Blinding red lights.

• Author: Cavanaugh, Tim
• Position: Soundbite - Traffic light cameras

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Jay Beeber, a San Fernando Valley writer and producer, began his uphill struggle against traffic light cameras in Los Angeles mainly out of curiosity. "I had seen a news report that said these cameras actually increased accidents at these intersections," he says. "I've never gotten one of these tickets. I haven't gotten a moving violation in probably 20 years." Yet Beeber's campaign to inform the Los Angeles City Council and L.A.'s civilian police commission about the case against traffic light cameras has come to a dramatic pass. In June the commission voted unanimously to defund the city's cameras.

At press time the city council was split between camera defenders who are cozy with American Traffic Solutions, the city's camera supplier, and a growing number of skeptics who have converted to Beeber's position. Senior Editor Tim Cavanaugh spoke with Beeber after the commission's vote.

Q: What happened?

A: About five or six months ago, the five members of the Los Angeles Police Commission were all in favor of the red-light camera program. Now they've voted, 5 to 0, to end it. During that time, I have been providing them with information. And they're thoughtful people. They're not politicians; they're appointed, and they're really a great group of people. They looked at this issue from a scientific point of view, from an economic point of view, and they decided that it wasn't worth continuing.

Q: One piece of information you've provided is that red-light cameras actually increase the number of accidents. How is that?

A: Red-light cameras have been shown in a number of cases to increase rear-end collisions. When a driver approaches an intersection where there is a red light camera, they may react in an unusual way. They may slam on their brakes, for example. Then the argument is, well, the person behind shouldn't have been following them so closely. But on the other hand, if somebody slams on their breaks in front of you, how much of that is your fault?

The other thing that's dangerous about them from an accident standpoint is...