Car Insurance Rates Guide

Average Car Insurance Rates - Red Lights and Speeding Cameras

May 29th, 2007

This is post one of two in a series explaining how the impact of new traffic cameras are influencing traffic safety and insurance rates.

With the emergence of red light and speeding cameras all over the nation, many people are feeling a bit like their privacy has been invaded. Many drivers have negative opinions about these cameras and feel like they’re merely a way for the government to make a bit more money. Whether you have a positive or negative opinion about the use of these traffic cameras, one thing is for sure, it’s one more reason to slow down and obey the law. Getting nailed by one of these new toys can not only hit your driving record pretty hard, it can also hit your pocket book via higher car insurance rates.

No longer are these special cameras seen only in the larger, metropolitan areas, they’re now being introduced in cities all across the nation, such as Akron, Ohio, Fairfax City, Virginia, and Scottsdale, Arizona. Many of the cities that have been implementing these new cameras feel like they’re proving to be very effective in encouraging drivers to take heed. In fact some cities have handed out thousands of tickets within a couple weeks as a result of these newly installed cameras.

These cameras actually work by not only taking a picture of the car that was in violation of the law, but they also take a close up picture of the license plate of the offending car as well. This allows them to find the driver’s personal information and mail you either a speeding ticket or a ticket for running a red light. Many people feel that the problem with these cameras is that there is no way to prove who was actually driving the car at the time, so you may receive a ticket, even if you were not the one driving your car. While in some states you can contest these tickets as to whether you were driving or not, other states still will hold you responsible regardless.