Why Red Light Cameras Suck
Posted at 3:37 PM / February 25, 2010
Now, I'm not going to lie, I hate red light cameras. From the first I laid eyes on one getting installed three years ago, I knew they were trouble.
But why?
A friend once loudly proclaimed at a party that "red light cameras will save lives and force bad drivers to drive better." That same friend was enraged when she incurred a a you-took-too-long-to-turn-left-lady $75 ticket. It's funny how red light cameras that were referred to life savers are now referred to with the same loathing and disgust used to describe public toilets and child slave labor.
Could it be that our rights are being abused? Hmmm....
Sure, like some of you guys I try to avoid certain intersections now, because some of them are now extremely hard to navigate. That person in front you trying to make that turn might abruptly jump on their brakes, so you try to leave a foot or three between their bumper and yours, but now it takes twenty minutes to make a left turn onto Addison onto Western when it used to take six. The other fun scenario is when you are the middle car in a pack of three trying to turn, and the person behind you tailgates you so closely that you can actually see what is checked off on their Burger King wrapper... Fun stuff.
But even as I carefully plot my course to say, Potbellys, I'll come across another one... another red light camera. My mental groan is then followed by a crafty evaluation of how to get through that intersection without incurring that super-annoying flash of light. This process involves timing the lights as they change, and counting out loud "one Mississippi two Mississippi RED light!"
*POP*
What the fudge, it happened again.
Will we ever be able to outlaw these things, or are we ultimately destined to make midnight forays dressed up as ninjas armed with cans of black spray paint and some liquid courage?
What say you?
-RacerX
