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There is an intersection a few blocks from my work that had a red light camera installed about two years ago. I've lost count of how many times I've seen that camera light flash when a car is going through a green light, or stopped safely behind the crosswalk at a red light. I've only seen it flash one time due to someone actually running a red light. I don't know the review process that the city uses but it sure doesn't inspire any confidence. And don't even get me started on cities shortening yellow lights to increase the revenue from the cameras.
Recently the city my parents live in has been updating a lot of their traffic signals at major intersections. The pedestrian crosswalk signals now have a countdown timer so you know just how much time you have before the light changes. It is great, since I can see the timer and know if I need to punch the gas to make the light or if I have no shot of making the light so I need to lift off the gas now. Of course the city does not install these countdown timers at the intersections they have the red light cameras, so you don't know when the light is turning yellow, and when it does you have less time to get through the intersection or get stopped. The idea of red light cameras and speed cameras as a safety tool is a pathetic cover for their real purpose of revenue enhancement.
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