Green Light for Red-Light Photos

It’s working in West Hollywood. It’s boffo in Beverly Hills. Now Los Angeles wants to join the block party and start its own photo red-light program.

I say green-light that idea.

Civil rights? Get over it. Where does it say we have the right to run red lights in privacy? Driving downtown is more terrifying than basketball practice at Indiana University. Turn signals are optional and growing obsolete. Distracted people shout into cell phones as they make sudden lane changes and unannounced U-turns. Muscular SUVs assert their higher-than-thou territorial dominance over my 98-pound Toyota.

All too often, the right of way is determined by tonnage and velocity. In L.A., size really does matter.

Most terrifying of all are the red-light runners. The bloody results of their reckless, self-important impatience are on the news too many nights.

Now the L.A. City Council wants to fight back. It will fund a pilot program that will install these high-tech cameras in 16 of the most dangerous intersections.

The timing is perfect, the right idea at the right place: reality programming at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Call it “Surviving Big Brother.” The twist: Big Brother is not only watching you, he’s writing tickets as well.

It even comes with film in the mail, four little Polaroids showing you in each stage of the forbidden act.

I know, I know. I’ve heard the whispers: It’s a giant step toward 24/7 surveillance of everybody, everywhere. If we don’t take a stand now, the police state will soon be snooping in our bedrooms.

Sorry. I don’t buy it.

Democracy is a delicate balancing act, a series of trade-offs between freedom and responsiblity, between individual independence and intrusions mandated by the greater good. This one is a trade-off worth making.

These traffic cameras are no threat to our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. They will save lives and help more Americans pursue life, liberty and happiness--an afterthought in 1776 but a dominant value in 2000.

But for those keep worrying about Big Brother invading our personal space, hope keeps rolling down the highway. At a recent convention of the California Peace Officers Assn. in Redondo Beach, the HALT 2000--High-speed Avoidance using Laser Technology--was unveiled.

This sleek, silvery weapon lets police stop a fleeing suspect by shutting off the car’s engine and bringing it to a slow, controlled halt. A laser beam from the remote control gun activates a computer chip in the car, which then slowly shuts down the fuel system and gives the driver time to come to a safe stop.

Although a demonstration that quickly brought a black Mercedez-Benz to a halt generated favorable media coverage and showed the engineering was solid, the politics of it are more problematic. There are sure to be even more dire warnings about Big Brother should the HALT 2000 be proposed for street use.

There’s a natural fear that the police might use and abuse it in situations other than chasing a fleeing suspect. The potential for trampling on the public’s privacy rights is huge, more so than with the photo red-light program.

Despite the civil liberties issues, there are several compelling reasons the HALT 2000 could be the city’s logical next step after the photo red-light program.

Theoretically, there would be no more streets closed while police chased fleeing suspects. No more innocent bystanders killed. And no more interrupting TV programs for those incredibly annoying “live and exclusive” car chases.

I say green-light that idea too.