Traffic cameras

Municipalities increasingly employ traffic cameras, with over 3000 deployed, a 20% increase during the last year. Reasons for placing the cameras include improving driver compliance with traffic laws and enhancing safety. Critics allege that the real reason is that municipalities want the revenue the cameras generate. At least one study has shown direct correlation between the numbers of traffic tickets written and economic conditions.

Vehicle drivers sometimes rage against the cameras, exacting vengeance with a pick ax or other tool. Other drives try evasive tactics such as spraying their vehicle’s license plate with a substance designed to obscure the numbers and letters when photographed by a traffic camera. Drives seem especially outraged because municipalities typically contract a private corporation to operate the cameras. This leads to the allegation that the municipality has entrusted law enforcement in the hands of private enterprise. (For more details on the use of traffic cameras, cf. William M. Bulkeley, “Get the Feeling You're Being Watched? If You're Driving, You Just Might Be,” Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2009.)

I find an argument against private companies operating traffic cameras persuasive. Law enforcement is a basic governmental function that government, not private entities, should perform. This same principle applies to operating prisons, providing security for diplomats, etc. In the extreme, only government agents should have the authorization to employ lethal force. More generally, good governments attempt to minimize the latitude of their employees to allow personal prejudices or agendas influence their functioning as government agents. Private enterprise, by definition, exists to make a profit.

The other arguments against traffic cameras leave me unmoved. Better driving reduces injuries and property damage, e.g., not running red lights, stopping before turning right on red, observing speed limits, etc. Americans are generally in too much of a rush, a generality reflected in bad driving habits. I suspect that slowing down will also improve the quality of life for many by reducing stress. If a traffic law does not make sense, the morally correct approach is to observe the law while working to change the law. Disregard for some aspects of the law, such as elements of the traffic code with which an individual may disagree, easily breeds contempt for other aspects of the law, placing each individual in the position of being his or her own final arbiter of the law. While that may appeal to libertarians, that approach leads to the chaos of anarchy.