Stop Red Light Madness!

Excerpt from the website We Demand A Vote!

Seven great reasons to oppose Red light and speeding cameras in Toledo

Red light and speeding cameras posted throughout the city are further erosions of our civil liberties as our own government has resorted to 24/7 spying on the citizenry to “catch” every perceived transgression.

Red light and speeding cameras are pure money grabs by rapacious government officials. The City of Toledo estimates that 2009 revenue from the cameras will be $2.5 million for the City alone. That’s not $2.5 million in revenue from wealthy citizens and businesses, but rather from hard-working Toledoans struggling to make ends meet.

Even worse, the monies from the red light and speeding cameras are split on a “percent of the take” basis with the private camera operators. In Toledo, contractor RedFlex gets 25% of all ticketing revenues. That will be more than $600,000 in revenue to RedFlex just in 2009.

This private profit motivation has resulted in shortening of yellow-light times at red light camera intersections to entrap unsuspecting motorists and increase ticket revenues.

Red light cameras are not motivated by a desire for increased public safety. Rather, multiple studies have shown that red light cameras actually increase the number of accidents, because motorists suddenly brake when approaching a red light intersection.

The party liable for the ticket is not the claimed offender – the driver – but rather the owner of the car, even if they can establish conclusively that they were not driving.

Most pernicious of all, in order to develop an efficient enforcement scheme, the City has abandoned traditional constitutional protections of the accused. Under their scheme, there is a presumption of guilt and no right to compel the testimony of witnesses in one’s defense. Indeed, until recently, trials on claimed violations were conducted in secret with the public and members of the media not permitted to attend.

Please grab back our dignity, take back our civil rights and ban red light and speeding cameras in Toledo. The option is yours. For more information, please visit: http://www.wedemandavote.com/toledo or call Chris Finney at 513-720-2996.