In the videos from these cameras posted on Chron.com, I saw police and Metro buses in the footage running reds. The only collision I saw in the footage was a fender bender becuase someone stopped, then creeped into the intersection.

What all that was leading up to is that cities are setting up these cameras on lights that have entirely too short yellow light cycles.

If they’re interested in your safety, they should lengthen the yellows.

Maybe red-light runners aren’t a problem in Houston, but they damn sure are in Austin. I’m sick of it. And since I’m often commuting on my bicycle, it’s not just a matter of a fender-bender for me – it could mean broken bones or much, much worse.

And I don’t buy the “surveillance on the populace” argument at all. Bottom line: If you’re in a place where a red-light camera can photograph you — i.e., the middle of an intersection — then you are in PUBLIC. While we do retain minimal privacy rights while out in public, the fact is, you give up most of them the second you set foot out the door.

You are driving a publicly registered vehicle on a publicly financed road and engaging in a publicly regulated activity. If people want privacy, they need to stay in a PRIVATE place, such as their home.

If the police stationed an officer at that light to watch for red-light runners, how would that be any different? In fact, I think most citizens would applaud his/her being there. Every time I see one of those red-light runners I wish so bad I could make a cop instantly appear, like a genie from a bottle. Why do some people get so upset when the real cop is replaced by a mechanical one?

If the government wanted to set up cameras to spy on our private lives or to peer inside private property, I’d be with you. But what you’re talking about with traffic lights is exactly the opposite.

For example, if you look at highway stats, and what causes accidents, it is skewed….investigators can write anything down as the cause…and even multiple things….so the number add up to more than 100%…..

So when you see a stat that say 50% of accidents are caused by bla bla bla….it really mean that that MIGHT have been a factor…..

For example SPEED doesn’t cause an accident…..there MUST be some other contributing factor…..some driver MUST make another mistake for there to be an accident….now I will admit that speed will increade the likelyhood of an injury.