No WhiteWash!

Tennessee Center for Policy Research has an excellent article on “Red Light Cameras in the Volunteer State”.

This Report Finds that Red Light Cameras Increase Crashes and Violate the Constitution.

Tennessee cities jeopardize safety to raise revenue, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research

This is a must read.  I will be providing data soon to show that Kingsport, Tennessee red light camera program is all about greed.

Follow the Money:

The Real Reason While cities claim that safety, deterrence, and cost- reduction are their ultimate priorities in camera system installations, revenue statements indicate otherwise. Cities that employ the devices see a dramatic spike in revenue for traffic violations. Revenues collected by the City of Kingsport during the 2006 calendar year, just before camera installation, totaled $342,150 for traffic fines, parking fines, and code enforcement fines.10 From 2001 to 2006, such fines ranged from $167,998 to $358,014 per year.11 Traffic cameras were installed on Dec. 27, 2006. 12 Not surprisingly, fines skyrocketed. Kingsport collected $1,529,823 in the year after the cameras were installed, more than four times the revenue from the previous year (see “Figure 1: Kingsport Fine Collections,” right).

Nashville newspaper (The Tennessean) stated that “Kingsport’s revenues from fines soared 347 percent in the year after installing cameras.