I've addressed this issue a number of times before on other forums.
I'm all for red light cameras.
Who gives a *expletive deleted*it if they're about revenue generation?
Here's your choice, Joe Citizen...
I can raise your tax rate 3% next year to generate revenue for a variety of projects.
Or, I can keep your tax rate the same and make that revenue by penalizing selfish selfabsorbed aholes who think that their time is so much more precious than mine that they're willing to put your life at risk by blasting through a red light.
Personally I know which one I'm in favor of. If the Ftard in the car next to me wants to clip through a red light, fine, let him. I'd gladly thank him for adding to the Fairfax County revenue stream. If he causes an accdent due to his selfishness? I'd also be in favor of a minimum $5,000 fine. Accident with injuries? Minimum $10,000.
One little thought about accident types, too.
Rear end accidents are RARELY as serious as T-bone accidents.
In 1993 I walked away from a rear end accident in which I was hit from behind by a car doing between 40 and 50 MPH.
I had a vicious bruise across my chest from the seat belt, my head bent the head rest posts, and one of the bolts holding my seat to the car was sheared off. The next 4 days were a living hell, but I got some cool drugs out of the whole deal, plus a decent insurance settlement.
A few years before that a former coworker was hit broadside by a car doing an estimated 25-30 MPH. He now has an artificial left hip and IIRC an artificial left knee, and will never be pain free again.
Finally, I also cry foul on some of those "statistics" that are shown in the linked reports. There's little, if any, causal data to definitively show that red light cameras are, in fact, the actual cause of what is claimed. We had a similar discussion about that kind of statistical reporting in the recent thread on motorcycle helmets.