I don't like red light cameras, either. But there's a good reason to keep them

Most every day I pass through the intersection, the one where an SUV blasted through a red light and slammed into my son. Several decades have passed, yet still I often wonder.

Might things have been different that day had there been a camera there recording red light runners?

Might the young man driving that Chevy Suburban have been more careful?

In 2021, 1,109 people across the nation lost their lives when a light turned red and a driver didn’t stop, according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. Another 127,000 were injured.

The institute’s studies in California and Virginia reported that red light violations dropped 40% once cameras were installed.

Sen. Rogers wants to end speed cameras

Then there are the speeders.

In 2022, 1,294 people died on Arizona’s streets, an increase of 8.6%, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. The chief culprit was speed, claiming 426 lives.

So naturally, the Legislature is working on a plan to bar cities and towns from using photo radar and red light cameras on public roadways.

The bill is the brainchild of Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff. Rogers marshaled her bill through the Legislature last year only to watch as Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed it, on account of wanting to save lives.

So now, Rogers is back with a plan to take her plea directly to the ballot.

“We need to pass this because my constituents want their privacy back,” she told the Technology and Missing Children Committee on Tuesday.

Courts say the cameras are constitutional

The committee heard from several diehard foes of photo radar, people who like Rogers believe it’s a money grab and a violation of their constitutional right to blow through intersections and drive at whatever speed they want unless a police officer catches them.

Never mind that federal courts have ruled the cameras to be constitutional.

Never mind that every city puts out signs warning of cameras ahead, almost as if they’re trying to get you to slow down and avoid a ticket.

Never mind that Paradise Valley’s police chief says accidents dropped dramatically when the town installed cameras in 1987 and have remained lower, even as traffic counts have grown.

“The current accident rate is less than half of what it was in 1986,” PV Chief Freeman Carney told the committee.

Which moved Rogers and her fellow Republicans not at all.

Lawmakers think they're a costly intrusion

Senate Bill 1003 passed on a party line vote. Her companion bill, forwarding the camera ban directly to the ballot, is still to be heard but based on what I heard, it’ll be a slam dunk.

Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, seemed mostly concerned about the money grab.

Sen. David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, meanwhile, seemed mostly concerned about his lightened wallet, having racked up four photo radar tickets.

In all four cases, he said, there was no danger posed by his driving, even though he admitted that he doesn’t always read traffic signs and wouldn’t notice flashing warning lights during daylight hours.

Why most dangerous intersections: Are in the West Valley

“I was wide awake and calm and alert to any danger, but it cost me well over $1,000 for those four (tickets), so I am a very passionate enthusiastic yes,” Farnsworth said in voting for the bill.

Certainly, it would be better to have a police officer on the road to determine whether Farnsworth is a menace on the road..

But I haven’t yet seen his proposal to boost city funding so Mesa can hire more cops. In fact, tax cuts passed by the Legislature in recent years have actually reduced funding to cities.

I think about the red-light runner who hit us

Still, I do agree with Farnsworth about cameras.

I hate them. They’re intrusive and they don’t record circumstances that may lead one to run a light and rocket down the road. And really, who wants to be nailed?

But I often wonder about the 23-year-old man who blew through that red light one long ago Thursday afternoon, slamming into the car right where my then-5-year-old son was sitting, on his way to a birthday party.

Might the SUV driver have thought twice about it had a camera been present? Might things have turned out differently?

My son’s head injuries were severe and long lasting and life changing.

As for the driver, I never got to ask him whether he felt relieved that his constitutional and so-called privacy rights were preserved by the absence of a red light camera.

He died at the scene.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Red light cameras are a necessary pain in Arizona