Roderick C. Lopez | March 1, 2024 | Car Accidents
Cameras are everywhere these days. Almost everyone carries one in their pocket, many cars and trucks have them equipped on their dashboards, and you see them on nearly every city street.
Some of the more common types of cameras that drivers should be familiar with are traffic cameras and red light cameras. What are these, and how do they affect your life?
Traffic Camera vs. Red Light Camera
While many people confuse these types of cameras, traffic and red light cameras serve very different purposes. Additionally, one is legal in Texas, and one is not.
Red Light Camera
Have you ever sped up to get through a yellow light before it turned red? You wouldn’t be the first person to try to beat a red light and fail. With any luck, running a red light didn’t cause an accident or get you a red light ticket.
The latter is a particularly large danger at intersections that have red light cameras. If the camera catches a glimpse of your license plate, that is usually enough to receive a red light ticket in the mail.
What do you do if you receive a red light ticket? Pay the ticket online or contest it in court. Fortunately, you don’t need to worry about either of those options in Laredo, Texas. The Texas legislature outlawed red light cameras in 2019.
Traffic Camera
While red light cameras are illegal in Texas, traffic cameras are legal and functioning all over the state. That is because they serve an entirely different purpose.
Traffic cameras aren’t designed to punish people who run red lights. Instead, they are designed to help people avoid heavy traffic when traveling by car. The feeds from Laredo traffic cameras are available online, and anyone can look at them at any time.
Avoiding traffic doesn’t just help you get places faster. Traffic jams are common places for car accidents. So, by avoiding traffic, you are less likely to get into a wreck.
The Downsides of Traffic and Red Light Cameras
While traffic and red light cameras are supposed to be positive, they also create problems. Traffic cameras, for example, can sometimes be used to identify DUI checkpoints. This allows drunk drivers to avoid those checkpoints, which increases the likelihood that they will get into a DUI accident.
The downsides of red light cameras are a little more complicated. Red light cameras reduce the likelihood that people will run red lights, which reduces T-bone accidents. Unfortunately, that comes at a cost.
Many people don’t leave enough space for the car in front of them. This means that if a driver slams their brakes to avoid getting a ticket from a red light camera, they are likely to get into a rear-end accident with the car behind them.
That is a tradeoff that some states accept. But as previously noted, Texas isn’t one of those states. So unless a police officer happens to be stationed right beside a traffic light, there are unlikely to be legal consequences for running a red light in Laredo.
Drive Safely in Laredo Regardless of Cameras
Whether you are in a city with traffic and red light cameras or not, you shouldn’t rely on them to keep you safe. They are just tools that can either increase or decrease the likelihood of accidents, depending on the situation. The best way to avoid accidents is to drive safely and obey traffic laws regardless of cameras.
Contact the Laredo car accident Lawyers at Roderick C. Lopez Personal Injury Lawyers Today
If you were injured in an accident in Laredo, TX, and need legal help, contact our Laredo car accident attorneys at Roderick C. Lopez Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free case review today.
Roderick C. Lopez Personal Injury Lawyers
6557 Metro Court, Suite 1 Laredo, TX 78041
(956) 529-7336
