Pete Moye’
Opinion Button

Although red light cameras were installed for safety purposes, there are many reasons why removing them can be good for the public.

$500 tickets per infraction is one of the main reasons why red light cameras were disliked.

The tickets run up to $500, and lets face it, with the way the economy is at the time people do not have the money to spend on tickets.

With the current state of the economy, people do not have the money to spend on such excessive fines.

Most red light cameras are installed in busy areas where there is heavy traffic and pedestrian crossing. This may be a danger for students here at Cerritos College due to the amount of traffic that builds up in the Alondra and Studebaker crossway.

While students are crossing the street there are drivers rushing to get to the other side or slam on the brakes to avoid a ticket, which can ultimately cause accidents.

When a driver causes a red light infraction the light catches the driver passing a crosswalk on a red light and the camera snaps a photo of the vehicle from several angles.

Several weeks later the registered owner receives a ticket in the mail with images of the license plate and the image of the driver, who in some cases is not even the registered owner.

This is a reason why so many tickets are unpaid. The registered owner does not feel obliged to pay a ticket because he or she was not the driver.

If the actual driver is not willing to step up and pay the ticket it is unfair for the registered owner to have to pay the ticket.

With the cost of the tickets being as high as they are it seems unfair to have to pay for someone else’s mistake.

Along with the high cost of a red light camera ticket, the price of insurance of the registered owner also goes up.

There is no need for people to have to deal with something like this when the economy is bad, people are struggling to get or keep a job, and of course they have families they need to take care of.

Some drivers did not know, but authorities cannot force violators to pay up.

Drivers who sign moving-violation citations issued on the scene by police officers promise to deal with the ticket, but not in this case.

This infuriates a lot of people who have paid tickets in the past because they gave up a lot of money to the courts that cannot be refunded.

There are many unpaid and ignored citations, which is a reason why the city council voted in favor of removing red light cameras.

Whether the public is for or against the red light camera system, red light cameras are being shut off in the Los Angeles County and should in other cities.