Traffic Cams - Must We Have Them?

A friend of mine tells me that she received a ticket in the mail for coasting through a right turn while the light was red. One of those traffic cameras had caught the event.

Accounting for her time, she discovered that she was not the driver for the period in question. She had loaned the car to a friend who is known to coast through red lights. But, as the car's owner, the ticket came to her. I always thought that tickets went to the driver, not the car, and if they can't identify the driver then they can't sustain the charge. Right? Anyway, it is just one more incidence where traffic cameras are controversial.

I was reminded of this tale when I came across the following article:

Traffic devices: cash cows or safety aides

Fred Childress, president of Tennessee Liberty Alliance, said he's seen no evidence that what he calls "revenue cameras" have reduced accident rates.

All they've done, he says, is upset motorists, obstruct traffic flow and prompt drivers to avoid the city.