LAS 432: Ethical Implications of Traffic Camera Enforcement

This report examines the ethical considerations surrounding the use of traffic cameras, focusing on their role in enforcing traffic regulations and enhancing public safety. It discusses the effectiveness of speed and red-light cameras in reducing accidents and violations, citing studies that demonstrate their impact on driver behavior. The report also addresses the potential drawbacks, such as concerns about privacy, fairness, and the potential for revenue generation to overshadow safety goals. It highlights arguments from both sides, including the benefits of reduced accidents and the ethical dilemmas of surveillance and due process. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of balancing safety goals with ethical considerations, suggesting that automated traffic cameras can be beneficial if implemented responsibly.

Ethical Considerations Draft
2017
LAS 432 WEEK5 ASSIGNMENT
DAN OPOKU MENSAH
DR.KUPCYNSKI | LAS 432

Ethical Considerations Draft
Individuals are very obedient when they found out that there is a security enforcement
behind them. What is the point of installing cameras in the traffic light? to enforce individuals to
obey traffic regulations. Installing cameras in the traffic light has help reduce traffic accident.
Also, installing cameras has been one of the good reason to enforce red light violations, so that
the “Cops” will concentrate in the other issues. Therefore, speed cameras are installed in traffic
light to catch lawless drives in the act. In my point of view, this law looks little bit hush though
this idea will save a lot of lives and reduce the disability rate but.
“According to John Townsend AAA Mid-Atlantic’s manager of public and government
affairs in Washington DC said they are just really activating every camera that they have in
place”. In Washington DC Speed enforcement cameras in the District are generating so many
tickets that if the current pace continues, the cameras will have generated 1.4 million tickets with
fines reaching $148 million by the end of the year, AAA Mid-Atlantic estimated. The city’s
speed cameras generated just over 282,000 tickets in fiscal year 2014 for annual revenue of
nearly $37.5 million, down from more than 419,000 tickets and $75.7 million in fiscal year 2013.
Relying on a Freedom of Information Act request, AAA found that speed cameras arrayed on
roadways throughout the city kicked out more than 365,000 tickets in the first four months of the
fiscal year, ending Feb. 15, 2016. The revenue from those citations is more than $37 million
about the same as the revenue from the entire fiscal year 2014.
However, installation more cameras in Washington DC around September, 2016 has
decrease speeding and running red light. the Howard county County police department is one

such supporter and has implemented both a red light camera system and a speed camera system
in an attempt to decrease red light violations and speeding, especially in school zones
(www.howardcountymd.gov). Their reasoning may be that people will not want to get their
picture taken, so they are less likely to speed or run red light and get in accidents. The actual
studies from speed and red light cameras have mixed results, though. The form red light camera
studies are inconclusive (federal highway administration). However, the existing research for
cameras “consistently shows that speed cameras are an effective intervention in reducing road
traffic collisions.

Furthermore, red light cameras have been proven to substantially reduce red light
violations. Institute Evaluations by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Fairfax,
Virginia, and Oxnard, California, showed that camera enforcement reduced red light running
violations by nearly 40 percent. In addition to reducing red light running at camera-equipped
sites, violation reductions in both communities carried over to signalized intersections not
equipped with red light cameras, indicating community wide changes in driver behavior. In
addition to reducing red light violations, cameras have been shown to reduce intersection
crashes. In Oxnard, California, significant citywide crash reductions followed the introduction of
red light cameras, and injury crashes at intersections with traffic signals were reduced by 29
percent. Front-into-side collisions the types of crashes most closely associated with red light
violations were reduced by 32 percent, and front into side crashes involving injuries were
reduced by 68 percent. An Institute review of international red light camera studies concluded
that cameras reduce red light violations by 40 to 50 percent and reduce injury crashes by 25 to 30
percent.
Finally, cities with red-light camera contracts have not followed the U.S. Department of
Transportation DOT’s guidelines to reduce accidents and increase compliance. The contracts in
place with red-light camera providers often specify maximum yellow light times, and impose
financial penalties if the city lengthens the yellow period. In most cases, an automated citation is
an open and shut case. Traffic court judges work for the municipality that issues the tickets. But
some judges around the country are calling foul. In February of 2016, a Chicago judge voided
thousands of red light camera tickets as part of a lawsuit alleging due process violations dating
back to 2003. And in a 2015 ruling, a California appeals court voided a challenged ticket because

the yellow light time had been shortened beyond the 3.6 second minimum. That ruling opens the
door for thousands of tickets across the Golden State to be voided on similar grounds.
In conclusions, vehicle accidents and pedestrian fatalities are often reduced in
areas with red light cameras. Also, red-light cameras often reduce the number of traffic
violations in a community. Automated traffic cameras might not be so bad if they were used
strictly to make intersections safer. If drivers could be encouraged to be more conservative when
assessing a yellow light, accidents would be reduced and the safety goals of red-light cameras
would be achieved.

References
Automated Red-Light Enforcement. (2015).
Bowman, J. (2015). Aurora police want more photo red light cameras.
Leighton, W., & Maximino, M. (2014). The effect of CCTV on public safety: Research roundup
Journalist's Resource.
Red light running. (n.d.) (2016).