Getting the message across: RED LIGHT ENFORCEMENT IN THE US HAS NOT HAD AN AUSPICIOUS START TO 2005, BUT SUPPORTING EVIDENCE IS COMPELLING

摘要

As this article was being prepared, Washington, DC (US) Mayor Anthony A Williams wrote a letter to DC Council chair Linda W Cropp. "There is an urgent need for the approval of this contract to ensure the continued processing of District tickets and the collection of District revenues", he wrote, raising the question of the city's red light enforcement programme. The furore that ensued in major media, including the Washington Post and the New York Times, all seemed to draw one conclusion - the phrasing proved that red light enforcement has more to do with raising revenue than with safety concerns. A spokeswoman for Williams agreed that he probably should have included "an extra sentence about public safety" in his letter. American Automobile Association (AAA) spokesman John Townsend seized on the letter publicly to declare that the concern for generating revenue bolsters the case of critics who say the programme is designed to fill the public coffers. "All of our suspicions were realised with that statement", he said, "It's very telling".