouge Red Light Safety Program Official Website