Red-light cameras are controversial automated photographic traffic enforcement devices used by municipalities across Texas and the country. The cameras, which vary by manufacturer and vendor, generally monitor intersections and capture photographs and/or video of vehicles if they violate traffic signals.
As many as 46 cities, including Houston, Dallas and Austin, have installed cameras since 2003. Reaction to the installation of cameras, and opinions about whether they are effective, has varied. Some elected officials and police agencies say the cameras increase safety at intersections, while critics raise privacy concerns or believe the devices increase rear-end wrecks when motorists stop quickly in an effort to avoid a citation.
The cameras also are target for critics who complain that their primary purpose is to generate citiation revenue, though supporters counter that they allow police officers to spend more time patrolling in neighborhoods, rather than monitoring intersections. Some cities, such as Lubbock, actually lost money using the cameras. Houston, however, has collected more than $10 million.
Studies of the cameras, both in Texas and nationally, have shown mixed results about whether they reduce accidents at monitored intersections.
Administration of the cameras in Texas changed in September 2007, when a new law authored by State Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, established statewide rules for what had been left to various municipal ordinances. The new law also added consumer protections, required traffic engineering studies and mandated the collection and analysis of accident data by the Texas Department of Transportation.
Perhaps most controversial in the law was a requirement that cities share any excess revenue after camera-related expenses with the state. Lawmakers intended that money to be shared with regional trauma centers. The law also restricts how cities can use the portion of the revenue they keep, reserving it to traffic safety programs.
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