In today's Amarillo Globe News, I noticed a letter:”Why not put cameras to a citywide vote?” I read the letter and a few of the comments. I have also been keeping up with the many articles and letters to the newspaper over the last few months or so. I felt like speaking my mind on the red light camera issue.

A few weeks ago I was over at a friend's house having dinner and a few beers when the red light camera thing came up. He's all for the cameras and went all out about their benefits. Now, bear in mind he's really stubborn and will not give up a fight, even if he knows he's wrong, so I poked a little fun into it, just to get him talking.

He brought up the issue that Amarillo is such a lawless place, and how everyone just runs lights and how these are the end-all cure for it. I admit, yeah there are lots that push the lights and even run them all the time. But he acted like it's the Wild West and how the cameras are the new marshal in town to stop it all. Well, 15000 tickets doesn't sound like it's stopping much to me.

We got into the issue of how the owner of the car / license plate is ticketed, regardless if he or she was actually driving the car at the time. When an officer pulls you over for running a light, he will ticket the driver not the owner. How many times have you let someone borrow your car? Then he mentions that if you let them borrow your car, that you are responsible for that car, and should lay down the law on how they drive it. Really, does that work after they drive off and you're not with them on the road? Maybe, you shouldn't be such a nice guy and tell your friends and family to go to hell and not let them use your car anymore.

Then came up the revenue thing. I find it funny how Mayor McCartt and commission, that put this in place, are playing both sides of this card. They keep talking about how much safer these intersections are with the cameras, and it's not a revenue issue. Then I see them bragging about how many tickets have been issued and how much money it's generating for the city. If it's not a revenue thing, then maybe she needs to shut up and quit making it one! She's her own enemy here, stating how it's not about the money, then bragging about how much money it's bringing in!

And on to the safety issue. Really, I guess it's helping somewhat, but 15000 fools are telling us it's not working that well. How many times have I been driving down Coulter street and had to slow down to 10 to 15 mph because the guy in front of me is paranoid about running that light. Safety issue? Yeah, when the guy coming up behind me is going 45 and I'm at 15 watching the mirror hoping he's paying attention. I say it causes just as much of a safety issue as it help alleviate.