Picks and Itches

Stop says the red light

Go says the green

Wait says the yellow light

twinkling in between.

 
Some folks have some v. definitive takes on RLCs (red-light cameras).  The following is one set of pros v. cons...

I don't want my picture taken for the general populace to goggle over!  This is an all-out rights-to-privacy issue. I want to be able to pick my nose and scratch what itches without some cubicle-cop giving me the once-over on a monitor somewhere.  There ARE still some rights in this country that've not been abdicated!  "Pi*s-sticks on all RLCs!"

The RLC device is only activated when someone runs a red-light; 
otherwise it is a stoic bit of tackle.  The proofs are very clear, though, 

that RLCs have reduced right-angle wrecking incidents by 40 percentage points.

And increased rear-end incidents!

While it's true that rear-end collisions have increased with the implementation of RLCs, they have not increased in tandem with the decrease of right-angle collisions, which, by rote and proof, have caused much more injury--in body and dollars--than rear-end ones.

All this is just an instance of being sweated yet again by Big Brother. Must we bow to the likes of insurance companies' actuarials and police statistics?  We all know that this is a strike at basic civil rights along with an obvious ploy to rake in more and bigger bucks for politic!  Why the big deal if a red light is run?  That's what police are for--not some AI camera.  I want my privacy!  And I should have it in my own car!

Being in the confines of one's own car is a private spot, 

but once a private car is in the public domain--i.e., highways and intersections--it (and the driver) must abide by the dictates and laws of the land (check out the Texas Driver's Handbook).

Yes, millions of dollars have been extirpated from villainous red-light runners (2.4 million in Austin, 95 million in Texas).  Those monies, after payment for and maintenance of the devices, are dispensed onward to budget deficits and school subsidies.

Interestingly, the implementation of additional signage indicating that RLCs are in effect at upcoming intersections has proven more beneficial on the whole than the RLCs themselves. It seems a little reminder that braking will soon be needed is the most efficacious of all the forms.  Perhaps switching out RLCs with a few more signs that say: MAKE READY TO STOP LUNKHEAD! would make safe AND happify all those involved!