The former CEO of a red-light camera company recently pleaded guilty in a political corruption scam that involved politicians backing photo enforcement in return for cash. Letter to the editor:
Richard Diamond’s column on red-light safety cameras was a classic bait-and-switch. His frail argument goes something like this: A few bad actors somehow undermine the red-light safety technology itself (“Marco Rubio’s right: Red-light cameras are a scam: Column“).
What Diamond didn’t do is address the facts, or our collective reality:
- Nearly 9,000 deaths in the U.S. were caused by red-light runners from 2000 to 2009.
- 1 in 3 drivers continue to run red lights and take risks.
- Red-light running is the leading cause of crashes in urban areas.
- Red-light safety cameras led to a 39% decrease in red-light running, right-angle crashes on business and primary roads, according to a 2012 study by the Texas Transportation Institute.
Perhaps I’d have more sympathy for Diamond’s arguments if a red-light runner in Florida hadn’t killed my husband, Mark, just over a decade ago. My daughter Madisyn Grace was born just weeks after this avoidable tragedy, entering this world with no chance to meet her father.
Thankfully, Sen. Marco Rubio’s red-light running didn’t result in anything more than a ticket. For a father with four young children of his own, that’s a small price to pay.