Traffic Ticketing Cameras

There are two different kinds of traffic ticketing cameras. Speed and red light.

They're widely despised, but I don't think the reason has been well analyzed. It's not that we have that much sympathy for either speeders or red light runners. Rather, it's because the cameras have been used to establish traps for good drivers.

Good drivers don't run red lights...but they can be induced to. Just put up a short yellow at a long intersection, and you'll get lots of good drivers running the red light. Once. They learn. But writing them a red light running ticket as part of this bogus education is unfair, and we all know it.

Good drivers don't speed...but they can be induced to. By setting the speed limit to something totally counter intuitive to the conditions, and then enforcing it strictly, you can trap a lot of good drivers. When you issue them tickets, that's unfair.

I support the use of both forms of cameras, but:
1. Red light ticketing cameras must never be used with a short yellow, and should only be used to ticket drivers who enter the intersection facing a red.
2. The speed limit must be intuitively fair.

The speed limit thing is contentious, because we've come to a strange dynamic: lots of places have unfairly low speed limits, but they enforce a more reasonable speed limit. Nevada has a 75MPH limit on rural interstates, but enforces something more like 91. CA has 70 in most places, and enforces more like 86.

What we should do is make all speed limits reasonbly high, and THEN enforce speed limit+5 using cameras. Nevada could have a speed limit of 85. CA could have 80. But no traps. That would get the support of those of us who enjoy seeing bad drivers picketed, but abhor seeing good drivers trapped.