Did the City of Pueblo shorten lights at red light camera intersections to generate revenue?

New questions are being raised over whether red light cameras in Pueblo are more about revenue and less about safety...

the city is giving drivers less time to get through those intersections which potentially increases your chance of getting a ticket.

Almost from the start, installing red light cameras has been a controversial topic, and now the focus has shifted to how they are timed.

According to the National Motorists Association Foundation, the yellow light at that intersection should last a minimum of 5.5 seconds.

News 5 Investigates discovered the yellow light is set to last a second shorter, at 4.5 seconds.

Paul Houston, a member with the National Motorists Association ..."I think they only work for one thing and that is raising revenue for the city and sucking money out of citizens wallets," he said. "I do not believe they work."

Since January 1, 2015, the three red light camera intersections in Pueblo generated $765,688 in revenue. The City of Pueblo gets to keep $160,094. The rest of the funds go toward maintenance and the camera company operator.

"There's a suspicion that municipalities alter the yellow light time down in order to generate more ticket revenue," ..

The following cities were caught issuing tickets at intersections with short yellow lights:

In Union City, officials issued more than $1 million in refunds after issuing tickets at an intersection with a yellow light time 1.3 seconds below the minimum California state law standards.

Conventional traffic lights are early 20th Century technology for deconflicting traffic at an intersection. Modern tech allows for better safety and reduced driver frustration.
20th Century technology is the red light and the green light, and an intermediate yellow light. It works, but the simple bold light of each color does not tell the driver how long the rules defined by the red or yellow or green light will prevail. The driver has to allow for the possibility that the light will soon change. To the extent that the driver guesses wrong, he wastes gasoline and subjects his passengers to rapid changes in the size and the sign of his accelerator/brake commands. This frustrates the driver. Adding a late-20th Century rule enforcement technology, the camera, to the situation raises the stakes for the driver and increases the frustration.
21st Century technology allows for a digital display to the driver of the number of seconds until the assignment of the right of way will be changed to or from his lane from or to the traffic on the intersecting road. This is the modern, much more nuanced, equivalent of the simple (crude) yellow light. Given this more complete information, drivers can make more confident decisions which will save gas, brake/tire wear, and driver/passenger stress.
Anyone who opts for the enforcement camera without switching to a digital red/green display of the right-of-way arguably may hope to improve safety but certainly hopes to get money at the expense of the increased frustration of the motoring public. Anyone who switches to a digital red/green display of the right-of-way certainly hopes to increase safety and reduce stress on the motoring public. Anyone who does both certainly is concerned about safety, but is almost certainly wasting government money on the installation and operation of the enforcement camera.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.