Red-Light Cameras Devastate the Poor, Line the Pockets of the Corrupt and Provide Zero Safety Benefit
Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-13) condemned New York Governor Kathy Hochul for signing legislation to expand the use of red-light cameras (RLC) and renewed his call for the New Jersey Legislature to pass his bipartisan bill to protect New Jersey drivers from predatory, out-of-state automated traffic fines.
“New York is flat-out fleecing their own residents with their shameful expansion of red-light cameras. It is nothing short of a blatant money grab,” said Sen. O’Scanlon. “New Jersey legislators came together years ago to ban the use of these cameras within our borders because we proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that they don’t work. It’s time we take the next step to protect our residents from out-of-state exploitation and firmly shut the door on corrupt companies, and their government co-conspirators, that feed off government-sanctioned theft.”
Sen. O’Scanlon’s bipartisan bill, S-3067, would prevent the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and other state entities from disclosing the personal information of New Jersey’s driver’s license holders to help another state impose or collect a fine for alleged violations captured by automated camera ticketing systems.
“There is no justification for our MVC to cooperate with states like New York who are complicit in extorting our residents,” Sen. O’Scanlon continued. “Studies show that camera enforcement is a flawed system that simply punishes drivers without improving public safety. We’ve spent years digging into, and disproving the claims of these corrupt companies."
This chart, which ranks states by fatality rate and whether they use automated enforcement (red light & speed cameras), clearly shows there is no safety benefit: view a chart sorted by fatality rate online. Source: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) raw data here: report ranking fatality rates per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in all 50 states in 2022-2023.
New Jersey – despite being the most densely populated state in the country – saw a 10% decrease in traffic fatalities in 2023, achieving a lower fatality rate than New York, a state that aggressively uses red-light cameras.
"In fact, NJ has a better fatality rate than every single state that uses automated enforcement! Of the top 5 safest states, only one permits automated enforcement," said Sen. O'Scanlon. "Any politician who inflicts this government sanctioned theft on their constituents is either lazy, incompetent or corrupt. Sorry, there’s no 4th option.”
“If red-light cameras actually made roads safer, states using them would be leading in traffic safety, but the data says otherwise,” Sen. O’Scanlon concluded. “Red-light cameras are nothing more than a corrupt mechanism used to impose regressive taxes that prey most visciously on the poor. The bipartisan Automated Enforcement Inoculation Act would protect our residents from corrupt companies that profit off debunked claims of improved public safety.”
The full text of the bill can be read online.
For a more thorough explanation, Senator O'Scanlon published a press release obliterating red-light camera credibility as well as an op-ed in the Star-Ledger in 2013 titled: "Why you should care about red-light cameras: Opinion"
To speak with Sen. O’Scanlon, contact Chris Sivel, SRO Deputy Director of Communications at csivel@njleg.org.
