Our town's new red light cams have everyone up in arms about Big Brother

I believe the cameras are for safety. Everyone else seems convinced it's a spy operation.

3 comments

3 Comments

thea_mitchell2027d agoMost Upvoted

But have you seen how they lower crash rates at busy spots? The numbers prove they make those intersections way safer. It's more about stopping tickets than some spy movie plot!

shaneb1621d ago

I mean, is it really that deep? Sure, the money thing is shady if they mess with the lights. But calling it Big Brother feels like a stretch. It's just a camera at a traffic light, not someone listening to your calls. Maybe we're all just mad about getting tickets and making it into a bigger deal.

logan_allen6827d ago

That 'spy movie plot' line got me looking into it. I read a piece about how in some cities, the camera companies get a cut of each ticket, which makes you wonder about the real goal. Like over in Springville, they had to remove cameras after it came out that yellow lights were shortened to catch more people. Safety took a back seat to cash. Heard from a friend who got a ticket for a right turn on red that was totally safe, but the camera didn't care. Makes the whole thing seem less about safety and more about money, which fits the Big Brother worry.