The Red Light Cameras

02/29/2012

The Red Light Cameras

Sonny Mathew

Patrick J. Ryder

Page #1

The major cause of accidents at the intersection is because a lot of drivers run red lights. That cause to a death of an innocent person. Then the government decided to place red light cameras in many intersections through out our country including New York City. This helped many communities enforce traffic laws by taking pictures o the vehicles whose drivers have ran red lights. A red light camera is connected to both the traffic signal and sensors underneath the pavement at the stop line. The red light cameras take pictures of the vehicles when they pass the sensors after the signal has turned red, the camera takes the picture of the vehicle and also it can record the video. Then an instant photograph is taken to show if the driver actually made a stop or kept on going. The great news about this system is the light that flashes as soon as the photo is taken will come up with a clear picture of the vehicle under any circumstance. The fine of running a red light is sent in forms of tickets which are mailed to the owners of the vehicle to notify that they were trapped on camera violating the traffic law.

The first though that comes into my mind in how the red light cameras can help the police department is, that they enable the police to devote more time to tracking serious criminals, solving cases and spend more time investigating crimes. With the invention of the red light camera the police no longer have to sit and watch for a violator. They also do not have to spend time in court if the violator wants to fight the ticket. The photograph that the camera takes is proof that the person has broken the law. It also saves the county possible overtime pay.

The red light cameras also help save the police officers lives as well as pedestrians. When a police officer pulls over someone he never knows who or what type of individual that he will encounter, putting his life in danger. It also makes it safer for fellow motorist and pedestrians a like by cutting down on a possible high speed pursuit from a patrol car that could result in possible harm to the police officer and innocent bystanders if the violator refuses to stop. I personally think that knowing red light cameras are out there makes the motorist slow down and think twice before they run the light.

The red light cameras may also help police to track a criminal by giving the police a time, location, license plate and description of the vehicle. I am not sure if this camera is a continuous feed or has capability to do a license plate or vehicle search or if it just takes a photograph and records the date and time when someone passes