Wisniewski: Putting the Brakes on Red Light Cameras the Wrong Approach

November 24, 2009

Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski, chairman of the Assembly Transportation and Public Works Committee, today characterized as“misguided” public resistance to a pilot program that places surveillance cameras at intersections with traffic lights to catch and fine motorists who ignore the signals, commonly referred to as red light cameras.

Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) issued the following statement:

            “Red light cameras are successfully used in a growing body of U.S. communities, as well as across the globe – from Taiwan to Germany to the United Kingdom – to reduce accidents caused by ignoring traffic signals at busy intersections.
 

            “The argument that red light cameras will somehow be responsible for an explosion in the number of rear-end collisions at intersections is patently absurd.
 

“One of the guiding principles enmeshed in Title 39 is that a driver must have their vehicle under control at all times. Opponents of this measure, however, assume that drivers don’t and won’t have their cars under control and will, as a consequence, crash into other vehicles stopped at lights.
 

“The very notion that drivers aren’t paying attention behind the wheel was the reason for creating this pilot program in the first place.  If drivers aren’t paying attention – probably because they think no one is watching – it’s possible these cameras will make them better, more attentive motorists, which will undoubtedly save lives.
 

“And if even one life is saved because of these cameras, then they will have been well worth the controversy.”