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Letter: Red light cameras violate laws of physics
Updated: September 10, 2012 12:52PM
In a letter to the Elm Leaves, Kirsten Mourar said “if red light cameras are safe and profitable, what is wrong with that?”
There is nothing wrong with red light cameras per se. What is wrong is this: A yellow light has to be a certain amount of time as determined by the laws of physics in order to give a driver fair warning to stop or proceed. The federal standards never give all drivers this time. For example, the standards short the yellow light for right and left turns by up to 4.5 seconds because the standards require the driver to proceed to the intersection at the speed limit or more. The standards forbid slowing down before entering the intersection. Though it is necessary to slow down before making a turn, a driver will exhaust the yellow time and by the laws of physics be forced to run the red light.
The federal standards create no-win scenarios. The federal standards oppose the laws of physics and, by doing so, are illegal to enforce. Elmwood Park can be sued for enforcing and collecting money from an illegal standard.
Brian Ceccarelli, Apex, N.C.
