Camera-enforced ticketing has spread throughout the nation like wildfire and now it is taking Miami by storm. The traffic enforcement cameras have been designed to catch drivers who run red lights and surpass the designated speed limit. The reason for the implementation of these traffic cameras is to reduce traffic accidents and related injuries. However, drivers question the validity of these traffic light camera installations throughout the city.
“If they are to catch red light runners, that’s good,” security guard Kaestner Kerrr said. “Referring to speeding, it’s a bad idea. The camera doesn’t have a mind and sometimes there is a good reason for speeding, like if you have a pregnant wife.”
Drivers want to know if the cameras will separate cases of justified speeding from reckless drivers, or if everyone is perceived identically and the cameras distribute generic tickets for infractions.
Senior Noelle Macchi’s experience provides these intrigued drivers with an explanation.
“I think the installations of traffic lights are good and bad. There will be fewer accidents on the road but sometimes the judgment isn’t fair. My dad recently got a ticket for waiting past the white line and that just didn’t make much sense,” she said.
Drivers feel victimized as a new system of automated monitoring and ticketing emerges. With a machine placed in the seat of authority, residents feel that there is room for error against which drivers will have very little defense.
“I don’t think we need any more ‘Big Brothers,’” Biology teacher Ms. Ann Nelson said. “Police can use discretion but cameras don’t.”
If a car travels through an intersection after the traffic signal turns red or if the car is exceeding the posted speed limit, a ticket will automatically generate and get mailed to the registered driver.
“It makes the roads safer for everyone,” junior David Song said. “If you weren’t breaking any rules or laws to begin with, you should have no problem with it because it shouldn’t be affecting you.”
Additional skepticism grows amongst Americans who view the traffic light cameras as a ‘money grab scheme’ by the government, rather than an actual safety precaution.
Miami-Dade plans to install $25 million worth of the red light cameras. Americans debate over the motives behind these traffic light cameras even though they seem to be popping up on every corner throughout the country.
“There are a lot of terrible drivers out there,” AP U.S. History teacher Sayda Sahury-Clasca said. “If the funds will go towards building roads, parks, and other improvements with in the city, then it is a good thing.”
Students should always practice safe and cautious driving; however, there are tricks to avoid ever being caught by these cameras.
“I have a radar detector in my car,” junior Matthew Greene said. “It’s been really helpful and has prevented me from getting a speeding ticket recently.”