Column:
Run over red light cameras
Cameras are unconstitutional and other arguments against them.
Published March 19, 2010
This week, the state Senate held a committee hearing on Sen. Jim Lembke's, R-St. Louis, bill to ban red light cameras. Columbia has five of these in place, and I want the state to get rid of them all. Here's why:
Lack of proof
Many cities, excluding Columbia, don't take a picture of the person driving the car. Most of the time, cameras only take a picture of the license plate at a red light.
When this happens, courts use a "rebuttable presumption" to assume the driver of the car is actually the owner. Basically, this means if I run a red light the ticket will go to my dad because he owns my car. He shouldn't be responsible for my crimes.
This line of thought goes against our legal system. If someone borrows my car, and the police catch them for a DUI, I don't get a ticket or taken to court. This isn't the case with red light cameras.
Constitutional violations
The biggest constitutional problem with these cameras is the disregard for a citizen's privacy. In Columbia, cameras take pictures of the driver along with the license plate, so we're snapping photos of unsuspecting people in the privacy of their car. When these photos are taken, they're sent to companies located outside the state.
In Columbia's case, this company is part of a multinational corporation based in the Netherlands. That's right, GATSO USA, the firm that looks at the photos for Columbia's cameras, has a parent company based in Europe.
Another problem I have is after you're given a red light ticket, you have two options: Sign the ticket and admit you're guilty, or go out and find evidence to incriminate someone else.
You have the right not to testify against yourself, but here you're forced to testify or find the person who did it.
State violations
These aren't the only violations of the law. When these tickets are issued, the case goes to civil court. Prosecutors are able to get away with this because they process them as "non-moving" violations.
This isn't necessarily an illegal thing to do, but when a car runs a red light, doesn't it have to be moving?
Because this is obviously a moving violation, Missouri law requires points to be taken away from your license. Cities take these cases to civil court to avoid a criminal case, where points have to be taken off your license, and you would be innocent until proven guilty.
Safety?
The biggest lie about red light cameras is they make our communities safer. Sure, they do prevent some accidents by discouraging drivers from running red lights.
These cameras take away from our safety in a less obvious way. The upkeep for one red light camera is about $56,000 a year, and the average starting salary of a police officer is rarely higher than this. This means for every one camera we have at least one less officer on the streets.
Clay Carter is a sophomore finance major and can be reached at ccp6c@mail.missouri.edu