Money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, MONEY!  That’s why!

The research you “conducted” wasn’t very thorough.  I’d say it went so far as listening to the sales pitch of Mr. Rosenberg from Redflex, and completely ignored all the real safety concerns with these systems.  Then you got hundreds of calls from angry constituents in your Wards, and did some actual research and reading on the subject and found out, hey, these things are bad, and the company that sells them is full of really bad people!

Every day, those hundreds of motorists run those red lights and speed, and for the most part, no one gets hurt!  Shock!  Horror!  Nooooooooo…

If everybody else had a lobotomy, would you get one too?  The only thing these traffic cameras “work” at is stealing money from motorist and putting them in increased danger of getting rear-ended.

We don’t have $1.6 million to purchase 20 cameras (they cost $80,000 each, or up to $120,000 per camera for the advanced ones), nor do we have the funds to operate the system.  Plus they are of dubious legality, and we can’t afford the lawsuits.  So we’ve hired these thugs to do it for us!  See, everyone benefits, except those pesky motorists.

Small portion?  Up to half of a $125-150 fine is not a small portion of anything, it’s unmitigated GREED.

Expensive system, more fines, bigger system or adjusted light times to cause more violations if revenues decrease.  $20 million projected earnings depending on the city in the first year, yeah, it’s about safety and just recouping costs of operating and maintaining these cameras.

Onward we go, keep up, we’re almost there!