A growing number of Missouri communities are installing Red Light Cameras. These cameras automatically ticket the vehicle owner if their car is photographed entering the intersection when the stop light is red.
Municipalities justify these by claiming they reduce accidents. But the data shows that it may reduce T-Bone accidents in the intersection but increase rear end accidents. In the end, city's like these cameras because they bring in millions of dollars. In some cases the time the yellow caution light is displayed has been reduced in intersections with red light cameras. This increases the number of automated tickets and the revenue generated for the city.
Besides being ineffective from a safety standpoint and just another way for cities to extort money from you, they are the first step down the road towards government surveillance of its citizens.
State Senator Jim Lembke (R) of St. Louis has sponsored Senate Bill 211 which would ban the use of Red Light Camera's in Missouri.
Link to SB 211:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/09info/bts_web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=588955
A hearing is scheduled before the Senate Transportation Committee for Wed. February 18th at 8AM in Senate Hearing Room 1 on the 1st floor of the Capitol Building.
Please join me at the State Capitol Wed. February 18th to speak in support of SB 211.
Glenn Nielsen State Chair Missouri Libertarian Party http://lpmo.org
Posted by Roger Baskett on February 25, 2009 at 01:38 PM CST #