SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Dori: Red light cameras are nothing but scams
Sep 4, 2018, 7:03 PM

Red light cameras led to nearly 40,000 tickets in Seattle in 2015. (AP)
(AP)
We’re getting numbers on some of the most expensive red light cameras that we have around the state. As you know, I have been a passionate opponent of these red light cameras from the beginning for a bunch of reasons.
One, they were supposed to be for public safety, to stop the T-bone accidents that occur when drivers run a red. Well it turns out, more than 90 percent of red light camera tickets are for the “California stops” that drivers make when taking a free right.
The other big problem is that politicians sold this to the public by claiming that these tickets would cost the same as a parking ticket. And then, being the greedy bloodsuckers that politicians tend to be, they found the most expensive parking ticket possible — $136 for blocking an alley from an emergency vehicle — and made that the penalty for a red light camera ticket.
RELATED: Former exec says red light camera companies bribed City of Lynnwood officials
According to an on Tuesday, a single red light camera in Des Moines brought in 24,000 tickets last year.
The red light cameras in this state make about $5 million annually from these tickets. About half of that money goes to the government; the other half goes to Redflex and American Traffic Solutions and the out-of-state companies operating these camera scams that our government officials climb into bed with.
Lynnwood has these cameras everywhere. A few years ago, I challenged that lying council member in Lynnwood who called my show all furious claiming that the cameras were just about public safety. I said that I would give $10,000 to the charity of his choice if he could pass a polygraph test while making that claim. That coward never took me up on it.
These red light camera tickets transfer a massive amount of money to liars in local government and to companies in Arizona and Texas, with no benefit whatsoever to public safety.