Smile when you run that red light

Big Brother is watching you run that red light.

He will mail you a $50 ticket with a photo that proves your guilt. Look: The light turned red before your car entered the intersection. Pay up.

Brandon Perkins brings up the cold totalitarian world of George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" when he speaks of Raleigh's red-light cameras.

And he thinks this soulless law-enforcement technology is good for us.

"It's a persistent reminder that you're being watched," said Perkins, 33, a software engineer who lives in West Raleigh. "And it makes people think twice about running a red light.

"I know it sounds Big Brother-y. But you're on a public road, and it's your responsibility to help keep your fellow citizens safe."

Lots of drivers complain about red-light cameras. But it turns out that most of us credit them with making our city streets safer.

That's what the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found in a survey of drivers in Raleigh and 13 other cities with red-light cameras. Overall support was pegged at 66 percent of drivers who were aware of the cameras, and 62 percent in Raleigh.

Among drivers who favor them, 61 percent said the cameras reduce crashes at intersections, and 24 percent said they deter red-light violators.

"To most people, it's clear there are red-light runners out there," said Anne Fleming, spokeswoman for the Virginia-based institute, which is known for its crash-test dummy lab. "We've all seen them. This is a really dangerous thing to do."

Camera critics expressed lots of objections and suspicions, Fleming said. Twenty-six percent said the cameras make mistakes. About the same number said their true purpose is to raise revenue rather than improve safety.

There were complaints that drivers are forced to speed up or stop abruptly to avoid a ticket, and that the cameras invade drivers' privacy.

That's how Amy Genovesi Howard sees the issue. She also evokes Orwell's world, where the state spies on people with two-way "telescreens." She can't believe so many drivers approve of red-light cameras.

"Are these people pro-Big Brother?" said Howard, 30, an online marketer. "Are they pro-big government?"

She shares the view of state Sen. Don East of Surry County, who sponsored legislation this year to eliminate red-light cameras in Raleigh and the other three cities that have them, Cary, Knightdale and Wilmington.

East, a Republican and retired policeman, said drivers deserve the right to challenge an officer who tickets them. They can't really question a camera, he says. The Senate passed his bill, but the House parked it in a committee.

Lesser evil of crashes

Mike G. Davidson of Raleigh says he was ticketed in Tennessee after a legal right-turn-on-red maneuver.

"If I see one locally, I speed up to get through the light to make sure I don't get screwed again," Davidson said.

Jeff D. Burns of Raleigh would be glad to see red-light cameras outlawed. He sees drivers do dangerous things to beat that $50 ticket.

"You come up on one of those intersections, and if there's somebody in front of you, you've got to be ready for them to all-of-a-sudden slam on brakes," said Burns, 40.

Some studies blame the cameras for increased rear-end collisions. But Fleming says these are low-speed crashes that rarely cause injury. She notes that Raleigh and other cities have seen big drops in more destructive "T-bone" crashes - where a driver runs the light and hits the side of another car - at camera-equipped intersections.

"The idea of red-light cameras is not to get people to run red lights so they'll get a ticket," Fleming said. "The idea is eventually to end up with no tickets at all because people are reminded to stop at the red light."

Bob Mulder keeps that reminder on a bulletin board next to his computer.

It's a $50 ticket with a photo of his car running a light on Dawson Street in 2004. He's all for red-light cameras, including one that does a lot of business at an intersection on Capital Boulevard.

"I see people going through that intersection a lot and getting their pictures taken," said Mulder, 60, of North Raleigh. "When we see the flashes of the camera strobes, we're grateful that person is getting caught."