If you walk or drive around a major US city in 2025, you may notice something. Nearly everywhere you look, you’ll see a camera. The city itself normally controls some of them, but they’re also on the front of restaurants and other establishments.
You may notice traffic cameras among the many ones that exist in any decent-sized American city. You might also hear some individuals use the terms “traffic camera” and “red light camera” interchangeably.
Chicago currently features 149 red light cameras, and you can find even more in larger cities, like New York. As a driver, maybe you don’t know how to behave when approaching one of these cameras. Should you act the same, or do you need to change your behavior in some way?
In this article, we’ll do a detailed breakdown of everything drivers should know about these types of cameras. We’ll cover what purpose they serve and how you should act around them. We’ll also discuss the public reception they’re received since they first made their debut several years ago.
What Do These Red-Light Cameras Do?
If you see a red-light camera or a traffic camera in the middle of an intersection in a busy part of the city, it’s probably mounted on top of a traffic light. The camera can take pictures of any car and its license plate number if a driver runs a red light.
That’s the intended purpose of these cameras. Ostensibly, they’re there to catch any driver who goes through a red light, which endangers themselves, other drivers, and also cyclists and pedestrians.
However, there’s some disagreement about these traffic cameras. For instance, what if, as a driver, you enter an intersection when there’s a yellow light, but then the light turns red before you get your vehicle completely out of the intersection? Should you get a ticket, or should the camera let you by?
How Should You Act Around Them?
Setting aside that question for a moment, let’s talk about how you should act as a driver when you’re around these types of cameras. Most drivers would agree that ideally, you don’t want to act any differently than you normally would. You’ll want to go the speed limit, stop on a red light, go on a green one, and generally avoid breaking any traffic laws.
That’s how most drivers act. Once they see the camera, they’ll acknowledge it, but they won’t deviate from their normal driving behaviors.
It’s basically the same way you should act as a driver when you see a police officer parked on the side of the highway or in an alley in the inner city. They’re there to potentially stop drivers from doing anything wrong. As long as you’re not breaking any laws to begin with, then you can act exactly the same way you usually do.
What Do Most City Residents Think About Them?
Earlier, we mentioned how these traffic cameras have somewhat of a mixed reaction from city residents. Some individuals like them. They understand their intended purpose, and they’re on board with it.
That’s because, in addition to catching anyone who runs a red light, some cities use these cameras for other purposes as well. For instance, if there’s a kidnapping, and the police need to catch a driver in a car matching a particular description, then they might use these traffic cameras to catch this nefarious individual before they can get out of the area.
However, some city residents have complained about the cameras because they’ve sent out tickets to addresses that claim the driver who lives there ran a red light. The camera might even include a picture of the incident along with the ticket that you are supposed to pay.
If you clearly ran a red light, and the camera caught you, then you probably can’t really complain about that. Some city residents seem to feel that the ticket and red-light camera system do not work as well as they might, though.
That is because one of these cameras might occasionally issue a ticket to a driver if their vehicle entered the intersection on a yellow light and left it on a red. That’s somewhat of a borderline situation.
Most drivers, even the most responsible ones, will technically go through a red light in this way every once in a while if they didn’t time the traffic light just right. Does that mean they should get a ticket, though?
What Should You Do if You Get a Ticket from One of These Cameras?
If you get a ticket mailed to you from a traffic camera that caught you going through an intersection where you didn’t clear it before the light turned red, then that might frustrate or anger you. You will have to decide whether you want to pay the ticket or contest it.
The ticket might cost as much as $150 in some instances. Also, if this type of camera catches you more than once, then the fine amounts will only go up.
The situation becomes worse if you have to appear in front of a judge in traffic court. They might assign you some community service or threaten to take away your license temporarily.
For the most part, though, this will only happen if one of these cameras catches you multiple times, or maybe if you already have several prior driving-related offenses on your record. You can always contest any ticket that you get, whether a traffic camera issued it to you or not. Usually, though, you’ll probably conclude that it’s not worth fighting it.
If you just pay the fine and watch out for these cameras more carefully in the future, that’s probably the best solution. When you approach an intersection that you know has one of these cameras, and there’s a yellow light, you can stop instead of going forward. That way, you can feel certain the camera won’t issue you a ticket from a borderline red light.
