It’s not profitable enough to keep people from getting injured

Do red light cameras work too well? – Crime & courts- msnbc.com

Faced with data showing that drivers pay attention to cameras at intersections — resulting in fewer ticketable violations and ever-shrinking revenue from fines — municipalities across the country are reconsidering red light cameras, which often work too well.

At the heart of the discussions taking place in city councils and county commissions is tension between the twin benefits that were touted when local governments began installing cameras about a decade and a half ago. Officials were promised that the cameras — which take snapshots of busy intersections, capturing the license plates of any cars that are running the light — would simultaneously save lives and generate millions of dollars in extra fines.

Of course, we have no idea how much the companies running the camera systems are siphoning off in fees, or how much they would charge to add piles of dummy cameras to the mix. But it is interesting to me that reducing injuries (if, as the rest of the article is unclear about, that’s actually the case) isn’t considered as a serious monetary gain, especially in cities with unprofitable ERs.