Breaking the law continued: maybe more people run red lights

Today's Post has a piece, "District red-light cameras rake in revenue as more tickets issued last year," on red-light camera tickets.  I have a problem with the general approach to the stories, because not ticketing condones breaking the law, and multi-ton vehicles red light running is dangerous indeed.

Image: the automated ticketing process for running a red light.  Source: Irving, Texas Transportation Department.

The title for the entry comes from this paragraph of the article:

“Drivers might as well face it, the District is a strict enforcement zone,” said John B. Townsend II of AAA. “The odds of getting a photo-enforced ticket are demonstrably greater in Washington, D.C., than they are in all of the surrounding jurisdictions combined. The District collects nearly two-thirds, a stunning 61.6 percent, of the [red-light camera] revenue total for the national capital area.”

Maybe there are more red-light cameras in the city.  Maybe people feel more comfortable or more entitled to break the law in DC.

It would be an overgeneralization to say that most of the tickets are likely to be given to non-residents, although the article indicates that the "most productive" cameras are stationed at intersections on commuter routes in and out of the city.

The hottest red light cameras in the District, based on number of tickets issued last year, are at: 

●Westbound New York Avenue at Fourth Street NW (5,297 tickets, worth $794,500).
●Southbound on the South Capitol Street ramp before I Street SW (4,884 tickets, worth $732,600).
●Westbound New York Avenue at Florida Avenue NE (4,849 tickets, worth $732,350).
●Westbound Suitland Parkway at Stanton Road SE (4,679 tickets, worth $701,850).
●Westbound New York Avenue at New Jersey Avenue NW (4,134 tickets, worth $620,100).

In any case, the argument that because DC generates a majority of the red light ticket revenue in the metropolitan area that the city is somehow doing something wrong is not a logical one. It's what is called an ad hominem argument--to the person, or in this case, "city," and not to the facts.