Red light cameras all about profit

Red light cameras are an enforcement-for-profit racket that has nothing to do with highway safety.

Montgomery Township’s red light cameras will be utterly despised by most of the residents and visitors. The public has become aware that almost all tickets given by red light cameras go to safe drivers who endangered no one, and the only real results are monetary.

Simply adding one second to the yellow intervals on township traffic lights would be almost certain to immediately reduce the violation rates by significantly more than six to 12 months of using the cameras can achieve.

But you will likely find that PennDOT will refuse to allow Montgomery Township to make that simple adjustment to improve safety. Why? Because ARLE programs are for-profit ways for PennDOT to accumulate funds.

PennDOT gains power and influence in relationship to their total budgets, and the ARLE program increases their total budget revenue to give them more power and influence.

But if the yellow intervals are lengthened by one second to reduce the violation rates by 70% to 90%, then ARLE cameras would issue too few tickets for the total fines to pay the $4,000 to $5,000 per month per camera costs and the program would lose money.

Without profits, PennDOT and the for-profit camera companies will not be interested in the program.

Involving for-profit camera companies in any part of traffic enforcement guarantees that the real focus will be profits, not safety.

Tom McCarey, Berwyn

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