USA Today Research: Red-light cameras work

See website: http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/rlr.html
This also has a link to all of the states and cities employing red-light cameras.

I like:

"Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox ruled last month that cameras cannot be used to ticket drivers. Only police officers who witness violations can write tickets, he ruled."

and

"Aaron Quinn, communications manager for the Waunakee, Wis.-based National Motorists Association, which defends drivers' rights, is one of them. He says there are "more appropriate" ways to reduce red-light crashes, including having traffic lights at all corners of intersections show red for one second, creating a margin of error in case of red-light runners."

Cameras are out there for $$$, not safety.

Correct. And that paper is a sham. There is a reason that most well informed people call it the McPaper.

While I agree that money is going to be behind a lot of these camera installs, I still think that they are a good idea (despite cussing as I wrote a check for a ticket my wife got from one). Ten years ago in DC it was getting ridiculous, people were really just ignoring red lights. I remember following a car down 13th St, it ran at least 6 or 7 in a row, and I was seeing this sort of thing regularly. I'm not talking catching the tail end of the yellow, I'm talking full-on red. I ride a motorcycle, and I really don't want to get taken out by some moron who won't wait for green. Since the cameras came in, I don't see that sort of behavior anymore. Maybe in more law-abiding parts of the country they're a pure revenue grab, but I really see the need for them around here.

For the Devil's Advocate:
It all seems so simple. If safety really were the justification for these devices, then post signs or publish the locations of them when they are installed. Then the devices would be a deterrent to running red lights -- people wouldn't do it and all would be safer. But... when they are installed and used without notification, it's clearly for the money.

I think you could argue that it's more effective to put the cameras up with no signs. Most intersections don't actually have cameras but if you know that some might, and you're not sure which ones, you'll tend to be more careful at all intersections. Now, I grew up in DC, and I'm not saying that money is not a prime factor here, just that there is a case for them in addition to the revenue generation.

more $$$ for what? this: http://www.njlawman.com/Feature%20Pieces/Dodge%20magnum.htm

do you think they really need a 5.7-liter HEMI V-8?

I already saw a few here, fully loaded. I even mistaken it as a show car.

OR, money to burn more gas? have you see a police turn off their engine before exiting their car? NONE. Free gas from where?

In my area I have seen signs at intersections with cameras. Not sure if it's a law.