Last night a local official said this in support of installing traffic cameras in Knoxville (to catch “red-light runners”):
Deputy Chief Don Green added, “We’re not trying to catch people, we’re not trying to punish people. We’re just trying to prevent accidents.”
It may not be Mr. Green’s personal desire to “catch people,” but if the camera vendor gets a percentage of the fines, they’ll certainly have a desire to punish people.
A family member recently moved to a city with these cameras, and he received a ticket because the front of his car was a couple feet over the painted line when he came to a stop. He said that the company running the lights gets at least 50% of the fines collected.
Nope, no incentive there.