[Poll]: Speed Cameras: Good for Safety or Good for Revenue?

Cameras that catch motorists speeding or running red lights are becoming facts of life for Iowa drivers.

Consider the following recent events:

• The cash-strapped city of Des Moines collected about $176,000 in the month of October alone from the speed cameras on the MacVicar Freeway. The cameras nabbed 4,400 motorists.
• Windsor Heights, long known for its penchant for issuing speeding tickets, is looking at installing speed cameras along its 10-block stretch of the freeway. 
• Polk County Sheriff Bill McCarthy three weeks ago said he'd like the county to invest in mobile speed cameras for use on rural Polk County roads. 
• Drivers on Interstate 380 near Cedar Rapids have been dealing with speed cameras for about eight months.
• Iowa City City Council has been discussing adding red light cameras.

Iowa is among about half the states in the nation that use speed cameras, red-light cameras, or a combination of both, according to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

As of last month, red-light cameras are used in approximately 555 U.S. communities and speed cameras are used in more than 107 jurisdictions, according to the institute's website.

In the Des Moines metro area, Clive uses red-light cameras on Hickman Road. Urbandale officials have said they are not interested in the devices, but Des Moines' revenue stream may prove attractive to other cities.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa opposes the traffic cameras as "Orwellian" and filed a lawsuit in 2006 against the City of Davenport. The Supreme Court, in 2008, allowed the use of the cameras but said the most that can be issued to motorists is a civil citation, rather than a criminal violation.

The Insurance Institute favors to the use of cameras, saying studies have shown that they tend to slow traffic down and cause drivers to stop more often at red lights. Data showing that the cameras actually improve safety are less conclusive.

The National Motorists Association, formed in 1982 to oppose a mandatory nationwide speed limit of 55 mph, opposes the cameras.