Should Bloomington adopt cameras to enforce traffic laws?
Some studies have shown that cameras increase rear-end crashes but decrease "T-Bone" crashes, which are more dangerous and more likely to cause serious injury or death.
We have all seen it: We're waiting our turn at a red light, and just after the opposing green light turns red someone blows through the intersection. People who do things like this are a danger both to property and human life, and this is why we have traffic laws to protect people's lives, safety and property.
I could easily not be writing this newsletter. A few years ago, I was crossing the street and saw a large vehicle barreling toward me and the stop sign she would have went through had I not been there. The young college-age woman did manage to stop before making me a smear on the asphalt. Because of things like this, I am fully supportive of aggressive enforcement of traffic laws.
Indiana law does not permit cameras to assess speeding or disregarding red lights, though some people think they should.
Is this government overreach? Running red lights is already illegal. Speeding is already illegal. If you get away with either one in 2025 because there is no police officer around when you do it, and you get a ticket for either because there is a camera watching you in 2026, your liberty is not more restricted than it was before. Your privacy is also not compromised on a public street.
There are dangers in red light cameras, primarily shortening yellow lights to entrap people into running the red to get more money from tickets. The Indiana Daily Student warns about private companies doing this, but local governments have been caught manipulating light cycles to get more money. If the state allows red light cameras, we need a corresponding update to the criminal code to make that punishable by law. Yes, I mean the criminal code, including prison time for politicians who make the streets more dangerous out of greed.
Are cameras good policy? Whether red light cameras reduce traffic accidents is an open question with conflicting studies. Some have shown that the cameras increase rear-end crashes but decrease "T-Bone" crashes, which are more dangerous and more likely to cause serious injury or death. If the state legislature were to allow the cameras, we would need an accounting of accidents both before and after the cameras were installed, and the injuries, property damage and fatalities before and after.
The state legislature should amend Indiana Code to allow communities to make their own decisions about traffic cameras, with the aforementioned necessary updates to the criminal code. I am not a supporter of unlimited home rule, but this issue should be decided by local officials who know their community, not 150 legislators in Indianapolis. Then we can have many different laboratories of democracy determine what works best, and what is best for public safety.