Minutes after Neel Manglik illegally turned right on a red light in the Des Moines suburb of Clive, a video popped up on a computer at an office park outside Scottsdale, Ariz. The $75 citation arrived in the mail weeks later, making Manglik one of the millions of Americans ticketed as part of a growing industry that is making handsome profits for companies that operate video cameras at busy intersections throughout the nation. What's less clear is whether the cameras improve safety. While studies show fewer T-bone crashes at lights with cameras and fewer drivers running red lights, the number of rear-end crashes increases. Aaron Quinn, spokesman for the Wisconsin-based National Motorists Association, said there are cheaper safety alternatives to red-light cameras, including lengthening yellow-light times. “We say, the red-light camera wouldn't have stopped anyone from getting hit,” Quinn said. “Once (a city) sees one city getting it miles away, and that first city makes a bunch of money, they want to do it, too. It's like a virus.” Clive Police Chief Robert Cox said there's no doubt the cameras are a cheaper option than having an officer on the street. “With the number of calls for service our city generates, we can't devote that much time to red-light enforcement,” Cox said. The largest red-light camera company, Redflex Traffic Systems of Scottsdale, operates red-light or speed cameras in 22 states, and added 79 cities last year. That ticket in Clive shows why: More than half of the $75 fine went to Redflex. “That's ridiculous,” said Ashok Manglik, a physician who paid his wife's ticket. “Why should it go to the camera company? At least 90 percent should go to the city.”
