Indeed, according to the Federal Highway Administration, these problem intersections serve as a great location to hold a press conference. The agency offers a script for local officials to exploit a tragically mistimed intersection to call for the installation of additional red light cameras and tout their safety benefits. But none of the reports that are supposed to tell us that red light cameras are responsible safety benefits actually say that. Second, they do not actually look at red light intersection accidents. Although that statement has little scientific value, it does have great marketing appeal if you don't look too closely.
Every study claiming red light cameras increase safety is written by the same man.
A similar conflict of interest affects those entrusted with writing safety regulations for our traffic lights. The Institute of Transportation Engineers is actively involved in lobbying for, and even drafting legislation to implement, red light cameras. In short, the only documented benefit to red light cameras is to the pocketbook of local governments who use the devices to collect millions in revenue. We traded away our privacy for this. We gave up our constitutional protections for this.