Scott, you bring up a great issue. I think we need strong leaders who can investigate and not be bamboozled by lobbyists.

Damn right I want more red light cameras. People that drive in the valley are jackasses. I know it isnt oxnard or ventura.

I bet Scott Blough got a ticket so he is mad.

Mr. Blough, hate the game not the player.

Are these lights coming to Simi Valley soon?

While these cameras serve a purpose they also create a problem. The companies that market them use a two-fold approach. To the cops they are a safety device to encourage drivers to not push the limit on yellow lights and cut down on controlled intersections crashes. To the city administration they are billed as revenue tools and some cities, such as Ventura, have even built expected "red light revenue" into their budgets.

The problem is that of "learned behavior." That is that people will come to be cautious of red light controlled intersections. This behavior will eventually drive revenue down, hence the cities and the red light companies, who, in most cases, receive a portion of each ticket, are tempted to change the yellow interval to increase the number of violations. This has already happened in San Diego and that city was sanctioned by the courts.

The bottom line is a situation where the cops hope you will stop and the cities hope you will go. All in all not the best solution.

No, I've never received a ticket by one of these lights, so it's not personal.

Mike raises a very good discussion point. Other than charging up the yellow light timing, local government also sees a decline in revenue and decides to purchase more lights for more intersections.

The City of Simi Valley is using PSSI (blue lights) on the back of some intersections, which help police identify a red light violator when they happen. I left a link.

I do think the better way is more traffic enforcement with more traffic cops. I don't think getting a picture in the mail saying you ran a light serves the same public purpose that being pulled over and being written a ticket does.

I think the public display and making the violator, who ran the red light late, while also showing other drivers what happens when you break the law serves a comunity function.

I also think that human enforcement also allows to stop other crime. How many stories do we here where a cop pulls over a driver and discovers violator is off to murder someone or do a drug deal?

Mike:

I believe the city of San Diego was sanctioned because they actually allowed the company that installed the lights a piece of the revenue, which violated some laws, but I'm not totally aware of the whole story.

If Ventura or Oxnard had a stand alone system where the city just made the revenue, it's perfectly fine, correct?

If you don't break the law you have nothing to be worried about!

Well, that's precisely the point. A person got a ticket from one of these machines even though he was in the hospital that day.

Shortening the yellow light timing also changes your argument that if you don't break the law you have nothing to worry about because they've made the law easier to break for revenue.

I thought local police wanted to get away from the perception that they have a quota to meet with motorists. This just reinforces that perception.

I would prefer more traffic cops enforcing the law and these blue lights that Simi seem to be a good idea.

Maybe they should have a quota. Teachers have api scores to worry about why not cops? We could rate the drivers of each city and see how they improve from year to year. If they don't meet the goals in every subgroup ( Soccer Moms, Harley Drivers, Big Rigs, Vespas, BMW's) then they could be taken over by the state.

Ventura actually does share revenue with RedFlex, the vendors for the camera systems. What even makes it more interesting is that they are an Austrailian company. Also there is a manpower issue, the VPD has to dedicate an officer to view each photo to make sure and edit out any passengers who may have been photographed.

Mike:

I find it interesting that Ventura shares revenue with a foreign company while at the same time trying to pass a tax measure on the citizens of Ventura for emergency services.

I believe the residents said they would prefer the government reign in spending rather than raise sales taxes.