Stop!!! It's Red Light...

The idea that red light cameras reduce accidents is generally true if you are referring to broadside or “T-Bone” accidents.  This is the worst kind of collision you can have at an intersection, when a car enters crossing traffic and plows into the side of another car.  A slightly greater number of studies showed that these broadside incidents were reduced by red light cameras. In a recent article by Abbey from Everything is Better in Texas, she mentioned that there is a 25% reduction of crashes around Texas intersections due to the number of Red-Light cameras.  Also, a November 2008 study carried out by the Center of Transportation Safety of the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University found, “a 43 percent annualized decrease in right angle collisions” at 56 intersections with red light cameras.  

We use cameras at almost every crime scene and testify routinely in court as to their validity.  If we were not allowed to use technology to our benefit, we would not have solved thousands of cases each year and criminals would leave undeterred in our efforts to keep our communities safe.   Today’s law enforcement cannot be everything, everywhere, all the time.  We are undermanned and increasingly and increasingly out-gunned.  We have to use every available resource to our benefit in order to have any chance of keeping crime at bay.  I would certainly agree that there have been examples of the improper use of this technology and would not support the use of any technology simply increase funding.  To place law enforcement in a position that they must begin to generate funding to do their jobs would be a gross misuse of the law enforcement community and would lead to a contamination of our legal system, however, I would say we should not throw out the baby with the bath water.  Let’s take a deep breath and a few moments to look at what we might be doing if we use a broad brush and say that red light cameras are all bad and must be eliminated.

I would propose that if the underlying problem is perception that these systems are being used as a funding mechanism, thus being misused, then lets address by regulating how these systems can be used to help keep our citizens safe and where the funding may go instead of totally eliminating our ability to use the technology to our benefit.

I am very much in favor of red light cameras.  I think they deter motorists from running red lights, keeping everyone safe.  Red-light cameras help slow down traffic and help save lives.  Let’s keep the cameras up and please slow down….

More Jobs in Texas?

Since the recession officially ended, Texas has created more than four of every new job in America.  Texas, the reddest of red states, home to gun lovers and school textbooks that openly question whether the Founding Fathers intended for the separation of church and state.  If you care about putting people back to work at a time when nearly 14 million in this country are unemployed, maybe Texas has something to teach us. 

When the data from Texas emerged, conservative president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Richard Fisher were quick to celebrate, embracing the jobs tally as powerful evidence of the superiority of Republican ideas as well as proof that Governor Rick Perry would make a good president, however, that’s overly simplistic.

According to the Dallas Fed, Texas generated 43 percent of the net new jobs in the United States from June 2009 through May 2011.  This is an enormous share when you consider that the Lone Star State accounts for about 8 percent of the nation’s economy.  Aspects of the Texas economy are unusual, if not unique, and it will be difficult or impossible for other states to replicate them.  For example, the energy industry is booming right now, as are agricultural commodities destines for export, a boon for a huge cotton and beef producer like Texas.

Texas is attracting business because it has low taxes, however, this makes for a smaller safety net, which is one reason Texas has a high incidence of poverty and, compared with every other state, the biggest proportion of its population without health insurance.   There are also serious questions about the quality of jobs in Texas.  A “right to work” state has the biggest percentage of workers paid at or below the minimum wage.  Nevertheless, Texas has long been the most robust jobs engine in the country, and its policies and practices deserve deeper reflection.

Texas is not without lots of problems.  Its remarkable employment growth is something we should be proud of.  Our economy might be experiencing a huge budget deficit, doesn’t mean jobs will not be available.   Keep in mind, “There is Always Light At The End of the Tunnel.”  Go Texans!!!