A few weeks ago I wrote about how the Los Angeles City Council voted the city stop issuing red-light camera citations and move to “phase out” the program entirely. The City Council’s decision to reverse this policy was not inevitable. In fact, it happened in large part as a result of the efforts by the grassroots advocacy group Safer Streets L.A. led by filmmaker and activist Jay Beeber.
Reason.tv journalist Tim Cavanaugh recently sat down with Jay Beeber to discuss his crusade to rid Los Angeles of red-light cameras, which Beeber says:
- Make participating intersections more dangerous;
- Cost taxpayers millions of dollars;
- Target safe driving behavior (like rolling right turns); and
- Strain the city’s law enforcement resources.
See the full interview below:
As I wrote several weeks ago, ending the program is easier said than done and this process may prove costly for both the city and the private red-light camera operator (American Traffic Solutions). American Traffic Solutions installed and operates equipment in 32 intersections that need to be removed. Further, there are tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid tickets that will be difficult to collect once drivers realize paying the citations is voluntary.
For more on red-light cameras in Los Angeles, see my previous post here.